Overview
Bark has a rating of 3 stars from 1,642 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Bark most frequently mention great job, quick response and next day. Bark ranks 1st among Service Marketplace sites.
I signed up for Bark.com as a business consultant, enticed by the promise of 'verified leads.' However, my experience over the past six weeks has been deeply disappointing.
First, the leads are not genuinely verified—even basic details like phone numbers are sometimes incorrect. Many so-called leads appear to be individuals simply looking for free advice rather than serious prospects.
The cost of joining as a business consultant is £350 (£420 including VAT), which buys credits to respond to leads. However, some leads cost over £70 each, making the platform an expensive gamble. Despite reaching out to numerous leads, not a single one converted into business.
As part of my onboarding, I was offered a free month of Elite membership, supposedly providing priority support. In reality, when I last called, I waited 15 minutes for an advisor—hardly a premium service. The Elite package also includes five free leads, but these are old leads that others have ignored, often from startups that typically lack the budget for professional business consulting.
While the concept of Bark.com is great in theory, the reality is that it over-promises and fails to deliver. The platform is expensive, response rates are negligible, and the quality of leads is poor.
Not recommended!
Customer service is great! However, it's still a numbers game,
and in my experience the non-response rate is pretty high! That may or may not be the case for anyone else, and the concept is great!
Hi Liberty,
Thank you for your feedback! We're glad to hear you’ve had a great experience with our customer service. We understand that response rates can vary, and while we do our best to provide quality leads, customer engagement is ultimately up to them.
If you ever come across unresponsive leads, you might be eligible for a credit return under our policy. You can find more details here: https://help.bark.com/hc/en-gb/articles/13256562638108-Credit-Return-Policy.
If you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to team@bark.com
The Bark Team
They want and need the help but are unwilling and or unable to see that what they are doing is not getting the results that will turn their lives around.
Hi Jenet,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We understand that pricing can sometimes be a challenge when connecting with clients. While we can’t control individual budgets, you might find success in refining your approach to highlight the value of your services. If you need any support in optimizing your profile or engagement strategy, feel free to reach out to us at team@bark.com.
Best,
The Bark Team
Domeck Property completed hanging of side gate( with adjustment as post was bent),difficult job with two fencing panels and broken central post, two solar lights to illuminate small drive way entrance.
All done in a day
Hi Alan,
Thank you for sharing your experience! We're glad to hear that Domeck Property was able to complete the work efficiently, despite the challenges. It’s great to know they could tackle multiple jobs in one day.
If you need assistance in the future, feel free to reach out!
The Bark Team
The electrician way very good at his did a perfect job at removing the old lighting system and replacing it
Hi Mary,
Thank you for sharing your positive experience! We're glad to hear that the electrician did a perfect job with your lighting system replacement. We appreciate your feedback on the service, value, and quality.
If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out.
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
A lot of the leads I find are people who seem to be kind of window shopping. Saying that, I have received a few leads since August 2024 that are actual solid leads. I'm not sure what the answer to this dilemma is but its just feedback. I've found a lot of people don't answer their phones (can be understandable sometimes) or even worse don't reply to emails. I just feel it doesn't take very long to reply back that you're either not interested or have found someone for the job or just a simple courtesy. For the most part, I like this platform.
The other thing I think that can be helpful is the questions to potential people looking for particular work done is more specific questions. Like if I am adding Bathrooms to my credentials then a good question would be something more specific "Do you need cabinets", Do you have plumbing requirements, do you need a contractor for the scope of work where it entails more than one trade (Millworker, plumber, electrician etc)
Also, I get a lot of leads sent to me from Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba when I'm in BC and the Radius range I believe I have set up is 150 to 200 Kilometers.
Hi,
Thank you for your insightful feedback! We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with us. We understand how frustrating it can be when leads don't respond, and we'll definitely take your suggestions into account regarding more specific questions to help tailor leads to your business needs.
As for the radius issue, we’ll be happy to look into that and ensure leads are being filtered more accurately to your location.
If you need any assistance or have further feedback, feel free to reach out to us at team@bark.com.
Best regards,
The Bark Team
70% of the leads that I contacted don't answer calls, don't respond to text messages and don't answer emails.
Hi Brigitte,
We're sorry to hear that you've had an issue with customers not responding to you.
We are aware that leads not responding is an issue for some professionals, and we are always actively working on ways to try and improve the connectivity between buyers and professionals.
As our role is simply to provide contact details for customers, we do not return credits if the details are still valid and the customer is not responding, as this is something largely outside of our control. Of course, we will always return credits if the contact details are invalid or if any of the information on the request is incorrect.
We recommend contacting leads as quickly as possible to help try and counter leads not responding, as well as trying to be the first or second person to contact a lead.
Please do get in touch by emailing team@bark.com so we can provide you with specialist support and advice to help maximise your success on our platform.
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I paid for my coins and some how the two emails were intertwined so the representant said she fixed it. I have not gotten any leads. It was a waist of money!
Hi Denise,
Thank you for sharing your feedback, and we're truly sorry to hear that your experience didn’t meet your expectations.
All of our leads are live, so as soon as a customer places a request with us that matches your criteria and location, we will send you through their lead information. The leads do fluctuate in certain areas and at certain times of the year.
If you need any help or have any concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at team@bark.com, and we’ll be happy to assist you.
We’re here to help and hope to resolve this matter for you as quickly as possible.
Warm regards,
The Bark Team
The site itself is very good, however they need to do a much better job screening the potential clients. We waste and spend a lot of money on credit to contact thses people and they are not seriuos about hriing or just want to find out the cost of hiring a Investigation/Detective Agency. Also there 4 short screening questions are not good and they are givin options they should have like, If they have chosen Surveillance, Child Custody, Infidelity you then can not chose REMOTE on the next question as you have to be in the field for those cases. Which allows you to get a lot of unwanted leads. I have 158 responces they we have made and only gotten 4 jobs and we have spent over $1500 in the past 3 months on credits, as it cost so much per credits to respond AND it different amount of credits for each potential client. This site is a very good idea, but need a lot of tweeking and a little cheaper..
Hi there,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We appreciate your feedback about the screening process and the issues with leads that aren’t serious or relevant. We understand how frustrating it can be to spend money on leads that don’t convert into business, and we’re always working to improve the platform.
Your suggestions about refining the screening questions are valuable, and we will certainly take them into consideration. We also want to remind you that you can reach out to our team at review@bark.com if you need further support or have any specific concerns regarding the leads.
Best regards,
The Bark Team
I was looking for someone to design a book cover and as soon as I had made some notes as to possible contacts I exited the site and was immediately approached by a company who appeared to tick all the boxes. It transpired they weren't even registered with Bark. My subsequent dealings with said company were most unsatisfactory. I'd presumed that once on the Bark site I would only be dealing with legitimate companies. Clearly the platform wasn't secure as I learned to my cost.
Hi Paul,
We're deeply sorry to hear about your experience. Providing a positive and reliable service is paramount to us at Bark.com, and it's disheartening to learn when this isn't the case.
We truly value your feedback and take it very seriously. Rest assured, we're actively investigating the matter to ensure that instances like these are not repeated in the future. Our goal is to maintain a high standard of professionalism and quality across all interactions facilitated through our platform.
If you're willing, we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss your experience further and gather additional details to help us to support and improve. Your insights are invaluable in helping us uphold our commitment to excellence. If you haven't flagged this with us yet, please email us at team@bark.com so our team can review further.
We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Once again don't hesitate to reach out to our customer support team directly!
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
I received good service of which I am pleased. The staff are always polite and respectful and I have found no fault with the way they answer the phone and respond to my queries.
Hi Team,
Thank you for sharing your experience with Bark! We're thrilled to hear that our team has been polite, respectful, and responsive to your needs. Your feedback means a lot to us, and we're always here to assist you whenever you need help.
If you have any further questions or require support, feel free to reach out. We're happy to help!
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
Spent slot of $ on site.
Constantly get attitude.
People hacking into my account.
Done using Bark. Good luck guys. From a massive ( cleaning corporation)
Hi Forest,
We're sorry to hear about your experience. If you're facing security concerns with your account, please reach out to our team at team@bark.com so we can investigate and assist you further. We're always happy to help and ensure your account remains secure.
Best,
The Bark Team
Bark is very good at channeling end customers to their site and using the minimum number of steps to generate a lead but this lack of thorough lead qualification, lack transparency provided to the customer on how the contractor side of the process works and lack of customers 'skin in the game' means that much contractor time and money is wasted.
Contractors can get their credits returned if they can get the customer to say they no longer need a contractor but from our experience about 75% of leads don't respond to phone calls, txt's and emails in the first place so this doesn't happen.
When we've explained to a customer that contractors have to pay for their lead they are usually quite surprised and had no idea how the process works.
To avoid time wasters it would be good if the customer paid a small fee for the service. Another approach might be to create a customer profile and a facility where the contractor could leave feedback on how they found the customer. As a minimum there could be a feedback setting where a contractor could say whether a customer returned their initial communication.
Hi Team,
We're sorry to hear that your experience on Bark.com didn't meet expectations. First and foremost, we want you to know that we are committed to delivering high-quality leads to our professionals. We invest a lot of time and resources into attracting genuine customers to our website, and we have a dedicated team that works around the clock to ensure a robust lead-generation process.
We use an automated system to screen all leads, and we have a credit return policy in place to cover any non-functional contact details. We believe in fairness, and we want to make sure that everyone is happy with the service we provide.
We know that dealing with unresponsive customers can be frustrating, but we believe that responding quickly to requests can help you connect with them before they make a decision. Sometimes, customers may be talking to other professionals, which can lead to delayed responses.
We really want to help you get the most out of our platform and improve your conversion rates. If you are open to it, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at team@bark.com. We're here to help and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you to enhance your experience.
Warm regards,
The Bark Team
People waste your time
They don't care it cost you money to get there details
Clients Never answer, always n and d to chase to get work and all of the above costs us money!
Hi Marc,
We understand your frustration. While we aim to provide quality leads, we can’t control how clients respond. However, we do have a credit return policy for unresponsive leads—if a client doesn’t engage, you may be eligible for a credit return. You can review our policy here: [https://help.bark.com/hc/en-gb/articles/13256562638108-Credit-Return-Policy]
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact us at team@bark.com.
Best,
The Bark Team
Ive been with Bark.com for over 6 months spent well over 300 euros got no job leads only 1 throughout the time and that one job was local in my community only i purchased the lead was i cracked the details this site has no potential of even offering any lead its all money money money having to pay for to get job details dosent make sence instead should be advertiser paying for details also ive had my full details advertised on my profile and still dosent make sence that i still have to contact the advertiser and have to pay even tho this site claims that my profile is 100% complete why cant people just see this details and me having to pay for get job oure scammers site end off rip off dont go here cancel your subscript they take your badge staright away money money
Hi Norita,
We’re sorry to hear that your experience hasn’t met your expectations. We understand your frustration and appreciate your feedback. After reviewing your account, we can confirm that your Elite Pro subscription has been canceled and this matter has now been sorted.
If you ever need assistance in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our 24/7 support team. We’re always here to help.
The Bark Team
Highly recommend using Bark, they have been incredible with helping me get my business off the ground. Thank you Bark!
Hi Team,
Thank you so much for your positive review! We're so glad to hear that Bark has been instrumental in helping you get your business off the ground. Your satisfaction is incredibly important to us, and we truly appreciate your recommendation.
If you need any further assistance, we're always here to help!
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
Great way to get specific industry leads. The potential clients are vetted before being presented to offer a response.
Hi Raymond,
Thank you for your feedback, Raymond! We're happy to hear that you're finding industry-specific leads and that you're satisfied with our screening process. We strive to connect you with high-quality potential clients, and it's great to know that you're experiencing the benefits.
If you have any further questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to us anytime.
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
Easy to use platform, some good quality leads, profile exactly what you want and you should get something from it
Hi Keen,
Thank you for the great feedback! We're thrilled to hear you’ve been able to secure some quality business through Bark. Our goal is to connect professionals like you with the right leads, so it's fantastic to know our platform is working well for you.
If there's anything we can do to help further or improve your experience, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Kind regards,
The Bark Team
Non responsive clients.
Clients just fishing, wasting time going to give quotes.
I feel credits are wasted 50%.
Hi there,
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're sorry to hear that your experience on Bark.com didn't meet expectations.
First and foremost, we want you to know that we are committed to delivering high-quality leads to our professionals. We invest a lot of time and resources into attracting genuine customers to our website, and we have a dedicated team that works around the clock to ensure a robust lead-generation process.
We use an automated system to screen all leads, and we have a credit return policy in place to cover any non-functional contact details. We believe in fairness and we want to make sure that everyone is happy with the service we provide.
We know that dealing with unresponsive customers can be frustrating, but we believe that responding quickly to requests can help you connect with them before they make a decision. Sometimes, customers may be talking to other professionals, which can lead to delayed responses.
We really want to help you get the most out of our platform and improve your conversion rates. If you are open to it, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at team@bark.com. We're here to help and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you to enhance your experience.
Warm regards
The Bark Team
From first signing up to present day when leads are purchased approx 75% do not reply. Trying 1 more month to see if it improves.
Hi Armstrong,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear that you've encountered a low response rate with the leads you've purchased. We understand how frustrating this can be and appreciate your patience in trying another month.
While we can't guarantee responses, we do want to help improve your experience. We recommend responding quickly to leads, as customers may be in touch with multiple professionals, which can sometimes delay their replies. If you're still facing issues or would like more guidance, please reach out to us at review@bark.com, and we’ll be happy to assist with your account, offer tips, and help tailor your experience with us.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
The Bark Team
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.
Business History
January 2015 - Website launches to the public
February 2015 - Acquisition of Skillpages
May 2016 - 100,000th Bark
February 2017 - 100,000 professionals now registered
April 2017 - Launched in the US
December 2017 - Millionth Bark placed
September 2018 - Move into our state of the art HQ in Paddington, London after outgrowing 6 previous offices
January 2019 - Customer Success team moves to 7 day a week
February 2019 - Launch in Canada, Ireland and South Africa
March 2019 - Reach 500,000 professionals registered
July 2019 - New branding and fully upgraded website launched
Company Representative
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Hi Team,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We’re sorry to hear that your time on Bark has not met your expectations. We understand your concerns regarding the quality of leads, the cost of joining, and the response rates.
While we do aim to provide verified leads, we acknowledge that not all may meet your expectations, and some leads may be from individuals seeking general advice rather than serious prospects. We understand that this can be frustrating, especially with the cost involved. If you feel that contact details are inaccurate or leads are not up to standard, please reach out to us at team@bark.com so we can review your case and offer a credit return where applicable.
Regarding the Elite membership, we’re sorry to hear that the support didn’t meet the level you expected. If you need further assistance or tips on how to improve your experience with Bark, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help and tailor your experience to ensure better results moving forward.
The Bark Team