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Service Magic

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TonyS
TonyS Member Posts: 849
in THE MAIN WALL
Anyone here have any experience with this outfit? They charge you by the lead, which is generated online by a (prospective) customer. I joined a couple of months ago and have found most people are just screwing around on the internet and dont really have a real desire to purchase. I have to pay for the leed whether it is good or not. Seems I wasted another 99 bucks. Anyone one else have anything to say about these type services?

Comments

  • Timco
    Timco Member Posts: 3,040
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    SM

    They claim the contractors are screened, but they called me a million times to just sign up. How could they possibly do any real screening? I had to demand many times to be removed from the calling list.



    Tim
    Just a guy running some pipes.
  • clammy
    clammy Member Posts: 3,111
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    magic service

    hello Tony ,i personally feel that some of these servies are just a money scam and like you have stated they are mostly tire kickers looking for free infromation and low ball pricing .i know that some of the companies that are local to me that use services like the one you mention are great bussiness men aside from that and there statements of professinalism and being the best at what they do there jobs don,t look like any ever posted by regular wallies in other words not the best quality of workmanship .I feel most are just aiming at a certain marketing group and that's great if your just a bussiness men looking to earn and are just making your money on hi mark ups on equiptment and servies,It also seems to me most of these guys who blow big bucks on advertising are rarely even tooled as well as myself no pipe threaders ,ward flex for all gas lines and most steam boilers installed with no piping bigger then 2 inch being they do not have the capacity to thread any thing bigger and they have never spun a pipe wrench on any thing bigger then 2 inch plus they own no pipe wrench bigger then 14 inches why cause they cost to much,to further explain i recently was suppose to only supervise a noritz install for larger plumbing and heating contrator who i looked at this job with i asked if they had the equiptment to drill a 5 1/2 hole through a brick and poured conrete foundation they said no promblem well when i went to the job they had nothing no core drill set up or anything ,they ask to use mine which i refused i then asked there sales guy/foreman  how much they grossed last year he stated a couple of million i stated that i did not even make 1/8 of that and that maybe instead of putting all in there pockets they should buy some proper equiptment and tools to do the jobs corretly he said nothing 5 hours latter there guy finished the hole pretty funny yeah they spend over 12 thousand a month on advertising and all the money they make goes in there pocket not back into the company most of there mech are from south of the border(which i personally have no promblem with ) but they only posses the very miniun of tools and a very low skill set this is waht i see hapening with these services bussiness men looking for a mark with a nice web site like fishing with a big juicey worm to cath the unsuspecting ,very sorry for the long clammy vent but i am a worker not the best bussiness man just a mech trying to earn a honest living and offer my custermers truth and the best my skills allow me to do peace and good luck clammy
    R.A. Calmbacher L.L.C. HVAC
    NJ Master HVAC Lic.
    Mahwah, NJ
    Specializing in steam and hydronic heating
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
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    A suggestion that will probably NEVER happen...

    A good friend of mine is suffering through the same dillema. Lots of internet looky loo's, tire kicker, door knocking go no where "customers". And every time they click on his company name, SM tags him for money on his C.C.



    He has attempted to fine tune his settings, and for some reason could not even gain access to his account. Out of frustration, he called SM and spoke to a rep, who did a good job of listening, but could not promise any changes.



    In these days of internet instant accessability, it is TOO easy for people to click on your link and cost you money, but not produce any revenue.



    My suggestion to him was to establish an open book policy with SM, allowing them to come in once a month/year or whatever, and see if any of the leads they have sent him have come to fruition, and offer to pay a 5% finders fee to them for having produced the revenue. They stand t make a lot more money than they currently are, but I seriously doubt they will ever take it into consideration because they are making money hand over fist right now.



    You have to vote with your money. I suppose there is some kind of minimum time for involvement, but you can turn all your switches off to avoid being pinged (or dinged) and spend your money someplace else that will do you more good, like in a small local newspaper.



    Money spent here at HH for a Find a Professional add would probably be money better spent than sending it to Service Majic.



    That's just my two cents worth.



    ME
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
  • Devan
    Devan Member Posts: 138
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    Cancel Now!!

    Before you lose any more $$. I was in the same boat, they constantly charged my credit card for fruitless leads. Took me a while to finally get them to stop calling me to renew also. Scam.



    My Heating Help ad has paid for itself many times over from just one lead.



    No brainer.



    Devan
  • TonyS
    TonyS Member Posts: 849
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    Thank you Gentlemen

    I am canceling now! I should have come here and ask you guys 99 bucks ago. Live and learn.
  • Gordan
    Gordan Member Posts: 891
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    The other side of the coin...

    Back in September I was looking to hire someone to redo my whole system for the Winter, including radiant wall/ceiling and mod-con boiler installation. I tried the "find a pro" link here, tried searching on Google and even the phone book and, after basically being jerked around for weeks by people who kept calling but never came out, I resorted to ServiceMagic in desperation. They gave me three contractors. All three at least showed up. One seemed very uncomfortable with radiant ceilings and never furnished a quote, another seemed competent and flexible but couldn't do the whole install before the Winter (so he quoted me for boiler room work only), and the third one produced a quote, all right - but the quote didn't specify any heat transfer plates (for between-the-joists) and the way they were going to do radiant ceilings was by, get this, heating glycol through an indirect water heater so they can heat the ceiling with glycol. Why? Because they don't want the liability if the tubing in the ceiling freezes. Why would it freeze when it's coupled to the indoors and insulated from the outdoors? Well, yeah, but the headers would be exposed to the attic, so...



    I kid you not.



    Needless to say, I'm soured on ServiceMagic, but I'm also soured on the whole heating industry as it exists in my area. I had EVERY intention of paying a competent contractor to redo my system. Now I have EVERY intention of doing the radiant panels, and as much of the boiler install and piping as I can (everything but the gas hookup, by choice, and the commissioning) myself. In my experience, finding a contractor who is competent, calls when he says he will, shows up when he says he will, and does the job on agreed time and budget, is a nice idea but far from the reality. Some people don't have a choice but to take whatever the contractors decide to give them. I do.
  • robert borders
    robert borders Member Posts: 48
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    "Installation Monkeys" formerly Service Magic

    Scam Scam Scam

    got me 0ver $500.00 last year, so i said to myself, "I will do a better job managing the leads and S.M." Got me another over $500.00.

    Run and do not stop. if they  call, refer them to your worst competitor u dont  like!!



    BobB
  • Gary P
    Gary P Member Posts: 14
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    Sevice Magic

    I agree with you, I have been with them for about 1 year. I have looked at at least 100 jobs. However I have gotten about 15 good jobs. The longer you are on and the more feedback you get from satisfied customers the better you stand out from your competion. I also think people think they will get a instant quote online and then find out they are being refered at the end of the survey.

    However I feel this is an inexpensive advertisment compared to the Yellow Pages and also the internet will soon be the only advertising (thats my opinion). You can also narow your customers and your service area.

    Allthough I have't got all the jobs I have gotten call backs from unsatisfied customers that werent hppy with the contractor thsy choose and I have gotten calls for other services I preforme.

    Stick with it.
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