Paying someone you've just found on an app is the part that makes people hesitate, and it's a fair thing to hesitate over. Here's exactly how Service Connect Ireland handles your money, step by step, and just as importantly, what it doesn't do.
Your card isn't charged until a provider accepts
You can post a job, browse providers, ask questions and agree a price in chat without a cent moving. Only once a provider accepts the job does Stripe charge your card. Service Connect never sees your card number or stores your card details; Stripe processes the payment inside the app.
Stripe holds the money until the job is done
Once you've paid, the payment doesn't go straight to the provider. Stripe holds it until the work is finished. When the provider marks the job as done, it's your turn to confirm, which releases the payment. If you don't do anything, it confirms itself automatically seven days later, unless a dispute is open. If something's wrong, opening a dispute keeps the payment held while it's looked into, whether that's the provider not showing up, the job not being finished, something being damaged, the price changing, or anything else.
Cancel before work starts, get a full refund
If either you or the provider wants to cancel before the work starts, the booking is cancelled once the other person agrees, or automatically after three days if they don't respond. Either way, you get your full payment back, buyer protection fee included. Changing your mind early costs you nothing.
Why hold the money at all
It would be simpler for Stripe to just pay a provider the moment your card is charged, but that leaves you with no leverage if something goes wrong on the day. Holding the payment until the job is confirmed done gives both sides a reason to sort out a problem in chat rather than argue over money that has already been paid out, and it's the same reason a dispute pauses the seven-day timer instead of letting the payment release on schedule.
The fee is shown before you confirm anything
Buyer protection has one fee: €0.90 plus 5% of the first €500 of the job, and 3% of anything above that. On a €60 job that's €3.90, on a €100 job it's €5.90, and on a €350 job it's €18.40. Whatever the total comes to, it's shown on screen in full before you confirm the booking, alongside the provider's own price, so there's nothing sprung on you afterwards and nothing else to pay.
Reviews only come from completed bookings
A provider's recommendations on Service Connect come only from people who actually completed a booking with them, shown as a simple count like “12 of 13 recommend”, with no score shown until a provider has at least three reviews. It's a small thing, but it means a recommendation reflects real work rather than a favour from a mate.
What we don't check
It's just as important to be clear about what buyer protection isn't. Providers verify their identity through Stripe with a government-issued ID, their address and their bank details, and they declare whether they hold public liability insurance and can upload qualifications to their profile. Service Connect doesn't independently inspect those qualifications or insurance documents, and doesn't run background checks. So read a provider's profile, check their reviews, and ask about insurance or qualifications directly in chat before you book, especially for gas, electrical or childcare work. A provider who breaks the rules is removed from the marketplace.
Put together, what you get
Nothing charged until a provider accepts, your money held by Stripe rather than sitting with the provider until the job is done, a say before it's released, the full fee shown up front, and a full refund if you cancel before work starts. That's what buyer protection on Service Connect Ireland means in practice, on every booking, for every category from plumbers and electricians to tutors and pet sitters.
Want the fuller picture of how a booking runs end to end? Read what is Service Connect Ireland, check the FAQ, or get the app to see it for yourself.