It has been my experience, having been a business owner and licensed residential contractor since 2004, that many of these online services which seek to act as an interface for home owners and local contractors are poorly conceived, poorly managed and whose end result is mediocre at best.
Some of these online customer/contractor services have even changed their online names because of the bad reputations they have incurred nation wide.
When I first signed up with THUMBTACK.COM I knew little of what reputation they may have already acquired. I knew less about what made THUMBTACK unique in the mix of all the other online services. And as such online services are not my primary form of construction work, THUMBTACK did not immediately stand out as my attention was not focus on such online services for the same reasons I named above.
Slowly, none the less, THUMBTACK began to push threw the fog of similar online companies.
Essentially THUMBTACKs benefits are these;
1). A functional and practical online platform for contractors to present their services and links to their websites.
2). A contractor review forum which THUMBTACK verifies the authenticity by calling back the customers to ascertain that the reviews are legitimate.
3). The customer gets more than phone calls from contractors who have paid for their contact info. Rather the customer first may view the contractors online reviews, profile, portfolios and linked websites before deciding to them selves contact the available contractors. This allows the customer to make their own estimation of who they want to talk to instead of being inundated with phone calls from contractors who have paid between $35 and $75 for there phone numbers. Contractors who have paid that much for a phone number are already over invested and are expecting some thing in return. Which puts an inordinate amount of the pressure of the potential customer.
4). THUMBTACK leads can cost the contractor as much as a few cups of coffee. The benefit is a contractor who, for little financial investment, can present his or her services. And a customer who can make informed choices.
Portland - General Contractors
