Thumbtack Reviews

Thumbtack has been very disappointing. I was charged for leads that never responded, including automatic match leads where the customer completely ignored my messages. Paying for unresponsive or low-quality leads feels unfair, especially for small business owners trying to grow honestly. I contacted support about refunds, but the issue was not resolved satisfactorily. Because of these experiences, I no longer trust the platform and decided to close my account.

As a homeowner looking for a concrete contractor to build out a small slab for a shed, I decided to give Thumbtack a try. I reviewed several contractors, selected one that sounded good, and reached out to (what I thought) was that single contractor to get an estimate for the work. Not only did that contractor never respond, but instead, dozens of others have inundated me like car salesmen on a used car lot. I've been spammed, texted, incessantly called to the point where I've had to turn my phone off to avoid interruptions at work. And they're mostly pushy call center people that still call again and again even when I tell them to stop. One inquiry has turned into a nightmare. I didn't sign up to be harassed like this. I thought, and the platform seemed to indicate, I was agreeing to talk to one contractor, not sign up to be harassed by dozens. Never, ever use this service. It's a joke.

What they are charging for leads now is crazy! Over $55 per lead charges to my card. When I started with them it was $8-12. If I’m charging an average of $150 for the service then is not worth it, by the time I have a paying lead, I have already lost money.

They steal your money, just if someone texts you saying hi, stick a to off, just hand it buisness cards yourself, stop paying for wasteful things that can be fine by yourselves much cheaper and stress free, the same with banks, no one ever needs to put there money in a bank, they only tell you that's to steal your money! And didn't get me started on retirement, when they ask force you to wait until 67 when that's only giving you extra$5000/ year instead of the $25,000 you could of had without waiting 5 more years,plus after retirement you can still work and get another check so that's even more money, it's all a scheme! 😂

Silence from this company after 10 days. When you call, there's a 30 minute hold. When you finally speak to someone, they're passive aggressive, read from a script, don't answer your questions, and make false promises. Avoid this service. I had to ask for a refund. And check out the scripted response to this review.

Worst ever! Took my $350 and throw garbage leads. No one of the leads answers.

I would not recommend this platform at all. If I had to rate it, it would be a 0 out of 10. I invested over $1,000 and did not see any real return. On top of that, I lost a significant amount of time following up on leads that did not convert into actual jobs. In my experience, many leads are not aligned with the pricing and service details already listed in my profile. Even when my prices are clearly stated, I still receive basic inquiries like pricing for a one-bedroom, and I am charged just for responding. This makes the system feel unfair, as you end up paying for leads that are not qualified or have not reviewed your profile. Additionally, many clients say they are looking for recurring services, but in reality are only interested in a one-time deep cleaning at a very low price. This leads to wasted time and money with little to no return. The cost per lead adds up quickly, especially when expectations and budgets do not match. For small businesses, I strongly recommend focusing on referrals, repeat clients, and direct marketing instead of relying on platforms like this.

DEFINITELY DO NOT!!! Recommend thumbtack if your looking to get leads, they’re a scam if you ask me, constantly wanting to charge your card for leads that you’re not even getting majority of the time, and half of the people don’t even respond once you do message them back, it’s a bunch of B.S!!!!!

I would say this is NO LONGER the old school Thumbtack that we are all used to. I paid more on leads than what I got back as ROI in profits. In other words, I came back at a loss. They require a full background check, but the customers are not vetted. Although it makes sense to give customers the "illusion of trust", on the other end the ones who pay for the leads are the "PROS". And boy, do they not care about the PROS> I guarantee you we are just a number. I come from an advanced leadership IT background in OPS, and I will tell you that instead of curated leads like back in the good days, they are now charging US the PROS that bring them the business for leads that make 0 sense from an automated pool. Basically, a gamble. In my experience, 20% success rate. Not worth it.

Do not use this service. Not one of their “pro’s” called me back. I check on my account online it says they are unavailable. I tried to go to their website to leave a review you have to install their link. Disappointing

BEWARE. Do not hire anyone from thumbtack. I hired someone to fix a leaking toilet and he destroyed my bathroom. Thumbtack is now saying their guarantee doesn't cover the damage and my only option is small claims court. He costed me thousands of dollars in repairs.

It’s a scam if you’re a small business, don’t waste your money

It started off great, then really raised the cost of leads for service providers. For instance a "lead" cost $120 for a $400 job (if a client will even pay that), that is for every service provider that gets that lead and if you even hear from the client at all. The costs are just to high to be a provider on Thumbtack. Leads should cost but need to be more balanced toward the service providers and not just the company. Very little transparency and good luck getting a refund on leads that don't apply to you.

Long-Time User Disappointed with Lead Quality and Support We have been using Thumbtack for over 10 years, and unfortunately the platform has significantly declined. Recently, the majority of leads we receive are cold and unresponsive. We are being charged for contacts that never reply, despite multiple attempts to reach them. We have contacted support several times to report these issues and request refunds, but we have not received proper responses or resolution. At this point, it feels like many of the leads are not real or have little to no genuine intent. This raises serious concerns about the value being provided. How can we confidently recommend this platform to other small businesses when we are consistently paying for leads that do not respond? We hope to see improvements in lead quality, transparency, and customer support.

I used thumbtack back around 2016 and even earned a best of badge. I had logged back in recently as customer and decided to go over to the professional side to see about picking up some moonlighting and weekend work (having my first child and all). I was required to update payment information to access that side of the site, so I did. Unbeknownst to me, they have a direct lead system now that will charge you automatically. As I was reading my profile, my phone started blowing up with Credit Card notifications of charges and I immediately contacted customer service which took a few minutes to connect. The customer service agent was able to turn off my services (you can't just set a budget to zero, thank goodness I got it down to $50 before hundreds were charged). I explained I just wanted to look at what they now call opportunities(?). So began my round and round with their support, trying to get these leads removed. The leads themselves were all from well over 100 miles away and support told me that because I had remote turned on for "computer tutoring", I would receive leads from across the country. They're poilicy clearly states that leads outside the service area would be refunded but they denied my refunds and are "confirmed valid". As if a repair in Massachusettes, I'm in California, is a remote tutoring service - their Support and Thumbtack Trust and Safety seem to be nothing but AI driven slop programmed to restate policies that you actually fall under as reasons for their charges. TLDR: DO NOT ENTER PAYMENT INFORMATION - YOU WILL BE CHARGED. Ultimately, support CHAT removed my card (thank you), deactivated my services (thank you), but when it came to getting the refund (of which you can only one mark one box for the reason), you're faced with a brickwall of incongruity. 3 Computer repairs and 1 Network Services lead charged and reversed later, I can only emphasize to NOT expect refunds for Spam leads, erroneous leads, or apparently any kind of lead and that their system is behind a paywall if you go inactive. I think this is to cover up the fact they aren't getting used as with 3 million people in my "area" only 2 opportunites had been submitted in the last week for computer repair work. Maybe it's more for handyman stuff now? If you do choose to use Thumbtack, be very careful with your settings and expect to spend hours writing refund requests...

Do not use this app; it is a rip-off—a massive scam. They took $600 from me. I deposited $150 in credit, yet they didn't send me a single job. Instead, they just kept charging my credit card without my authorization. They sent me fake leads and "ghost jobs"—requests from people who wouldn't even answer. These people are crooks who are only interested in taking your money and enriching themselves. Do not use this app; they are thieves, and it is a huge scam. In less than two weeks, they didn't provide a single job, yet they stole $600 from me. Do not use this app; it is a thieving, predatory service of the lowest caliber. This app should be shut down, as it does nothing but prey on businesses.

I had an experience where a serviceperson pulled my fridge out to do work so far that they dislodged the water line and caused damage to cabinets. I provided Thumbtack photo evidence- FROM THE INSURANCE COMPANY- of pre-work conditions including moisture readings showing no damage, then photos of the after as well as an appliance company repair invoice noting that the water line was not faulty but had been dislodged. Thumbtack sided with the vendor doing the work who provided no evidence beyond (I didn't do this), which is ridiculous- they were the only party to move the fridge. When I asked Thumbtack what more evidence they would want, they noted direct evidence that the vendor caused the leak- like a video. Unreal bias on this. I get they have to be fair and don't want false claims against vendors, but this is so biased and the fact one party just has to say "wasn't me" and another has multiple pieces of evidence from a third party and is only looking to recover additional repairs is rididulous. Avoid them or you incur all risk.

Heed my warning. This experience felt misleading and financially exploitative. I hemorrhaged money to maintain leads/inquiries. If a contractor requests a refund for a lead that is clearly not qualified as a lead, they simply redirect by saying, “If you don’t like the prices, you can lower the prices in your services section.” Yes. You can. But when you do that, you get way less exposure and leads (sometimes zero). When you increase the amount per lead, you get mega number of leads but 90% are price shopping and GHOST the contractor. The clients reach out to multiple contractors at once (and each contractor is forced to pay for that lead). My most recent lead was $60, but the lead literally stated, “Not interested, not in our budget.” That’s not even a lead, they weren’t interested. So I inquired about a refund but instead got denied and told “lower your prices if price is a concern.” Respectfully sir… mam… this was never a lead to begin with as they weren’t even interested! That was the final straw. I assure you there are many many many more unfortunate examples. “Support” is NOT supportive and their entire platform is misleading. Unless you want to bleed money for.. vibes… I do not recommend this platform.

Thumbtack Pro is honestly one of the most frustrating platforms I’ve ever used. They charge you upfront for leads—whether the job works out or not—and those lead prices are not cheap. The problem is, a lot of these leads don’t turn into actual jobs, and when they don’t, Thumbtack still keeps your money. Even when you have a legitimate reason—like the client’s needs not matching your availability—they make it extremely difficult (or outright refuse) to issue refunds. It feels like all the risk is on the professional, while they get paid no matter what. A fair system would be performance-based—getting paid when the job is completed, not just for sending a name and a message. Until that changes, it’s hard to recommend this platform to anyone trying to grow their business.

Thumbtack has become unreliable for professionals. We are being charged for low-quality or completely invalid leads, including disconnected numbers and customers who never respond. Multiple pros are assigned to the same job, making it extremely difficult to secure any work and recover the investment. This system is unfair and results in constant financial losses. I strongly request a refund for these invalid leads and immediate improvements in lead verification and quality control. If these issues are not addressed, this platform is not worth using for serious professionals.