Service Magic Good Or Bad

belov

I tried it first about 3-4 years ago and had great success in the beginning, but slowly the leads kept getting worse and worse. Once in a great while I dabble with them every now and again. But then I remember why I quit. It is an ok service for when you first start, but you eventually get hungry and don't want to lowball any more.

years back when there was not so much competition, it was good, now; there are too many people that use it. Good for the HO but not for us

ct plumber

If your a plumber stay away,i spent more money in leads then i received work.They charged me for higher level leads such as remodeling ,when it was only a facut swap.Most of the leads were people just asking questions and didnt understand you were getting charged just so they could ask about something,its a huge game and you need a ton of time and money to keep up with SM.You also have to watch you bill daily.In 2 weeks time i got 14 leads and did 1 job for $200,it cost me $298 for the leads,i didnt even break even.I even called every lead back within 30 min of getting them,its a huge scam.

Door&WindowPlus

I use Service Magic and am happy with it. I got a Blackberry Storm so I can call and email the customer almost minutes after they request a estimate. When you wait it seems to be harder and harder to contact homeowners. If a number if bad I just call and complain and get a discount on future leads. They seem not to want to give refunds.

boomer10

We tried Service Magic for a month as I had told the rep. that I would do. We were able to land about 25% of the electrical leads. The jobs were all service call types of jobs. The customers with larger projects were just tire kickers and never heard from again. You can tell as soon as they open their mouths. If all we had to depend on were Service Magic leads, we would be out of business. Also, we had the same lead sent to us twice, (1 by the husband and 1 by the wife), and they still would not replace the lead or give us a credit. That was the last straw.
The representative for SM, I think his name was Dave, was not honest when he tried to sign us up. He told me that leads would range from $9 to $50 based on the type of lead request. The lead minimum was $13. He also never told us about the $99 sign up fee until we were going thru the telephone sign-up. That sent up a red flag and if I had listened to my gut, I would have questioned that right away or stopped the sign up process immediately, but I figured I was that far into it, so we might as well try it.
Of course, anytime someone is not completely honest with you, there has to be an underlying reason.
The money spent with them has been a good lesson learned with lead services.
I would not recommend them. They are dishonest in their dealings with contractors, case closed.

SMsupport

Boomer, I'm sorry to hear about your experience with SM. I would like a chance to talk to you more in depth about your account. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Shawn Trammell
strammell@servicemagic.com

kevjob

I will say it again for the price of 2-3 leads, I do remodel, you can have your own website and keep your contact info and probably land 1-2 jobs a month from it early on.

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Kevin
Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
Kitchen Remodeling Denver

brm1109

I just turned off my leads about 3 weeks ago. It got to the point that 98% of the leads were no good. Either couldn't contact the people or people just looking for cheap rates.
Then what really got me mad was that in 1 year they sent me about 6-8 leads that were for the wrong catorgory. Guess what, after you call and tell them they still charge you but give you "a Credit" for the future.
Even my wife said that they are a waste of time with the leads.

INTRA

I been with them for about six months. I've closed tons of leads and received all credits back
when requested. My experience with SM has been great.

handiwork LLC

I was going to use Service Magic , but after reading all the bad service I decided not to apply. What about another contractor service like Renovation experts.com Has anyone used this service?

festerized

Renovation Experts/Bob Vila
There is posting on this topic on other threads
Carful of their contract

THEHANDYMAN

If you are a HANDYMAN stay away from SM they are terrible they take all your money and don't care about you. You won't make any money at all. They are a total ripoff. Especially if you live in the DENVER area stay away from them, I think that is worse place for a HANDYMAN!
I have only been with them going on 3 years and one of these days I will cancel them, but in mean time if you are a HANDYMAN save your money. They send terrible leads some of them leads actually expect you to bid and do some work, I tell you it is just aweful.

I get a lead I try call back within a week at the earliest and some of them ungrates have already gave the job away. Worthless leads for sure.

Kenny K

How about Reliable Remodeler or Quinstreet which btw owns them

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Replacement Windows and Vinyl Siding by Illinois Remodeling Company

festerized

I have checked them all out
They either have bad reviews or a bias contract that favors them selves
SM: where do I start?
Be real careful of these contacts, “Home improvement Shopper” stated a charge of $1500.00 per category will be charged if canceled before one year agreement: x my 6 categories $9000.00 to cancel WOW
Renovation experts: Company reserves the right to change or modify any of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement at any time and from time to time in its sole discretion, and to determine whether any such changes apply to both existing or future customers. Company may make changes or modifications to referenced policies or guidelines without notice to you. Your continued use of the Services following Company's posting of any changes or modifications will constitute your acceptance of such changes or modifications.
What’s stopping Renovation experts from robbing me blind???
All of these company’s only care about selling you leads to generate their income anyway possible, fake, sold traded or whatever
Angies list company’s outline may be the future: Costumer must pay a small yearly fee for an estimate
In the last 6 months I asked a few questions to prospective clients on how they found me and web sites that offer free estimates, most had second thoughts of using these big companies with lots of complaints
As more and more complaints are posted on the web about these companies, the less traffic they are seeing
This is why I think Google Mapping and Angies list is are my choices

Kenny K

Thanks, I agree, you can develop leads very inexpensively through these mediums. I am using google mapping i my website puting my job adresses and pics so I can rank locally

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Replacement Windows and Vinyl Siding by Illinois Remodeling Company

A W Smith

Im hoping all my competition hooks up with service magic so they can be taken for their money, get charged for their own leads, Have their web site hijacked and redirected to service magic, beat each other up on price price price price, and be bankrupt and out of business in two years so i can continue merrily along as i have for twenty five years straight.

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Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

INTRA

Stay faaaaaar away from EVERYCONTRACTOR. They got me for $2,500 and not one lead
In ten months. Better off going to the casino and put it on black or red on roulette.

THEHANDYMAN

If I had invested $250 a month for 10 months and not 1 lead I should get took for being so STUPID!

bentheplumber

Service Magic...it is really a good service and worth th emoney IF YOU SET IT UP RIGHT!YOU HAVE TO SET UP AND PICK THE EXACT LOCATIONS YOU WANT LEADS FROM after you join.....I was getting leads far away and they were in areas i hated going to and when i called to complain they were so helpful and credited me the leads ..just ask...and then went over each town and updated all my custom preferences with the technician,but if i was better at computers could do it myself..just takes a few minutes...and now i have leads that wrote critiques and gave me almost 5 star rating so its building business fast..give it 6 months and you will see the money you spend is a fraction of what it brings,and if the lead doesnt pan out call and they work with you..Its better bet than trying to advertise in the yellow pages!7 out of 10 calls now are service majic and the other 3 are past customers...im in northern new jersey

jsilva823

Ben,
I'm originally from Bergen County also. If you could PM I wanted to talk with you about a product I am launching in the NY NJ area, or if you could email me @ jess.silva@help4thehome.com I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

JumboJack

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber