Thumbtack, Inc.

I used Thumbtack in a large area for a trial my company allowed me conductIt was as effective as I participatedYour profile and how you respond to inquiries is directly corilated to your successAs pest problems are hrs a day the pest control service I provide was connected to those in need after hoursI was really impressed with my experience with the support from ThumbtackThe return on my investment was immeasurable but to quantify it somewhat I paid about $on credits and closed over $12k in a little over a monthI hope the corporate level realizes the potential Thumbtack represents and opens this opportunity to the rest of the company

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/04) */
Dear ***,
We appreciate you reaching out through the Revdex.com to give us the opportunity to address your concerns about ThumbtackWe welcome the feedback that we get from our professionals as we are constantly improving our siteIt was
a pleasure to have been able to resolve your concerns in our correspondence by email
We strive to introduce you to real customers that are ready and willing to hire professionals to complete their projectsWe have a request verification process to flag suspicious requests, those that have been flagged as suspicious are then manually checkedRequests that clear our verification are forwarded to our professionalsWe know that no system is perfect, therefore we are constantly working to make the process better to continue ensuring quality requests
As you mentioned in our email conversation, you realize that you won't be hired by every customerHowever, you would like to know the outcome of each request that you have quoted onOur role is to create an introduction between customers and professionalsAfter an introduction is made, the professional and customer often take their communication offlineThis can make it difficult for us to track the outcome of each requestNone the less, we put forth the effort to email customers to ask them for any updates in regards to hiring someoneIt is then up to them to update the status of their requestIn an effort to improve our process, we have now updated our system to reflect the reasoning behind a customer's request status changeWe hope that this will improve our professional's experience and help them in getting hired in the future
Per your request, we have refunded your account the credits you had spent on requests where a customer decided not to hire someone on ThumbtackOur refund process is that if a customer has not viewed your quote within hours of your submission, we will automatically refund the Thumbtack CreditsIn addition, if a customer cancels their request within hours because they are no longer needing the service or they changed their mind we will refund your creditsIn these instances you will need to contact us about the request so we can issue the refundYou can then use those credits to submit quotes on other requests that interest youIf at any time a professional on Thumbtack feels that a refund should be made they can contact us
I hope that we have been able to resolve your concernsPlease do not hesitate to reach out directly if you have any questions
Sincerely,
***

On 8/16/We contacted Thumbtack call center, regarding issues with a contractor we hired through Thumbtack to build a privacy fenceWe had numerous issues with the shoddy construction and with the contractor We gave the contractor an opportunity to make things right, he did not and complained that he was building the fence properly On 8/17/we fired the contractor, there were even more issues created by this contractor He damaged our neighbor's yard and our other neighbor's fence, he removed boards on their fence that was not adjoining our property On 8/17/We contacted Thumbtack call center, to find out when their “marketplace integrity” would contact us regarding issuesShe said the 18th someone would call us On 8/18/we contacted Thumbtack call center, at 5pm since no one called us I explained that we had not heard from Marketplace Integrity She stated that they will call on the 19th and that she would also follow up with usOn 8/19/I contacted Thumbtack call center, at 3pm, she stated that Marketplace Integrity is behind on contacting people, however we were assigned a case manager and that he would call us on 8/Explained to her that I was frustrated with Thumbtack Told her my concerns with the shoddy fence which was not fixed, was incomplete and not sturdyI explained that it was a safety hazard with the gate leaning on the fence, leaving complete access to our poolI told her that we wanted quick resolution and that we were let down by the contractor we hired through them, Thumbtack, and Marketplace Integrity I also informed her that we have found another contractor who is ready to tear down the shoddy fence and put up a proper fence I also let her know that we do not want the first contractor on our property since he has done enough damages On 8/22/I contacted Thumbtack call center, at 4pm I told her that I was fed up with Thumbtack’s run around Explained that we have been calling regarding the shoddy work for a week I stated that we do not want the contractor at our house and that there are safety hazards around our property due to the poor workmanship of the contractor, the debris with nails jutting out around the outside of our fence, and the fact that we do not have a gate attached to the fence I expressed my frustration with the situation and lack of communication from Thumbtack She stated that the case manager had sent an email I told her we were told we would get a phone call not an email I told her I would wait on hold to speak with the case manager Case manager finally came on the phone and I explained everything that we had been through with not only the contractor but also with Thumbtack He stated that they are only an advertising company with a format to connect contractors to potential clients He told me that perhaps I could go through small claims court or get an attorney I told him that I cannot afford a consumer fraud attorney He stated that he would call me on Wednesday to go through arbitration with original contractor using their online support forumOn 8/24/case manager did not call, instead he sent an email We submitted our grievances online along with the a resolution of being reimbursed $for the damages that the contractor madeOn 8/26/we added photos to support our grievancesOn 8/29/I contacted Thumbtack call center, at 11:09am I had read through their online grievance site that original contractor did not respond to their attempts to contact him It stated that escalation initiated I asked her about it, she put me on hold and tried to connect me to case manager He told her that he would call me later Since anytime someone from Thumbtack tells me that they will call me later and fail to do so, I explained to her that I would wait on hold for case manager I also told her that nothing in the “escalation” section gave me any help and that it simply told me what I already know, that contractor is not responding She put me back on hold and tried to connect me with the case manager again She got back on the line and told me that my case manager will call me when he can I rehashed everything we had gone through with the contractor and ThumbtackI told her about the liability of having a pool in our backyard and no gate on the fence I explained to her that I was frustrated and felt unsupported by Thumbtack/Marketplace Integrity I also reiterated that I could not afford the cost of an attorney I told her that I would wait on hold because last week the case manager said he’d call me but never did I also asked if I could speak with his supervisor She put me back on hold Case manager picked up the line and told me that the contractor spoke to someone at the call center and said he was disputing a couple of the claimsThe case manager would not go in to detail about the call He stated that the next step is to get the contractor to make the situation better I explained to him that since we have a pool and no fence or gate, that this liability was too great to have a shoddy fenceI told him that we hired another contractor to tear down the garbage fence and build on that will last more than a year I rehashed the whole situation with him and told him that it would be a loss of more money if we hired an attorney or went through small claims court I told him that I am giving Thumbtack a chance to make this right before I go to Revdex.com Case manager said he would call me Wednesday morning On 8/31/I contacted Thumbtack call center at 3pm, spoke with someone at the call center and I told her I needed to speak with my case manager and that I would stay on hold till he spoke with me The case manager picked up the line and told me that Thumbtack has now removed and disabled the contractor's account on Thumbtack due to the contractor's lack of responding to the escalation Case manager also told me that my only recourse is small claims court or getting an attorney I told him that I got the raw end of this deal and he agreed I expressed to him my shear frustration with the entire matter I stated that I am not only out of $that was paid to the contractor, but also $for the tear down of the shoddy fence and building of a new fence, and out $for the repairs to the damages that the contractor made on my neighbors’ property Case manager simply stated that yes this is correct and that after investigating our situation that the damages to our property do not fall under the coverage offered in their Thumbtack guarantee because the damage was "not being caused to property outside of the scope of agreed upon work." My main issue with this is that I never agreed to have this contractor damage the neighbor's yard, my other neighbor's fence, of which a couple of boards are missing and the property line was moved by the contractor While I understand that there is no way I can recover all the money we spent on this contractor, I just don't see why a better resolution could have been determined so I could have recourse to pay for the damages that their contractor made When we hired this contractor we did so in good faith Unfortunately this has been a terrible experience, not only for me but also to my neighbors who did not sign up for this

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/29) */
Hello ***,
I appreciate you bringing your situation to our attentionWe expect all professionals on Thumbtack to provide high quality services and when there are cases where that hasn't happened, we want to know about itWe were
happy to reach out to you and resolve your concernsI wanted to make sure that we addressed them here on the Revdex.com as well
When we receive a complaint like yours, we do our best to work with both parties to help them come to a resolutionWe expect the businesses who list with us to fulfill their agreements and provide the services they are paid forIf that doesn't happen, we will work with them and their customers to find a solution
If a customer and business can't reach a resolution we will, in some cases, investigate the situation further by requesting documentation from both sidesThis lets us look at the situation in better detail and with more clarity about what should be doneIn certain instances, we will ask the business to provide a resolution that is based off the findings of our investigation and the documentation both parties providedIf the business refuses to cooperate with our investigation or refuses to provide the requested resolution, we will remove their listing from off of our site
Thank you for letting us know about your experience and giving us the opportunity to work with you and resolve your concernsWe were very happy we could provide you with a resolution
***
The Thumbtack Support Team
XXX-XXX-XXXX
***@thumbtack.com
www.thumbtack.com

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/19) */
Dear ***,
I am writing in response to your Revdex.com complaint against ThumbtackI have attempted to contact you directly to address these concerns, but we have been unable to connectIn order to ensure that we address each of your
concerns, I will respond to them below
I apologize for the poor experience you have had using ThumbtackBased on your concerns, and to help build your faith in Thumbtack, I have refunded all of the credit purchases on your account - a total of $I am very sorry to hear that one of the customers that hired you on Thumbtack did not pay for the work you providedThumbtack is not involved in the transaction between professionals and customers, however, we will always assist our professionals in anyway possible to receive payment from customers
I want to express that Thumbtack can only be successful if our professionals are successfulFor that reason, we are always working hard to help our professionals get hired as often as possibleWe can only grow if we are connecting real, serious customers with real, quality professionalsWe spend time, effort, and funds on a request verification process to flag suspicious requestsWe then manually check those that have been flagged as suspiciousOnly requests that are cleared by these processes are forwarded to our professionalsOf course, no system is perfect, and we are constantly working to make the process betterThe ultimate guide to know if you should submit a quote on a request is youProfessionals can review the request to gauge the customer's involvementIf you decide that you are interested, available, and qualified for a request, you have the option to send a customized quoteYou get to choose which requests are a good fit for you respond to
Please allow me to take a moment to clarify the refund policy regarding viewed quotesWhen your quote is viewed, it means that a customer clicked on your quote and looked at the quote and message that you sentIf the customer doesn't view your quote within hours of your submission, we automatically return the Thumbtack Credits to your account, so you can use them again, free of chargeViewing your quote does not necessarily mean that the customer has decided who they will hireOne thing that is important to remember is that we don't guarantee pros that they'll win the jobWe see our role as that of making the introduction to a potential customer and then we get out of the way so that the pro, who is best equipped to actually sell the customer on their service, can tackle the lead however they see fit
Follmessages are a great way to improve your chances of getting hired (after all, persistence pays off)If you are waiting to hear back from the customer, we encourage you to send a follmessageUse these messages to stay in touch with the customer, ask them questions about the project, or request their contact informationYou can send as many messages as you'd like, just be sure that your messages are friendly and professional
You can ask a customer questions before paying and submitting a quoteWe call them 'Suggested Questions', and although we ask customers about their needs, we recognize that we may have missed asking an important question, especially if the customer's need is uniqueIf a customer's request is missing details that the professional needs to know to decide if they are a good fit for the job, the professional can suggest a question to ask the customerIf the question meets our guidelines, we will send the question to the customer and share their response with the professional and other interested professionalsI apologize if your experience using the Suggested Questions feature on the site was not positiveWe moderate Suggested Questions to strike a balance between asking too many questions of the customers, while also allowing fairness between professionals, and sending out quality introductionsWe are always working to improve the processIf you ever feel that one of your suggested questions should not have been deleted please feel free to contact our support team for help - we would love to help you get hiredThe full set of guidelines for Suggested Questions can be found here: http://www.thumbtack.com/pros/how-to-suggest-a-question
I appreciate you reaching out to clarify your concernsThumbtack is dedicated to becoming THE online marketplace for local servicesYour feedback, along with all feedback from Thumbtack professionals and customers, helps us improveI hope we were able to resolve your concerns, and please do not hesitate to reach out directly if you have any other questions or concerns
Sincerely,
***

Thank you for reaching out to us through the *** *** *** about your concernsI would like to address
these concerns here
We understand it can be very frustrating for professionals to receive negative reviewsThis is especially true for professionals who work hard to maintain good reviews on their profile
A review will not be deleted on Thumbtack unless it is out of compliance with our Content Policy, which can be seen here: ***In this case the review was reviewed by our team and it was determined that it was not out of compliance with our policyMaintaining these standards is what gives legitimacy to our entire review system, including positive reviews
We know that there are a number of reasons why customers leave the reviews they doWe also care about the reputations of our professionals, which is why we allow professionals to respond to all reviews submitted on their profilesWhen a professional receives a negative review from a customer, we highly encourage them to respond to the review in a helpful, courteous, professional mannerThis type of response shows potential customers that the professional is willing to work with all customers and make things right when a customer feels they have been wrongedIt also gives the professional an opportunity to share their story as these responses are public facing
At Thumbtack, we want to be transparent with both our customers and professionals and any decisions made are for the purpose of benefitting both partiesIf you or any professional or customer has questions or concerns regarding reviews, our customer support team would be happy to help and may be reached by phone at *** or email at ***
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***
***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/12) */
Hello ***,
Thank you for reaching out to us through the Revdex.comI would like to address your concerns here
We know that it can be very difficult when customers do not respond to professionals' quotesThis is not
the experience we want our professionals to haveThis is why each of our requests goes through a verification process that is both manual and automatedWe've also found that 80% of customers come to Thumbtack ready to hireThat being said, we are always here and encourage each of our professionals to report anything that looks suspiciousWe respect the time and money of our professionals and will look into the situation very seriously as we do not allow fake requests on our site
Though our main goal is to provide a place where professionals can make introductions to new customers, we want our professionals to get hired as well; we know that we are only as successful as our professionalsThis is why we have done research and come up with tips to help our pros to get hiredThese tips can be found in online articles in our Pro Center: ***We also have a highly trained customer support team that is happy to work professionals and help them to make the most of Thumbtack
We encourage any professional with concerns or questions to contact us via phone at *** or via email at [email protected] are always here to help
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***
***

No protection from unsubstantiated negative reviews
My company received a negative review from a person that we did not work for or even talked withWhen I asked Thumbtack to remove it, they said that they would have the review committee look at my complaintA day later I received an email saying that they did not see a problem with the reviewNo problem! We didn’t work for this person!
This company does not care about its customersI recommend using a different source
Perhaps *** ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/01) */
Hello ***,
Thank you for reaching out to us through the Revdex.com about your concerns, and for speaking with me via emailI would also like to address these concerns here
We do not allow customers to request
help with academic fraud on Thumbtack and it is against our terms of useIf a customer is found to request these services, their request is immediately deleted and they are removed from our siteWe encourage all professionals to report any request that seems suspicious and we will look into it right away
We are currently working on improving our request forms to clearly differentiate between a customer's request for professional writing services and writing tutoringThis will help to expose those requests for academic fraud and help our customers to better request the services they are looking for that are allowed on Thumbtack
Again, I thank you for reaching out to us as your input really does help our site to improvePlease let us know if you have any further questions or concernsWe are here to help and love to hear from our professionals
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***@Thumbtack.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I appreciate Thumbtack's efforts and communicativeness, but I just received another "job lead" involving academic fraud last nightI wish Thumbtack would hand screen its academic writing requests before they go liveIt would take very little time to do so and would ensure that Thumbtack isn't aiding and abetting academic fraudAlso, when they've deleted requests, it usually takes them several days to do soBy that time, the fraudster has probably hired a pro, and Thumbtack has profited from the "professionals" who paid to put in bidsDoes Thumbtack return the credits for bids on fraudulent jobs? Do they kick those "professional writers" off the site too?
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/10/19) */
Hello ***,
Thank you for respondingI appreciate you voicing your concerns and desiring to keep Thumbtack a place of integrityThis is our goal as wellBecause of the way our request forms are currently worded, some customers who are looking for writing tutors are appearing to be requesting help with academic fraudWe are currently working towards changes to resolve this issue
When customers who are requesting help with academic fraud are found, their requests and accounts are deleted, and all professionals who quote on these requests are refunded
Thank you for your patienceI understand that you are a very busy professional and I want you to know that I would love to speak with you over the phone to explain this issue at anytime convenient for youPlease feel free to contact us with any further questions or concerns
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***@Thumbtack.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/10/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I asked Thumbtack to review by hand each request for academic writing services before these requests are posted and sent out to professionalsThere aren't that many, so it would be totally feasible for them to do this
Despite their claims to be working on changes, I kept receiving numerous writing "jobs" that were requests for academic fraudI forwarded each one to ThumbtackI guess they got tired of it, because they stopped sending me writing jobsSo I have no way of knowing if the problem is resolved, but I'm guessing it's not if they had to stop sending me writing jobs in order for me to stop forwarding them fraudulent requests

Although one of the referred professionals turned a potentially positive relationship into an issue, I am both relieved and impressed with how Thumbtack stepped in on my behalfThis issue is now being handled by Thumbtack's Marketplace Integrity TeamI give this business a out of a stars rating!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/06) */
Hi ***,
We appreciate you reaching out to us through the Revdex.com about your concerning experience with a Thumbtack professionalIt's a truly unfortunate predicament that has occurredWe are devoted to working with you to achieve your
desired resolution while hopefully providing an overall positive experienceAlthough we have been privately communicating, I would like to outline what we have discussed here
Thumbtack cares deeply about our customersWe apologize immensely for the distress this professional has caused you and your familyEach and every complaint that is brought to our attention is handled with care and urgencyWhen we receive a complaint, we start by reaching out to both parties so we can listen to each side of the storyProfessionals are often eager to fix any misunderstandings once they are aware of the situationWe are truly just as disappointed as you to know that this professional has not worked to resolve the issueThumbtack expects professionals to provide services that emulate the values we hold of our own companyDue to this professional's behavior going against Thumbtack's values, we have concluded that they will no longer be allowed access to our site
Thumbtack is dedicated to taking care of our customers and we will continue to work with you until we come to a positive resolutionAt this point in time, we just need a few documents from you to proceedI will personally be in contact with you and if there is anything further we can do to relieve the stress this professional has caused, please let me know
***
Thumbtack Support Team
Phone (XXX) XXX-XXXX
E-mail ***@Thumbtack.com
www.thumbtack.com
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/01/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The situation has not been resolved, I am out my photographs, which is what the Thumbtack organization is, like an Angie's list of reputable photographersThis is how they market themselvesand, I am out $They are unable to contact her, which tells me that due dilligence was not performedHow can they purport to be resource for reputable photographers? They have done no more than e-mail and call her as they do not have her home addressThat is the same thing I've been doing to no availShe still has a website upThis is just so wrong
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/02/02) */
Dear ***,
We apologize profusely for the frustration that has been caused by the professional you hired on ThumbtackOn the rare occasion that a situation like this is brought to our attention, we try every avenue we have to open communication between the customer and the professionalOur hope in facilitating this communication is that the professional will do everything they can to resolve the issues that have surfacedUnfortunately in this case, we were not able to open a line of communication with the professionalWe are truly disappointed that they were not willing to work towards a resolution, rest assured we have completely removed them from Thumbtack
We feel that our customers know their needs best when it comes to hiring someone for their personal projectsSince every customer is unique, we do not vett any particular professional on our siteProfessionals have the opportunity to display licensing, experience, and more for customers to review when in consideration of hiring someoneWe also have a safety page dedicated to providing helpful hiring tips for customers, http://www.thumbtack.com/safety
We are glad that a positive resolution was achieved and if you have any other questions or concerns please let us know
***
Thumbtack Support Team
Phone (XXX) XXX-XXXX
E-mail ***@Thumbtack.com
www.thumbtack.com
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/02/10) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
As thumbtack provides no integrity or reliability of the persons it affiliates with, I suppose I just lose the $
Tell everyone not to use Thumbtack or they will get ripped off!! ***

Hello ***,
Thank you for reaching out to us through the *** *** *** about your concerns and for working with our Marketplace Integrity team as wellWe would like to address your concerns here as well
We understand that this situation is extremely frustratingThumbtack works as a marketing platform and the professionals who advertise on our site are not endorsed by ThumbtackIt is also up to each professional to determine what licenses are necessary and follow their state and federal lawsProfessionals who use Thumbtack may display their credentials and licenses on their profiles and we encourage customers to take this information into account when choosing which professional to hire
Though the professionals on Thumbtack are not employed or endorsed by Thumbtack, we expect them to offer quality servicesIn this particular case, we have removed the professional from our platform as they have failed to resolve the issue
Our Marketplace Integrity team is well trained and available if you or any customer or professional has any questionsPlease feel free to continue to correspond with this team and they will help in any way they can
Sincerely,
Thumbtack Support
***
***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/03/23) */
Contact Name and Title: *** CRS
Contact Email: ***@thumbtack.com
Dear ***,
I am writing to you in response to your Revdex.com complaint against ThumbtackI apologize for the poor experience you had using our suggested questions
forum and hope that I am able to address all of your questions and concerns
I'd like to clarify and remind you that the suggested questions forum is completely free to all service professionals on ThumbtackThe forum is an even playing field since the questions are now anonymous and all pros can view the answers to each question that has been askedWe decided to create this forum after receiving feedback regarding missing information in the request forms
I understand your frustration with the overall process and how aggravating it must be to have a question deleted when you simply would like more information before submitting a quoteThe guidelines for suggested questions have not changed since their inceptionThat being said, they have been applied inconsistently by our customer service agents who monitor the questionsWe are currently evaluating these inconsistencies and are working hard to create a question review process that is fair, accurate, and consistent for our service professionalsI realize this is not what you want to hear, however, we are working hard to improve this servicePlease note that many of our service pros rely on this tool and use it regularly to submit stronger quotes
I am sorry you feel that Thumbtack only cares about consumers and not our service professionalsThis, however, could not be further from the truthOur mission to be THE online marketplace for services, and this can only happen if we create a great experience for both our consumers and service professionalsOur suggested questions guidelines are in place to create a balance between the needs of our service professionals while protecting the consumer experience and Thumbtack's stake in the processWe do not want to bombard the consumer with questions, so we only allow questions that will clearly improve the quality of the quote for that consumerWe strive for fairness between all of our service professionals by making these questions and answers public, while ensuring that service professionals are not circumventing Thumbtack's pay for leads system
We currently do not process any questions that were already asked in the request form because the customer was already asked that particular questionWe are evaluating this particular feature and may choose to open up questions that the customer did not answer in the original request formUnfortunately, we are not able to accept all questions in the interest of maintaining a fair marketplace for all Thumbtack Service Pros and a positive experience for your potential clients
Thank you so much, again, for your feedbackWe are working hard to create a great experience for both our service professionals and consumers, however, sometimes we do not get it rightAs a token of our appreciation, I have added a few complimentary credits to your accountPlease let me know if you have any other questions or concerns
Sincerely,
***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/03/05) */
Contact Name and Title: *** CRS
Contact Email: ***@thumbtack.com
Hi ***,
I am writing to you in response to your complaint to the Revdex.com against ThumbtackI apologize for the poor experience you had using Thumbtack and
hope that I am able to help answer your questions and concernsPlease note that I have processed your refund request of $and the funds will post to your account within a few business days
I apologize that you found Thumbtack to be misleadingWe strive to be as transparent as possible about our business model and appreciate your feedback as a new service professional utilizing our siteI'm so sorry to that your customer leads were nonresponsive - we are doing our best to encourage customer communication; we're working hard to implement new features and notification systems to address this concernWe are excited about to apply these updates in the future, however please understand that it's ultimately up to the customer whether or not they would like to communicate and / or hire our service professionals
I looked into your Thumbtack account was able to find your bidding historyI understand your frustration in not hearing back from these customers, however please note that even our most successful service professionals do not hear back from some of their customer leads as wellFurthermore, I noticed that you do not have any reviews on your profileService professionals with at least review are 400% more likely to hear back and get hired on ThumbtackWe've made it easy for new Thumbtack pros to add reviews - simply send the 'Review URL' to your past clients and they'll have the option to leave a review on your Thumbtack profileIf you're interested in using Thumbtack in the future, I recommend visiting the link below, which contains a list of best known practices on how to submit a winning bidThese tips include how to build a winning profile, getting reviews, and much more:
http://www.thumbtack.com/pros/how-thumbtack-works#get-hired
I do want to strongly convey that we are not in the business of scamming our service professionalsNot only is it fundamentally against what we stand for here at Thumbtack, it wouldn't make sense from a business perspective eitherOur goal is to be the online marketplace for local servicesWe can only grow if we are connecting real, serious customers with real, quality service professionalsSpending time, effort, and funds on creating fake leads simply isn't a winning strategyWe spend a lot of time talking to service professionals who have seen a lot of success on Thumbtack - we're proud of them and you can see some of their stories here:
http://www.thumbtack.com/pros/stories
Thank you so much, again, for your feedbackWe are working hard to create a great experience for both our service professionals and consumers, however, sometimes we do not get it rightPlease let me know if you have any other questions or concerns
Sincerely,
*** CRS
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2014/03/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Dear ***
I'm not sure how one can get a review if you can't even get clients to answer you backI
was hired by one of your referrals and sent her several emails asking her to please email me or call me to discuss the event and no answerthis inspired me to see if other business professionals from your site have had the same experienceI went onto google and pulled up many reviews from people like myself who were very optimistic in the beginning about your serviceThere seamed to be a common thread among all of usfeeling really mislead after leads we're paid and then lack of follow up communicationI realize your company has no control over how a lead calls the business professional backI understand this is a business and this is how you make your moneyI really did not want to report this, but felt I had the same story as the othersIf your company has true honest intentions and does not want more complaints, I would strongly suggest changing your formatI feel the potential client should also have to payThis would be fair for both sidesYou may even think about asking the professional like myself once a real client is booked to take any fees off the final billThere really has to be a better way so it makes it fair to both sides and yet you make money too
This has been a learning process for me and I hope for you!
Thank You,
*** ***

I got a $job after submitting quotes, which cost me almost $150, and hours of responding message and anxiously waitingAt times, it feels like gambling, it is truly exhausting and expensive; at the same time, you are hoping something will happen
Here are three reasons this is a bad practice:
I traced back some of the IP address after sending my web link to some of the requestsSome of the IP addresses were located in Philippine, but the customers profile address were in Washington DCApparently, they are some fake requests
I got two almost identical requestSame name, job, budget, but Thumbtack sent out the same job twice and charging different amount of creditsThey are really ripping off pros who use this service
The quality of the requests are very lowDue to its free service for customers, many of the customers are not very seriousHowever, pros pay premium to respond to these requests

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/09) */
Hello ***,
Thank you for reaching out to us through the Revdex.com about your situation and for working with our Marketplace Integrity team as wellI would also like to address your concerns here as well
At
Thumbtack, we expect all professionals to maintain a certain standard of work, and when that standard isn't met, we want to know about itIn rare situations like yours, we do all in our power to work with the professional and the customer to come to a resolution that both parties are happy withOur Marketplace Integrity team handles these communications and will gladly assist any professional or customer who may need assistance
We encourage all Thumbtack professionals and customers to reach out to us if they have any concerns or questionsWe can be reached by phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX or through email at ***@thumbtack.comWe're always here to help
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***@thumbtack.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Your resolution assumes that the other party is an actual professional with the means to offer a resolutionIn my case, you allowed a criminal access to people and he used that opportunity to scam innocent peopleMediation will do nothing to resolve this type of situation
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/30) */
We understand that each case is unique, and we take different approaches based on the situation at handOur Marketplace Integrity Team here at Thumbtack is trained to handle sensitive problems like this, and we'd like to speak with you more about your experience with this professional and our site
We take things like this very seriously, and would like to continue to work with you and find a solutionPlease reach out to us at your earliest convenienceWe're here to help

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/13) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for taking the time to speak to me about your concerns todayWe discussed your concerns about not hearing back from potential clients and also ways to improve your profileI apologize if your experience with
Thumbtack has not been positivePlease allow me to address your concerns below
I recognize that it can be frustrating when you don't hear back from customersWe do everything we can to encourage our customers to hire a pro on ThumbtackUnfortunately, sometimes customers are less responsive than we'd like them to beKeep in mind that the customer may have chosen another professional to help them with their project, or they may have decided to go another directionRegardless, we always encourage customers to respond as quickly as possibleI do show that we have automatically refunded two of your quotes and that you have quoted eleven times
After reviewing your account, I have added credits to your account and offered to set you up with both a Pro Mentor and our Pro Success team to help increase your hire rate, but you indicated you would like to see how things go for a bitIf at any time you change your mind and would like to utilize those options, just let me know
We see our role as that of making the introduction to a potential customer, and then we get out of the way so that the pro, who is best equipped to sell the customer on their service, can tackle the lead however they see fitAfter you make your initial quote to customers, we highly encourage our professionals to continue communicating with the customer through the Thumbtack messaging systemYou can, and should, absolutely follow up with themI haven't seen any of that from your account and it's very helpfulThe 'pay to quote' model doesn't suit everyonePurchasing leads on Thumbtack should be considered an advertising cost, similar to buying TV commercials or listing on a directory like YelpMany people see those advertisements, but only a couple will likely turn into customersIt can take a number of times before you land a job, especially in a competitive category, but in almost all cases, the money you make from that job easily pays for your quote investment
When I looked at your profile it looks fantasticThe only recommendations I would make would be to add a profile picture so that your profile looks more legitimate to prospective clientsAlso, getting quotes from your past clientele has been shown to increase your hire rate by 400%
I appreciate you reaching out to clarify your concernsThumbtack is dedicated to becoming THE online marketplace for local servicesYour feedback, along with all feedback from other Thumbtack professionals and customers, helps us improveIf you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support Team
Phone XXX-XXX-XXXX
Email ***@Thumbtack.com
www.thumbtack.com

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/02/17) */
Hi ***,
I am writing to you in response to your complaint to the Revdex.com against ThumbtackI apologize for the poor experience you had using Thumbtack and hope I am able to clarify our business modelWe are not in the business of
scamming our users and try our best to provide a great experience for all of our customers
I understand your frustration in having your second, identical request deleted from our systemThis request was taken down by our operations team because it was a duplicate request; Thumbtack does not allow duplicate requests from the same customer in a short amount of time since our service professionals pay a small fee for every submitted quoteI apologize that the service professional failed to provide you with an an exact quote in your original request, however please note that this is somewhat common in an industry that requires an on-site consultation in order to provide a quoteWe acknowledge that we failed to provide you with multiple quotes from different service professionals in your area; we are working hard to recruit more professionals to Thumbtack in order to prevent this from happening in the future
With that being said, we do not promise or guarantee that our customers will receive quotes within hoursWe reach out to every qualified Thumbtack service professional in your area and ask them to submit a bid on your job, however they are under no obligation to do soMost of our customers receive multiple quotes from various service professionals that are interested in performing the job, but we sometimes fall short and apologize for not delivering in your specific circumstanceAgain, I am sorry for the poor experience you had with this particular request and acknowledge that did not meet our expectations
Lastly, I'd like to address your email conversation with our agent, *** acknowledged your complaint and provided you with four additional service professionals that might be interested in sending you a quoteThis is because our agents are trained to provide customers with a list of local service providers on Thumbtack when a user complains about not receiving enough quotesOur intention was to provide a great customer service experience by providing you with a list of service professionals that may be interested in sending you a quoteWe offer this job request flow as an alternative form of communication when our bidding flow does deliver as expected
We are a small company with a big missionWe are actively refining and improving our process of connecting service professionals and consumers, as it's important to us that we create as many great customer experiences as we canI hope we were able to resolve your issues, and please do not hesitate to reach out directly if you have any other questions or concerns
Best regards,
***, Customer Relations Specialist

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/11/24) */
Hello **,
Thank you for reaching out to us through the Revdex.com and for corresponding with me via email about your concerns as wellI am glad that we were able to come to a resolution that you were happy withI would
also like to address your concerns here as well
At Thumbtack, our goal is to allow professionals to get their information in front of the customers they choose to market toEach professional can read through customer requests, decide which customers suit their business best, and send quotes to those customersBecause this initial contact is so important to us, we will refund a professional for a quote if the customer does not view it within hours
We know it can be discouraging when customers do not respondThis is why we have a set of research based articles in our Pro Center that each Thumbtack professional can reference, complete with tips to help professionals to get hired and find successOur Pro Center may be found here: https://www.thumbtack.com/pros/Likewise, we have a well trained customer support team who are happy to help our professionals find successWe know that we do not succeed if our professionals are not getting hired
We encourage each Thumbtack professional to reach out to us with their questions, concerns, and suggestionsWe are always here to help and want our professionals to find success
Sincerely,
***
Thumbtack Support
***@Thumbtack.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/11/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I have been refunded my money

I use Thumbtack all the time to get work, writing freelance assignmentsI find them to be the greatest.The few problems I've had have been wonderfully resolved by their great team quickly and easilyTheir Customer Service is outstanding and they are reachable by phone in minutes
*** ***
The Writehouse