# Thumbtack...



## Steve5D (Jan 28, 2014)

Has anyone here used Thumbtack for leads?

This is a new phenomenon for me. Leads sent to your cell phone? Pretty sweet.

At least it _seems _that way.

I haven't yet paid for "credits"; those things you use to send bids to people, but I've been watching listings come through pretty regularly throughout the day, and I can't help but wonder if the cost of the bids is minimal when compared to the amount of _real _work people are getting.

Anyone? Thoughts?


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## tirediron (Jan 28, 2014)

Never heard of it; link?


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## pixmedic (Jan 28, 2014)

never heard of it either. 
phone app?


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## Steve5D (Jan 28, 2014)

Thumbtack - A new way to hire local services

It's not only for photography. I was thinking about giving it a try and seeing how it goes, and was interested in whether or not anyone had tried it.

Perhaps I'm gonna' be the guinea pig this one...


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## Steve5D (Jan 28, 2014)

Apparently, it costs two credits to send a quote to someone. If the person doesn't look at your quote within 48 hours, your credits are refunded to your account. Credits, depending on how many you buy, cost between $1.67 a piece (if you buy two) and $1.42 if you buy 60...


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## pixmedic (Jan 28, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> Apparently, it costs two credits to send a quote to someone. If the person doesn't look at your quote within 48 hours, your credits are refunded to your account. Credits, depending on how many you buy, cost between $1.67 a piece (if you buy two) and $1.42 if you buy 60...




thats....interesting. 
you thinking of trying it? if you do, let us know how it goes. 
if you bid high, can the person get a hold of you for a counteroffer? or is it a one shot deal?


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## Steve5D (Jan 28, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> thats....interesting.
> you thinking of trying it? if you do, let us know how it goes.
> if you bid high, can the person get a hold of you for a counteroffer? or is it a one shot deal?



Yeah, I am. I'm thinking about sinking a whopping eighteen bucks into it; enough to let me make six offers. If it doesn't pan out, I'm not in the poorhouse as a result.

And, for what it's worth, I'm getting a lot of leads in areas like Orlando and Deland. Some leads are for budgets of just $100.00 or $200.00. The highest lead I've gotten was for a budget of $2,000.00 for three hours.

Like I said, $18.00 is nothing, really. If it doesn't pan out after a half dozen tries, it will have cost me $18.00 to learn that it doesn't work for me...


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## 12sndsgood (Jan 28, 2014)

Save your money. Had looked into this a while ago and found tons of people who tried it with no luck or jobs from it whatsoever. Were people feeling it's a scam and that they were just throwing out fake leads to get people to bid.


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## Steve5D (Jan 28, 2014)

12sndsgood said:


> Save your money. Had looked into this a while ago and found tons of people who tried it with no luck or jobs from it whatsoever. Were people feeling it's a scam and that they were just throwing out fake leads to get people to bid.



Hmmmm... Interesting.

They've got an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau, but they have a lot of complaints, and almost all of them mention fake leads. Interestingly, though, there are also complaints made by consumers who used Thumbtack to find services and were unhappy with the services which had been provided.

It really seems to be a mixed bag...


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## pixmedic (Feb 16, 2014)

Thumbtack getting you any work yet Steve?


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## Steve5D (Feb 20, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> Thumbtack getting you any work yet Steve?



No, it's not.

In fact, Thumbtack has some of the absolute worst customer service I've ever experienced.

My  understanding is that this is a service to help people get work.  Perfect. Well, when I'm trying to get work, time is money. Period.  There's no other was to look at it. If I ask Thumbtack a question, it's  because I'm actively using their service and I need a prompt answer. If I  take too long to bid, I could lose a gig. Well, Thumbtack seems to  believe that three days, the quickest I ever received a reply to a  question, is an appropriate amount of time for a business owner to wait  for an answer to a question.

I wanted to put one of their widgets  on my blog. The code they offered wasn't working, so I wrote to them  asking for help. The response I got was, basically, "Check with your  internet provider, because it works okay for us". Well, that's not  customer service at all. That's passing the buck. They claimed that the  reason for the delay in their responses is because they're experiencing  "incredible growth", and that they can't keep up. Well, hey, lemme'  float the idea that you hire more customer service people. If you're  growing by leaps and bounds, you should want to do that. Apparently,  Thumbtack doesn't, because they always seem to trot out the same, tired  excuse.

Now, keep in mind, this is a service which claims to get  you leads. Well, it does that, I suppose. After signing up, my inbox  was flooded with leads. Before buying "credits", though (you need those  in order to bid on leads), I studied the leads. Every single one of them  was from a woman. I suppose only women are using Thumbtack to find  photographers, but I found that odd. I won't go as far as to say I think  the leads are fraudulent, which is often suggested, but they're poorly  administered.

Anyone (let's refer to that "anyone" as the  "customer") looking for a service (in this case a photographer) can do  so for free. It costs you nothing. But it costs the photographer. I  forget what the exact amounts are but, for argument's sake, let's say  that each "credit" cost fifty cents. It costs the photographer two  credits, or one dollar, to bid on a single job. If the bid isn't viewed  by the customer within 48 hours, the credits are returned to the  photographer. However, there's no requirement for the customer to do  anything more but open the bid in order to satisfy the requirement that  it be viewed. People have asked that stricter requirements be put in  place, but Thumbtack is loathe to do anything like that.

People  paying to get leads can often be seen, primarily on social media, asking  why the people who are looking for photographers aren't charged  anything to do so, while the service providers are. Their reason is that  if they charge the customers, they'll go somewhere else. Well, there's  certainly a degree of validity in that, but they're putting the entire  onus on the photographers. The people who are paying them are the ones  receiving the substandard service. The people who are paying them are  the ones who wait three days for an answer to help progress their  business. The people paying them are the ones getting the "Must be you"  excuses when something doesn't work. On the other hand, the people who  have no investment in anything and pay nothing to use Thumbtack, the  customers, are catered to.

I think their concept is great.  Thumbtack's execution of their idea, however, blows. They're not a  company which, from what I (and many others) can tell, is interested in  going too far out of their way to help the people who are paying them.

Until  I can see a change in how they operate, I won't give them my money.  They don't deserve it. They've done absolutely nothing to earn my  business, and everything under the sun to shun it. The sad part is that I  seem to be part of a vast majority instead of a small minority...


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## pixmedic (Feb 20, 2014)

thanks for the feedback on Thumbtack Steve...
you just saved me $20. 
next time your in town, lunch is on us.


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## Steve5D (Feb 20, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> thanks for the feedback on Thumbtack Steve...
> you just saved me $20.
> next time your in town, lunch is on us.



Hey, I don't believe I've ever turned down a free lunch.

You know, I'd even mentioned to Thumbtack that they should hire more people to staff their customer service department. I jokingly said that I would do it. They sent me a link to their employment page, which included every under the sun _except _customer service positions.

They talk the talk, but they fail miserably to walk the walk. And I really hope someone from Thumbtack reads this and chooses to explain how my impressions of their company are off base.

I'm sure there are people who've gotten work through them, but I haven't really heard of too many. The online comments I've read regarding them are close to 50 to one, bad to good.

That's not the track record of a company I want to give my money to...


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## 12sndsgood (Feb 20, 2014)

Sorry to hear this Steve. But can't say I'm surprised.  Seems about the typical response from those that have tried
 them.  Lest you took a low price approach.  I'd read of people dropping $3-400 with no results.


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