Sick of wasting time on BS plumbing leads from Angi and Thumbtack

I'm so over these lead gen sites like Angi and Thumbtack, they send me homeowners with leaking PEX lines who think a SharkBite fix is gonna last forever. Last week I chased three leads for water heater replacements, only to show up and have the customer bail because my quote wasn't the cheapest hack on the block. It's like they're farming our time for their commissions, and we're left holding the bag with no real jobs. Someone in Plumbers United was ranting about this exact crap, and I feel it in my bones. Watched a Tommy Mello video where he talked about ditching these platforms for Google Business, but man it's hard to break away when the phone's dry. Every time I sign up for a 'free trial' it just floods my inbox with tire-kickers. TBH, I'd rather cold call commercial accounts for drain cleaning gigs than deal with this nonsense. FML.

those sites are a total scam, preying on desperate plumbers like us.

ditch angi, set up your own google business profile and run local ads targeting 'emergency plumber' searches.

reminds me of the time i drove 45 mins for a 'clogged toilet' lead and it was just the cat knocking over the plunger.

angi can kiss my ass, they're ruining the trade with their fake urgency.

preach, brother. these platforms are bleeding us dry.

i hear you, been there with too many no-shows on repiping jobs.

man, that sucks. i've had my share of flaky calls too.

ugh, the frustration is real with these sites.

totally get it, painting leads are just as bad.

those angi leads are like chasing ghosts, total time suck.

yeah, it's exhausting dealing with that bs.

haha, i once got a lead for a 'simple faucet swap' and it turned into a full kitchen reno nightmare.

i feel your pain, leads suck across the board.

same here, so many dead ends.

controversial take: thumbtack is worse than angi, at least angi has some volume.

try nextdoor for local plumbing referrals, it's free and homeowners actually respond.

damn, that lead chase sounds brutal.

i'm pissed too, lost a whole afternoon to one yesterday.

yep, commiserating hard on this.

frustrated as hell, these sites promise the world and deliver squat.

customer bailed on me mid-inspection once, left me with the bill.

funny how they all vanish when it's time to pay up.

warning: never drive far without a deposit upfront, learned that the hard way on a pipe burst call.

optimize your yelp profile and ask happy customers for reviews, leads come organically.

drove to a lead and the house was foreclosed, empty as hell.

shingling side agrees, roofing leads from there are trash too.

thryv software helped me filter out the junk leads, worth a look.

proud of ditching them, my business doubled with word of mouth.

yeah, it's a grind but we all feel it.

so annoyed with the fake emergencies they push.

how do you guys handle the no-call no-shows? any scripts?