TaskRabbit has issued a few points of clarification for this story, and those points have been added to the piece. The original story, without any comments, has been uploaded here to preserve the archive.
7/11/2014 TaskRabbit users revolt as the company shuts down its bidding system | VentureBeat | Business | by Harrison Weber http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/10/taskrabbit-users-revolt-as-the-company-shuts-down-its-bidding-system/ 1/8 NEWS July 10, 2014 2:34 PM Harrison Weber (http://venturebeat.com/author/harrisonweber/) Business (http://venturebeat.com/category/business/) TaskRabbit users revolt as the company shuts down its bidding system Above: TaskRabbit founder and chief Leah Busque Image Credit: TaskRabbit TaskRabbit (https://www.taskrabbit.com/)‘s pivot has left some of its contractors furious, disappointed, and out of work. (/) (/) SIGN UP | LOGIN EVENTS (HTTP://EVENTS.VENTUREBEAT.COM) INSIGHT (HTTP://INSIGHT.VENTUREBEAT.COM)
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7/11/2014 TaskRabbit users revolt as the company shuts down its bidding system | VentureBeat | Business | by Harrison Weber
Earlier today task-outsourcing site TaskRabbit (https://www.taskrabbit.com/) killed its bidding system forrandom tasks, and replaced it with an on-demand service (http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/10/taskrabbit-pivots-launches-on-demand-service-for-cleaning-handiwork-moving-errands/) for requesting services withfixed fees: cleaning, handiwork, moving, and errands. As we wrote earlier, TaskRabbit announced thechange last month (http://blog.taskrabbit.com/2014/06/17/unveiling-the-new-taskrabbit/) to ease thetransition among the service’s users.
With the destruction of the bidding service, TaskRabbit has ushered in fixed hourly rates for tasks. Fooddeliveries, for example, start at $10 per hour. Previously, if a TaskRabbit user wanted food delivered, theyhad to post the job on the service and await bids from TaskRabbit contractors.
We asked TaskRabbit if there was any pushback over the changes. TaskRabbit founder and chief LeahBusque offered us a blunt response: “Not at all. We just spent a week around the country talking to ourTaskRabbit community. The Taskers doing this as a full-time job are excited.”
But TaskRabbit’s private bulletin board says otherwise.
Messages from the bulletin board [below] reveal backlash among a group of contractors, particularlyregarding the way TaskRabbit has communicated its new direction.
When asked if any contractors have been banned for speaking out against the changes, a TaskRabbitspokesperson issued a firm denial: “Of course not.”
That also appears to be untrue. One long-term contractor attempted to petition against the changes, andsubsequently had their account suspended, according to images shared with VentureBeat.
Vocal dissentTaskRabbit’s major product changes have certainly proved disruptive for some, but it’s unclear howwidespread the discontent is.
What’s clear is that some people are very upset about the change, and they’re quite vocal about it.
The TaskRabbit contractor experience has been under fire before — as profiled by Fast Company(http://www.fastcompany.com/3027355/pixel-and-dimed-on-not-getting-by-in-the-gig-economy) andBusiness Week (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-13/my-life-as-a-taskrabbit) – yet in aninterview with VentureBeat, one aggrieved contractor who has been with the company for over a year toldus they loved the old TaskRabbit.
“I was totally loyal to it and believed it was changing the world,” said the contractor, who spoke on thecondition of anonymity.
Here’s more from that contractor (emphasis added by VentureBeat):
It’s really upsetting how they’re dealing with this. They told us the system was changing, andthen wouldn’t even talk to us. I feel like we were giving them the opportunity to do that. BecauseI’m elite [a high status among contractors], I’m supposed to be able to talk to people there, but itdidn’t happen smoothly. The company was very defensive.
I can understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. It’s how they dealt with it.
A second TaskRabbit contractor told VentureBeat by phone that outrage is wide-spread (emphasis:VentureBeat).
There have been nothing but complaints since they announced it. I haven’t seen a singleTaskRabbit comment on it positively. I’m sure there are some TaskRabbits out there that don’tmind this switch for whatever reason. But there are a lot of people that aren’t happy about this.There are a lot of people, including myself, that have asked about this. They don’t have ananswer. They say that it’s better for us, because we don’t have to waste our time bidding,but that’s what we like about this application; we can pick and choose what tasks we take.
VentureBeat’s second source went on to say the change only benefits TaskRabbit:
In the previous two days, I’ve easily picked up five tasks by applying for them. Now I haven’t gottenany applications. I haven’t gotten any notifications. Usually I’d get a task a day at least. But nowit’s not working that way.
They took all the free enterprise and pretty much anything that was good out of theapplication. Any job you do is different. Any task is different. Right now they want me to put aprice on every assembly job, but there are different jobs.
Official responseA TaskRabbit spokesperson addressed the commotion in an email to VentureBeat, admitting that “with anyproduct change this significant, it would be impossible to satisfy the requests of every member of thecommunity.” Nearly 30,000 contractors use TaskRabbit to find work, TaskRabbit tells us (emphasis added):
As Leah mentioned, the vast majority of our most active taskers are pleased with thechanges as it makes building their business simpler.
Additionally, these changes were made to cater to the needs of both sides of ourmarketplace. As we told you, we have millions of clients, so when balancing the needs of thatmany constituents, getting 100% satisfaction is unrealistic.
The only thing I’ll add is that well continue to enhance and evolve this product to continue to fitthe needs of our community, as we always have.
VentureBeat’s sources claim they’ve been asked not to post complaints on the TaskRabbit forum. Accordingto one Twitter user, the forums have since been taken down completely.
7/11/2014 TaskRabbit users revolt as the company shuts down its bidding system | VentureBeat | Business | by Harrison Weber
@HarrisonWeber I had been using the site as a Tasker for a month now. With their new "pivot" it becomes pretty useless to me. I'm not alone.
Rachel Ciprotti @RCiprotti
@HarrisonWeber They had an online forum for Taskers, filled w/ our anger over the upcoming changes. As of today, page says "Access Denied."9:59 PM - 10 Jul 2014
Rachel Ciprotti @RCiprotti
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“We’re the employees. We’re the people who keep your company moving,” one contractor for TaskRabbittold VentureBeat by phone.
“Without us, you’re just an empty app on a phone. I don’t understand why they don’t listen to us. “
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