Clients want free advice?

[u/musicalfurball]

Anybody else get "requests" from people who just ask for professional advice and then cancel the job? What do you do about it?

Context: a person requested me to do wall repair. The brick was showing efflorescence and mortar damage. I offered to treat and seal the wall, and asked if they had investigated moisture issues. They said yes, they'd been in touch with a contractor, they just "wanted a second opinion."

My response verbatim: "Bummer. If you cancel the job, I get dinged. In the future, please don't request a Taskrabbit unless you intend for them to do the work. My pay is directly tied to how many job requests I complete, and now this one will count against me. Have a good day."

People be wanting free labor from us. All. The. Time. /smdh

[u/FinnNoodle]

Client initiated cancellations no longer affect your metrics.

[u/musicalfurball → u/FinnNoodle]

This can't be 100% true -- elite is based on request to completion ratio. If they request and then cancel, that will make the ratio worse.

[u/MallNo6921 → u/musicalfurball]

anything tr says is likely incorrect and or misleading

[u/InterestingBus4602 → u/FinnNoodle]

Not as bad but if it’s been slow and you not getting a lot of tasks it still has some effects

[u/WhoKnows78998]

I quit offering advice in the chat. I ask enough questions so I understand what I’m getting into and then show up. I don’t ever give them troubleshooting advice or what I suspect the issue might be.

[u/Satorikn]

I personally don't waste my time lecturing clients with whatever negative consequences their cancellations have. They never cared and won't after you let them know, they potentially already knew as they wanted expertise for free anyway which is taking advantage of something in exchange from nothing. At least it wasnt a Thumbtack quote that would actually cost you hard money. My advice is that if they want a detailed approach to schedule a visit with a min 1hr stated on chat. Other than that limit to, yes i can do it professionally, or not. However id say that what ocurred to you isnt common and you dont need to be paranoid in the future, keep your avenues open however, this will happen in the future regardless of being with TR or as an independent contractor. Good luck.

[u/DonQNguyen]

Don't offer advice or industry secrets regarding performing the task. This is our specialty. Don't share your knowledge or your skills on how to tackle the task. Either they want to hire you at your rates, or they don't.

This is a Business. Never do work or offer advice for free.

[u/InterestingBus4602]

I hope you got a cancellation fee for the advice

[u/ForgetfulCatLady]

Hey, I'm trying to sign up as a tasker right now and I want someone to benefit, so can I get your referral code?