‘Am I being charged by the hour right now?‘: Customer hires Taskrabbit to hang TV. Then the worker asks her to Venmo
This woman feels like she got lowkey scammed by the tasker assigned to her through Taskrabbit. She takes it as a lesson to not cower from confrontation.
Taskrabbit is a platform that connects workers and skilled laborers to fulfill various tasks. Such tasks can include installing a shelf, mowing a lawn, or helping move a large furniture item.
App users have mixed reviews about taskers' reliability, skill level, and payment structure.
Some say it's a lifesaver for people who aren't handy themselves or who need help for accessibility reasons. Others say who you get is hit or miss since taskers' skills aren't vetted by the company.
Did this woman just get scammed?
In a viral video with more than 250,000 views, TikToker Michel Janse (@michel.c.janse) shares her unfortunate Taskrabbit experience.
"I got scammed into paying $320 on Taskrabbit for four screws in my wall," Janse says.
Janse explains that she and her partner bought a Samsung Frame TV. That's the viral TV that blends in as art on a wall. But, she says, neither of them is very handy, so they needed help to get it up.
Best Buy offers TV mounting and setup starting at $250. The cost, which goes up to $1,000, depends on the wall type, TV size, and whether you need add-ons. Add-ons can include the physical TV mount or if the customer wants workers to take away and recycle old TVs.
A cheaper alternative?
Janse says she figured there had to be a way to get it done for cheaper. When she popped onto Taskrabbit, she says she saw it was $80 per hour.
"This has to take less than an hour," Janse assumes.
Janse says she booked the appointment for Friday and got randomly paired with a tasker. The tasker, Janse says, was, to her surprise, a "beautiful blonde lady." On Wednesday, Janse says the tasker messaged her, saying she was in her area and could get the work done then.
Janse says she was busy with her workday. But, she says she figured it would take only an hour, so she told the woman to stop by. When she arrived, the woman had no tools with her, according to Janse. And the worker admitted she's never installed a TV like Janse's before. But Janse says she had faith the woman would figure it out.
The two got to talking, and the conversation seemed to never end, according to Janse.
"At this point, it's been an hour, and all she's done is just talk to me," Janse recalls.
Did she get charged by the hour?
Janse says she was concerned about whether she was being charged for the convo. And she needed to get her work done, so Janse says she made up an excuse. She says she told the woman she needed to take her dog on a walk.
"She goes, 'Oh, I'll come,'" Janse says. The woman, Janse continues, proceeded to get her dog from her truck.
Janse says the woman was very nice, so she didn't seem like she'd be the kind to scam her. But at this point, it was 2 and a half hours, and practically nothing was done.
The woman, Janse recalls, said she'd get part of it done that day and then finish on. When she left, Janse says she asked Janse to Venmo her for the work she did that day.
"No way is she gonna charge me for those full three hours," Janse recalls thinking.
But she did, according to Janse. And Janse, who is a self-described non-confrontational person, sent the $240.
Did she come back and finish the job?
When Janse's husband got home and heard about it, Janse says he told her it might be a scam. He suggested canceling the Friday appointment.
But when she went to cancel in the app, Janse says she was going to get charged for an hour of work (another $80) to penalize her for the last-minute change.
Janse says she explained the situation to a Taskrabbit representative, who also reached out to the tasker. Janse says the tasker lied and told them when she went on Wednesday, she was doing unrelated work as a general contractor for her.
"She was basically like, 'Sorry, pay the fee,'" Janse says of the representative.
Still trying to go about things nicely, Janse says she asked if the tasker could cancel on her end so that Janse doesn't get charged. But the woman refused, saying it would then penalize her, Janse continues.
Janse says she paid and chalked it up to a learning lesson on needing to be more confrontational.
She says she ended up getting an email from Taskrabbit that puts a salt in the wound, essentially accusing her of lying to them.
"That brings the grand total to $320 for four screws in the wall," Janse says.
"I'm sure Taskrabbit is a lovely platform, but my experience was bad, and I will not be using them again," Janse says.
Taskrabbit responds
In an email response, a Taskrabbit representative confirmed with the Daily Dot that they connected with Janse on Monday and waived the cancelation fee.
“And as a gesture of goodwill, provided her with Taskrabbit credit, which she can apply to a future task,” the representative said.
In the follow-up, Janse confirms this and says that "was very nice of them."
The rep stated that to maintain the safety and security of users on the platform, they do not allow cash or off-platform payments between clients and taskers.
“The Tasker involved in this incident has been reminded of this requirement and counseled against requesting payment outside of the platform’s guidelines,” the rep wrote. “We are pleased that Taskrabbit and Michel reached a satisfactory resolution, and she has since posted a follow-up video confirming that the situation has been addressed.”
How much should this have cost?
According to Angie's List, it usually costs between $156 and $358 for someone to mount a TV based on the TV size, mount type, and installation difficulty.
You also need to buy mounting hardware, which can be a cheap $15 or up to $600.
If you want to save money, you can go the DIY route. And there are plenty of tutorials on how to do it successfully. But you'll need some basic know-how with how to find a stud in a wall and how to use drywall anchors.
If you don't do it correctly, your wall can easily fall to the floor.
Commenters react
"If you haven’t yet, i think it would be worth reporting her on task rabbit," a top comment read.
"I paid $80 on TaskRabbit to have a 77 inch Frame TV, full length mirror and 4 pieces of art hung perfectly," a person shared.
"This is enough to make me never use task rabbit fr," another said.
@michel.c.janse $320 for some screws on @Taskrabbit ♬ original sound - Michel Janse
The Daily Dot reached out to Janse for comment via email and Instagram direct message.
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The post ‘Am I being charged by the hour right now?‘: Customer hires Taskrabbit to hang TV. Then the worker asks her to Venmo appeared first on The Daily Dot.