Related Articles
ClubLocal, a company that contracts with merchants of home services like plumbing or handyman work, wants to make sure customers waiting to have their homes fixed know exactly when the repair guy (or gal) is showing up.
The company, which expands to the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday after testing its service in Dallas, lets customers schedule a service through its site or mobile app. When the pre-screened technician heads out for the job, users can see a photo and the credentials of the technician, and track his or her progress toward their homes. It’s similar to ordering an Uber car, but for services found in places like Angie’s List or HomeAdvisor.
Senior Vice President of Marketing Todd Daum said ClubLocal makes it easy for users to access those services without the legwork that review sites and list sites require.
“In the end you still have to do the work — calling the vendor and getting the pricing — all the experiences that make the experience unpleasant,” he said, in reference to review sites.
While there are several services that target certain types of jobs or smaller tasks, like Task Rabbit, Exec, or Zaarly, ClubLocal wants to be a comprehensive service. The company has contracted with about 100 merchants and Daum said the merchant’s technicians go through screening and training before starting with ClubLocal, which gets a cut from each job.
The customer schedules a two-hour service window and the services include plumbing, electrical, car detailing, handyman, appliance repair, and carpet cleaning. There are 5,000 units of services — like unclogging a drain or patching drywall — available, all with preset prices. Using a ClubLocal-issued iPad app, the technician will show the customer an estimate with the preset prices before starting the job. If the customer is happy with the total estimate, the technician will proceed. Otherwise, ClubLocal can send someone else.
Satisfaction guarantee is important, Daum said. If a customer doesn’t like how a job was done, ClubLocal will send another technician to do the job again or refund the money.
ClubLocal’s app is available on iOS, but rolls out on Android next week.
