ServiceMagic

I have been with ServiceMagic for 8 years. I have a 4.9 rating with 500 reviews. I have never had an issue with them that wasn't resolved professionally and fair for both sides. These people complaining don't know how to use a referral company. It takes work. ServiceMagic can only give you the leads. If you are good, then you should be able to take it and work it into something successful. I close about 80% of all leads. It works for me. Those complaining are those failing in their own business. To work it, you must be the best of the best.

Signed up for ServiceMagic. They said they have leads for service calls, well they don't. They sell you web searches and say those are leads and they don't refund your money. They are the biggest scam.

I work for a great moral roofing company, but leads were a little slow and as being an independent contractor for the company, I wanted to bring in some extra leads. So, I contacted ServiceMagic and set up an account with them. After receiving just a few leads, I found that most of them were filled with wrong numbers and emails or came to me a week after the customer had sent in their request for a contractor.

When I asked them for credit and not to be charged for these leads that I had no chance to begin with to earn their business, I was denied the refund and given a huge line of junk about how it's the "law of averages" that their leads payoff. But if every 2 out of 3 are bad leads (i.e. wrong contact info or days after the initial request so they already had a contractor), how many leads do I have to have and earn their business to recoup the cost of these factious leads.

If you are a contractor and looking to build your business, do not use ServiceMagic! They will cost you far too much with false leads to be able to make any money if you are a consumer. From past experience (I was in the HVAC industry for many years and the company I used to work for at one time tried ServiceMagic), we found that they shotgun out the info to numerous contractors, some great and some that would be like inviting a vampire into your home and you would never want them in your home in the first place! Not happy at all with the leads or the customer service.

I checked ServiceMagic for good contractors to replace existing gutters on my house. Within minutes of completing the online questions, I received a call from Randy ** with Skytech Skylights & Gutters. He came out & emailed me an estimate. I advised him I would like for them to do the work and then the trouble began. Every time I had a conversation with anyone with Skytech Skylights & Gutters, they asked me the colors I had chosen. Randy and I had discussed this at length and I had made my choices. But no one seemed to have that information.

Finally, Mark Stroud, owner of the company, came out & they put up the gutters but they were the wrong color. He painted them the color I wanted so I thought it would be okay. We had leaf guards on the old gutters but it turned out I got no leaf guards on my new gutters. Unfortunately, I had already paid Mark what he said it would cost. I thought it was a little high but went ahead & paid him. In checking my emails, I found I was charged $191.66 more than I was quoted and I didn't even have leaf guards. I then emailed Mark about this and told him I would like to have the leaf guards & based on the higher amount I had paid for the gutters, I shouldn't owe more than about $50-$60 more. He told me he would come out & do the work but he never did.

We had an agreed day for him to come and he came out but his employee was supposed to have had all the supplies on his vehicle and the employee never showed and Mark supposedly couldn't get in touch with him. When I called Mark & left messages, he never returned my call. I had to call him on a phone using a different number & he answered the phone. When he said he never got my messages but would come out before the weekend to do the work, he didn't come. My husband usually handles things like this but he is in the hospital for an extended stay and I had to do this myself with a very bad result. All I want are leaf guards on the gutters and it seems to be too much to ask!

I hired a contractor through Service Magic for a new fence. He finished the fence, but still had to cut two of the posts at the gate and put the caps on all posts. I made the mistake of paying in full and he never showed up to finish the job. I had given him a good review trusting that he would come back as promised to finish. Two weeks later, I called Service Magic to ask to change my review. They told me I couldn't do it, but they would. I dictated what I wanted written in the review. They assured me they would change the old review, but nothing has changed. I called again, sent emails, but nobody answers my emails and on the phone they lie by telling me the reviews was changed. They say that they do a thorough check on the contractors, but I am sure that's not true. Do not hire Service Magic contractors.

We are receiving calls from all over the country on a privately listed phone number regarding a roofing job. We never even heard of this company. Someone gave them our information without our knowledge, and there is no way to contact their customer service.

Drywall - The company we hired got paid and left the job unfinished. It looks like crap and is unrepairable.

Your first question when trying to get a contractor/service person is, "Are you this company or are you ServiceMagic?" I researched companies for new windows and new countertops. When I called the numbers listed for the companies in which I was interested online, people answered and took my personal information (phone, address, etc.). Only after they had my personal information did they inform me that they were not employees of the firms but of ServiceMagic - and then only because I demanded that they tell me the truth. I told them to forget it, but within minutes I had all sorts of people calling my house and bugging me.

Also, I made it very clear I did not ever want phone calls from some of their "suggestions," including and primarily Sears, with whom we will never again do any sort of business. They assured me only the companies I contacted first would contact me. Wrong. Sears called me 10 times before I threatened to report them to the FCC. Another company called me six times after I specifically told ServiceMagic I would never do business with them (via previous history). Of all the people ServiceMagic sicced me on, only 2 were appropriate, professional, knowledgeable and personable. The rest were completely awful in every way. Don't be fooled. Ask first, "Am I talking to company X or am I talking to some liar from ServiceMagic?"

I used ServiceMagic to find a mold remediation specialist. I needed my basement to be tested in order to get a home equity loan. Pure Energy Pro responded immediately to my inquiry. We set up an appointment for Jeremy ** to come do the mold tests. He was punctual and the tests were completed. I expected mold to be present. It was a hot, humid summer day in August and my home is more than 200 years old. The floor is dirt and the walls are granite. Mold was found to be present and in order to proceed with the loan, I contracted with Jeremy ** to perform mold removal services. The job cost is $3235. His contract specified that $2000 (cash or check, no credit card) be paid in advance. A credit card payment would have insured his work be done to my satisfaction but he didn't accept credit cards. Now, I know why.

I mailed a check on October 5, 2011. The check cleared the bank on 10/11/11. I received an email from Allen stating he was scheduling the work for 10/19 or 20 and would contact me to confirm when closer to the date. On 10/19/11, he sent an email asking, "How does next Wednesday look for you? We will need you out of the house while we are in the basement." I responded immediately to confirm that Wednesday, 10/26/11 would be fine. On 10/20, I received another email from him asking if he could come Monday or Tuesday (10/24 or 25). Again, I responded immediately to say either day would be fine and to let me know which day. I heard nothing further until the evening of 10/25 when I received an email advising me that he would be coming the next day to do the work.

Jeremy ** had $2000 of mine in his bank account since 10/11/11. He gave me vague dates for when the work would be completed and finally sends an email the night before he plans to come (a full week later than his original date to do the work without an explanation of the delay). By then, I was no longer interested in getting the loan, was not bothered by the mold in my basement as it had surely been there for the 30 years I've lived in the house, and wanted my deposit back and nothing further to do with Pure Energy Products and Jeremy **. I responded with an email asking him to cancel the work and refund the full or at least a partial refund on the deposit. There was nothing in his 11-page contract that suggested the refund was non refundable and what company demands such a large deposit up front and keeps it for such a long time before coming to begin a job.

Jeremy ** refused so I agreed to have him come to do the mold removal. His contract stated that all moldy items removed from the basement would be bagged. Nothing was bagged. It was taken from the cellar and through the kitchen to be placed in the bed of my husband's truck. After the chemicals to kill the mold were applied, Jeremy ** never returned to the job. He had two workers who came back the next day to lay plastic over the dirt floor and walls. We have an old sump pump. It is old and rusty but is reliable and worked well when necessary. It has a ball float which when water fills up in the hole the ball attached to a rod, floats up. When the ball floats up, the rod trips the switch that turns on the pump. When the ball drops, the rod drops too, turning off the pump. Allen's men covered the hole with plastic and cut a small hole in the plastic for the rod. Then they duct taped and foamed the plastic to the rod in the down position. The plastic, duct tape and foam made it so the rod would stop the ball from floating if water got into the basement and that effectively disabled the sump pump.

I expected Allen to return to do post testing to ensure the mold was gone and I intended to have him fix the problem his men created. He didn't come back and instead sent his wife whom I don't believe is a qualified mold remediation specialist. She collected samples for the post tests and took a check for the remaining $1235 for the job. Jeremy ** was now paid in full for a job that was not done satisfactorily. I contacted Allen to inform him that his work had disabled my sump pump and to ask him to come back to fix it. His first response was, "We didn't touch it." The next time I repeated the request he said, "I'm not a plumber. Call a plumber." I didn't need a plumber. The sump pump works well as long as there is no plastic sheeting and duct tape and foam all over it. I contacted his again to make the same request. This time he said, "Just cut the plastic away."

His work is supposed to be covered with the 30-year warranty. If I cut away the plastic, the warranty would be void. He needed to come back to do the job properly but he refused. After all of my arguing with Jeremy ** and his never once offering to come see the problem or to fix it to my satisfaction, I no longer wanted anything to do with him or his company. I threw away $3235 and will need a qualified specialist to come back to do the job correctly. Jeremy ** and Pure Energy Pro are punctual and reliable until he gets your money. After he has the money, he fails to deliver the service he promised. I am also angry that ServiceMagic allows its contractors to respond to reviews with lies and accusations blaming the customer for the bad job performed by a ServiceMagic contractor. A customer can only write one review and cannot reply and comment on the crap that the contractor posts in regards to his poor review.

On 4/10/2012, I contacted ServiceMagic to inquire about a carpet cleaner. I specified that two of the rooms had some spots. This was because when I moved, I had a box with shampoo. The Carpet Magic company was provided based on the description of problems. I soon got a call from a man named Michael. We scheduled the cleaning for 4/13/2012 between the hours of 1 and 3 p.m. with a 30-minute call. Michael showed up without calling at 1:07 p.m. I told him that I needed the 30-minute call. He said that he did not have another cleaning and that he was going to wait outside until I was ready. He never told me that I needed to vacuum clean the carpet.

This person came into my house, did a terrible job, and on top of that, when he came in into my house, he asked me for my credit card because according to him, he had done other work for which he never got paid because the people did not have the money. I trusted him. He got a pre-approval to do the job and I was supposed to sign when he completed the job, so he can get paid. This man did not even spend 45 minutes inside my house and when I went to see his work, it was not done. The stairs were not clean on the side. My bedroom was not done correctly. I told him that I was not satisfied and his response was that I had already signed, of which his invoice needed my second signature, which I did not sign.

He claimed that the color of the carpet showed blood or feces and that he could not give me a brand new carpet. I told him that even though I had a dog, they don't come inside my house since I have a house for them outside in the yard. He was very unprofessional and when I spoke with my bank, the charges there were duplicated. Now, I have a carpet that really smell like feces because my belief is that he used the same water that he cleaned other dogs' house with to clean mine. I have another carpet cleaner coming to my house today to clean the carpet again since the carpet smells horrible. Pictures have been taken and I will pursue this company legally. In the future, please do not endorse company such as the Carpet Magic without first getting legitimate references.

Their leads are inaccurate. Prices for leads differ greatly without rhyme or reason. There were late night leads just before the end of the day without positive outcome. Leads on computer are timed differently than the push onto my phone. However, they are always on time with drawing funds every Friday!

I had one sensor on my alarm system that needed to be repaired/replaced and I wanted a short term security monitoring contract using a cell device. Security Pros from Service Magic said they could honor both of my requests. The system failed on the second day. It has a battery failure because the technician used a receptacle that didn't have power. I called the monitoring company (Security Networks) to find out why no one called me about the failure. I was told that I didn't have an account with them. There were so many different stories about who installed the equipment and who did or didn't do the monitoring I had the system removed and stopped payment. When they came back to disconnect their system, they also disconnected all of my sensors. I would not recommend Service Pros. They do not do alarm system monitoring. They charged me $381.

I also used an HVAC from Service Magic Axiom Air Services, LLC. In 2011, I installed a new air conditioning system in late 2010 and for the second summer in a row my system wasn't blowing enough to cool the house. The technician didn't check the system for a leak. He immediately decided to use the dye detection to check the leak which requires a follow-up visit and is expensive instead of the nitrogen detection which is quicker and cheaper. Then he added Freon. I asked more than once how much he was charging for the service. He said he had to see how much Freon he used. He never checked the vents, dampers, nor did he check for a Freon leak. This guy owns a HVAC business and he told me that he's been doing this type of work for 20 years. After he was done, he charged me $473!

I was shocked, upset and I felt like he purposely got over on a woman. He tried to change the price but I declined. I will never use this company again. He's not an honest businessman. I don't believe that Service Magic checks out these services. The service providers are out trying to get whatever they can from customers. I would not recommend using Service Magic and I'll never use them again.

I had had an account with them, but they were sending me leads I didn't get or couldn't get a hold of. So I told them I was disputing what they said I owed them. They never got back with me and I started getting calls from collection companies.

Very misleading when they said you will get a credit. They only credit your Service Magic account, not your checking account. We cancelled with Service Magic because of out of area leads and information we received about the fees were incorrect.

I signed up as a health care vendor. I was charged for numerous leads where the potential client did not want our specific service or never answered the phone (most likely a fake number) or was told to never call them back or was out of our service area. I realized that I could ask to dispute these types of calls. In the end I received a $54 credit on the account. I cancelled my service and was told they would not credit my previously charged credit card. That the $54 credit was merely a courtesy and was for in house purposes only. Due to the fact I only secured 1 client over the past 5 months, I have lost more than $54. I would not recommend this referral company to a colleague.

I have used ServiceMagic successfully in the past. This time, besides the four names given to me, I started getting calls from other very aggressive contractors not on the list. No one called and they told me no one else should call. They would investigate and call me back. They never called back and the calls continue from aggressive contractors, who have only the info I provided ServiceMagic, who said they got my info off the Internet. Either ServiceMagic is giving info to more contractors than they tell you, or they have a breach and are not dealing with it. I've had these contractors go to the extent of coming to my house. This is horrendous. I won't do business with them anymore.

I used this site to find someone dependable to remodel and repair a bathroom. I had a bad experience with trying to pick my own person and figured this would be safe. Wrong! I was better off finding someone off the street. The contractor that was recommended was unorganized, the work was rushed and sloppy and not even completed on time. A thousand things were promised and very few were delivered. If you live in the Miami area and Service Magic recommends Cutting Edge Solutions, don't use them! Their contractor is a money hungry liar!

I have been signed up with ServiceMagic for about five weeks. Of the seven leads sent to me, only two have been anywhere near serious "customers". One is a broke single mom with 4 kids who just wants to know how much it will cost to have her basement built in. The other has someone already working on their bath, but wants me to give them advice as to whether it's being done right! Out of the others, one man told me where to go and hung up. One politely said she wanted everyone to stop calling and remove her number from our list. Three have never answered my calls or e-mails nor called back on my messages. ServiceMagic is a fraud.

while I don't condone Mr. Limbaugh's choice of words in the public forum of talk radio, I feel as if Service Magic simply joined the drone of political side taking. Mr. Limbaugh's comments, while uncalled for, were certainly no less inflammatory than remarks in the public arena from those such as Bill Maher, Ed Shultz, Maxine Waters or for that matter the vice president of the United States. I refused this morning to advertise with Service Magic and will refuse to deal with any other company that has handled themselves in this way. Such obvious overreaction smacks of caving to political leanings and is undeserving of any positive response.

Hardwood stairs were put down in December 2011, and by February 2012, the stairs are all lifting up. I try to get in touch with the individual to come back and fix the problem, and up until now, no success.

Just to let Fix It Fast/Service Magic know, as long as you sponsor Rush Limbaugh in any media format, I will not use your services or your affiliated providers. I am going to actively work with relatives, friends, and acquaintances to boycott all Rush Limbaugh sponsors. Lastly, wow, are you guys behind the eight ball for not getting out of this bind by now?

I have been a roofing contractor for over 28 years. After trying Service Magic for just a couple of weeks, I found that only one out of 10 leads were legitimate. The first lead I received was a non-working number. The second was a hoax performed by kids. The third lead wouldn't call us back. We received two leads that had already signed with other companies when we promptly called them. One customer refused to allow us to come out because they were looking for a remodeler, not a roofer. Five following leads could not be reached and would not call us back. After complaining to Service Magic, I was informed that they would e-mail these last five that would not call us back and see if these customers would respond. They did not.

In the mean time, Service Magic debited my account $550. I was very upset because I notified them nine days before they took the money out of my account that I had several leads that were no good. The original salesman, Andy **, just disappeared and wouldn't call me back after I signed up even though he said all I need to do was notify him with any bad leads and he would credit me. He lied. It is very difficult to get a hold of anyone at Service Magic! When you finally do reach someone, it is obvious that they are well versed on how to refuse a bad lead credit.

This is a well rehearsed scam. Stay as far away from this company as you can! I spent many wasted hours trying to contact these bogus leads and trying to get my money back. I finally had to cancel my debit card and report a claim to Visa. Service Magic had the nerve to tell me that they were scheduled to take another $165 out of my account the following week for yet even more bad leads? This should be criminal and probably is.

I am a contractor who signed up to get leads in our area. We were told by the salesman that they currently had leads for us. We received leads for areas that were hours away. These leads were either for services we do not provide or were just too far away. When we were charged for these leads, we called SM to complain and we were treated very poorly. We talked to many people and when told that someone would call back, they never did. We cancelled our account, but could not get reimbursed for all the useless leads. We spoke with many different levels of management and they still would not even consider returning the money they took from us for a service they did not provide. They stole our money and they do not care. When I would call the leads to tell them that I could not help them, they would get very annoyed. I don't blame them. Everybody makes mistakes. Only the decent companies own up to them; ServiceMagic will not own up.

Years ago our business was contacted by Service Magic offering to give pre-qualified leads for the services my company offers. In short, they charge hundreds of dollars for leads that are hundreds of miles away for "maybe" type fishing expeditions that people are requesting bids on and that are not even the type of work that we offer professional installation of. The more I contact Service Magic to tell them to take me off their call, email and fax lists, the more junk spam I get from them. I have had to threaten them with a cease and desist order to get them to stop filling my fax machine with junk leads. Their service reps are very polite but their sales staff is pushy, hateful, rude and nasty. They demand you do business with them or else.

ServiceMagic called and informed me of an online generating service. Leads were between $45 and $65 per lead. They allowed me to put a cap of $500 per month on the bill. I agreed to their terms. After the third month I got a bill for $781.80. They could not tell me why and refused to do anything about it. I disputed it on my Bank of America card but they said it would have to be a specific line item charge on my credit card bill. But it was only the amount over $500.00 I could dispute so the Bank of America said I could not dispute it. I closed the account. I would not use ServiceMagic ever again.

I am a veteran in dire need of work. In short, of all the leads I've been provided, only two have led to a contract. Approximately, 75% of the leads are for consumers that are just testing the waters and have no intention of moving forward with the work anytime in the near future. We're talking years in many cases, if at all or the consumer can't be reached, i.e. refuses to answer or return phone calls/emails. Service Magic does not give credit for these fruitless leads. So far, I have been billed nearly $1000 for the so called leads but the resulting work has been a pittance. Furthermore, Service Magic does not mention the fact that they give no credit for 'unable to contacts' or 'just testing the waters' scenarios when they make their sales pitch. I for one am going to see what the BBB has to say about this. They are preying on people that really need work and their practices are deceptive at the very least.

I'm not sure if they are a scam, but they are deceptive in their sales practices. As a contractor, I went through the phone sign up process, which includes a general terms and agreement phase. On one, I took exception to being billed up to $400.00 a month for leads. The sales representative, Ms. ** said not to worry and that they would agree to bill me for one lead a week. Long story short, they billed me $753.00 for a month and a half service. When I asked them about it, their account manager stated, "you agreed to $400.00 a month." Deceptive? You decide. Anyway, out of 17 "leads" non panned out. Most never returned phone calls or emails and when I was able to contact someone, they seemed surprised or irritated that I called.

I asked ServiceMagic if they had any tree service that would work without charge for disadvantaged seniors. I have a dead tree branch about to fall on my roof and as an 80 year old on welfare, I can't afford to have it removed. ServiceMagic knew all of this but still referred me to three companies without telling them I couldn't pay for service. The tree removal companies were extremely upset because the reference cost them $20 each (they told me this) and one man even phoned me back three times, cursing at me for a charge he'd have to pay to ServiceMagic for a negative reference. Bad stuff!

On1 1/01/2011, I engaged in a written and signed contract for remodeling of a property I own in Florida located at *** *** ave, Longwood, Florida 32750. The person who I signed the agreement with is Kevin **. This individual is a handyman who actually with other hired subcontractors did the work. He allegedly acts and contracts under the following qualifying certified contractor: Fernando **

The qualifying contractor has been unavailable and is unreachable. He has never presented himself and as far as I'm aware of has not supervised the remodeling project nor its financial matters as mandated by Florida statutes 489.1195. I did try to contact him via telephone multiple times and certified mail twice, receiving no response, even though he did receive my correspondence and acceptance was verified by the USPS. Mr. ** has received $9000 corresponding to the first two payments from the $25000 agreed on for the remodeling project and $9360 for doubtful work which in its majority was illegal and material.

Unfortunately and not trying to excuse myself, I trusted Mr. ** and his qualifying contractor who continued working without permits, all the time assuring me that they were being processed. Up to the agreed termination date 12/24/2011, he had completed more or less, at most 10% of the scope of work, breaching the terms of the contract.

Throughout the months after signing the contract and checking periodically on the progression of the remodeling, I realized that Mr. ** was not working as agreed and never was present at the premise being remodeled, eventually surpassing the due date. At this point, I started doubting the credibility and trust worthiness of this man and took a defensive stance, sending him a notification of breach of contract. Also, with no success. Once again, I requested Mr. *** an itemized list of expenses of the project.

On 12/26/2011, I was confronted at my primary residence by Mr. Joe ** a subcontractor who had worked as a subcontractor in the remodeling project I'm referring to. He informed me that Kevin ** had not paid his wages more or less in the amount of approximately $3000 as agreed upon, even though I had paid Mr. *** fully in advance to cover all labor. Same thing has happened with an electrician. Due to the these circumstances, unlicensed activity, mishandling of monies and fraud, Mr. ** contract was terminated and he was informed that he is banned from my property.

Recently under pressure from the permit department of the City of Longwood, I requested an inspection and proposal from a licensed contractor in order to ascertain the condition of the property and estimate the cost of restitution in order to meet the original contract. Informally, I was told that the costs would be in the range of $40000 or more, that 90% of the work that had been done is useless and that part of the demolition had impaired the structural fitness of the home and that urgently this had to be taken care of.

As his qualifying contractor, Mr. *** has never been present (I haven't met this gentleman) to supervise Mr. *** and other subcontractors work and has always been unavailable, he is jointly and equally responsible for the unaccountable amount of money and all grievances. Mr. ** as well as Mr. ** are also mutually culpable in engaging in illegal unlicensed work activity, which has been reported to the appropriate Florida authorities. Let me add that Mr. ** lied that he had been processing and acquiring the permits for the remodeling and as such I have been issued a citation from the City of Longwood permits department in order to address violations which could incur in heavy penalties.

As Mr. ** and Mr. ** are totally unreliable, of questionable integrity and misrepresented everything, my communication with the former is broken. Mr. ** barely responds to my emails. I consider their handling of monies at this point fraudulent and require restitution of past, ongoing and future expenses and an itemized explanation of the whereabouts of my payments. Of equal importance are the establishments of procedures and penalties so that these questionable individuals will not harm other customers. Considering Mr. Fernando ** is the qualifying licensed contractor and as such is bound by Florida Statutes, this complaint extends unto him in equal proportion.

Mr. *** and Mr. *** are also a matter of complaint in case # ****.

When I asked for a quote on painting our kitchen I was called by PaintCrew.com. When I checked the phone number it was listed no number. I also call them at ** to cancel my appointment at 1:00. The person took down my info and said due to technical difficulty they would have to call me back. Shady company!