Payment Terms

These Payment Terms apply only when a Client pays a Tradesperson through Book A Tradie (the "Platform"), or a Tradesperson asks for a call-out fee or saves bank details to be paid through it. They form part of our Terms of Service; where the two differ about money paid through the Platform, these Payment Terms apply. Paying through the Platform is optional: you may always pay the Tradesperson directly instead.

1. Our role

When a Client pays through the Platform, Book A Tradie receives the money as the Tradesperson's limited agent for collecting payment. Paying us counts as paying the Tradesperson that amount. We are not a party to the contract for the work, and we are not a bank. The money is held in an account in our name with our payment provider (Paystack). It is not a deposit and earns no interest.

By agreeing to these Payment Terms, the Client and the Tradesperson each appoint and authorise Book A Tradie to collect, hold, release and refund that money on their behalf as set out below.

2. Fees

The Client pays the payment provider's card processing fee, which is shown before paying. We take no commission. Whoever causes a processing, transfer, bank-check or dispute fee pays it, and we may deduct such a fee from money we hold for, refund to or pay out to that person.

3. When the tradesperson is paid

We hold a job payment until the Client confirms the work is done, and then credit it to the Tradesperson's earnings. If the Tradesperson marks the work finished and the Client does not respond within 7 days, the job is treated as confirmed. If the Client says the work is not finished, we keep holding the payment until the Client confirms it or we decide under section 6. A paid call-out fee is credited to the Tradesperson 48 hours after they mark the visit done, unless the Client reports a problem first, in which case section 6 applies.

Confirming that the work is done is binding: it authorises us to release the payment. Any later complaint about the work is between the Client and the Tradesperson, and is not a reason to reverse the card payment.

4. Cancelling and call-outs

A Client may cancel a paid job before the Tradesperson marks it finished; the job amount (not the processing fee) is refunded 24 hours later unless the Tradesperson objects, in which case section 6 applies. A paid call-out can be cancelled until the visit time, but not once its fee has been taken off the Tradesperson's quote. If the Client cancels 24 hours or more before the visit, the call-out fee (not the processing fee) is refunded; if later, the Tradesperson keeps it. If the Tradesperson cancels, the Client gets back everything they paid, including the processing fee. The exact amounts are shown in the app before you confirm.

5. Payouts

Money credited to a Tradesperson is held by us until paid out to a South African bank account in their name. We check the account with the bank and show any check or transfer fee before payout.

• Money credited to earnings can be paid out 3 days later. Where it comes from a payment of more than R10,000 by a Client who has not yet paid that much through the Platform, it can be paid out 14 days later, unless we have reviewed it and release it sooner.
• A payout can also be delayed where we reasonably suspect fraud or error, or while a card payment is disputed.
• If fees or amounts deducted under these terms are more than the Tradesperson's earnings, their earnings become negative. We take that from their next earnings and make no payout until it is covered, and we may ask them to repay it.
• An account cannot be closed while money is held for it, owed to it, or owed by it. Earnings smaller than the payout fee plus R1 cannot be paid out, and are given up if the account is closed.

6. Disputes about money we hold

The Client and the Tradesperson appoint Book A Tradie to decide, acting reasonably and in good faith, what happens to money we hold for a job or call-out — how much is released to the Tradesperson and how much is refunded to the Client. We may ask both sides for information. Our decision is final between you and us for that money. It does not decide the dispute about the work itself: you each keep your rights under the Consumer Protection Act and may approach a court or ombud about the work.

7. Card disputes (chargebacks)

This clause places risk on you. If you are unhappy with work you paid for through the Platform, use our dispute process, not your bank. Reversing a card payment for work you confirmed, or a payment we decided under section 6, is a breach of these terms: you must then repay us what we lose because of it, with fees, interest at the prescribed rate and reasonable collection costs.

• Suspension. We suspend your account as soon as we are told of the chargeback, until the debt is paid or the bank decides in our favour. You cannot close your account while you owe us money.
• One person, one account. You may not open another account while the debt is unpaid. We use your verified ID number to stop this.
• Recovering the debt. If you do not pay within 14 days of our letter of demand, we may hand the debt to our attorneys or a registered debt collector and take legal action. A court judgment against you may be recorded with credit bureaus.
• Fraud. If you tell your bank something false to reverse a payment, we will report it to the South African Police Service, your bank and the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC).

This does not stop your bank deciding a dispute, or take away a right the Consumer Protection Act gives you. It does not apply to a payment you did not authorise at all (for example a stolen card) that you report to us and your bank promptly, although we may keep the account suspended while we check what happened.

8. Your information

To process payments we share what is needed with Paystack and the banks. For a payout account we keep the bank's name, the last 4 digits of the account number and the account holder's name; the full number, and the account holder's ID or company registration number, are sent to Paystack and your bank to check the account and are not stored by us. We keep payment records, including who paid and who was paid, for as long as the law requires (at least 5 years), even if you delete your account, and a copy of the job each payment was for (its details and location, photos, and the quotes and messages between the Client and the Tradesperson who was paid) for 5 years. With each card payment we keep the payer's verified name, ID number and login email, and when a Client confirms work is done we record the date, time and device used. If a card payment is disputed, we may give Paystack, the banks and, if money is owed, our attorneys and debt collectors the quote, messages, photos, confirmations and payment record for that job. Our Privacy Policy explains this in full.

9. Changes

If we change these Payment Terms, we will ask you to agree again before your next payment through the Platform.

Questions: info@bookatradie.co.za.