We're a reputable web design / software development company and thought we would spend circa £300 with Bark to generate leads. We called up their sales team, spoke to someone who said they have a guarantee that if we didn't get any business we would get our 'money' back. See below how deceptive their practices are.

Sending out proposals, chasing, calling does take a lot of time in any case when you are trying to get new business. However, in the case of leads supplied by Bark, YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR TIME.

1. The leads are of very very poor quality
2. I spoke to two customers who said they were getting paid to pretend to want a website and they weren't really interested
3. Bark tell you you respond to a lead within mins. We did that on 7/10 occassions and ZERO results.

Bark is a con. They tell you will get your 'money' back but really all they do is give you the credits back. Now if those credits didnt get you any business in the first place, why are you going to waste your time again?

STAY AWAY FROM THESE - YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MONEY.

Helpful? Yes 5
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Eddie C.

2 reviews

4 helpful votes

“So far NO responses!”

11/5/19

I just sent them a email.

Hi, I have been sending out Responses, Emails and Phone calls and I have YET to receive ANY Replies!

I may have share my results on social media. So far it has been a horrible experience. Once my "Points" run out, I am done.

Regards,
Eddie Connell

EWC Designs
http://ewcdesigns.com

Helpful? Yes 2
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Maryam R.

1 review

0 helpful votes

“Legit company, but majority of leads are not serious”

11/4/19

Company: legit business, based in the UK, customer service responsive on credits and tips

Leads: Majority are not serious to book or invest. Many don't respond. It's free for them to request quotes but they don't know how much it costs the business owners. Out of 10 contacts, we had one successful lead book with us.

Tips: don't contact if lead is more than 4 hrs passed, don't contact if they don't have a date or unsure on certain items, don't respond if they have no set budget. Do call them immediately once u send your information

Overall, I would put this site on the lower end of your advertising criteria. Use your credits wisely and read the full description of how serious the lead is. Keep in mind they get multiple quotes and many times forget to close it if they picked another company.

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Christopher N.

1 review

1 helpful vote

“Scam”

11/3/19

I will be contacting trading standards first thing tomorrow, Bark is and without doubt a con , i have attempted to contact a potential lead only to receive no communication whatsoever , I have just received a call from a person that I left a message with assuming it was a genuine bark contact and he as no knowledge of bark ,, yet I received his number from them , I still have a number of credits with Bark I will request that Trading standards use them to endorse my aligations that Bark is a fake trading platform that needs to be closed down

Helpful? Yes 1
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Paul H.

1 review

0 helpful votes

“Ive had a few jobs through bark.com and definately will continue buying credits”

11/2/19

ive read a small handfull of other reviews and i can agree some numbers/requests seem fake, few are timewasters but some are 100% genuine!

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robert B.

1 review

0 helpful votes

“Rip off, save your money and advertise”

11/1/19

The amount you spend on leads is high. Add that to the fact that 90% dont even reply to your initial emails or phone calls makes it questionable at best. Customer service is close to talking to a bot, canned responses and not relevant to the conversation.

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Brick w.

1 review

0 helpful votes

“It's a con”

10/29/19

It's an absolute con I'm going to report them to trade and standards tomorrow.
For instance they are advertising a garden wall in West Sussex and the telephone number is for new Zealand.

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BUNNY E.

1 review

0 helpful votes

“Awful site”

10/28/19

I wish I had looked for reviews before I did this. Poorly executed site. I have spent $950 for a $250/mo client. Certainly not a good return on investment. You don't even get a chance to pitch your service. You pay, then you immediately get a message that potential client is no longer excepting bids. Or you send your pitch and the clients don't respond. I'd be better off just throwing that money on the ground and setting fire to it. AWFUL!!!!!

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Dipti m.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“SCAM”

10/25/19

Total scam, all leads were very poor and it's really expensive! Don't waste your money! Spend your marketing budget elsewhere.

BARK need to up their game. They need to charge their customers to post valid jobs. Over 80% of jobs are fake and from people 'searching' the market.

Absolute waste of time

Helpful? Yes 3
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David H.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“If I could give no stars I would”

10/23/19

Total scam, all leads were very poor and it's really expensive! Don't waste your money! Spend your marketing budget elsewhere.

Helpful? Yes 3
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James C.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“Absolute Disappointment!”

10/22/19

Only reason I purchased the minimum 100 credits was to answer just one lead. Turned out the lead was not even a lead, totally unqualified. After 5 months of being on their platform, I got just one unqualified lead. I wanted to get a refund, they said it's not in their policy, despite their guarantee of at least one job from the purchased credits. I got more leads from Google and Alignable.com which both are free services. Stay absolutely away from bark.com! You are better off spending your money elsewhere.

Helpful? Yes 3
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Jessica M.

1 review

5 helpful votes

“SCAM, Fraud, please do not sign-up for this Service!”

10/16/19

BARK is a lead generation service with little to no vetting process. Aside from a few qualification questions that don't fundamentally help the service provider to land the lead.

Service providers are totally in the dark as to what to expect, and much of the time, the lead is falsely representing their interest in support. At times it's even been a competitor looking to see what the competition is doing.

Most leads are also poor, and simply "browsing", so much of the information they are providing isn't even in alignment with their true intentions on the site.

In addition, leads don't receive your notifications, or find no value in the platform, and close their request within hours or days of opening it, without ever replying to you. I know, as I've been tracking this systemic issue. I send a message, I call and text a few days later, I followed yup with email - the lead ghosts off the platform, or says they'd already found someone outside of Bark. It's insanity.

I could say more, its been a horrible experience, and honestly don't bother dealing with their team! They basically just cut and paste the same policy response!

Helpful? Yes 5
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Len M.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“Spam spam spamity spam”

10/13/19

Got a random email from them claiming a lead source. Totally fake. Probably scraped my email from Google.

Helpful? Yes 3
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Garrin B.

2 reviews

2 helpful votes

“Bark is a scam definitely, leads are fake”

10/11/19

Well upon setting up my Bark account for catering and cooking class parties I started getting leads.... out of 15 leads 10 did not fit my criteria and had false info within them and the other 5 were odd situations such as strange noises coming from phone and when a person answered one of them you could tell he had no idea what to tell me and I knew his answers were scripted..... seemed as though the calls are set up and really no business to be generated here folks..... save your money and time... SCAM 100%

Helpful? Yes 2
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Inspired I.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“I write as a business owner”

10/10/19

I write as a business owner offering professional services.

The Bark qualification of opportunity is appalling, doesn't ask the most fundamental questions, yet allowing prospective customers completely ridiculous expectations of cost.

Their "professional" option fails to put your business in the list shown to enquirers of a service.

Then their special offers are marketed with false advertising in respect of discounts.

Helpful? Yes 3
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Lae M.

1 review

5 helpful votes

“A SCAM”

10/9/19

A scam. Be very careful when you buy credits for the first time. Your card is going to be kept on record and there is no way to remove it. Also, the auto top-up will automatically activate to squeeze more money out of you without your consent.
As for the site, I joined three days ago, I spent 50 pounds, spent hours replying to potential customers requesting a quote, I had the site stealing another 57 pounds and I've got nothing and as for their claimed of hired guaranteed or your money back. That's nonsense. They automatically take money from you therefore you end up paying even if you don't want to. By the time you realise that the auto top-up activated when you bought your first packet of credits is too late. Even if they refund the first purchase for lack of customers they still pocket the 57 pounds they take from you the second time round.
To date, I can safely rate this site as a SCAM. Don't fall for it. Steer clear.

Helpful? Yes 5
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Tim w.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“Fake leads poor service”

10/8/19

Promised refunds on all jobs I did not get. Then they refused!
Some leads are fake and made up by bark to get sales!

Helpful? Yes 2
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Katie M.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“All Lies”

10/4/19

Poor leads! Was told if I didn't book I'd get a refund. Called a representative to let them know if like my money back bc I didn't book anything. They told me I would get nothing back. They get your money promising good leads and job bookings but literally deliver ZERO! Don't waste your money. Better off spending it on advertising on social media platforms like Facebook.

Helpful? Yes 2
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Teresa B.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“False”

10/2/19

This site spammed my company information and placed on their web site with no authorization from me, the owner. Do not use this site the information is obtained from false means.

Helpful? Yes 2
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James F.

1 review

3 helpful votes

“Damn wish I would have seen all of these before using them”

9/26/19

The worse, its a fake overseas site who robs people telling them they have clients. As soon as you hit one of their clients they all of a sudden retract their request its a scam.

Helpful? Yes 3
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Mark B.

3 reviews

8 helpful votes

“looks good and makes them a lot of money”

9/26/19

Bark leads are very expensive when compared to other sources but they included a lot of info so we bought a few. Bark would send a lead at £40 on Monday and send it again on Tuesday saying the person was still waiting to hear from me but was now available at £30. I later discovered that Bark had already sold the lead to 3 other providers at the higher price before offering it to me a little bit cheaper. This is outrageous. Also it turns out that they are buying the leads from other lead sellers and then selling them to multiple providers. Not sure how this sits with GDPR? They are offering the leads to so many providers that the clients are sick of being contacted.

Helpful? Yes 3
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Chris F.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“When did I give you permission to market to me???”

9/26/19

Pathetic company. Spam your inbox with "leads" without any permission. Pity they cant be shut down. Not to mention the ridiculous prices for leads that I don't believe will convert.

Helpful? Yes 2
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William G.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“This is a scam”

9/25/19

Awful patronising customer services. All leads I bought are fake. They offer a get hired guarantee but never give you your money back. The get hired guarantee only lasts once and if none of their leads answer the call that's it you are stuffed. Lost loads of money. They even admit that their leads are old/bogus but that doesn't seem to bother them. Please please please don't use this service.

The only response I got was that "we have been around for 6 years so it can't be that bad" - Lots of scam artist have a long career. This is one of the best scams I've seen in a long while. I'm sure they will still be scamming 6 years from now.

Helpful? Yes 2
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rebecca w.

1 review

2 helpful votes

“A very bad experience and waste of money”

9/23/19

The leads are such poor quality. Of course, I don't expect the majority of leads to roll straight into wins, that would be too good to be true. But with 99.9% of them being fake or bogus then you will never see a ROI. The only answer they will give is well we will return your points, which just results in even more crap being sent your way, it is a vicious circle.

Helpful? Yes 2
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Marion C.

1 review

4 helpful votes

“Many poor quality leads.”

9/22/19

I've just read several reviews calling Bark a scam. It isn't. The leads I have followed up have been genuine, although many were from time wasters. I use other agencies and this isn't unusual.There are time wasters everywhere. You can't blame Bark for that. Their screening process won't pick that up. I have communicated with leads, even met some of them, so I know they are genuine, just selfish. I have been hired by a few, but some have foundered and are on hold. I've probably broken even so far in terms of my spending and earning but I m not quite ready to buy more credits. I also did have some credits refunded when an address given with a lead was incorrect. A member of Bark staff did this without question. So I probably will persevere with Bark, but with caution.

Helpful? Yes 4
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Customer Questions & Answers

1
Vote

Question:

Is Bark a scam or a legit company?

Answer:

Hi Jim, I work for Bark.com so thought I would weigh in. Bark.com is a legit company. We are an online market place which connects customers looking for services with professionals who can provide those services and we currently operate in the UK, USA, Ireland, Canada and South Africa. I would encourage you to check out of Trustpilot reviews at https://www.trustpilot.com/review/bark.com If you have any questions feel free to contact our friendly team by phone or email: team@bark.com

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

See all answers (16)

0
Votes

Question:

Why are the reviews so overwhelmingly negative about Bark?

Answer:

Hi David, Check out our Trustpilot reviews where we currently have 14,282 reviews and a 4-star rating. Bark.com is a lead generation company and as such, we provide companies with the means to reach out to potential customers. Unfortunately, we can't guarantee business as ultimately the decision lies with the customers as to who they engage with or hire. And lead generation is competitive. Only one business can be hired, so for every professional who managed to secure the business, there will be those who haven't and want someone to blame. Typically professionals on Bark.com will secure 1 in every 5 leads they respond to and our leads are priced with this in mind. We want professionals to succeed, make a return on investment and continue using us. Lead generation is certainly not for everyone but its a great marketing tool if used correctly, one that can help grow your business. And Bark.com is the largest, we have 1000's of successful professionals who rely on us to secure new business and currently we operate in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Ireland. We have a great customer success team on hand 7 days a week, who want to help professionals succeed and who have great advice to give. We offer every new professional our Starter pack of credits, which gives you enough credits to respond to about 10 customers, comes with a sizable discount of 20% and our 'Get Hired Guarantee' which protects you in the event you've been unsuccessful in securing any business after using theses credits and allows us to add those credits back to your Bark.com account giving you a second chance. Ultimately I would encourage any business looking for leads to talk to the team here and make their own assessment. If you have any questions our customer success team will be happy to help. You can contact them by phone or email: team@bark.com Kind regards The Bark Team

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

See all answers (11)

0
Votes

Question:

why are most of he phone numbers fake?

Answer:

Hi Patricia, I can understand why looking at some of the reviews, you could easily come to this conclusion. However, a very small percentage of leads have incorrect contact details and its something that we cover professionals for. Every request is posted by customers that are actively looking for professionals. Customers provide their own details about each job and their contact details. On occasion, customers do make mistakes when entering their contact details and it slips through our system. When customers have provided incorrect contact information, professionals can contact our customer success team who will issue credits back to your Bark.com account inline with our policy. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact that team here, they will be happy to help. You can contact us by phone or email: team@bark.com Kind regards The Bark Team

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

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0
Votes

Question:

How can you tell real clients from bots?

Answer:

Hi Alex, Every lead we send through is posted by a customer that is actively looking for a professional and places a request or has used us in the past successfully to find a professional and returns. Customers enter their own details with regards to the job requirements and provide their own contact details to find professionals. We get 1000's of requests daily and due to this we do rely on a system to vets the leads, its not flawless so some requests do slip through the cracks. If you have issues with leads, where the customer have provided incorrect contact information. You can speak with our friendly customer success team who will be happy to help. You can reach our team by phone or email: team@bark.com Kind regards The Bark Team

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

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0
Votes

Question:

im a travel agent... would bark be able to help me

Answer:

Hi Anjannette, Bark.com gets leads for over 500+ services and this does include travel agents. I would encourage any business looking for leads to chat with our friendly team. You can reach the team by phone or email: team@bark.com

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

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0
Votes

Question:

How does bark vet its customers

Answer:

A: Hi Devin, Bark.com doesn't claim to vet professionals. The overwhelming majority of customers experiences on Bark are positive, and the professionals usually do an excellent job. That said, we recognise that with such a large volume of jobs being agreed on our platform, problems may arise on very rare occasions. As a customer looking for a service, any agreement you have is between yourself and the professional concerned. Our role is simply to put you in touch with potential professionals in much the same way the Yellow Pages, Google or an advert in the paper would do. That said, every professional on Bark.com has a profile and this profile is sent to buyers to view and contains information about the company, links to their website and reviews from people who have used that professionals through Bark or outside of it. We encourage every customer to do their due diligence when deciding which professionals to hire and the team are always on hand to help. We do take any complaint seriously and would urge any that's had a negative experience to contact us at team@bark.com with the details of the company you used so that we can log a formal complaint. Kind regards The Bark Team

By Bark T., Bark Representative on 8/23/19

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0
Votes

Question:

Hi, who is the best wedding photographers

Answer:

The ones who will work with a budget, and make sure the bride's needs are met.

By Michael P. on 5/20/19

See all answers (2)

0
Votes

Question:

is it worth signing up to

Answer:

No answers yet. Answer this question

0
Votes

Question:

Is Bark a legit platform???

Answer:

No answers yet. Answer this question

0
Votes

Question:

How do I contact Bark to post a project in which I need design support?

Answer:

No answers yet. Answer this question

Show all questions (11)

Bark Headquarters

16192 Coastal Highway, 19958

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Whatever you're looking for, Bark will find and contact the best service providers for you in your local area. Save time and find the best service providers to talk to, wherever you are.

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