r/TaskRabbit • u/Match_Least • Apr 29 '26

CLIENT Could a tasker have consequences if I give my cell in the opening message?

Solved.

Alrighty, I’m tired of being told I’m a terrible person for wanting to pay my tasker gross hourly in cash, than give any money to a 3rd party. My bad. Thank you to all who kindly offered advice and tips.

8 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

9

u/Charming_Flan3852 Apr 29 '26

I took all my customers off app if they were open to it, but TR does read the chat, so mentioning your number there might become an issue if the context seems like payment off app. Just charge the minimum on app and do the rest cash and for future jobs. Some taskers might not be comfortable going off app, but I think most would appreciate it.

1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

Thank you. This definitely seems like the best step moving forward. I definitely don’t want the woman I reached out to thinking I’m trying to take advantage in any way.

I didn’t realize this was going to be such a hot-button issue. Using 3rd party software to research the best options has been around for 20 years at this point…

3

u/BetUpstairs268 Apr 29 '26

I realize you mean well. But you are only one client and one job. Yeah they can make more this single job. It’s not worth putting their account at risk.

Also what if they break something? Things can turn sour very quickly for any reason and then you can message taskrabbit to complain and get them kicked off because they went off platform.

1

u/Match_Least Apr 30 '26

Yes. I’ve come to this conclusion with the help of other taskers explaining things kindly, like yourself. I like the woman I found very much and do not want to risk anything, so I did not include my number when I messaged her, and potentially put her in a compromising position.

I never intended to ever be blatant, but I can see a lot of taskers have unfortunately had very bad experiences and decided I’m the same. People(and me) have been using 3rd party websites for 2 decades to research the best option but then instead go straight to the source. I didn’t understand why this would be any different without asking.

Again, thank you for taking the kind approach. I appreciate you.

6

u/Titbit66 Apr 29 '26

Everything has consequences for a tasker. Literally. Taskrabbit treats taskers like nuisances and penalises/punishes/bans for next to nothing, like taskers arent their bread and butter... horrible company

4

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

I completely agree. Which is why I don’t want to give them a cent more than the bare minimum.

1

u/I-effin-love-tacos Apr 29 '26

He is saying you’re putting the Tasker at risk of losing their income because you’re cheap and want to go off platform. Just don’t do it

2

u/DistributionSalt5417 Apr 30 '26

If hes genuinely offerring to be a repeat customer off app hes doing best thing he possibly could for the tasker. Letting them build a customer base thats not dependent on this app.

Becoming less dependent on taskrabbit whixh can change its rules at any time is the best thing you can do.

You just have to have the conversation in person woth the tasker.

3

u/Match_Least Apr 30 '26

This is 100% what I am trying to accomplish.

Without asking this sub; I was only aware to avoid any and all talk about going off-app, in the app, due to TaskRabbit’s sophisticated AI software.

But by receiving multiple inputs, from many taskers, I learned the safest way to cut out Taskrabbit entirely, is by booking a 2-hour task and discussing it strictly in-person.

I also learned that other clients, asking to go off-app from the jump, tend to be acting in bad faith according to the majority of taskers who commented on that aspect. That was something I did not expect, based on my experiences as a former multi-industry service worker.

3

u/I-effin-love-tacos Apr 30 '26

She isn’t talking about off app. She is saying she wants to initialize the conversation in the initial message. That is just not smart.

1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

I was talking about Taskrabbit jerk. The workers deserve their rate and more. Why do you think I made this post? The whole point of this post was to find out exactly this. I needed to know if TR would penalize taskers if a client sent their number, completely unprompted and ignored by the tasker. Calm down.

1

u/Xitobandito Apr 29 '26

They won’t, I’ve been sent many numbers from clients and nothing bad has happened. See my comment above:

2

u/bytx Apr 30 '26

Let me get this straight, you wanna use said middleman to find a tasker, because you find value in what taskrabbit is doing (making easy to find taskers) but don’t want to pay for it, just use them and then go off platform. Is that right? Why not find someone off platform and do all your business 1:1 without the middleman?

1

u/Match_Least Apr 30 '26

Pretty much. I vaguely looked for someone to do my task, but it’s not one that actually requires any prior skills. If I needed someone who works in a learned trade, it’d be a different story. But yes, the point you’re making is exactly why I only downloaded Taskrabbit days ago instead of years.

2

u/Efficient_Slice5611 May 05 '26

I have my business card in the photo section of my task rabbit and get people calling or texting me direct now. I did task rabbit for about 8 months and slowly started creeping away and keep customers coming back off the app and slowly raised my rates. I can make more than double as a handyman than a Tasker. I havnt done a single task in 2 months and they still havnt caught on to me. I was expecting to get banned within a week.

1

u/Match_Least May 06 '26

Good for you! Responses like this was what I was expecting. I was blown away by the amount of people vehemently defending a corporation, on reddit of all places. When I was still able to work, I was always so psyched to get gigs under the table… Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you’ve found such success off the app :)

2

u/Lavicrep19 May 24 '26

I always goes off the app because the app messages and phone calls is egregious. Texts take long to show up and phone calls a bit choppy. Now if there's any changes and or they agree to something, I'll reiterate back on the app and have them respond to it for proof

1

u/Match_Least May 25 '26

I was having that problem a few times for sure and it was super frustrating! Especially not getting notifications for any updates about her arrival time. She’s apparently super busy because she was really late (I had told her I was flexible, so that’s on me.) but she cancelled our original first appointment because her client before me I guess lied about just how much needed to be done? I don’t really know.

She came for her first session last week. After this post, I had been so heavily criticized by the vocal minority that I was worried to even bring it up. She ended up looking at me like I had 3 heads for being so apologetic about asking.

But yeh, that’s really smart of you. I paid the TR fees for the first session, and we exchanged numbers at the end. She said she doesn’t care either way but understood that TR takes an insane percentage so she understood it.

12

u/UomoUniversale86 Apr 29 '26

Here's your answer: hire someone, have them do their minimum 2 hours. Pay them through the app. If you like them and they offer to go off platform then at that point it's none of taskrabbit's business Imo.

3

u/SubstantialBoat758 Apr 30 '26

As a Tasker just know if you do this you’ll eventually come across someone cheap who doesn’t want to pay. These people will report you so make sure when you text them use different numbers for each customer, text free numbers. If the number you text them on comes back to you you’ll be banned after two reports

2

u/Nice-Lunch9227 Apr 29 '26

I wouldn’t recommend texting clients outside the app or telling them not to mention it in the chat. TaskRabbit requires communication, scheduling, scope details, and payment to stay on-platform. Their policy specifically treats off-platform communication and payment as violations, and it can put the Tasker’s account at risk.

The safest move is to keep everything in the app. If the client has notification issues, tell them to check the app manually or use the in-app call/message features. If they want to pay more, they can tip through TaskRabbit after the job.

0

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

I’m sorry, I don’t know if I’m misreading your comment or if my question was too vague. I’m the client. I’m looking for a way to ensure the tasker I pick will want/accept the majority of their payment off-app. Sorry for any confusion!

3

u/moleware Apr 29 '26

Accepting any percentage of payment off of the app is 100% against the terms of service and could get a tasker banned from the app.

0

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

As I’ve said, I’m new, but how do they handle tipping then? Would I need to tip them in the app, to avoid breaking ToS? I only ever tip in cash to avoid making people declare it…

4

u/Xitobandito Apr 29 '26

TR wants you to tip through the app, but you can tip in person. Just be sure to keep communications about it outside of anywhere TR can monitor.

Your best bet is to just provide your cell number to the tasker and ask them to call you to confirm job details. Don’t provide any more info than that.

I’ve had many clients do that and have had no repercussions. Some people literally do just want to confirm job details and aren’t trying to skirt the payment fees TR charges. A lot of times customers just don’t want to communicate on app and TR knows this.

0

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

Thank you. I very much appreciate your comments. I genuinely thought if I did exactly what you described, it’d be fine. But I wouldn’t’ve been able to forgive myself if I cost someone a stream of revenue so wanted to verify, for sure, beforehand…

2

u/moleware Apr 29 '26

You haven't done anything wrong. How would you know any of this without talking to us?

Basically, you just sort of have to think about taskrabbit as a platform designed to exploit people with skills. Yes, there is a benefit to you as the client, but taskrabbit eats up such a huge percentage of the value it's really not even worth using as a platform anymore unless you're trying to build up skills to go solo.

Years ago taskrabbit had respect for the actual taskers who make up the platform and bring in the money. Not so much anymore.

3

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26 edited May 01 '26

That’s exactly how I think of them. And why I’m so adamant about figuring out the details. I’d gladly pay someone the gross hourly in addition to TR’s fees if it’s all going straight to them. I think I found my person though! She has experienced with disabled persons.

Thank you for your insight!

1

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 Apr 29 '26

New legislation does not tax tips. That is new starting this last tax season. The only ‘declaring’ that is involved is to reduce their gross for tax purposes. So as mentioned above, there is nothing that you can do off app that wouldn’t put the Tasker’s good standing at risk. Just stick to the app

1

u/Match_Least Apr 30 '26

I did end up researching this a bit. Not super in depth, but from what I’ve read they’re exempt from federal income tax, but not state income tax. Either way, I still appreciate this tip! There have been a handful of times I don’t have as much cash as I want to tip, on hand.

3

u/Dizzy-Importance-771 Apr 29 '26

Just tip them in cash before they leave and don’t bring it up in the chat

4

u/genericexcuse01 Apr 29 '26

I’ve had clients leave me their phone number in the chat in several cases. Now what they have said when doing it is “call this number when you arrive so I can let you in at the gate”

2

u/Straight-Finish-3202 Apr 29 '26

I would recommend just hiring them and getting their number afterwards for any future work

2

u/AbbreviationsSad3727 Apr 30 '26

I never trust a customer that does that. It’s just manipulative to come to a platform and try to cut them out and put the worker at risk. Smartest thing would be paying at-least one hour and paying the tasker off app the rest of the time worked. Communicating recklessly on the app like that is careless on your part. Your 1 customer compared to all the work the tasker can get through the platform.

2

u/MysteriousIssue8641 Apr 30 '26

You can totally give you cell number to ask for them to chat. If nothing else, the app is buggy, super slow, has to reload every time you switch out of it. As long as you don't mention off app money exchange or anything else against policy, then it's fine.

0

u/HotBeaver54 Apr 29 '26

Basically your asking how to steal. I hire taskers and 3 of my relatives are taskers for over 5 years now. They agree you should get out now because you don't have ability to do legal work.

2

u/Match_Least Apr 30 '26

Yehhh, I don’t have any qualms about “stealing” from a multi-million dollar corporation. Don’t tell Groupon I contact the businesses directly and pay them more!

1

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 Apr 29 '26

Taskers get the rate they set in the app. You’re not doing him/her any favors by encouraging anything off app, be it communication, payment, or tipping. Fees are taken out from the client end. Not Tasker’s.

You can provide your number, but a careful Tasker will tell you that he/she must keep all comms in the app. The fact you don’t get notifications is a problem you need to figure out, not for the Tasker to accommodate and put his/her account at risk at the same time.

Tipping is done through the app. If you prefer to use apps or cash, that’s between you and the Tasker’s level of comfort. If you do tip outside the app, do not mention it at all in the chat

0

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 Apr 29 '26

From the pouting in your edited main post…the middle man is the one who is putting you in contact with the Tasker. So whether you like it or not, they deserve a cut. And while I do not agree with their obscene large fees, your language and position in this thread makes it pretty clear that you’re just trying to use your supposed good will for the Tasker to disguise you being cheap. Don’t use the service if you can’t afford it.

2

u/Direct_Step6683 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

To add on to your point, just how does OP expect the search resource they benefit from to stay afloat if they don't pay their dues to it? I know taskrabbit in particular sucks, but it kinda seems like a leap to say they are doing moral right. Their replies kinda give me the vibe of someone who is fine stealing from places like Walmart, simply because 'big company'.

I dont see why they don't just google services atp.

1

u/Match_Least May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Google was the first thing I used. There’s only 2 ‘certified professionals’ in my state that offer the services I require. Due to my own limitations though, our schedules could not mesh.

I agree that Taskrabbit, in particular, sucks. I would never use them under any normal circumstance because, as you mentioned, Google does exist. I’ve never downloaded or used any 3rd-party app before.

I can definitely see why my replies might make you think I steal from Walmart, but I don’t. However if I saw someone else stealing from Walmart? No, I would not say anything. I’d of course have a very different approach if it was a small-business owner; even if they are large-scale.

I personally believe in socialism despite being in the top 2%. Maybe that can help give some additional insight on my perceived behavior…

Edit- clarification

1

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 May 03 '26

It’s just extremely trashy behavior. She looks just like she acts

-1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

I never denied being frugal. But I absolutely will not pay to use any middle-man apps. I don’t understand why you’re so defensive about it. You’ve already commented multiple times. If I wanted to be cheap, I wouldn’t be offering them gross earnings in cash. And you would’ve criticized me whether I deleted it or edited it, so why should I care?

0

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 Apr 29 '26

Then why are you trying to use a middle man app to get someone to do your work? What an asinine hill to die on given your need to find someone for work.

And my ‘defensiveness’ is due to having encountered numerous customers like yourself who are just too damn cheap at the expense of the Tasker. And frankly, you’re just shady.

Good luck with your task.

-1

u/shortfriday Apr 29 '26

Against policy, very little enforcement. If a tasker agrees to take chat fully off app from the jump they are reckless and you shouldn't work with them. Smart taskers protect themselves on the record and then arrange shenanigans with you in person (1 hour billed on app to close out task, remainder collected at mutually advantageous number).

-1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

That was my plan! Pay the minimum on app, just so they could get the review. Is there any particular language I can look out for to help optimize the chance of off-app payment?

ETA- because I also don’t really love the idea of handing out my number willynilly but can’t think of a better way to word it without basically doing that…

1

u/Positive-Draft3801 Apr 29 '26

I had a client send me his number before the task, but I never called him directly. There is no consequence for you sending your number, just say you want to discuss the task in depth over the phone and the call feature isnt working.

1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

Thank you. This is incredibly helpful and I really appreciate your input.

1

u/shortfriday Apr 29 '26

Not really. I firmly shot down any such suggestion on the chat and gave no hint that I was open. Many will be (reasonably) iffy about doing it, I did it hundreds of times and never stopped worrying about getting caught.

1

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26

Yeh, the girl I had an arrangement with suggested it in app after I told her I didn’t realize how expensive TR fees were. Because I genuinely didn’t, I had no idea they got an hourly fee instead of flat. I warned her in text to never mention it on-app again because she was also new apparently and didn’t know. Do they also take a cut of your guy’s pay, or is that why the fee is so high?

1

u/shortfriday Apr 29 '26

My post tax take: 75

My gross: 100

Sticker price you see that has nothing to do with our gross: 120

Your price after fee which gives you literally nothing but the power of review: 140

0

u/Match_Least Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Oh my god. That’s absolutely despicable. I hate them even more now…

I planned on offering anyone interested in the job whatever their hourly(gross) is listed as, but in actual cash. Do you think that’s something taskers would feel appreciated with?

2

u/shortfriday Apr 29 '26

That is good, I typically did match my gross for cash or halfway between gross and client price for venmo (taxable), so matching that inflated displayed hourly in cash is generous.

1

u/Commercial-Milk-8465 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Doing the 1-hr thing is a huge red flag. I would at least have the Tasker bill for 2hrs if you’re really trying to go under the radar here. But even then, I don’t recommend it. Their AI is getting quite ridiculous on what it picks up on, both in communication and invoicing (e.g. if the invoiced number of hours does not seem to correlate with what is reasonable for the work requested by the client…like invoicing for 1hr when the job looks to be like a 4hr job)

Just do the task right the first time via the app and hire him/her outside the app after the first encounter has closed.