HomeAdvisor
reviews and complaints

Thanks for a detailed and informative post. You can check if this contractor is still with ServiceMagic by using its "screen a pro" service. http://www.servicemagic.com/screen/

I hired a terrible roofer through Service Magic and just today determined that he is still with Service Magic.

service magic took my phone number off and put their phone number on my business and put it on the internet till i busted them in the act

I am SO glad I didn't pay for servicemagic. The contractor I ended up getting for a concrete job is a total scam artist. He has changed contractor licenses every time a lawsuit is attached to his bond. He uses his different family members that have a good reputation and no bad record and creates a new company. The 10-point check that ServiceMagic does is completely ridiculous and anyone can look the info they provide for free! I will NEVER use this service again...especially since they charge the contractors for every "lead" they provide. That is completely ridiculous.

When I had a problem with my "pro" I tried to contact my "personal assistant" who never bothered to return my call. I called them and finally reached someone who was going to help me. She listed to my complaint, said she'd call the contractor and try to straighten out the fact that he didn't bother to show up when he said. Never heard from her again. Called back and left numerous messages...I give up. Contractor finally finished the job but it was definitely not done well!

We were ripped off by contractor that Service Magic recommended. Service Magic said our request for a refund was not fair or reasonable. They never have any intention of refunding any money with their guarantee - didn't even post our bad review of the contractor. They are total scam artists and should be put out of business.

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Hello Gudini -

I am sorry to hear that you are concerned about your experience with us. We do verify and screen all potential member businesses including searches for criminal convictions, sex offender registry, state-level licensing, insurance, civil judgments and others. We then collect direct feedback from homeowners through ratings and reviews.

After you are approved you have market match and exact match leads. Exact Match is an optional program where we promote our member business profiles online using different advertising and keyword matching methods. This allows the consumer to submit in a localized search and choose professionals they would like to hear from.

I would like to discuss your concerns and frustrations further in detail and answer any questions you might have. You may contact me directly at [protected] or mblack@servicemagic.com.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to speaking with you.

Mandy Black

I was thinking about using SM. But if they are anything like cal finders. I think I will pass. I used cal finders and they took out over a $1000.00 out of my account before I ever got a lead. Then it took a few weeks to get it back. They said they had a accounting screw up. I finding out that most of these companies are scams. Don t waste your money!

Servicemagic is a scam on contractors. We signed up, got zero contracts out of it, and tons of leads not even in our service area that they refused to give credits for. We had to stop our credit card to get them to stop taking money. Now they are trying to get us into collections for more BS leads.

service magic is ###ing horrible! Im a fully licensed and insured contractorwho has been on service magic 2 times and got screwed both times...I should have never signed up again. They drain your bank account with ### leads andthey dont screen possible customers.. All leeds i received were just people browsing the web site for something to do and were not even interested in having any work done.. Service magic takes money from from contractors for this and wont refund.. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DONT GET ###ED BY THESE ### HOLES!

Yeah, that sounds like a scam to me. And when I say that I mean a dangerous one. Why would anyone believe those outlandish claims?

Service Magic is bad for business. Turn off your lead option every week or it turns on by its self. They wanted me to go to jobs that my trade doesn’t do and still charged me for them. When they sent me e-mails to give a customer a bid I would call the customer and they said that they have enough companies coming out to bid and don't need anymore. I called customer service and they still charged me. I am now on a mission to call all the companies on there site or email them about what happened to me. If you are a co worker of service magic you are not going to talk crap about the people who are paying your bills so you really do not have any say in the matter. Until you are a business owner and not an employee then you can talk. Word of mouth for my company killed service magic Leeds and I will continue to let my new customers know about this unexceptable behavior. This company does not represent the American business owner to me but that’s for you to decide.

Your site is nearly impossible to use to validate a professional. If you don't review them before you request a quote, there doesn't seem to be anyway to get back and later validate/review them. I'm highly disappointed in your service.

@ joe Moise

This would make sense in an ideal world, where everyone calls you for work, but when you need leads, but have vultures like Service Magic, hijacking your company name and replacing your number with theirs, even after canceling the service, this can become a challenge! Take them to court? Hardly! Service Magic is part of a vast enterprise of internet businesses owned by some mega corporation and enough money to string you along for decades, bleeding your time and money away...

A good way to eliminate alot of the frustration with the interpretation of the services provided in a lead service like this, would be ONLY pay for leads where you actually get the job. Charge a % of the contract agreement which would be fair to the service provider as well as the contractor. It would give the service provider more incentive to actually make sure the homeowners are serious and not wasting the contractors time and money. It's a shame this country is in such a shambles job wise that every body and their brother has to resort to becomming a contractor to try and make a living. It leaves vultures like Service Magic the opportunity to cherry pick bank accounts.

Good afternoon ARGFL –

I am sorry that you are frustrated with us and would like to get a chance to discuss what kind of problems you are having with us. You can contact me directly at 303.963.8066 or e-mail me at mblack [at] servicemagic.com.

Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you.

Mandy Black

Good afternoon ARGFL –

I am sorry that you are frustrated with us and would like to get a chance to discuss what kind of problems you are having with us. You can contact me directly at 303.963.8066 or e-mail me at mblack [at] servicemagic.com.

Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you.

Mandy Black

If you are a contractor that has had problem with ServiceMagic, I would enjoy speaking with you. Why? I am the owner of an appliance repair company that is having problems with this company of thieves. E-mail applianceguy@stopdryerfires.net.

ServiceMagic is a great company of whom use picky shoppers know this is our best bet to get a quality professional. Going to court for $50 give me a break ! SM is Legit and above comments are from other companies trying to hate. So WTF ever !

Servicemagic is an unwanted expensive middleman adding no value to the contractor - consumer relationship. Contractors pay stiff fees to join, and for every "lead" provided, whether they get the gig or not. Information about contractors is scanty and inaccurate - many are not there for long, and pass on their bad experience to the end customer.

I was approached to be a contractor in a cold call. The salesperson was aggressive and scripted, I wasn't interested, but kept getting repeat calls. My first question kept getting circumvented, simply: "How much does this cost?" The price structure was ludicrous. For most people on either side, there are direct ways of getting in touch with each other - all much cheaper and more satisfying. SM does not provide more customers to your market, or more contractors... All they do is give contractors willing to PAY a little extra edge in reaching lazy, less informed customers - and these are not necessarily GOOD customers.

The insult on top of this is that I was added to a spam mailing list immediately after declining. 3 or more emails per day - not branded with servicemagic's name, but anonymously offering contractors for a variety of services. They all resolved through a link bidding system to Servicemagic! I was getting additional spam from these same illegal marketers. Servicemagic had no website unsubscribe page, or department to deal with this. I finally contacted a public relations person who said she would stop this flow (they were evading my fairly aggressive spam filter). No luck. She claimed 3rd parties were not following "their rules". Uhhhh hello! So don't pay them!

The pressure of the economy I think has pushed them to more aggressive and unethical behavior to support their huge infrastructure - financed entirely by contractors passing on their fees to customers. Sad. Do whatever you can to make sure this leech business model does not survive!

I got both an unsolicited call and email from these folks today. They are both now in my spam folder (got to love Google Voice). Why are they marked as spam? It was unsolicited, the person leaving both messages had the attitude that I wanted to, nay, NEEDED to hear from them, and because what they are offering is as worthless.

The messages belong in the same folder as those emails telling me how much women want their men to produce gallons of more seminal fluids during sex. They both are laughable, presume to be from "experts" who may very well be (but who cares), and they are driven only by a desire to take money from your pocket.

When I googled them this page came up just below their listing.

I've been hounded lately by these types of companies and by SEO companies. Most of them are legit but even those are hiring people at low wages that are just there for a pay check - they don't know what they are doing and don't care about the job.

Why would I trust even the smallest part of my businesses future to these folks? What kind of business person would I be if I can't find any customers on my own?

If you own or work for a company like this why not do something productive with your abilities like sell tangible goods or worthwhile services? There are far too many companies like this in the US and they are just phantoms. They're companies that exist purely to make money off of the work that businesses should be doing themselves or otherwise should not be in business.

Overall, lead generators are a better form of selling than traditional marketing. If you close one deal for every ten leads, you would lose much more money sending mailers, paying for an outsourced salesperson/telemarketer, or hiring a marketing company to accomplish these goals. If you didn't get a refund from print advertisement (newspapers, magazines, mailers) would you complain and form class action suits?! Have to spend money to make money. If you're not happy, change. Pick up the phone and call a few thousand prospects from a purchased list, or create a website to generate traffic, or whatever else you "know" that works. If it's not a referral, good luck waiting for the work to come your way.
I have been a contractor longer than I wish to realize, and I'm sick and tired of other contractors complaining about everything everyday. If you can't handle the business of owning a construction company, go back to work for one that knows how!