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My Experience with HomeAdvisor aka Service Magic

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SDUSA

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
A long time ago I got a call from ServiceMagic. I assumed when I registered my business, they checked some database and found new businesses. The rep seemed a little pushy wanted to get "me to do myself a favor". I was kind of excited upfront. I spoke with people I know in the business - and other businesses and got horrible feedback on Service Magic. Long story short, I gracefully told them of my feedback from others, he said they were aware of it and working on changing that and tried to get me to sign up. I didn't bite. For weeks, he would call 2-3x a week, I would simply ignore the calls.

Its now been a year and I forgot their phone number. I got a call and answered it. Heard a girl laughing and joking on the other side with her friend about cookies and baking. I had to interrupt her conversation and ask for who is calling. She goes through another script and says its HomeAdvisor. I can give you work and leads, the leads are hot you have to get on them asap. I asked her if HomeAdvisor was previously SM, she said yes. I gave her the walkthrough of my feedback. She said my people don't know what theyre talking about - am I going to take someone else's word for it? I told her these guys have been in the industry 25+ years and I work with them for a living. She promptly told me I shouldnt take marketing and lead gen advice from others and hung up the phone on me.

Looks like new lipstick doesn't change the same old pig.

Anyone else with experience with them - good or bad?
 
#3 · (Edited)
SDUSA said:
A long time ago I got a call from ServiceMagic. I assumed when I registered my business, they checked some database and found new businesses. The rep seemed a little pushy wanted to get "me to do myself a favor". I was kind of excited upfront. I spoke with people I know in the business - and other businesses and got horrible feedback on Service Magic. Long story short, I gracefully told them of my feedback from others, he said they were aware of it and working on changing that and tried to get me to sign up. I didn't bite. For weeks, he would call 2-3x a week, I would simply ignore the calls.

Its now been a year and I forgot their phone number. I got a call and answered it. Heard a girl laughing and joking on the other side with her friend about cookies and baking. I had to interrupt her conversation and ask for who is calling. She goes through another script and says its HomeAdvisor. I can give you work and leads, the leads are hot you have to get on them asap. I asked her if HomeAdvisor was previously SM, she said yes. I gave her the walkthrough of my feedback. She said my people don't know what theyre talking about - am I going to take someone else's word for it? I told her these guys have been in the industry 25+ years and I work with them for a living. She promptly told me I shouldnt take marketing and lead gen advice from others and hung up the phone on me.

Looks like new lipstick doesn't change the same old pig.

Anyone else with experience with them - good or bad?
Click to expand...
My experience with them has been sensationall! I have been with them since September of 2010. I have accumulated 156 reviews, making me the highest in the number of testimoinals since.

In sum, ask yourself what is it that is bad about their service? Many contractors have complained about the quality of the leads... I didn't have that problem whatsoever. Yes, its the internet and at times you get leads with non-working numbers. However, I had tremendous success in getting credit back for those leads. In fact, the representative is able to verify the wrong number on the spot and grant an instant credit.

Other complaints i heard is that leads are offered to other contractors. Yes, its true... its offered to 3 other contractors. If you have a mixture of salesmanship and the ability to respond to the lead quickly, you'll be just fine. My conversion rate on the leads that i receive has been greater than 67% since the inception of my account. That said, some months were as high as 80& while other months were as low as 37 to 40%.

In the final analysis, its the ROI on your monthly budget that matters. How much are you bringing in on the leads that youre spending? I have done quite well!

I'd love to discuss my success with them in depth if you like.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
 
#4 · (Edited)
Metro M & L said:
If you spent twenty to fifty million dollars building a brand over three years and then decide its time to start over and create a new brand what does that tell you?
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There is no evidence that their name change is indicative of any business trouble... In fact, in addition to their superb internet exposure (highly optimized site), they have luanched an national TV campaign which is bringing more leads than ever!

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
 
#6 ·
jackmd1 said:
There is no evidence that their name change is indicative of any business trouble... In fact, in addition to their superb internet exposure (highly optimized site), they have luanched an national TV campaign which is bringing more leads than ever!
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Well Jack, your only participation in this website that I have been able to find is defending the HA SM switch and the lead gen model. It's pretty obvious you're an employee or affiliate of HA/SM.

You know the government always says that there is no evidence of x, y or z right before all the bs is exposed and they have to admit to everything they lied about.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Metro M & L said:
Well Jack, your only participation in this website that I have been able to find is defending the HA SM switch and the lead gen model. It's pretty obvious you're an employee or affiliate of HA/SM.

You know the government always says that there is no evidence of x, y or z right before all the bs is exposed and they have to admit to everything they lied about.
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LOL...LOL... No, I'm not an emp;loyee nor do I endorse HA. I'm just a contractor with a very successful business profile. You may verify this fact by contacting them at 1877-947-3639.

I will continue to stand by and defend HA so long as i know their SEO business model works...and yes, it works!

Let me know if you need other questions answered. I'd love to assist you succeed too with HA if you like.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
 
#8 ·
jackmd1 said:
LOL...LOL... No, I'm not an emp;loyee nor do I endorse HA. I'm just a contractor with a very successful business profile. You may verify this fact by contacting them at 1877-947-3639.

I will continue to stand by and defend HA so long as i know their SEO business model works...and yes, it works!

Let me know if you need other questions answered. I'd love to assist you succeed too with HA if you like.
Click to expand...
Yeah, well one success story out of 100's of thousands losses does NOT make a company successful or trustworthy!

My experience was the same as metro's. So was everyone else's I know.

Glad you had a success. Guess the rest of us just aren't skilled enough.....
 
#9 ·
svronthmve said:
Yeah, well one success story out of 100's of thousands losses does NOT make a company successful or trustworthy!

My experience was the same as metro's. So was everyone else's I know.

Glad you had a success. Guess the rest of us just aren't skilled enough.....
Click to expand...
I thank you and respect your comment; I have colleagues whose experience with HA did not pan out either. But, i do know that their network of contractors is approximately 78,000 contractors. In other words, they have that many registered contractor profiles.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
 
#10 ·
jackmd1 said:
I thank you and respect your comment; I have colleagues whose experience with HA did not pan out either. But, i do know that their network of contractors is approximately 78,000 contractors. In other words, they have that many registered contractor profiles.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
Click to expand...
I think there are more than 78k who canceled on this website alone.
 
#12 ·
Its not the paying for leads aspect that im against. I would possibly do that, its all the other horror stories about them trying to poach leads from the customer using their info with SM's phone number, on media that isnt SM's.

Stuff like that, im sure there is more of it, is a major turn off.

If it was just, we have a site, people contact us, we sell leads. Ya ok fine. But hell no with all the other crap.
 
#13 ·
SecuritySystems said:
The bastards actuactually resell the leads until a customer closes the lead. Its not just the three to start. But ya.. definitely works for some trades.. not all.. that's for sure..
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I think that is the key, if you want to do $250,000 bathroom remodels that customer probably won't find you through HomeAdvisor.

A replacement contractor could do well with their lead though.
 
#14 ·
JBM said:
Its not the paying for leads aspect that im against. I would possibly do that, its all the other horror stories about them trying to poach leads from the customer using their info with SM's phone number, on media that isnt SM's.

Stuff like that, im sure there is more of it, is a major turn off.

If it was just, we have a site, people contact us, we sell leads. Ya ok fine. But hell no with all the other crap.
Click to expand...
I have no evidence of them continuing to sell leads after the leads have closed. Customers always tell me that they had just placed the leads. In fact, i answer the leads within 2 minutes after i receive them on my text... The customer is amazed as to how quickly i respond to their calls. Therefore, the lead could not have been sold from a previous transaction.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
 
#15 ·
jackmd1 said:
My experience with them has been sensationall! I have been with them since September of 2010. I have accumulated 156 reviews, making me the highest in the number of testimoinals since.
Click to expand...
I would venture to say Market area plays a huge role in experiences. Glad they are working for you. Personally they're on my sh*t list for other ethical reasons, hence I won't even give them the time of day for business reasons.
* I need not disclose my 'reasons' as they're strictly my personal choice.
 
#17 ·
jackmd1 said:
I have no evidence of them continuing to sell leads after the leads have closed. Customers always tell me that they had just placed the leads. In fact, i answer the leads within 2 minutes after i receive them on my text... The customer is amazed as to how quickly i respond to their calls. Therefore, the lead could not have been sold from a previous transaction.

www.superiorhomesolutions.net
Click to expand...
I called people instantly as well. I talked to one person (one of the few that actually picked up the phone) and they said I was the tenth person who called them that morning. Sm sold bogus leads and resold the leads that were garbage to begin with everybody who made it through the recession knows this. I just think its entertaining to rehash this debate with a new pr plant and its good for those who are new.

Riddle me this jack, why was there an entire section devoted to service magic on this site and why did 99% of the contrators feel they got ripped off and canceled they're affiliation with sm.

And please dont fall back well its not the same old sm now its home advisor... That would kind of prove my point wouldn't it.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I just took a gander at the source code and domains jackmd1 site is pulling javascript from. One of them is servicemagic(dot)com. I smell a rat cloaked in deception. I have a feeling this guy is a promoter behind the scenes plant....Just my opinion.
 
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