Does anyone use HomeAdvisor?
- Thread starter Silas
- Start date
arborcareman
New member
- Location
- ILLinois
Personally......I hate that place!!!!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
This was my second year. Mid year I called and told them to cancel it - I'll just surrender the annual subscription fee. Probably 4 out of 5 leads were just bad leads...people wouldn't return phone calls, didn't actually want service, etc...but those leads still cost money. So at that point it was good money after bad. IF I could get on site, had a pretty good record closing sales with HA requests...they were just not good leads.
Then a customer service rep called and said since I've already paid the annual subscription fee they could still list the company on their website and just not direct leads to me. I've gotten maybe 8-10 calls that I know of, maybe a couple more from that who were good leads. That has been worthwhile - so I may pay the annual fee next year and tell them to not send me leads.
Worth noting, I am in a smaller market and most leads I was the only one they were sending the lead to...
Then a customer service rep called and said since I've already paid the annual subscription fee they could still list the company on their website and just not direct leads to me. I've gotten maybe 8-10 calls that I know of, maybe a couple more from that who were good leads. That has been worthwhile - so I may pay the annual fee next year and tell them to not send me leads.
Worth noting, I am in a smaller market and most leads I was the only one they were sending the lead to...
Last edited:
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
They wanted to give me a lead on a stump removal, half an hour away. Yay! (insert sarcastic emoji).
Get good signs on your trucks, easy website name to remember. Skip clever/ incorrect spellings that are confusing. Do good work.
Home Advisor is good at making money for Home Advisor.
Get good signs on your trucks, easy website name to remember. Skip clever/ incorrect spellings that are confusing. Do good work.
Home Advisor is good at making money for Home Advisor.
arborcareman
New member
- Location
- ILLinois
I second ATH !!
It was a waste of time with stupid leads that other morons went on who were less expensive than myself.
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It was a waste of time with stupid leads that other morons went on who were less expensive than myself.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
If I was getting beat on bids, I'd have been somewhat OK with it. The homeowners just were not returning calls - even if I'd call immediately when the lead came in.
Definitely more "price shoppers" than my "normal" clients who are generally shopping first for quality...but I've been able to close enough sales. I haven't found most are bottomed dollar ignoring quality type people...I think they are using Home Advisor because they don't want the hack that their brother's neighbor's friend said would prune the trees cheap as long as they'd pay cash and a case of beer upfront.
Definitely more "price shoppers" than my "normal" clients who are generally shopping first for quality...but I've been able to close enough sales. I haven't found most are bottomed dollar ignoring quality type people...I think they are using Home Advisor because they don't want the hack that their brother's neighbor's friend said would prune the trees cheap as long as they'd pay cash and a case of beer upfront.
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
I don't disagree with any of that and am not going to defend Home Advisor...but you can set where the leads come from. Of course if within your zip code is still 30 minutes away, then you can't change that. I imagine it would be tough to justify for just stump removals...
flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
Run... run as fast as you can in the other direction. Bad leads, wrong clientele, big moneys out and not s very good ROI. We had huge outlays of time estimating jobs that were never intended to be completed, driving around, sitting at the computer writing emails, following up on estimates. Waste of time and money.
At its peak we had it turned down as far as we could and were still getting 15 leads a week and there was no way to manage it. 10 called back, 7 got appointments for an estimate and I would be lucky to get a $350 job out of all of it!
Did I say RUN! We canceled just before a year so they didn’t get our membership again.
At its peak we had it turned down as far as we could and were still getting 15 leads a week and there was no way to manage it. 10 called back, 7 got appointments for an estimate and I would be lucky to get a $350 job out of all of it!
Did I say RUN! We canceled just before a year so they didn’t get our membership again.
Overall it was a bad experience for me but I am still glad it was there when I very first started out, got some decent jobs and clients. Probably better ways to spend your money though even google adwords has got to be better. Each market is different though ymmv.
arborcareman
New member
- Location
- ILLinois
Elaborating...
They suck !
1) They would send leads out of the area I allocated-I would attempt to fight them on the charges and still the charges stayed.
2) Getting the stupid leads-I would be the 5th person looking at the job.
3) I would get another stupid lead and I’d make contact within a hour only to find out the job was already awarded to someone !
(My list is longer)
I’d fight them on these things, telling them it’s a bunch of crap [emoji90] only to get nowhere with that stupid Organization !!
As stated already....RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND DON’T EVER CONSIDER SIGNING UP !!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They suck !
1) They would send leads out of the area I allocated-I would attempt to fight them on the charges and still the charges stayed.
2) Getting the stupid leads-I would be the 5th person looking at the job.
3) I would get another stupid lead and I’d make contact within a hour only to find out the job was already awarded to someone !
(My list is longer)
I’d fight them on these things, telling them it’s a bunch of crap [emoji90] only to get nowhere with that stupid Organization !!
As stated already....RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND DON’T EVER CONSIDER SIGNING UP !!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
Yeah...if I was not the only one getting the leads out would have been real tough to not cancel. I return calls very quick, but it is often a week+ before I can get out to make a visit.
Out of area leads they should have refunded. That the owner already hired somebody else before you called...that is the risk of the game they play.
As said above, I have found the paid leads to be a complete waste and would not recommend that. Annual subscription.that lists the company on their website. Not great...but worlds better than yellow pages and not very expensive. That is the only way I'd use their service.
Out of area leads they should have refunded. That the owner already hired somebody else before you called...that is the risk of the game they play.
As said above, I have found the paid leads to be a complete waste and would not recommend that. Annual subscription.that lists the company on their website. Not great...but worlds better than yellow pages and not very expensive. That is the only way I'd use their service.
It seems to have gotten a little better but for awhile HA and similar services ate up a lot of the top spots in local search results for "tree service" etc. Local business is supposed to get preference but these guys keep getting on the first page. HA, thumbtack, Angies list, etc. With silly claims like "choose from the top 10 tree services" as in the 10 people who give them the most money....
I have recently started viewing my local "nextdoor" page, we have gotten a fair bit of business from this site on referrals and I know some other arbs who get a lot more than us from this source. Modern day word of mouth I suppose. Still, there are ads for HA on this site as well, specifically for tree workers. It must be effective because they keep running the ad for months, I feel bad for the people who pay money to a leads service, homeowners and providers alike, there are better ways!
I have recently started viewing my local "nextdoor" page, we have gotten a fair bit of business from this site on referrals and I know some other arbs who get a lot more than us from this source. Modern day word of mouth I suppose. Still, there are ads for HA on this site as well, specifically for tree workers. It must be effective because they keep running the ad for months, I feel bad for the people who pay money to a leads service, homeowners and providers alike, there are better ways!
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
Homeowners don't pay for HA. I think it would be a better service if they did pay a small fee.
I got a couple jobs off of Nextdoor. I think it is modern day word of mouth. When I see an ask for tree service, I'll private message the one who asked with a "soft sale" offer to come have a look. Usually a few clients put our name there as a recommendation and I think that works together to help.
Agree that Google has gotten better about directing traffic to local, but I'm sure that HA, Angie's List, etc... have several full time SEO people constantly trying to keep up with the new algorithms.
I got a couple jobs off of Nextdoor. I think it is modern day word of mouth. When I see an ask for tree service, I'll private message the one who asked with a "soft sale" offer to come have a look. Usually a few clients put our name there as a recommendation and I think that works together to help.
Agree that Google has gotten better about directing traffic to local, but I'm sure that HA, Angie's List, etc... have several full time SEO people constantly trying to keep up with the new algorithms.
Raven
Branched out member
- Location
- Northwoods
Leeches - trying to suckle money out of the middle of a transaction. Same with Thumbtack and sorry to say Angies List too. They all offer the homeowner the BEST and CHEAPEST service when they know nothing of quality tree work or appropriate pricing. A smart homeowner will stay away from these so called 'services' and do their own research. Most folks using these are just tire kickers with an internet connection. I assume there have been one or two good experiences so I apologize for the bashing but in general I would just say NO!
ThatsNotMaple
New member
- Location
- South Jersey
Just to pile onto the "don't do it crowd" I will give a short account of my experience with HA.
They called trying to solicit their services. We weren't interested, as we are more interested in growing organically and using other online marketing tactics. The salesman persisted, at which point our secretary told them we would not be using them no matter what they told us. He then got nasty, said he was going directly to a competitor, and then hung up.
We then received an e-mail saying that we never gave him a chance and that he was bringing his "26 leads" to a direct competitor.
Good riddance.
They called trying to solicit their services. We weren't interested, as we are more interested in growing organically and using other online marketing tactics. The salesman persisted, at which point our secretary told them we would not be using them no matter what they told us. He then got nasty, said he was going directly to a competitor, and then hung up.
We then received an e-mail saying that we never gave him a chance and that he was bringing his "26 leads" to a direct competitor.
Good riddance.
- Location
- Omaha NE
Were you able to cancel?
ATH
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Findlay, Ohio
Yes. But rather than a "full" cancel I let them keep the company posted on HA. So visitors can see my company info, but I don't get calls for leads. I can block those for 3 months at a time. I still yet a couple calls a month. More than the yellow pages for less $. I think it works because there are no other tree companies on HA here.
I may renew it doing that next year. Won't do the pay per lead thing anymore...
But to answer you question, if I said just cancel it all, they would have...but no partial refund of annual subscription/membership
I may renew it doing that next year. Won't do the pay per lead thing anymore...
But to answer you question, if I said just cancel it all, they would have...but no partial refund of annual subscription/membership
