Review: Service Magic(Prof Svcs)

Reviewed: Service Magic


Description: Provides online references to home improvement businesses
Review Title: Home Improvement Hunt
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: A short time ago we were interested in sprucing up our 40-plus year-old home and decided to start by replacing old, drafty single pane windows with double-pane/UV protected upgrades.

Not knowing where to start looking, I “googled” “window replacement san jose” and got a hit on www.servicemagic.com. From their site I made a variety of entries in their multiple screens and received references to four companies. These entries elicited three responses from various companies within an hour and it was all downhill from there. Estimates were made, we did a Better Business search on the companies and made our final (and very satisfactory) decision in less than two weeks.

Two thumbs up for www.servicemagic.com as a fast, efficient way to find a reputable company for home improvement. We were so satisfied with the companies they list that we’re in the process of upgrading our flooring and carpeting.


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FYI I am in the remodeling business (for over twenty years). I derive most of my leads from referalls for jobs well done. Also, I refer remodeling specialists that I know do good work in their specialty.

Service magic will take anyone with no serious complaints. They charge $50 per lead. You just made service magic $200 for your job. Three of the four retailers paid $50 for nothing since you bought off of the fourth. I am sure you are happy with your work but in the future the best remodelers won't be on a "payment for lead" service. They will be time tested and referred by other professionals in the industry. Service magic is based in Golden, CO. How much do they know about the local remodelers?

Would you find a doctor, lawyer, or other licensed professional online from a lead service too? In remodeling, it is the product that drives the job. I am a dealer of several quality products that are not avail to everyone, especially warehouse stores.

If you ever want a referal, feel free to note me. I don't make a cent from the referal and my remodeler pays me nothing, keeping all of our prices competitive. I will have seen the remodeler's work, heard the customer feedback, and the remodeler will want to make you happy so he gets referred again. I have an excellent floor man and I know he is not on Service Magic.

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Jan 22 2007, 02:26 PM

While we do recommend Service Magic as a way to find reliable businesses, we also checked out the referrals with the Better Business Bureau. We didn't just accept Service Magic's rating, although it did help weed out unsatisfactory businesses at the beginning of our search. We felt that we checked things out thoroughly before we made our decision.

We were asked to post our review on Social Wave, which we did. Each person will have different experiences. This review is just one way, yours is another.

The most important thing is to check things out first before making a final decision.

Review Title: Disappointing experience with ServiceMagic
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: I had a completely unsatisfactory experience with this service. After filling out a long-ish questionnaire about my service needs and spending time figuring out how to navigate their website, I waited for over a week for a response. The very FIRST response I received about my request was from ServiceMagic customer support, asking if I was satisfied with their service. Not a single contractor contacted me from this lead service.

When I responded to their customer service department, they just passed me around from one representative to another. They seem to have no interest in fixing the problem.

Homeowners, avoid these guys. You don't need the headache. You're better off using the good old yellow pages or a Google search.
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I was looking to have some glass block installed in the interior of my office. I stumbled upon Servicemagic.com while trying to find a contractor in my area. I was intrigued by Servicemagic's $500 satisfaction guarantee, and how they touted the 'rigorous' background check that was done on all their members. I figured that covered all the bases, and was confident in my decision to hire their referred contractor.

My confidence was totally misplaced. The contractor made a huge mess of my property (over 200lbs of wasted concrete mix all over my driveway, garage, the street in front of my office alone!), which he refused to clean up. He did a shoddy job, i.e. the block is so uneven it makes my walls look wavy. He never finished, and never returned. Completely breached the contract.

Well, surely, I thought, I can at least count on ServiceMagic's satisfaction guarantee. Nope. They have given me every possible reason why I do not qualify for the guarantee, and how they have closed the complaint. Furthermore, they have removed my negative feedback about their contractor from the contractor's profile, making it seem as if all is right with this guy (no reason to worry about that contractor, he's good!)

And that background check? Well, apparently if a contractor is also a sole proprietor, they will have a clean record with Servicemagic. Why? Because Servicemagic only does a background check on the business name. Of course, as a sole proprietorship, a business name is not a legal entity, and can't have a record. Only the proprietor can have a record. And the proprietor of the business I hired had quite a record. So much for 'rigorous' background checks!

Stay away from Servicemagic! If you have problems, you can forget about getting anything from them. Their guarantees are worthless, and what good contractors they have are overshadowed by the bad ones!!

I told you Service Magic makes money on the referral, not the work. In my opinion they are advertising for contractors willing to pay them. They will take anyone's money. Sorry for your experience.

Angie's List! And post the company complaint about that concrete contractor there! While a bit pricey, I think its useful.

Angies list does the same thing, charge the contractor for a listing/advertising. Just like 1800 dentist, They will list anyone. They make their money listing services. Who do they really work for? The company paying them.

I recommend asking people here on Socialwave.net for referrals. Pretty smart people here with lots of experience and opinions (boy do they have opinions). I am sure it will be timely and informative.

As an alternative, Go to SCC yahoo group of people, like you and me, and ask for a referral if you don't have a friend or two to ask for a referral. It is free and unbiased. No one is being paid.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCC_CAFE;

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Jan 23 2008, 10:02 AM

Review Title: ServiceMagic Sucks
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: So, since you still owe the final payment to the contractor (you were to pay him in installments a quarter of the estimate at a time), who has gone out of business ( and abandoned his home) and skipped the state owing the supply houses for the materials (that are now placed as a lien on your house even though you paid for them thru him) and has left no forwarding address, and the work is far from "quality" (oh, but it passed the county final inspection, too bad it was not raining then! You guessed it, the roof leaks) SERVICEMAGIC will not help with their “Guarantee”. AVOID them at all costs. Do not work with a sales person named Nicole Taylor. These people do not live up to any standards. And if any contractor your look into says they advertise on ServiceMagic, TURN THEM AWAY. Better yet, contact ServiceMagic and give leads, get contractors to contact you (and pay the $50 to them) and then tell them that you will not work with anyone who was recommended thru ServiceMagic. After awhile, no one will go with this sham of a company.
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Angie's list charges membership to the consumer. And it's not cheap! $60 for a year. Businesses are not charged anything, and they can't easily remove negative feedback, just a rebuttal Angie's List people
have to review.

Did anyone see the ServiceMagic ad during the SuperBowl? It was
not directed at consumers, it was directed at sales people as a way
to get more "sales leads." Commercial seemed smarmy.

As I posted earlier, I agree that Service Magic is not a company I want to be associated with.

I actually dealt with ServiceMagic when I worked for a realtor. They really wanted us to give them a try and were very persistent and kind of rude about it. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I've since read a lot about SM but I tend not to forget bad service.

So I'm not surprised by all the bad feedback here.

QUOTE (pamzella @ Feb 12 2008, 01:51 PM)

Angie's list charges membership to the consumer.  And it's not cheap!  $60 for a year.  Businesses are not charged anything, and they can't easily remove negative feedback, just a rebuttal Angie's List people have to review.

I was solicited when I looked into them. To this day they send me an invoice as if I am already advertising. Here is the number for you to call if you want to see where their real money comes from - straight from their website:

"For questions regarding advertising, please call 866-543-LIST (5478) ext. 9102 or email SalesSupport@AngiesList.com."

Where do you think they make their money? $60/lead/year or $60/month or more from companies that can advertise on queries?

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Feb 14 2008, 10:18 AM

Avoid Service magic at all costs. Especially if you are a contractor. They do not do a screening at all. I admit, i was a member for the first year i was in business. They did not check my background at all!! and i was competing with horrible shady contractors who are desperate for work due to their own bad work ethics. Service magic will not be around for long.

Leads from Servicemagic: 6% closing rate.
Leads from referrals: 85% closing rate.

I ALMOST signed up for Angie's List but found a contractor before I sent my credit card info. I guess my email address must have been on the previous screen that made it through to them because I am now on their mailing list. That's a bit annoying since I'm not a member. On the other hand, they're sending me offers to join with discounts so maybe others can try the same thing if you want to get a discount.

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Mar 2 2008, 02:36 PM

Review Title: Service Magic Falsely states
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: More honestly they charge contractors @ $250. a month to list their names on their site, then I have heard, additionally charge contractors another fee per referral, even if the referral is bogus.
They are really not much more than a \"middle-man\".
They do verify the contractors license, but this could be done very easily by going to the department of consumer protection website, in your state, where you can look up the contractor\'s license # on your own.
They are not able to verify the quality of the contractors work.
Contractors are listed because they have paid service magic the fee, not necessarily because they are quality contractors.
Many are qualified contractors, but I believe they are being overcharged by Service Magic. And I have heard complaints from customers about service magic as well.
I think its best to just deal with the contractors directly.
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Review Title: Review of Service Magic
My Rating: Thumbs Up!

My Opinion:


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OMG! Stay away from Service Magic if you are a contractor/Vendor etc. It's interesting to hear of homeowners that had a bad experience, since there are probably good vendors out there, like me. I on the other hand am the salesperson dealing with the Service Magic shopper. The one decent lead I got, never intended to use me, and I felt that way as soon as I walked in her front door. She was not the typical lead I would rush out on. Since I was paying for the lead, I had to try and make it work, even though my gut told me differently. I was correct! After spending hours meeting with the client (driving 40 mins, and wasting that precious fuel) than spending an hour figuring her job....I emailed her the quote, with all kinds of suggestions etc. She never emailed me back, never called nothing. I guess she thinks gas, time, and these leads are free. One customer I called told me the job was on hold through the corporation he works for. I had to pay for that lead! I told the gentleman, my situation and he couldn't believe I would have to pay for the lead when it could be on hold indefinitley. When I requested a credit from SM for the lead, I told them a lie, and that was, that we didn't do that type of work. Since SM checks to see if your credit request is founded, they called my customer, and he went along with my lie, so I wouldn't have to pay for the lead. Nice guy!!
Meanwhile I don't get $$ back for the lead, they just give you another crappy lead. All my leads were horrible. Most were for repair work, that we don't do. When I called on the salesman that sold me the SM contract, of course he would never return my call. The customer service was snippy at best. They told me I didn't give them a chance. Sure, I should just keep forking over the money for the leads, that they never, ever screen. Imagine calling a customer, and they don't call back. You have to pay for that lead. Imagine calling a customer, and they want a service, you don't offer. You have to pay for that lead. SM is the worst bs going on in sales leads. My company has been in business for 49 years. We thought we would try them out, it wasn't a huge investment, but then of course I was smarter to get out now before it became a huge investment!

QUOTE (Callmemiki @ Jan 22 2007, 01:04 PM)

we also checked out the referrals with the Better Business Bureau.

BBB is a nightmare to most of us vendors as well. Go read Sheldon's experience with them in one of the forums. I just tell them to leave me alone. They are always soliciting me to join and when we need them, they never earn their membership fees. They are really representing the large contractors and they don't help us small businesses.

Review Title: Contractors Beware!
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: We finally contracted with Service Magic to furnish leads for our Window Treatment Company after their salesman called us everyday twice a day.
1 out of the first 6 leads was worth going out on. That customer didn't have the decency to email or call me back after I spent hours meeting with her and costing out her job. The rest of the leads were repair jobs, which they did credit me for, one job I had to go on the same day she called (as if that's always possible) and one was for planning and bugeting (as if the cost of gas is worth that, with no sale yet intended)
So far with all my complaints to Service Magic for sending me such poor, poor leads, I have yet to hear from anyone. They charge for the lead, even if when you call the customer, they have put their ideas on hold. Apparently that's still a lead, and I should convince the customer, they should be ready to go ahead with their plans. They charge $ 15.00 - $ 18.00 for the leads. When I get wrong leads, such as repair work that I never told Service Magic we do, I have to go through much explanation three times, because they didn't pay attention the first time I explained we didn't do it.
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Review Title: from a service magic contractor
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: I have been a contractor working with Service Magic for around 1 month and so far have had 9 leads for entire roof replacements. 5 have been bogus, 3 turned out to be legitimate estimates, and 1 was out of my area. They sell each lead for $55 to 2-3 other contractors. The 2 contractor part is a total joke because they obviously are selling it to as many total contractors as possible (4) to maximize returns. The industry standard is to get 3 estimates, but not when a fourth is worth another $55 to a referral service. One of the problems with the way they run their business is the fact that they could care less about the contractors who are the lifeblood of their business. They look to sell each and every lead to as many contractors possible to maximaize profits. If a contractor is unhappy and quits, they just hire a new contractor to replace the old one. This is why they are always hiring, if you dont believe me just inquire with them and I garantee they will have openings for all the trades. They also run their website in a deceptive way to bait unsuspecting customers. These customers are the ones who are not actually interested in having their roofs done but were enticed to enter their information to get to another page on Service Magics website. Tey in turn do not call the contractor back because they were not interested in having the work done in the first place. What they also didnt realize is that their name and phone number fleeced 4 contractors out of $55 and lined the pockets of the service magic corporation to the tune of $220. I have been with different internet referral services and they are so far the worst. The servicemagic rep told me that no refunds will be given for the $55 leads and that customers NOT RESPONDING TO LEADS IS BUILT INTO THE PRICING. There is a reason they are always very activly recruiting contractors. So far only 3 25% chance estimates has cost me over $495 and many headaches.
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I wonder if the contractors used a credit card to pay Service Magic. If you did, I would file a complaint with your c.c. company and dispute the charges. You have 90 days from the date of the charge, and in my experience, the c.c. company always sides with their customer. That is one of the reasons I love using c.c.'s. I haven't had to dispute very often but it sure comes in handy when you do. The contractors definitely have a strong argument. Unethical businesses like SM do not deserve to stay in business.

You can also try to resolve disputes with the Consumer Protection Unit. It seems like a good alternative to the BBB.

Contact info for the CPU is here:
http://www.socialwave.net/topics/5036/?f=2&st=0#entry13282

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Jun 18 2008, 12:40 PM

There are some, um, "interesting" notions on this site, my favorite of which is from the fellow that thinks homeowners should use word-of-mouth referrals when they need a project completed. From what I can gather, ServiceMagic is geared towards homeowners that don't know anyone offhand to do a project. I'm sure if people had a neighbor that did roofing, they wouldn't use ServiceMagic to find a roofer.

I was an employee of ServiceMagic for some time and, as such, I can confidently say that 95% of the time, I felt the company did a fantastic job both for customers and contractors. Now, when it comes to the other 5% of the time, I'll be the first to admit that they really screwed up every now and again. But this is a company with hundreds of employees and millions of transactions per year. Given the volume they handle, I felt they did a respectable job (I'm sure I'm a bit biased...my co-workers and bosses were stellar human beings.)

As for checking into contractors background, I can tell you first hand that accounts were sometimes delayed for days because ServiceMagic would not proceed with someone joining their network until they were certain that licensing, insurance and criminal backgrounds (yes...they do criminal background checks) were properly checked. They have a department that does nothing but call state licensing boards to make sure that licenses are up-to-date.

My advice would be as follows:
Consumers - Give it a try. After all, it is free and I can personally vouch for that fact that whoever you are set up with, although they may not be a rocket scientist, will definitely be licensed, insured and have a reasonably clean criminal background.

Contractors - It's a source of advertising. You should win some jobs and you should lose some. If you're losing all of your leads, it's probably a bad fit. Please quit; just call up or write to them and politely tell them a few times that it is a bad fit and you wish to terminate your membership. I dealt with a few hundred contractors on a regular basis. We were a horrible fit for some and I very politely informed them that they should quit. Others had amazing luck with us and increased their business threefold in the course of a year. The typical result was somewhere in between these two extremes.

I suppose that's about it. The squeaky wheel tends to get the grease, but in the vast majority of cases I saw while at ServiceMagic, both contractors and consumers were fairly happy.

If they don't honor their warranty, they are worthless. Period, signed, sealed and delivered. I would never use them,

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Oct 10 2008, 10:47 AM

HOW MUCH ARE THE LEADS?

After reading all of this I am happy I did not go with Service Magic. I signed on with Insurance Claim Contractor, a new site, specifically for vendors in the insurance claim field, which I am. They have 1 price for a comprehensive directory listing, which now includes referrals at no extra cost. The vendor referral part just started, so I don't have any stats on it for my business, but it did not cost me anything extra for any leads I get. I also know they are selling just the vendor referral piece, without the directory listing, for a flat rate per year. This seems much more doable than what everyone here is talking about. This one doesn't break the bank. they really seem committed to making a great resource in the insurance industry and I am glad I jumped in at the early stages. I found them at www.insuranceclaimcontractor.com. Good Luck everyone!

The contractor they recommended was awful. I submitted a negative review which they never published. Just not right.

As a ServiceMagic member I have several serious complaints to report. ServiceMagic takes in false leads and when you accept the false lead they debit your account. Upon complaint that the contact information they just sold you was false they refuse to refund your money. Rather, they give you a free lead after you prove to them that the lead was false!

They also create the false impression that you work for ServiceMagic rather than tell the truth which is that they work for me and I pay them for leads. I am quite tired of ServiceMagic interfering in my projects by sending electronic surveys to my clients to solicit performance reviews as if I were their employee. Their rating system is fake! I have have ratings from non-existent clients and comments from real clients who swear they never made the statement that ServiceMagic has published on my page. When I ask ServiceMagic to remove the false reports they tell me I have to prove to them they are wrong at my expense, so then I have to talk my clients into getting false statements that ServiceMagic has published about me removed!

ServiceMagic is bad business for both consumers and members!

Review Title: Service Magic
My Rating: Thumbs Down

My Opinion: Service Magic often gives bogus leads they have a reputation for being disreputable. I would not recommend any contractor or customer to them. I use www.worktiger.com instead, its free and a much better site. I would rather have free leads than bogus leads that I paid for!
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Review Title: Service Majic in Canada
My Rating: Thumbs Up!

My Opinion: Service Majic offers existing companies to join their team, in return for a small fee they hook you up with clients needing your services. They also try and adjust areas most suited for your company success. As a service Majic client my business have to be registered with the City, or Government, be licensed to carry on trade, have at leas $1000,000.00 liability insurance, varify my identity with their staff. When Service Majic sends its client\'s leads, it is the intending purcher who wanting services, responsibility to get information about that company through WCB, the City Licenseing or B.B.B. of prior customers of the company.
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