ComplaintsforHomeAdvisor
Current Alerts For This Business
On April 12, 2022, BBB recognized multiple patterns of complaints regarding billing and customer service issues. They were grouped into 2 categories:
• Business Owners/Contractors allege signing up with HomeAdvisor and setting a monthly expense budget; at the end of the month business owners find out that HomeAdvisor's charges are exceeding the agreed upon expense budget. Contractors/Business Owners also allege signing up with HomeAdvisor under the impression that they will only be charged for leads or “Opportunities” if their business actually gets the job. Business owners further claim they are being charged each time they press “Interested” in the opportunity, even if it includes incorrect information on which they can’t follow up with. Additionally, business owners assert these issues are leading to high unpaid invoices that eventually get sent to collections and/or are settled with a discount.
• Consumers allege being charged for more than the agreed-upon rate or being up-charged from their pre-paid rate. Consumers also contend having issues with contractors not showing up to the appointments, changing appointments last minute, and/or receiving minimal or no assistance from the business when incidents occur.
On May 25, 2022, HomeAdvisor provided the following response to the Business Owners/Contractor’s allegations:
“HomeAdvisor’s enrollment process requires pros, before joining the network, to review and affirmatively agree to an “Agreement to Key Terms,” which instructs the pro to review, and provides direct links to, the Terms and Conditions and Key Provisions page on the website. It also clearly and conspicuously explains that, among other things: (1) Project leads are not guaranteed jobs; (2) Standard leads will automatically be deemed accepted by pros and carry automatic charges going towards a monthly spend target set by the pro; (3) Once a pro is approved to join the network, the pro will be billed a membership fee; and (4) Opt-in leads are available and will incur additional charges. By checking the box to confirm the Agreement to Key Terms, the pro indicates that it agrees to these provisions, as well as to the other terms and conditions. The Key Provisions page describes how leads work, including costs; how to receive credits; what a spend target is; that pros are charged for leads regardless of whether the lead is converted to a job; and that there are no guarantees about how many leads a pro can convert to jobs. The Terms and Conditions (which have always been publicly available on HomeAdvisor’s website) provide even more detailed information about how HomeAdvisor works and how various homeowners may submit service requests that are then provided to one or more pros as leads.
To increase opportunities for jobs for pros and to improve the prospects that homeowners will find a pro to complete their projects, HomeAdvisor provides “Opportunity Leads,” which either are slightly outside the pros coverage area or involve tasks pros aren't currently buying leads for but are likely within its area of expertise. Pros are provided with a “free look” at these Opportunity Leads, and the pro is not charged unless it affirmatively accepts the lead. When Opportunity Leads are presented to a pro for consideration, HomeAdvisor conspicuously identifies them as Opportunity Leads that may fall slightly outside the pro profiled tasks and/or location.”
Since the business disagreed with the Business Owners/Contractor’s allegations; on May 25, 2022, BBB requested information/documentation to validate the business’ perspective.
On May 26,2022, the business declined to provide the requested information and provided the following response:
“We are very confident in the process of pros accepting terms and conditions, especially when it comes to pricing and material terms. They must physically check a box to agree with those main points that allegedly they "didn't know about".”
BBB requested a response from the business regarding the second pattern of complaints about Consumer’s allegations. However, as of June 13, 2022, the company has not responded to BBB's request to address the pattern.
Additional Complaint Information
Business Owners/Contractors allege signing up with HomeAdvisor and setting a monthly expense budget; at the end of the month business owners find out that HomeAdvisor's charges are exceeding the agreed upon expense budget. Contractors/Business Owners also allege signing up with HomeAdvisor under the impression that they will only be charged for leads or “Opportunities” if their business actually gets the job. Business owners further claim they are being charged each time they press “Interested” in the opportunity, even if it includes incorrect information on which they can’t follow up with. Additionally, business owners assert these issues are leading to high unpaid invoices that eventually get sent to collections and/or are settled with a discount.
Consumers allege being charged for more than the agreed-upon rate or being up-charged from their pre-paid rate. Consumers also contend having issues with contractors not showing up to the appointments, changing appointments last minute, and/or receiving minimal or no assistance from the business when incidents occur.
On May 25, 2022, HomeAdvisor provided the following response to the Business Owners/Contractor’s allegations:
“HomeAdvisor’s enrollment process requires pros, before joining the network, to review and affirmatively agree to an “Agreement to Key Terms,” which instructs the pro to review, and provides direct links to, the Terms and Conditions and Key Provisions page on the website. It also clearly and conspicuously explains that, among other things: (1) Project leads are not guaranteed jobs; (2) Standard leads will automatically be deemed accepted by pros and carry automatic charges going towards a monthly spend target set by the pro; (3) Once a pro is approved to join the network, the pro will be billed a membership fee; and (4) Opt-in leads are available and will incur additional charges. By checking the box to confirm the Agreement to Key Terms, the pro indicates that it agrees to these provisions, as well as to the other terms and conditions. The Key Provisions page describes how leads work, including costs; how to receive credits; what a spend target is; that pros are charged for leads regardless of whether the lead is converted to a job; and that there are no guarantees about how many leads a pro can convert to jobs. The Terms and Conditions (which have always been publicly available on HomeAdvisor’s website) provide even more detailed information about how HomeAdvisor works and how various homeowners may submit service requests that are then provided to one or more pros as leads.
To increase opportunities for jobs for pros and to improve the prospects that homeowners will find a pro to complete their projects, HomeAdvisor provides “Opportunity Leads,” which either are slightly outside the pros coverage area or involve tasks pros aren't currently buying leads for but are likely within its area of expertise. Pros are provided with a “free look” at these Opportunity Leads, and the pro is not charged unless it affirmatively accepts the lead. When Opportunity Leads are presented to a pro for consideration, HomeAdvisor conspicuously identifies them as Opportunity Leads that may fall slightly outside the pro profiled tasks and/or location.”
Since the business disagreed with the Business Owners/Contractor’s allegations; on May 25, 2022, BBB requested information/documentation to validate the business’ perspective.
On May 26,2022, the business declined to provide the requested information and provided the following response:
“We are very confident in the process of pros accepting terms and conditions, especially when it comes to pricing and material terms. They must physically check a box to agree with those main points that allegedly they "didn't know about".”
BBB requested a response from the business regarding the second pattern of complaints about Consumer’s allegations. However, as of June 13, 2022, the company has not responded to BBB's request to address the pattern.
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Complaint Details
Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. See details.
Initial Complaint
03/17/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
advertisingBusiness response
03/26/2024
We regret to hear that **** has had anything but a positive experience with our service. We have reached out to **** via email to gather additional details regarding his concerns, and are looking forward to his response.Customer response
03/27/2024
I joined Angies List 20 Years ago. Was no cost back then, for a Commercial account.
I Had a lot of A Plus reviews, But if the Person did not pay to Join. their Review was not included. Now Home Advisor
Has My 5 Bad Reviews From 15 Years ago. **** and Home Advisor have F Ratings, or No Rating, and Warnings
Plus fines in the millions. How can a Company with a F grade, Grade Buisnesses. Custom Barns and Decks is My
Company. I Recieve at least 2 phone calls, and texts from Local Numbers every week from Home Advisor and ****,
asking if I was interested in getting Leads in My area. These are Internet assigned Numbers, That are illegal . I have
a A+ Grade with the BBB. I would like for My Business to be removed ASAP.
Customer response
03/27/2024
I Have not received any Email Response From themCustomer response
03/27/2024
Complaint: 21444498
I am rejecting this response because: I have had no Response from the company.
Sincerely,
*************************Business response
04/11/2024
We have followed up with **** via email on the dates of 03/21/24 and 04/09/24 in an attempt to gather additional information pertaining to his concerns. We have yet to receive a response to either email. We encourage **** to respond to our communication attempts or he is welcome to send an email to **********************************.Customer response
04/11/2024
Complaint: 21444498
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
*************************Never Recieved any Response. More Lies. using Voip Phone Numbers. Just Want My Business Deleted
How can they Grade a Business, When they Have a F grade Them selfs on BBB
Business response
04/24/2024
We have been in contact with **** on various occasions and he has responded to us via email. **** has been advised of the updates to his account. At this time, we consider this matter closed.Customer response
04/24/2024
Complaint: 21444498
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
*************************Once Again, I asked for My Business to Be Removed from Any Search Engine. Still Comes up
with Custom Barns and Decks with a 2 out of 5 Star Review. And Partial Part of a Bad Review.
I have and will Use all Illegal , emails, Voip Phone Calls, and Conversations From, *****'s. ****,
and Home Advisor against them. Enough is Enough.
Business response
05/03/2024
****'s business profile has been excluded from category and keyword searches. We have placed his contact information on our Do Not Call list. No additional adjustments will be made. At this time we consider this matter closed.Initial Complaint
03/14/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
This is in regards to the **** leads portion of homeadvisor. The rep that signed me up missed both phone appointments that were scheduled. I am a small business owner, and I took time out of my day to take the phone calls that were scheduled. This resulted in me wasting my time and losing wages. I was also assured by the same rep that the paid leads that they send to you would be paused until we had the phone appointment to finalize my account. This was not true. When I called the company to get it resolved they were very short and borderline rude. This was followed by an email from the rep that stated that I was the one responsible for missing appointments and not her. The email was sarcastic and intended to somehow deflect the blame for her missing our appointments onto me. I then called to cancel my subscription that I had for 1 week and had not even been fully set up due to the reps *********** I was denied a refund even though they had provided me with none of the service that was promised. I then Emailed the rep to let her know I had canceled the service and would no longer need to have any phone appointment,and that I was going to file a complaint with the BBB. Her response to this was again sarcastic. I then sent another email requesting to no longer be contacted by her. She then emailed me 2 more times, both of which I requested that she stop contacting me. She was very nice and polite when she was signing me up and taking my money, but when it came time to provide me with service she was very unhelpful.Business response
03/22/2024
We apologize that ****** had anything but a positive experience with us and appreciate him bringing this matter to our attention. Upon checking his account records, we do see that his onboarding specialist attempted to connect with him on several occasions to complete his welcome call, but she and ****** kept missing each other. The only lead ****** received was credited so he was not charged, and we have issued a refund for his membership fee. His advertising has been cancelled and he should expect his refund within 2-3 business days. He is welcome to reach back out if he is interested in advertising again anytime in the future, and we wish his business all the best.Initial Complaint
03/13/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I am a pro that has used there services for leads. I was being charged per week for leads for forward 6-7 months. Apparently there was a glitch in there system and I wasnt charged for leads and it racked up a $3,500 bill which I dont have because it was coming out automatically. That should not be on the customer to pay that money out they should give them ample time to pay it back they are only offering 12 weeks. Which is nothing. Not to mention a lot of the leads are bogus anyway.Business response
03/14/2024
We are so sorry to hear that ******'s recent experience has not been more positive. We do strive ensure that we are providing quality customer experience, and we apologize that has not been his experience. Upon review of his account, we do see that ****** was not being automatically billed from June of 2023 through January of 2024. This ultimately led to a larger balance on his account, leading to the complaint he filed.
After further research, we do see that ****** did apply for credit for a number of leads, receiving during that time, as being invalid. We did approve a large number of those credits, and those do not go towards his balance owed. As such, any outstanding balance only reflects the leads in which he should have been billed for. During this time, we can also confirm that ****** was calling on, and working through, the leads he was receiving. He was aware that he would be charged for these leads, and standard accounting practices would state that it is highly likely he was unaware that he was not being billed for any of the leads.
We do understand that the remaining balance is higher that ****** has available, and we have attempted to work with him to ensure that the balance can be paid. This included lowering his balance total and allowing him to make payments overtime to ensure that there is not a large financial burden all at once. As we have provided these options, continued to apply credits to his account, and ****** did continue to use the service without making payments, we do feel that we are working in good faith to ensure that this is resolved amicably. We do ask that ****** contact our accounting team directly to assist in setting up his payment plan, or to go over any other available options to him.
Initial Complaint
03/11/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
Home advisor took my credit card information and tricked me into a position where i had to file a complaint with my credit card company to stop home advisor from billing me. My credit card company agreed it was fraudulent and reversed the charges. Now Home advisor hired a credit service to start threatening me to collect a debt. Please make them stop. They have been sued and shut down before because of this . They are affiliated with Angies list and told me that was who they were.Business response
03/20/2024
We appreciate ***** reaching out to us and we sincerely apologize if he did not have a more positive experience advertising with us. To clarify, the lead credit and billing process was explained to him via phone before he signed, in the agreement that was sent to him before signing, and on the welcome call with him that took place the first week of advertising. During his welcome call, his representative helped extensively with app navigation and how to pause his leads and adjust his hours to match the times he wants to receive leads, how to adjust his tasks to make sure he receives leads for the jobs he wants to do, and how to send review requests to previous and current clients. She also went over his membership fee amount and his monthly budget for leads and how that works, as well as details about the pay-per-lead system. She explained what type of leads we will credit back and provided ***** with an ample amount of advice and information on how to make the most out of his leads. At this time, we have sent a request to our accounting team regarding the past due balance that is owed for his membership fee and leads, and we will follow back up with ***** directly with more information.Customer response
03/20/2024
Complaint: 21414323
I am rejecting this response because: I was getting charged for ***** that were not in my area. System would not allow me to change radius. I was not able to block them or change in settings. Every time i would call I couldn't get anyone. The only time I got a call or several were to give a credit card number. It never stored my business name correctly either.
Sincerely,
*********************Customer response
03/22/2024
Please ask home advisor to stop harassing and contacting me.Business response
04/05/2024
We appreciate ******* reply and apologize again for the difficulties he experienced while trying to make adjustments to his account. These issues could have been handled by any of our customer service specialists by calling ************, or by clicking the "Live Help" option through his account and connecting with us via chat. At this time, the disputed balance has been pulled from 3rd party collections and waived in full, as he requested. If ***** has any additional questions or concerns, we're happy to assist.Customer response
04/05/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
*********************Initial Complaint
03/08/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Customer Service Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Hello I am a business owner we recently opened the plumbing business and signed up with homeadvisor do get leads. Initially for 2 months everything was perfect. But last couple of weeks a customer complained and they suspended my account without even discussing with me. I emailed her with all details and proofs she is very slow with emails takes two to three days for reply and came up with very generic message that she is still waiting for customer reply. Phone calls she never answer. I am losing my business tried to talk to supervisor ?? ?? he said he cannot do anything as only She knows. Talk to another customer representative same reply. How can they ruin a business with single person complained without even verifying that it's correct or not? I am so stressed ?? I am running in loss due to homeadvisor policies.Business response
03/13/2024
We appreciate *******'s concerns, and we are sorry that the account has been on hold for an extended time. If a formal complaint is filed, the professional account is placed on hold while an investigation is completed. We do attempt to make this process as timely as possible, but it can be extended while we wait for responses from both homeowners and service professionals. At this time we have not had contact from the homeowner for a few days, and the complaint was closed. We have spoken with ******* today regarding this, and the account can be placed back to active upon the completion of the agreed upon terms. If ******* as any additional questions we do ask that our *************** be contacted directly.Initial Complaint
03/07/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
My cell phone has been ringing almost every minute, for last few days from contractors and telemarketers, when asked where they got my phone number and my name they say from HomeAdvisor, I have never heard of HomeAdvisor, and somehow my number got mixed up in their system, they need to contact all these same people and tell them to stop calling. And I want an apology for the stress and absolute chaos this has caused. I have not been able to use my phone at all since this started. It is like a form of harassment.Business response
03/13/2024
We're so sorry to hear that ****** has continued to receive such a high volume of calls. This is not typical, and not the kind of experience we would expect for him to have when coming to us for help with his home projects. We have verified that his phone number has been removed from our system, and that his account has been placed on our Do Not Call list. We have spoken with him directly, and the calls that he has received are coming from service professionals and not HomeAdvisor or ****. We have forwarded the information he provided to an internal team that does investigate concerns of this nature, and we do hope that any further calls will cease shortly.Initial Complaint
02/22/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I called Home Adviser to cancel my account and I was told I would not be charged the monthly fee if I kept my listing so I agreed. After a year they started to withdraw the monthly fees with out notifying me of the charges after 2 years my bookkeeper asked me of the charges of which i did not agree to. when i contacted Home Adviser which is now ****'s list /**** leads they told me sorry and there was nothing they could do for me.Business response
03/01/2024
We have followed up with ****** regarding his account. We are asking for more details. Our records indicate he requested to cancel his in 2022 per his request. We are waiting for a follow-up from him to the recent offer proposed to him. We hope to have this matter resolved shortly.Initial Complaint
02/20/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
I am very disappointed in this business. Illegal what they have done to me, saying I signed off things when they refuse to send me proof of that. In June of 2023 I thought of doing business with HomeAdvisor aka **** leads as an electrician. While on the phone with the representative they had taken my card information and further into the phone call I told them I need work as an electrician because that is what Im certified to do. The representative later said I could not do electrical work because I am not a master electrician and he had told me I can things like yard work, landscape, etc.. I refused because that is not my specialties. I told the representative I do not want to move forward and I do not want any leads to do anything else. After getting off the phone they had charged my account! After I told the representative I do not want to move forward! They had signed me up and started sending me leads I did not sign up for! I signed no contract or anything. Thats illegal. I called my bank and told them to not let them take money from me. I also spoke with a supervisor at **** leads a couple of days ago because now a collection company is asking for $726.77. When I didnt work at all using leads from them nor did I ask for it. The supervisor I spoke with, her name was ****, and she said she has no proof of that conversation with the representative and she refused to send me any type of documentation that I had a contract with them that I signed. Then she hung up on me! Very rude. That sounds very illegal and sketchy. If I have to seek legal help to get that documentation because no one will help me. The collection agency CMI is not helpful they said to reach out to **** leads for dispute but they do not help either. They sent around $545.08 to collections and added fees that added up to the $726.77.Business response
02/27/2024
We are sorry to hear ****** did not have a more positive experience with HomeAdvisor; we appreciate the feedback he has provided. While we stand by our service and believe ****** could have seen success with our service, we have honored his request to cancel his account and waive the outstanding balance. We wish ****** the best in his future business endeavors.Customer response
02/29/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
*************************Initial Complaint
02/16/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I was hesitant to sign up for their services after reading reviews from other business owners. When I spoke to the sales person, they assured me the concerns I had would not be an issue and that they would always refund leads if they were not applicable to my tile services. They offered a money-back guarantee if my first several leads didn't convert. The leads were TERRIBLE, none converted, most were for services unrelated to what I offered and it reached a point where they stopped approving credits for leads that absolutely needed to be credited as they were not applicable, duplicate, or even wrong contact info. I called in September to cancel and get the money back guarantee and to my surprise, they did agree to cancel my subscription, refund me, and even let me keep my remaining credits. I took the next couple of calls from my credits and then stopped receiving calls once the credits ran out.A few months later, I received an e-mail stating that I owed $1,383.93 in outstanding balance to them. I knew that I had cancelled, so I put the email to junk thinking it was a phishing attempt. Then I received a letter from a credit collection company (credit mediators **** stating I owed the debt to home advisor. I was shocked. I called the company and they stated that their records show that I did call and speak to cancellations, that they did refund my money, that I did have credits left on the account, but that they never cancelled my service and that I owed for leads that came in. I asked them to listen to the recoding, because I absolutely asked for and was told that the account was cancelled. They stated that the call is too old to pull up a recording and there is nothing they can do. Whoever I spoke to must have not cancelled the account properly which is the fault of the company, not mine, and now I have a $1,383.93 debt I'm fighting that is no fault of mine. I never received ONE quality lead from this company for all this hassle either.Business response
02/23/2024
We appreciate ****** reaching out to us and we sincerely apologize that he did not have a more positive experience advertising with us. We do want to clarify that the terms of his agreement, including the lead credit and billing process, were explained to him via phone before he signed, in the agreement that was sent to him before signing, and on the welcome call with him that took place the first week of advertising. His contract and agreement terms are attached to this response for reference. After reviewing his account, we see that he was indeed refunded his initial payment to compensate for the issues he experienced, but he had also agreed to stay on to advertise with this refund being granted. This is why he still received leads following that conversation. We are, however, willing to come to a compromise on the past due amount in a good faith effort to resolve ******'s complaint. We have reached out to him directly via email with an offer and we look forward to hearing back from him.Initial Complaint
02/13/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
We signed up to become a service provider that can be listed on the site. I went over all the terms and read them. I was also told we had a guarantee that if we did not get 10 we will say "contracts" we would get all of our money back. I set up an appointment for onboarding. Never even started any process other than to sign up. We need to cancel because the terms are misleading, and they will not return the fees we paid. We NEVER became listed in anyway. Never started using the company AT ALL and they say we cannot get our original fee returned. I would understand if we started using the service, but I not even had a chance to be onboarded yet so why can they not refund us!Business response
02/19/2024
We apologize for any confusion or frustration ****** encountered when using her **** account; her feedback is much appreciated. While we stand by our service and believe ****** could have seen success with us, we are honoring her request to cancel her account and process a refund. We wish ****** the best in his future business endeavors.
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Customer Complaints Summary
773 total complaints in the last 3 years.
110 complaints closed in the last 12 months.