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From the business
Bark is an online marketplace that connects customers with local and online professionals.
We take the hassle out of finding the right professional for any job. Whether you’re looking for a cleaner in Nottingham, a web design in Boston or a personal trainer in Auckland - with over 2000 professional services in 8 countries, you’re bound to find the perfect professional for your project on Bark. Simply tell us what you need and will send you a list of professionals - for free!
Need new customers? We’ve helped thousands of businesses of all sizes keep find new clients. We’re passionate about helping businesses of all sizes find customers for life.
Life’s better with Bark.
Bark Reviews Summary
Bark has a rating of 2.2 stars from 1,644 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Bark most frequently mention customer service, phone number and potential clients. Bark ranks 9th among Service Marketplace sites.
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I used bark to get more clients. Before getting clients they asked for payment $320.00. I sent about 20 emails which I received from bark website but I didn't receive even one reply. It seems it's a cheating company so Canadian business need to be aware of that.
I actually like the concept of Bark but you can spend a lot on credits just to get numbers and emails on people who may not contact you back. I have spent a substantial lot of money on the site and it's getting to the point that's it ridiculous.
Hi Corey,
We're sorry to hear that you have not had a return on investment.
We help many companies achieve a 1 in 5 conversion rate and we hope that we can help you fo this too. Please email us at [email protected] and we will see how we can help.
Our prices are regularly monitored and set based on the monetary value of the lead as well as the chance of conversion. Our costs are £1.20 plus VAT per credit with the credit amounts changing from service area to service area - for example Dog Walking leads are 5 credits per lead whilst Accountancy is 15. We feel this is the fairest way to price our leads but we are always open to suggestions.
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I joined bark to provide a service. Now to get clients they expect you to pay first to get the contacts name and contact. Even if you don't get the job you lose your money.
Sorry but this is a very greedy disgusting company and they should be shut down
Hi Lauren,
We're sorry to hear that you feel this way.
We are an online lead generation platform that works on a pay as you go, business model, rather than an agency which earns commission on jobs done. We don't guarantee business but provide you with the means to offer your services to customers.
Keep in mind you are competing with others and it's up to the customer who they engage with which is why we don't return credits if you don't secure the job.
That said, professionals will typically secure 1 in every 5 leads they respond to and our leads are priced with this in mind.
As a new user, you are entitled to our Starter Pack of credits, which comes with a sizable discount and our 'get hired guarantee' to help you succeed.
If you have any questions feel free to contact our friendly team by phone or email: [email protected]
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I have contacted to Bark.com once and I buy the credits from them for $132.00 and I got 100 credits, I use all the credits but non of the customer gave me the job to do because they not feel secure because of bark.com, then Bark.com return my credit and this time i contacted 5 people only 1 responded me back but in the end did not provide me the job to do, I called bark.com and they said we only return the credits one time whether you contacted by the clients or not and that means I wasted my time and money on Bark.com.
These are scammers, they get your money and does not provide you the right client, they only say they will do but they do not, I have really bad experience with them, Never going to trust them again.
Hi John,
We're very sorry to hear that you've not managed to secure business through Bark.
We want to help every professional on Bark to secure business through our platform however ultimately the decision doesn't lie with us but with the customers who decide who they engage with or hire. Additionally, customers can sometimes be hard to reach.
We've got 1000's of professionals on our site that use successfully use Bark, so it certainly works.
Lead generation is competitive and it isn't for everyone. That said, let's see if we can help turn things around.
Please contact the team via phone or email: [email protected].
I have used Bark for over a year now and can say with 100% certainty it takes money and does not do what it says on the tin - to provide a chance to get the clients lead for a fee. I have paid over Ł 800 trying and have not had any serious responses. I run an award-winning architectural office and through Bark have had people (while Bark diligently charges you a fee to respond to them) providing fake emails, phone numbers, people shouting at me, not showing up at meeting, etc. Bark invests zero times in checking the credibility of these ads while charging a hefty amount for them. Furthermore, the description of requested services is vague, i. E. someone will put a large-scale project (that will cost more to respond) yet all they want is a dormer extension. Bark does not demand a more detailed description of the works/services needed, so there is a lot of money spent without knowing who you contact and what exactly is the project enquiry. It is a bad practice and I shall spend time leaving my money elsewhere as it is pointless for any serious business.
Hi Adnan,
We're sorry to hear that Bark hasn't been successful for your Business.
It can certainly be frustrating when customers are difficult to engage or decide not to attend meetings and this can happen for a number of different reasons. Unfortunately, Bark doesn't have control over the customer's decision and its up to the customers who they choose to engage with or hire. However, we do cover professionals when the contact information provided by our customers is invalid.
Our friendly customer success team are on hand 7 days a week and can certainly offer some great advice to put you in the best position to secure business through us. We work with many successful architects and typically professionals will secure at least 1 in every 5 jobs they respond to.
Please contact our team to chat about your experience and let's see if we can help turn things around.
You can reach us by phone or email: [email protected]
Kind regards
The Bark Team
I signed up to hopefully get new leads to a fledgling business. I purchased credits (use credits to get leads), I purchased enough for "about 10 responses". In fact for most of the leads I would get 2-5 - they tried to tell me this was based on the first category I signed up for but gave me some free credits (still not enough for me to respond to 10 leads). I then responded to 2 leads. 1. A client that was looking nationally for a service - when contacted he was only looking on the immediate area. Applied for a refund of credits, not in their refund policy. 2. Responded to a lead 18hrs after it was posted. When I used credits I call led and the job had been taken. Applied for a refund of credits and was told it was my fault for taking too long to respond, not in their refund policy. They advertise jobs that are no longer available and ones you are not able to get due to location. Useless, would not recommend.
Hi Tom
We're sorry to hear about your experience with Bark.com.
The first pack of credits should indeed have been enough for about 10 responses, however the starter pack it is currently sized on the first service you enter on sign up. This is currently being fixed. The pack that you should have purchased sounds like it should have been much bigger.
We would love to get a better understanding of your experience and see if we can turn things around.
Please give our team call or email: [email protected]
Kind regards
The Bark Team
They find your website and contact form and spam you with all these possible leads in your area looking for your service. Once you sign up you'll see the number of leads disappear and the few leads you do get are not actively wanting to hire (completely dud leads). I reached out to their customer service, speaking specifically with * and he was completely unhelpful - referring me to their T+Cs and refusing a refund. When I challenged legal action, he gave me their legal address. Enjoy this review *
*Personal information redacted by admin
Hi Tamara,
We did reach out to you to try and help, however you did not respond to us.
Please email us at [email protected] and we can look into your case and stop further emails coming your way.
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
Do you know That Bark sometimes create fake jobs as lead just to keep the sites moving and to make money from innocent professionals. Some of the leads are real but majority are made up.
Check our all the lettered emails made from gmails. Contact them and no response. Coins Gone.
The site is good for customers but rips professionals off.
ITS A BIG SCAM ON THE LOW
Hi Segun,
We're sorry to hear that you think this.
Bark.com does not create fake leads at all. Every lead is posted by a customer that visits our site, posts details about their job and provides their contact information in hope to find a professional like you that can help.
Our business model is only sustainable if we help professionals secure business and a return on their investment. And we have 1000's of professionals who are very successful using Bark.com
In the event, professionals encounter issues with leads, like issues with contact information our team are on hand to help and return credits inline with our policy.
If you have any questions please contact us by phone or email us on [email protected].
I'm a freelancer and feel totally screwed over. When I signed up, I was told that I would be able to connect with 10-15 leads by spending $60 on credits. Once in, I found out that the most of the leads costed 20-25 credits each to contact, so I was only able to connect with 2 leads - both of which never responded to my emails or calls and then eventually the leads "closed" on the website. They were nice enough to refund my credits back as a first time user, so I connected with 2 more EXPENSIVE leads and same story - no one answered the phone and no one responded to my emails. 4 "leads" turned into nothing and all ended up "closed" on the site. Does that mean they found someone to do the work for them? Does it mean they left because they don't want bark services anymore? No one knows because Bark doesn't tell you what happened.
I feel ripped off. Maybe I charged more than what people wanted to pay? Who knows.
Stay away from Bark as a freelancer.
Hi Aaron,
We are sorry to hear about your negative experience with Bark.
I completely understand your frustration with the starter pack of credits being only enough to reach out to a few leads, instead of the advertised 'about 10 responses'. This is an issue that the team is working on fixing and we should have an update soon that will correct this. The number of credits that you purchased should have been much bigger allowing you to reach out to the 10 responses. I've sent you over a private message, potentially we can encourage you to give us another shot.
With regards to the requests closing, this can happen for a number of reasons and doesn't always indicate they have found someone. I can understand why this could be confusing and unclear, so I will pass this on to the team, who can hopefully make improvements in the near further.
We really do appreciate you taking the time to share this with us.
If you have any questions please contact the team by phone or email: [email protected].
Your email is: *******@trash-can.us
Your new password is: d88e031c
Opportunity scams abound and this is one of them. Nothing lower than selling false hope to people trying to make a living. Low quality leads for high dollars. Impossible to filter out the dogs - the ads have no details.
Bark spams tons of unqualified buyers with tons of unqualified sellers. If you sniff these guys out like I did - before even using up your introductory ante, you won't get the remainder back.
If you are a professional - this is not the place for you. Your proposal will be buried under a ton of wannabees. If you are a handyman or lawn guy, get on Angie's list.
I assume the odds here are like Vegas - with no big payoffs. No serious business would use Bark - buyer OR seller.
Count the bad reviews compared to good reviews, and don't give them a nickel.
One star because there's no lower score,-\
Hi Michael,
Im sorry to hear you feel this way.
We have 1000's of successful professionals that rely on Bark.com to secure business and have our friendly customer success team on hand to help professionals new and old.
Typically professionals will secure 1 in every 5 leads they reach out too and all our leads are priced with this in mind. We want every professional to get a return on investment, as this is what it is all about. Without ROI, professionals simply won't continue to use us. If you are doing your research our Trustpilot has over 14,262 reviews.
If you are interested in having a chat to discuss your experience with Bark please do contact our team via phone or email: [email protected].
Kind regards
The Bark Team
Most leads seem to be fraudulent. Of the 5 leads I paid for, 2 said they never heard of Bark, 2 had different names on the answering machine, and 1 was real but not interested. There is NO refund; only credit for other leads. Don't waste the money!
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your review. We are sorry to hear you had this experience with us.
It can certainly be frustrating when you've been unsuccessful in reaching customers and normally this is linked with the competition. However, It sounds like some of the customers you responded to might have provided us with the wrong contact information which is something we cover and will return credits for. The team here certainly want to help, so I would certainly advise contacting them by phone or email: [email protected].
It's also worth mentioning that if you purchased our starter pack of credits, it does come with our 'Get Hired Guarantee'. This means in an event like this where you've been unsuccessful in securing any business through us, we will issue all the credits back to your Bark.com account, giving you a second chance to secure business through us. We really do want you to succeed.
Additionally, we've just undergone a big update, which will tackle some of these issues and with plenty more updates in the pipeline to help professionals secure business through us.
So please do have a conversation with the team here by phone or email: [email protected].
Kind regards
The Bark Team
#barkscam #barkreviews #barkscam
#barkscam #barkreviews #barkscam #barkisnotgood #stayaway
Bark is not a solution for entrepreneurs. A lead that cost me 38 credits of a person named Paul (see below). This person told me that 'he was just testing the system' then hung up. After buying leads from Bark since last 3 months (with no conversions) I felt it was time to request a refund. So in good faith i spoke to a lady called * at Bark explaining the situation. This was her reply
Hi Ali,
Thanks for your patience, I have tried to contact * over the course of the last week, unfortunately, I have been unable to get through to him.
As I have not been able to confirm he has changed his mind, unfortunately, I am unable to return the credits.
All the best
This is the lead I bought.
* Bookkeeping Services (1 week ago) United Kingdom
* gmail.com
* visited your website on Tue, 16th Jul.
*Personal information redacted by admin
Hi Ali,
We're sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Bark.com
I've dropped you a private message, let's see if we can get to the bottom of this for you.
Kind regards
The Bark Team
Don't waste your time. We submitted to 6 different people and not one knew what we were talking about. What a complete waste of time and money. I suspect if someone is real on this service, they will want to spend $250 for a 40 page website. So disappointed.
Hi Leslie,
We are sorry to hear that you've had no success through Bark.com, so far.
I'm very surprised to hear that 6 of the leads you responded to weren't aware of the reason for your call.
Perhaps there might be some confusion on the customer's side, customers will be familiar with Bark.com but will likely be unfamiliar with your company, unless they've had a chance to see your profile. Ensuring you link the reason for your call to Bark might help and avoid some confusion.
That said, it sounds like some of those customers might have provided us with incorrect contact information. In this case, don't hesitate to contact our team who will investigate and issue credits back inline with our policy.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact our team by phone or email: [email protected].
As a professional offering services for Bark.com. Don't waste your time. You will pay for leads that are invalid or kids who put requests in, but have no intentions on hiring people for the job, or looking for someone to do free work. I've spent over 60 dollars on leads and had 1 response back and it turned out they were underage and had absolutely no idea on what they wanted. I emailed the team to try and clear things up, but got sent back the terms of service.
From Bark:
We will not return credits in the following circumstances:
The contact details provided are valid, but the customer does not respond.
You make contact with a customer, but do not secure the job.
That's great, so people can just put fake requests in with someone other persons e-mail and they are considered valid leads..
Hi Shay,
We're sorry to hear that you have not had a positive experience using our platform however we strongly refute the claims you have made against our business.
We did try to resolve your issue however you did not respond to our message.
All leads are screened by an automated system, and we have a credit return policy which covers any contact details which are not working. We feel this is the fairest system we can have as we are not a commission based system that guarantees work, and only provide contact details for enquiries placed with us. If we are able to verify that someone who has placed a request does not have the funds or the intention to hire we will return the credits for the lead.
To clarify our role, we offer professionals the opportunity to try and convert business and market themselves at the fraction of the cost it would normally be to get themselves to the top of Google (which is what we do). We do not guarantee work, but provide a platform that should garner professionals a 1 in 5 conversion rate - essentially we want to get you a return on investment. We do not charge commission and so do not take any earnings from you, nor do we take any earnings from repeat business you may win.
Should you like to speak with us about your account, please email us at [email protected].
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I have spent nearly $2k with Bark over the last 2 months. Nearly every lead provided is completely fake. Rarely a response to email, multiple phone calls or their internal messaging system. Disconnected phone numbers, hang ups, etc. On the rare occasion that someone does answer their phone, they have no clue what I am talking about, say they are not ready yet or they hired someone long ago. Approximately 80 leads purchased and I have about 5 legitimate leads - 2 were free. Even the legitimate ones are reluctant to spend ANY $$. I am hoping to close just one or two of these leads so I can come close to breaking even. Not very optimistic. I found a way to use Bark for free recently. Far less volume but... It's FREE! They can keep my 97 credits remaining, I am done shoveling my money to them.
Hi there Michael,
We're sorry to hear that you have not had success using our platform. We did reach out to you to try and help however you did not respond to our message.
All leads are screened by an automated system, and we have a credit return policy which covers any contact details which are not working. We feel this is the fairest system we can have as we are not a commission based system that guarantees work, and only provide contact details for enquiries placed with us.
To clarify our role, we offer professionals the opportunity to try and convert business and market themselves at the fraction of the cost it would normally be to get themselves to the top of Google (which is what we do). We do not guarantee work, but provide a platform that should garner professionals a 1 in 5 conversion rate - essentially we want to get you a return on investment. We do not charge commission and so do not take any earnings from you, nor do we take any earnings from repeat business you may win.
Should you like to speak with us about your account, please email us at [email protected].
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I should have read all these reviews here. Bark seem to trick you to think there are so many potential customers searching for your service, but half the time they are fake numbers and people aren't ready to buy. We need to report this to the Trading Standards.
Hi Jo,
We're sorry to hear you've had a negative experience with Bark.
All our leads are posted by customers who either have previously used us to find professionals or who are actively searching for services. Customers provide their contact information and in a case where the information provided is incorrect, our team can look to issue credits back.
With regards to customers not being ready to buy. It is up to the customer to decide when they are ready to purchase and we, unfortunately, have no control over this. We are a lead generation platform, so our job is to provide you with the means to contact these leads but it is then up to you to follow up with the customers and secure the business.
Of course, our team are available to help along the way and have some great advice to help. Additionally, since the release of our new site, new features are being added regularly to help professionals even further.
If you have any questions you can contact the team by phone or email: [email protected]
Has the potential to be a great service for traders. However greed on Bark's side not vetting leads means 99% of the time jobs are fake or lead to nothing.
Will be expensive, if only they proper worked with traders but they have made their position clear and will continue to rip off traders.
Don't use! Unverified leads at your expense!
Just dissaointing.
Hi Rob,
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with Bark so far.
Policing leads can be very difficult due to the sheer volume of leads we receive, so we do rely on a system to vet them. Unfortunately, this isn't flawless some leads do slip through the cracks, our team is always on hand to talk through issues with leads and in rare situations where the information provided by the customers is incorrect, we have you covered and will issue credits back inline with our policy.
It can certainly be frustrating when customers don't choose you to carry out the work or alternatively don't respond to you and this does happen from time to time as you are competing with others. Our job as a lead generation platform is to provide you with the means to contact the customers but ultimately the customers are in control of who they engage with or hire. Our team do have some great tips to help though and are there to help, so certainly use them. After all, we want you to succeed, so you continue to use us.
We have 100's of traders on Bark that rely on Bark to secure business.
If your interested in giving us another chance, give the team a call or email: [email protected].
Have never had any communication with this company and have certainly never asked them to "suggest" us to potential clients, nor do we want them to suggest us for a service we do not provide. They are suggesting businesses which they have had no communication with, this clearly tells me BUYER BEWARE - their absence of communication with businesses confirms they do not vet those they are suggesting. Hence the bad reviews.
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for the review.
We don't suggest businesses to our customers that aren't on our books. We do, however, reach out to businesses like yours who are not on our books to see if you would be interested in helping some of our customers. You can respond to the first lead-free of charge.
We don't make claims to vet professionals and work in a similar way to the Yellow Pages or Google. Every professional that does respond to our customers will have a company profile to view and customers are encouraged to do their due diligence.
Bark.com is a great way to grow your business and we have 1000's of professionals that rely on us to secure new business.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the team by phone or email: [email protected]
Kind regards
The Bark Team
See photo below*
Bark started delivering leads to the contact form of my website in April 2019. So it tweaked my interest then as a potential to gain new clients. I'm a personal trainer.
The first thing I noticed about Bark was how easy it was to buy credits, it seems that they have enabled this feature quite nicely, not to mention the automatic top-up function.
My issue with Bark is there is no filtering of genuine leads from fakes &/or scammers. In the photo below, I received a lead from a client in my locality - however, once I purchased the lead for 11 credits, it turned out that a) the phone number wasn't even in my country b) the email address looks suspect. But I only discovered this upon purchase of the lead. So this was a fake lead that my business incurred a cost on. How Bark can facilitate this is in my opinion, disgraceful.
This has happened to me more than once, and I have complained to Bark each time. This experience questions the integrity of the operation and most online businesses i use would have this problem sorted at the front end.
This creates a situation where it is impossible to discern a genuine from a fake lead. So of the 25 or so leads I have contacted, I've managed to convert 5 into sales with the majority not returning my contact even though they request my services specifically. This is way below what I actually do day to day, where I'll close about 75% to long-term contracts.
None of it makes sense to me. So, once my last 12 credits expire, I will no longer use Bark, nor, will I recommend it to anyone.
Hi Kieran,
We're sorry to hear that you have had issues with some leads.
All leads are screened by an automated system, and we have a credit return policy which covers any contact details which are not working. We feel this is the fairest system we can have as we are not a commission based system that guarantees work, and only provide contact details for enquiries placed with us.
We do have a filtering system that can really help remove the least convertible leads from your leads list - found in Settings - My Services.
Please email us at [email protected] should you like any further help.
Kind regards
The Bark Team
I wanted to trust this site, but it proves me wrong everytime i get a lead. Leads don't call or email back, i loose the credit. They need to change the way the charge vendors, this is aweful!
Hi Mark,
Sorry to hear about your experience with Bark thus far.
It is certainly frustrating when customers don't engage with you and there are a few reasons as to why this happens but mainly lead generation is competitive. Unforneutnely this is out of our control, as it's the buyers who decide who they engage with or hire.
However, the team here do have some great tips and advice to share, which might help so certainly worth a conversation with them.
Additionally, we have also recently updated our site and we actively and clearly encourage customers to respond to professionals.
If you would like to learn more and see if we can help you turn things around, give our team a call or email: [email protected]
Kind regards
The Bark Team
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Hi there,
We're sorry to hear that you have not had more success using our platform.
We can assure you that we screen every single lead using our automated system (in Canada, South Africa, USA, Ireland and the UK) and have a credit return policy which allows us to return credits for any leads which are found to have incorrect details. Please email us at [email protected] if you have had any leads with incorrect or non working contact information.We appreciate that is frustrating when customers don't reply, and whilst we do our best to prompt customers about responses from professionals, there is only so much was can do as a pay as you go introduction service. We did launch a Customer App a few months ago to help make the connectivity between Customers and Professionals better.
Due to us being an open public platform there is a certain amount of personal filtering that can help with these leads. By going to Settings, My Services and Filter Questions you can remove leads that include "other" and "I don't know" - essentially anything that makes the lead more vague or not customised for you. This should then mean you receive leads where the customer has been specific about their needs which suggests they are fully aware of the service they desire. We always advise our professionals not to respond to vague leads, as this then prompts us to get in touch and prompt them to add more details.
As a general note we also advise that you respond to leads within the first hour of them being released. This is due to each request getting up to 5 responses, but also because despite our regular prompts to the customers to close their requests once they have found a professional, they do not always do this.
If you would like any help with the making the most of the platform, please email us at [email protected].
Kind regards,
The Bark Team