Trust & safety

Booking a stranger to wash your car shouldn't feel like a leap of faith.

Every Autara booking sits on four guarantees — verified pros, insured work, escrow-style deposits, and a real human you can reach when something goes sideways. Here's how each one actually works.

01 / 02

For customers

What you get the moment you tap book, before the pro even arrives.

  • Every pro is ABN-verified

    Before a single booking is accepted, we check each merchant's Australian Business Number against the Australian Business Register. If the ABN isn't valid, active, and registered to the applying business, they don't list.

  • Government photo ID on file

    Every merchant uploads a current government-issued photo ID during onboarding. We compare the ID against the business owner's profile and store it encrypted — used only for verification and dispute resolution.

  • Public liability insurance is mandatory

    Pros submit proof of current public liability insurance before they can list. Cover lapses block new bookings. If something goes wrong on the day, you have a real insurer behind the work — not an individual hoping for the best.

  • Deposit-first, capture-on-completion

    You pay a small deposit when you book. The remaining balance is only captured once the pro marks the service complete. If the pro no-shows or cancels, your deposit is refunded automatically — you never pay for a service you didn't get.

  • Stripe handles every payment

    Payments and payouts run on Stripe, the same payment infrastructure used by Amazon, Atlassian, and most of the AU's banks. Autara never sees or stores your card details — they go straight from your browser to Stripe over an encrypted connection.

  • Reviews are tied to real bookings

    Only customers who completed and paid for a booking can leave a star rating. We don't allow merchants to write, edit, or pay for reviews, and we remove anything that breaches our community guidelines. What you see is what other real customers thought.

  • Chat stays on Autara

    All conversation between you and the pro happens in the Autara app or web booking. Messages are retained for safety and dispute resolution. If a pro asks you to move off-platform to take payment, report them — that's a red flag.

  • Real humans review every dispute

    Raise a dispute from your booking up to 14 days after the service. A member of our trust & safety team reads every report, contacts both parties, and decides on refunds, mediation, or insurance referral within five business days.

02 / 02

For pros

The other side of the deal — what protects your time, money, and identity.

  • Customers verify before they can book

    Every customer signs in with a verified email or phone number and a working payment method before a booking can be created. You always know who you're meeting — not an anonymous handle.

  • Deposits guarantee you turn up to paid work

    Deposits are captured at the moment of booking. By the time you arrive on the day, the customer has already committed money to your time — drastically reducing no-shows compared to free-quote platforms.

  • Photo ID is treated like a regulated document

    We only collect your photo ID after explaining what we'll do with it. It's encrypted in transit and at rest, accessible only to a small set of admin reviewers under audit logging, and you can request deletion at any time once verification is complete.

  • Stripe Connect protects your payouts

    Your earnings are held in your own Stripe Connect account and paid out on a regular schedule. Autara only ever deducts its platform fee, which is agreed with you during onboarding — funds in transit are protected by the same fraud-monitoring Stripe uses for millions of businesses worldwide.

When something goes wrong

The dispute path, in five steps.

  1. Step 01

    Open the booking

    From your account, find the booking and tap 'Report an issue'. You have 14 days from service completion to raise a dispute.

  2. Step 02

    Describe what happened

    Add photos, a short written account, and any relevant chat history. The more detail you share up-front, the faster we can move.

  3. Step 03

    We hold the funds

    Any unreleased payment is paused immediately. Neither side can withdraw it while the dispute is open — it sits with Stripe.

  4. Step 04

    Both sides are heard

    A trust & safety reviewer contacts the pro for their version, asks any clarifying questions, and reviews insurance cover where relevant.

  5. Step 05

    Outcome within five business days

    We decide: refund, partial refund, or release. If physical damage is in play, we connect you with the merchant's insurer and follow up until resolved.