Thumbtack Reviews 6,448

a scam like 90% of lead generation businesses.

As a small business owner, I signed up for Thumbtack hoping it would connect me with real clients. Instead, I’ve been charged hundreds of dollars in just one week for “leads” that never respond. Thumbtack charges you before you ever speak with the customer, or "accept" a lead, and whether or not the customer is real, responsive, or even serious about hiring, they keep your money.

It feels like a hustle: I get notifications that my request was “sent to several other pros,” but no one replies. It makes me wonder if bots or fake requests are inflating their lead system. There’s no accountability, no guarantee, and no refund for bad leads.

Unlike other platforms, you’re not paying for completed jobs or even qualified prospects — you’re just paying Thumbtack. Small businesses like mine can’t afford to bleed cash on empty leads.

If you’re a professional thinking of using Thumbtack, be very cautious. Set strict budget limits, track every suspicious lead, and know that you may end up spending far more than you earn back.

Thumbtack may claim this is “just their model,” but from my experience, it’s a predatory system that profits whether or not you do.

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**Edit after Thumbtack's automated generative response. Likely just another bot.**

This is quintessential victim-blaming. The problem that stands is that I understand the business practices. I don't need to review your policy. It's your policy that's in fact the problem. Your service is charging multiple users at a time, with no ability to prove if the lead is qualified, approved, or even real. YOUR POLICY IS OUTRIGHT THEFT. Which is why I will no longer seek business through your platform. Please save the bot responses and learn integrity.

i texted Adame's tree services for an estimate on shrub trim, providing a picture. he immediately went off text by calling,and pressuring me for address.insisting he needed to see it. he refused to accept im using another service, and i felt bullied and ignored. i caved, saying, drive by if you want, but the jobs taken.at 1 ;58 he calls and says hes outside my property. my cameras say no he isnt. hes begining to alarm me, and wont stop pressing me by describing the shrub as if hes here.finally he gets the "NO", and starts complaining about driving from westminster. i hang up. on the message board he says i didnt answer at 1:58. i have proof i did. says he sent someone else. i think, same number, same voice and no tech at house. messages continue, he wont leave me alone, and when i say i can prove it and will go to bbb he calls and leaves a voicemail thati'm wrong. i had blocked his # 1 minute before this, but my carrier lets him through. and NOW, i cant get thumbtack to even LISTEN to this story for 3 days. AND he never gave a price through all this.

Thank God for Trust Pilot. I just "tried" to sign up with them and the process doesn't even work. They need one referral, but they never send out the email to your customer(s). Site does not even work for me and now I see the reviews. If you're a business owner they charge for bogus leads. Thank you for these reviews as now I will have nothing to do with these shysters.

This site is a predatory scam. A company with an ounce of integrity would allow pros to review and accept leads before being charged. Thumbtack, on the other hand, charges pros a hefty fee just to have the chance to maybe speak to a potential customer. A customer messages just to ask a question you've already clearly answered in your bio? $80. A customer messages to ask if they can get a discount? Another $60 to Thumbtack. Most of the time customers just never respond. And no, Thumbtack doesn’t give refunds. (Sometimes they’ll give credit, which - surprise! - gets used up very quickly. But never refunds.)

Thumbtack does not warn customers that pros are charged just to receive messages. If a pro tries to add a disclaimer to their profile, Thumbtack will redact it and send the pro a warning.

Pros have to set weekly minimum/maximum lead prices in order to use the site, and if you try to set your prices low, Thumbtack tries to scare you into raising them. The minimum is $40/week.

I would not recommend this site to anyone.

I had a horrible experience with them, in one day they robbed me $250 gave to false leads. Yes leads that are completely useless mostly made by bots. One of my leads was not even my area of business. This company is fradulent, does NOT do business with them

I had Alpha Cleaners come to clean my house. They were supposed to do a deep cleaning. They didn’t finish a thing. I still had dust and dirty tables and counter tops. It to mention the items I paid extra for. Not finished. So I made a report with tt. I supported everything with pictures which showed the dirt that was left. They sided with the cleaners. And i think the letter writer was ai so that’s whose checking that things out I guess. I have no idea but im shocked that they went with them. I’m out all that money and they tell me to get an attorney. With what money? I will never use that service again. I actually used them three times for cleaning two different houses. None of my cleaners were any good. First one was just bad the second did a no show and the last were these folks. Never again.

I attempted to contact them with a question for 4 days.Straight.I typed my question numerous times into their text message. Four days later I got a response saying that they had no record of me contacting them and they were unable to go back and read previous texts. Then after getting.
Someone else on the line after hours of I'm trying to get a question answered.After typing it over and over and over and over again, they told me they went back and re.Read my texts. Why would they lie to me and get me frustrated and tell me they cannot read previous text?Just to tell me they re-read every text I wrote and still.Would not give me an answer to my question. They wouldn't let me stay on the text.Long enough to even type anything back to them because I was working.And the automated computer kept kicking back in so I had to start over and over. Countless calls one unanswered when I sent them.My phone number said they were unable to use the phone to dial out. If you've got plenty of time to waste and you're looking for a place to waste it I would suggest thumb tack.

They were very efficient I was very happy with the work would definitely call them again

This company is an absolute joke. a scam. they don't let you see the "real" details of the lead until after you have paid for it. Its super vague and if a customer fills it out wrong, you still have to pay. For example, it was a full kitchen remodel. after the lead was received, it was a just a sink p-trap. i talked with them and they wouldn't refund me the $86 for the lead. what a joke and their customer service is awful. the first guy i talked to literally just left me on read.

Arthur & Allen Real Estate Media was amazing. I found Adam through Thumbtack very quickly and he was incredible! Price was great, extremely friendly and pictures were outstanding for such a short notice. He is my new Real Estate photographer for life, would highly recommend.

BE CAREFUL!!!!
The contractor installed 2 pendant lights in my kitchen. Yes, it was hot, he had to go into my attic but there was no re-wiring as the lights were installed in existing recessed lights. he worked for 2.25 hours and charged me $800!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! outrageous. then he says he can make it up to me, is there anything else you need done.
I said I could use a new outlet installed in my garage. it took him 30 minutes. not only didn't he consider it part of the initial overcharge but he charged me an additional (wait for it) $750 for an outlet!!!!!!!!!!
Thumbtack did nothing to resolve the dispute and offered no solution. I'm an older guy and was totally taken advantage of. This company sucks. Get written estimates! Take lots of pictures. You're going to need them when you complain.

Scammy, arrogant, and completely useless. Avoid at all costs.

Thumbtack is the definition of a scam in a suit. They charge $20–$40 per lead — even if the customer never replies or is clearly fake. You request a refund? Denied. You dispute with your bank? They threaten to lock your account.

Their so-called “Trust & Safety” team is a joke. All they do is protect their own revenue, not the pros they rely on.

Meanwhile, their platform has a 1.1 rating on Google and a wall of complaints on BBB. And yet they have the nerve to tell you to get reviews, improve your profile, and “earn more leads.”

It’s not a platform — it’s a money extraction machine that preys on hardworking people.
If you value your time, money, and sanity — stay away.
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Update (in response to Thumbtack’s reply):
Wow, impressive. You write your own “rules,” enforce them however you like, break them when it suits you — and then hide behind them like they’re the Constitution. Bravo.

Let’s be real: Thumbtack isn’t a platform, it’s a high-priced slot machine full of empty promises, where pros pay $20–$40 not for clients, but for ghosts. And when they dare to ask questions, you “feel sorry” and drop a link to your circus policy.

This isn’t a business — it’s digital slavery with a fake “support small business” mask.

I’m done. And I’ll make sure others don’t even step near this so-called service.

Receipt from Wilson's Woodworking and Contracting LLC

Receipt #1895-2014



Amount paid
$350.00

Date paid
Jun 18, 2025, 4:47:01 PM

Payment method
Visa - 9007




Summary






Non-refundable payment for handyman 06/19/2025 at 10am $350.00




Amount paid $350.00






climate Wilson's Woodworking and Contracting LLC contributed 0.5% of your purchase to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.
















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You're receiving this email because you made a purchase at Wilson's Woodworking and Contracting LLC, which partners with Stripe to provide invoicing and payment processing.

Review of A2Z Hauling, Moving and Delivery (Isaiah Wilson) “Mirage” august 1, 2025
Isaiah is pleasant. In the beginning I was really impressed with him because he presented himself in professional manner, showed up on time, kept his appointments and worked fiercely to meet my needs. Because of his work ethic I hired him for several jobs. Sadly, the professionalism didn’t last. On one of the jobs he had damaged a paper towel holder, promised to replace it, said he couldn’t find one so told me if I found one, he would replace it. He was also going to do some other jobs, among them was to install a towel bar and paper towel holder in one of my bathrooms and hook up DVD and TV player. When he left for the evening, he had been paid and said he would return on that Friday, June 20th. On that Friday, however, he asked to reschedule as something just came up that he ad to attend to. I asked if he was OK, he said he was but just had lots to do that day. I said OK. He said he had next week available so I chose Monday, June 23rd. When Monday came, he asked if he could reschedule for Tuesday afternoon. He said he had lots to do on Monday. Having had 2 cancellations already I became frustrated. I texted him, “I hope you can keep the appointment scheduled for Tuesday because I have things that I need to get done.”
On Tuesday June 24th, Isaiah came in. It was sweltering heat outside 90 plus degrees. I noticed that he had driven another vehicle and I commented. He said it was his girlfriend’s car. He said she was outside. I said: “In this heat?” he said that she had a good air conditioner in the car so she would be fine. He proceeded working through the list we had agreed upon, but came short of finishing it. He said he had to get back to his girlfriend. I told him that I expected him to finish all that was on the list. He did one more job and said he would be back to finish. On Monday, June 30th, I shot him a text asking if everything was ok but got no response. On July 3rd I sent another text and asked him if he was going to finish the job. Today is August 1st still I have heard nothing more from Isaiah. I have had to hire someone else to do the job he was paid for but never finished. Now I have come to the realization that the professionalism I saw in Isaiah was just a mirage.

As a means of helping my SEO, I set up an account on TT and was absolutely hammered by emails from them telling me to get a review written by a client of mine. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal, but my goal was never to harvest a bunch of reviews from my clients. I had a client write a review and then of course that client was absolutely hammered with emails from TT trying to get him to open an account. That made me look bad to my client, so - not helpful. I paid for leads, got one that was useless and then deleted and ended the whole thing.

As a long-time professional user of Thumbtack, I feel compelled to share my growing concerns with their current business practices. While the platform initially provided some value in connecting service providers with potential clients, it has become increasingly frustrating and financially burdensome due to ongoing issues that remain unresolved.

Despite setting very specific preferences for the types of leads I’m willing to accept—such as event type, services offered, and budget range—I continue to be charged for inquiries that fall completely outside of those parameters. These include requests for services I explicitly do not offer, as well as multi-day or out-of-scope projects that do not align with my availability, pricing, or listed capabilities.

This is not only a breach of reasonable business expectations but raises concerns about the integrity of the matching system. It creates a financial disadvantage for professionals who rely on Thumbtack to deliver qualified leads within their chosen criteria. Being charged for leads that contradict one’s set preferences can be reasonably interpreted as a form of misrepresentation under standard commercial practices.

Additionally, the lack of access to a transparent and effective dispute resolution process has made matters worse. It is now nearly impossible to speak directly with anyone in the Disputes Department or escalate issues to a supervisor. The automated responses fail to address the core concerns, and the appeals process lacks accountability and fairness.

As a professional who invests significantly in Thumbtack every week, I would expect a higher level of customer service, accountability, and respect. At the very least, there should be a consistent method for addressing lead mismatches, especially when the platform’s own filters are not being honored.

While I remain hopeful that Thumbtack will reevaluate its policies and restore the quality of service it once provided, I caution other service providers to carefully consider the financial and operational implications before committing to their Pro Services platform.

No surprises here when seeing score. Every experience except one has been bad with this company. They charge the pros for leads. So if I put my project in and am recommend pros, they get charged before I even talk to them about possibly hiring them. That’s bs for the pros. I am customer and won’t do business again with Thumbtack. I’ve picked 1 out of 3 and the other 2 get charged. They get pissed at me. What kind of business model is that. I also hired a moving company that forgot an entire room of my home. They weren’t insured, bonded and no background check. Had they done one they likely wouldn’t have put them on their site. Terrible company.

BEWARE- Do NOT use this service unless you want this to happen to you: “Professionals” painted (they actually painted on the windows!) my vinyl windows closed with DRYWALL PAINT!, When they incorrectly power washed my house they damaged siding and may have caused serious mold issues underneath it, on top of all of that the job is still incomplete (said it would be done in 3-4 days; it’s been 131) yet both the contractors and Thumbtack are requesting the final payment - Seriously! Who out there thinks I should pay it? If there is one single person please let me know!!!It’s going to cost me 10x more to fix everything they have ruined- trust me I only listed the tip of the iceburg! Thumbtack and Home Pro should never be allowed to be in service again!!

I will not use Thumtack ever again. They charge you fees for work that is out of state if you're not licensed in a state; they should not charge you for jobs that come to you in that state. If you're not a contractor and you're looking to have work done, you should know they charge $50 to $150 for your lead, so when you don't reply it costs the company money

They deactivat my account , not paying back my leads I paid for . and no one in the compeny seems to help reactivating the acount .. its more then 2 weeks and no one to help .. they took more then 500$ on leads that I can't access and not relavent any more ..there customer support is not helping .. thumteck please connect me