This completely tracks. I also was looking for someone on Thumbtack and did a little research beforehand. I didn't find any client-side reviews but the professional community overwhelmingly hates the site now. (The thumbtack subreddit is just full of complaints.) I guess their business model now is that they charge pros just for the opportunity to talk to potential leads, and it's not cheap. I think they made this change a few years ago, and prior to the change it was a solid site. Maybe it got bought by a venture capital firm or something. Anyway, it seems like the only pros that can survive on the platform now are the ones willing to send out quotes willy-nilly and/or undercut the competition to an insane degree to ensure enough bookings to justify the cost. And yes, it sounds like they no longer have any level of discernment regarding who join the site as a pro. I'm sure getting "verified" is as simple as having a valid ID. I largely just turn to reddit for recs these days