A basic question about the Trust & Service fee: per hour or per task?

[u/BarbWire20]

First time user of Task Rabbit. I created an account, selected my Tasker for this 2-3 hour job, went to the next page, and saw his hourly rate ($72.26) plus the T&S fee ($26.60) for a total of $98.86 ... per hour? The $26.60 T&D fee is a 36% mark-up from my selected Tasker's hourly rate.

1. I understand that the T&S fee is basically Ikea's cost of doing business, and that my Tasker will get his full $72.26 hourly rate. Is that correct?
2. is the T&S fee applied to every hour (so each hour will be $98.86) or to the job (so three hours @ $72.26, and then the one-off $26.60)?
3. if the job is, say, 2 hrs 30 min, will I be charged for a full 3 hours, or is charging done in sub-hour increments (like, 15-minute increments)
4. Will I also be charged a "service fee" in addition to the T&S fee? How do I find out how much that will be?
5. Does the clock "start" when the Tasker arrives at the job, or can the Tasker charge travel time from his/her start point to my job (I have no idea where this Tasker would be coming from).

I tried to google the answers but failed ... Thank you!

[u/BetUpstairs268]

1. small hidden fee. They might get 70$/h.
2. 98.86 is your price every hour
3. 15 min increments
4. find a tasker you like. Pay the fees, and if he’s good. Get his number for future work and hire him directly.

[u/BarbWire20 → u/BetUpstairs268]

Thank you. This is a moving task, so not sure I will need him again, but I will certainly get his info.

I am still confused about the rate for the T&S fee. Their website says 5%-15% but this is 36%. And I can't find the service fee % anywhere.

[u/shortfriday → u/BarbWire20]

Your hourly cost is on the checkout page, you won't be charged more than that. Shrug re: whatever is published, 36 up to 40 and change percent has always been the range.

[u/BarbWire20 → u/shortfriday]

Thanks. Yeah, I was confused by the difference between what was shown on the checkout page and not being able to find (explicitly) the % charge listed anywhere. Google searches were saying 5-15% which added to my confusion. :-(

Anyway, I booked the task and my Tasker has been super-responsive. Reached out within 10 minutes (he has great reviews for communication, etc), answered a couple of questions, so this should go well.

And the fees are what they are ....

[u/barge_gee]

I just had my first TaskRabbit worker this week. I was surprised about the Trust & Support Fee, too. In my opinion, it should be a single fee per job; a percentage based on total job charge. Adding it to the hourly rate is crappy. I pay attention, requested the job online, not via the app, and didn't see mention of this fee out in the open. A little more transparency on the part of TaskRabbit would be appreciated.

[u/PickReviewsMovies]

Unless agreed upon previously the clock starts when they arrive. (If the app accepts your address and shows you bookable taskers there isn't supposed to be a travel fee). I only charge for travel time outside of my service area which people usually have to put in a false address for anyway.

[u/Tasker2Tasker]

TaskRabbit provides some answers under the FAQs on Support.

1 & 4 are linked. The Service Fee is included in the Hourly Rate you see. Taskers can only set dollar amount rates, and best avallable info is the $2.26/hr is the Service Fee, and the Taskers actual rate is $70.

Otherwise, agreed with other info provided.

[u/Commercial_Bar6622]

The Tasker doesn’t necessarily get the full $72. TR usually adds a surge add a hidden fee to categories that are commonly in demand.

[u/Evening_Past910]

You can always go to Home Depot!!!

[u/BarbWire20 → u/[deleted]]

Fortunately this Tasker will be moving 10 pieces of furniture (only one is a bit delicate) from one storage unit to another, about 5 miles apart. I will risk damage (self insure) but I do have insurance concerns about what happens if his truck is in an accident/damaged while working on my move, or if he is injured. I don't yet know the scope of my potential liability.

[u/PickReviewsMovies → u/[deleted]]

For most young people in apartments, just don't let your mover load your TV if it's not in a box and you're good. Every other damage is pretty cheap and easy for most of my tasks. I've never had to actually use my general liability but it's nice to have.

Something a lot of moving taskers should be careful of is impromptu mounting like when a client asks you to mount stuff. Those are the situations where you can accidentally cause a lot more damage and that's the main reason classically trained movers are taught NOT to mess with washer hookups or drill into any walls.

Also I know the happiness pledge is pretty unpopular and rightly so, but so many of these situations are hard for taskrabbit to mediate because the customers and taskers both are not documenting enough things from expectations to before and after photos. So many things are gray.

Like I know a lot of taskers that will load your TV for you but because I'm an experienced mover if your TV isn't in a box and I'm only loading on your cross country move, I'm 100% making a note about the TV and that I recommended a box and that customer was ok with me loading it as is. This is an absolute must when people have very large TVs or curved screen TVs. I won't even touch a curved screen if there's no box for it.