ServiceMagic? Should I Join? I am a professional Handyman!
What can I expect if I enroll with ServiceMagic as a professional?This article can answer that in complete detail. I have joined ServiceMagic and can share my experience of how it went. First of all I am not disgruntled or angry nor do I have it in for anyone or company. These are reviews created with the purpose that if someone does a search for information on any company they are considering to work with, they can get the reliable truth through actual experience from the review writer. This is not a biography on ServiceMagic just a review. The concept is market the web for those who need things done and those who can do it, this is primarily in home improvement and construction. ServiceMagic has a large staff, these people will be needing to get paid every week and they would like that to be good pay. If you join ServiceMagic those staff members will get paid, but by you!! After you are approved (background check and confirmed insurance depending on your state laws) you will then give over your checking account number to ServiceMagic and they will then pull your enrollment fee of around $46, you’ll set up a profile and put in all your information and will become a pre-screened ServiceMagic professional. Service Magic controls top results for many related keywords to getting stuff done around the house, keywords used by everyday people on Google and other search engines. Their staff has expertly optimized their website and it’s campaigns, with top search results plus ppc campaigning the company can produce quite a bit of traffic. They call their traffic “leads” and be aware of how it is buying leads from any company, you have no way of knowing that leads quality. How does leads marketed by ServiceMagic get to you the professional? You pay for them, anywhere from 12 to 50 dollars, the average being 17.50 per lead. Here is a typical example and what actually happened while I was a member: I would receive a call by the automated bot that informs me a customer has inquired my particular service (one by which I chose out of many) The bot basically says: “you have a new lead brought to you by service magic, for…” and then it goes into the category that was picked by the customer and the bot reads off some of the other information. Now you should call that customer right away and hope they wont waste your time, I say it like that because most of them will!! Then If the customer doesn’t complain that their phone is ringing off the hook from all the ServiceMagic professionals in the area that just called them besides you; you set up a time to meet them to see their project. The ServiceMagic website tells these people to get at least 4 estimates so when you get to their house they do not intend to just give you the work, resulting in a waste of time, gas, and the cost of the lead. You may convince them that you are perfect for their project and with luck they may just call you back instead of all the others that they talked to. Yes, all the others that listed in the category same as you will pay also and be wanting that work from that customer! Another way to see this is: Someone wants a tile job done and uses the ServiceMagic website, the system will call out to all that match the criteria in that area charge them all the preset price per lead for tile flooring and a bunch of almost wild animals come running, the folks have all that to choose from and they will choose based on things that impress them but not determine who is actually best because impressions are crafted and made up. Things from ServiceMagic to be aware of:
You can expect extreme competition as even if you are first to a lead the people are taught not to go with you until they talk to others. There is an average but that average comes with tons of grief and fierce competition, consider this, all the pros are paying the staff and CEO at ServiceMagic their wages just so they can go and almost literally fight over a given job and many are small with little money to be earned to begin with!! The people at ServiceMagic were some nice and some not-so-much, I had one support member snide at me and tell me I needed to be more bold with the customers when I get a lead, she also made me feel bad by saying I am doing something wrong not to be getting more jobs from the leads. But I had nothing wrong with me and I am very professional, they just defend their system no matter what you tell them, and determine that there might be something wrong with you. In my expert opinion The Service Magic system is not good for the little guy starting a business, there are much better ways. For larger companies and contractors they may not mind the cost and use ServiceMagic to fish out other supplemental projects. I recommend using money you would pay to leads for doing your own advertising in the newspaper and direct marketing, this way you will get leads that your ad payed for and with no one else beating you to it, a much higher average of getting the work. You would be paying this anyway if joined to ServiceMagic but instead it is all for you and not a network!! This review by: Jon Fox owner of www.thisaintwork.com and waystoearnmoney.net Get your own Website for your Business[JPF & Associates Professional Affordable Website Design] Like to set up a Handyman or Contractor company website of your own? Get a professional website built to your liking! Contact Us Here and let us know you would like to set up your own handyman or contractor website. After we recieve your inquiry you will be contacted to get the details of your new site, you will be given a choice of whatever package is best for you. The packages consist of basic to premium sites that are search engine optimized. The latest example below is showing up on page one of Google for its key phrase and receives over 9100 impressions locally, per month on Google. This is just a small sample of what we can do for your local business, and we offer ongoing support to your new website. You will never find a better price either so go ahead an contact us today! Click Here to see our latest example and satisfied customer..
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I used Robert Jordon Services (3102 Julian Drive, Raleigh, NC 27604, 919-250-8038) to remove my Masonite siding and replace it with Hardi Plank. Robert Jordon Services also painted the new siding.
I was more than pleased with the quality of his work, the time to complete the job, and the cost. We interviewed four local contractors prior to selecting Robert Jordon and were impressed with his knowledge of the job and his willingness to sign and date a very detailed cost estimate. Robert was very professional and very accommodating.
We found Robert Jordon Services through Service Magic.
Hi James,
I’m sure you have found a great company through ServiceMagic, after all I was a great company who had some awesome reviews written about me on the site, Howard Gordon put up a testimony much like what you are saying about Robert Jordon Services, about my services when I solved a huge major leak over at his high-end home in Florida. This Review ServiceMagic Review site is to help potential sign-ups to SM that are about to maybe become a professional. Professional is what ServiceMagic calls the ones that sign-up to take their leads.
This review is to shed light on the system in place, and what they can expect if they sign on to pay weekly to leads coming in from SM. It is to show what to expect for anyone who is thinking about registering and paying the ServiceMagic people, and has nothing to do with how good the companies working for SM are.
I found good customers using service magic.
this site is a scam
Hi Scott,
This site is a review, a true and honest review, not a scam. Don’t belive I had anything to do
with servicemagic? Or think the reviews I wrote didn’t happen….? That’s up to you, but everything
in this review is an actual account on what happened. Some companies may find the service helpful
but as an individual starting with zero capital and paying insurance, SM cost me more than I earned and the
headaches were an added bonus to my loosing money….check the review again, it says this can happen to
some and that you may be better off just running a nice ad or two for the same money.
Jon Fox
Handyman
Webmaster/Internet Marketer
SM might be good for customers looking for contractors but NOT for contractors enrolled with SM.
We pay for leads that we NEVER have a return back!!! most of the leads that I pay for, I can NOT reach the customer. They dont answer the phone call, dont return phone calls, dont answer e-mails, etc.
If you are a contractor, DONT FALL INTO THIS!!!!
you will pay a lot of money for leads that you will not have a chance to bid!!!
I DONT RECCOMEND SM AT ALL!!!
Great information Jon. I recently discovered SM and have been considering using them for lead generation. I operate a small carpet cleaning and upholstery business and I am constantly looking for ways to let people know I exist. That idea of paying some company for non-targeted leads whether you close or not with the customer will kill your profit. I am already spending considerable time, money and gas providing estimates on potential jobs.
Thanks for the insight.
Derek
Hi Derek,
It cost money to run ads, like newspapers, phonebooks, direct mail etc. but at least you know that every call you will receive is a lead that you generated yourself. This means no-one else will be running to your potential customer from that lead. That is the biggest thing I couldn’t stand with SM, I had to wonder if I will get chosen from the lead and pay for it even if I do not. Try advertising to some Insurance companies as they are not affected by the economy, and there is always someone getting their floor flooded out and putting up for a claim to get it re-done. All in all, I did better taking the money that I was handing over to SM, and just using that money to run my own ads, all calls that came in were to me only, not 6 other guys!
I canceled my service with ServiceMagic after they charged me $560, half of that money for leads were fraud leads. After I canceled my service they still charged me $42.
SCAMMING COMPANY!!!
Clients that used them, say that they will never refer them to anyone ever.
Of the $560 plus $42 that I paid SM I got 0 jobs. YES A BIG ZERO.
I had contractors tell me the same thing over and over about them.
We here in Oregon are getting together with contractor to hire an attorney to sue them and sign a petition to shut them down.
Don’t give them your hard earned money.
DO NOT bother using their website. Their customer service is far less than satisfactory and with being a providor, I am disguested with the service!
Very interesting , thanks
In reply to Jimmy’S comment,
You’re exactly correct, total scam company that have brought the same crookery to UK .
Made up leads (probably by people working for the company ),Late leads (cant follow up),leads where you cant contact people no matter how many calls you make and emails you send !! The big question is —- HOW HAVE THESE CROOKS BEEN ALLOWED TO STILL BE IN BUSINESS AFTER ALL THESE YEARS ?????? WHAT IS THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND OTHER GOVERNMENT BODIES DOING ABOUT THESE CRIMINAL COMPANIES ?? IF ENOUGH PEOPLE GET TOGETHER THEN THIS COMPANY CAN BE BROUGHT DOWN . WE NEED TO GET A LIST OF ALL PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN SCAMMED,,AND THERE WILL BE THOUSANDS !! AND PURSUE CIVIL ACTIONS IN ALL COUNTRIES WHERE “TRAGIC SERVICE ” HAVE BEEN OPERATING . IS FIRST INSTANCE REPLY HERE ALL AFFECTED SO WE CAN START TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE REPTILES !
Wow! Thanks for that comment Mike! You know this company (SM), probably slips between cracks of legal liability as it is common now-a-days for Internet based companies and others to arrange things to where now matter how much someone can see deceit and other mistreatment while operating business, they fixed it where their attorney can keep their nose to look clean.
This is exactly why I put up this site, you probably sensed the frustration when reading the post above about my experience with Service Magic..more power to you guys if you can get something done to counter this company and how they treat peoples money…or mistreat I should say. I am wondering if I should open this blog to public posts so anyone who wants to can create a post here and maybe even post some alternative suggestions for other hard working people that had the same experiences with SM…Please comment here on this page if you would like to post to this blog and write your own account of what happened with Service Magic, after I receive a few, then heck; I will open the blog. This could also give some SM personnel a chance to speak….(should they choose to), and this would be to a public face, not just over the phone to one person.
Jon
I just started with SM and a lot of this sounds familiar. I was told today that I will have to pay for a lead to which the customer did not respond to my phone calls. The first rep I talked to said that some adjustments would be made in this situation but now I’m dealing with another rep who says this is not the way it works. Seems like with the amount the of money they are bringing in ($65. in this case) they could try to see that their contractors are given a fair chance at least to submit a bid. I called another lead this morning and that person has not called back when they said they would(never a good sign). When I first got on the site
I was under the understanding that I had to accept a lead to be charged for it. Turns out the program they put me in charges for leads whether or not you accept. Luckily I got hold of them and switched to another program in which you do get to select leads before you are charged-they agreed not to charge for the leads I didn’t use through the first program-thanks at least for that. The program I am in now puts a higher price on the leads but I can’t imagine paying for every useless lead they send me. I wish there was a website service that could serve the needs of the contractors and the customers in a just way! There’s really a need for this.
Thanks for your review Dan.i was just about to get started with S.M But various people advised me to check them out first i am glad i did seems like a good scam will give them a wide birth cheers Steve.
A civil lawsuit was filed October 19, 2011 in United States Federal Court against ServiceMagic, Inc., their subsidiary Market Hardware, and Market Hardware’s CEO Brian Kraff for bad faith business practices, unfair and deceptive trade practices, unfair competition, cybersquatting, and other serious violations of law.
Thanks for that information, please come back and keep us updated here!
If you want the best options call 866-943-7817 and speak with a knowledgeable representative. You get the quickest answers this way in my opinion. ServiceMagic saves a lot of time when it comes to finding multiple prescreened contractors in your area to get the job done.
Hi Tim,
I don’t think the visitors here came to find multiple prescreened contractors. These are contractors that are either disgusted with ServiceMagic, or are searching for an honest review and found this site. So you can plug SM that’s fair, but I’m not so sure this is your best audience.
Prescreened? What exactly does that mean? They do not require license and insurance, so I cannot imagine why anyone would believe that the “professionals” in their network are any better than what you could find in a quick google search.
Actually the Pre Screening part just means that they checked references, and they choose to call all who enroll a professional, instead a worker or craftsman etc. The level of pro however is not known by ServiceMagic, that is left up to the rating system from the customers. Ideally, if you are a five stare rated person at SM then others will see that. The License and Insurance is up to the laws of the state the person works in. If you work in Florida, as I did, you are required to have a license and insurance before SM can legally work you.
Hi All
I wish I found this review of sm web site before we got ripped for our hard earned money.
Same thing here getting charged for leads that we could not get a contact with. I hadn’t thought of them just making up customers but believe that is true.
After trying to tell them over and over we can’t make contact and your still charging us -The collection agency starts hassling us -now a $150 late fee turns into a $300 fee.
Service Magic is a middle man only interested in cheating the contractor.