Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to all your questions! Can't find what your looking for? Contact us at info@blinkn.io

What is Blinkn?

Blinkn is an online job platform that allows users to instantly find and book local services and jobs. We connect users with a wide range of service providers, such as trades, hospitality staff and even casual workers.

People can use blinkn to freely connect or chat with other users via listings and job postings. Users then have the option to book jobs or staff through the platform, facilitate payment and get their reviews published.

Blinkn is an open platform, meaning everybody is welcome to advertise their services and can freely use the platform, we verify users by implementing a double-blind peer review process, that ensures transparency, accountability and safety.

What does it cost

Posting listings and messaging users is free! This means you can assess staff or find work without paying any of our service fees.

If you want to book a service through the platform, get your job verified and reviews published, our standard flat rate fee is $10 per user (provider + customer), per booking. see more

If you wish to facilitate payment on the platform via BlinknPay, then our standard service fee is 5% of the job total, paid by each user (provider + customer). see more

How is it different to other online job marketplaces?

At Blinkn we understand how hard it is to find work and staff on short notice and we also know the importance of time for small businesses. So, we went and made a platform that finds work and staff quicker than anything that is currently available!

We think the biggest point of difference in our platform is its transparency and how easy it is to instantly find work opportunities. Simply put, you have complete access to all available jobs and staff from the instant you access our platform!

We do not make you sign up, pay a fee or force you to go through an annoying onboarding process before viewing work opportunities. Our platform booking fees are also the lowest and we have even made it possible for you to find opportunities without having to pay.

How do I sign up?

To sign up, simply click on the 'Sign Up' button in the middle of the homepage. Fill in your details, select your primary user type, verify your email and that’s it! You’re ready to start using Blinkn.

How do I create a listing?

After signing up you can create a listing, simply click the ‘post a new listing’ button in the top right hand corner.

What are the different types of listings?

Service Providers may make the following listings; Hourly, Daily, Enquire only. Customers can only make an Enquire only listing.

• Enquire only: This listing does not require you to select availability, simply make a listing advertising your service or posting a job request.

• Hourly: Select your availability by the hour from the calendar interface, customers can then book you from your availability.

• Daily: Select your availability by the day from the calendar interface, customers can then book you from your availability.

Note: If wanting to book a provider for multiple days, they must have a daily listing, as an hourly listing can not be booked for more than 1 day, or the maximum number of hours that the provider has made available for that day.

Does it cost money to use Blinkn?

Blinkn is free to use and there is no subscription fee to use our platform. Users can sign up, search and post listings and contact users via their listing page for free.

When booking a service, you have the option to the pay the provider privately, or on the platform via BlinknPay. There are pros and cons to both, but ultimately, we believe the method of payment facilitation should be up to the users.

As it does cost us resources to verify bookings, to use our booking system to book jobs and services, you will need to pay a booking fee ($10).

The benefits of using our booking system are that the job will be verified on the Blinkn platform and you will get reviews published after the completion of a job, which in turn will help you secure more work opportunities.

Booking Fee

To book a service through the platform, each user must pay a flat rate booking fee of $10 to confirm the booking, get the job verified and publish reviews. This means that you will have to pay the service privately outside of the platform, however you and the service provider will receive a digital receipt confirming the booking and will get reviews published after the job completion.

For the customer, this will be automatically added onto the job total on checkout, in the booking page.

For the service provider, they will need to pay the booking fee upfront to accept the booking request.

• So, if it is a $100 booking, each user will pay Blinkn $10 each. Payment will be facilitated privately between the users.

• Note. The booking fee total will not show up in the provider’s receipt, as it is paid separately from the customer.

BlinknPay

BlinknPay is our unique payment system that lets users facilitate payment with ease. Powered by Stripe, BlinknPay will take payment from the customer and hold it in trust while the job is undertaken, once the job is completed and both users are happy, payment is instantly released! Users will each pay a 5% service fee of the job total as payment for using BlinknPay.

• This means that if a booking total is $100, each user will pay $5 (5%) to use Blinkn pay and the $10 booking fee. Therefore, the customer will pay $115 and the service provider gets $95 from the customer, but pays the $10 booking fee upfront.

Using BlinknPay is by far the quickest, easiest and safest way to facilitate payment between users. For the service provider, the advantages of using Blinkn pay is that you will always know you will be paid after completing a job, as payment in full is held by Blinkn before a job starts.

For the customer, the advantages of using BlinknPay is that you can easily pay the service provider without having to directly exchange bank or financial institution information. You can also be confident that your payment is as described by the scope of works, as verified by our platform

Also, by using BlinknPay, providers and customers can use our dispute and mediation channels should anything go wrong on a booking, which will help to quickly resolve any issues between users and finalise payment. See more

Is BlinknPay optional?

Yes! We do not want users to be forced to use BlinknPay if they would rather facilitate payment privately, outside of the platform. We believe if we did, it would likely cause some users to miss out on work opportunities, which is against our core mission. So, BlinknPay is completely optional!

BlinknPay is by default used when requesting to book a service provider, it can be deselected after sending a provider a booking request. This is done by clicking the ‘Change booking’ button at the bottom of the checkout information in the booking page. This can only be done by the customer and only after a request has been sent to a provider.

If deselecting BlinknPay, both users will still be required to pay the platform booking fee ($10) to verify the job and publish reviews.

• If a provider accepts a booking request while BlinknPay is selected, you cannot then deselect it, as payment is taken from the customer as soon as a provider accepts a request. Therefore, it is your responsibility to communicate your payment preference prior to accepting or sending a booking request. See cancellations and refunds

How can I pay for a booking?

Users can pay for bookings by using all major credit cards; American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Eftpos Australia and more.

When will I be charged for the booking?

When you request to book a service provider, we will preauthorise your card for the booking total amount, you will not be charged until the provider accepts the booking.

Does Blinkn verify users before using the platform?

Blinkn is an open platform that allows anyone to list their services, therefore we do not verify users before they sign up. Before posting a job listing, users must sign a declaration stating that their listing information is true. It will be up to the users to independently verify this information if required.

All users on the platform (customers and providers) receive reviews and ratings after the completion of a job. We believe this is the best form of verification as the vetting process is completed by the network of users on the Blinkn Platform.

Does Blinkn Verify Service Provider’s ABN or trade license etc.?

We currently do not verify ABN’s or trade license’s, however we will in the future offer verification services. Service providers can choose to display their license information in their listing, customers may also request this information before making a booking.

What is a customer?

A customer is defined as a user who is seeking to book or contact service providers. See service provider

How do I find a service provider

Instantly start finding service providers by typing into the search bar at the top of the page, or by clicking on a link in the category section.

How do I book a service?

After you find a service provider who meets your requirements, simply choose the date and time you want to book, then select ‘request to book’. If the listing is ‘enquire only’ you may freely send them a message and wait for their reply.

How do I pay for my booking?

You may choose to either facilitate the job total via the platform, see BlinknPay or deselect this option and choose to pay the provider privately. See more

If choosing to facilitate pay privately, your card will be preauthorised for the booking fee total ($10) and charged once accepted by a provider, its then up to you to pay the provider. If using BlinknPay, your card will be preauthorised for the total job amount (job sub-total + booking fee + 5% BlinknPay fee).

In both cases your card will not be charged until the provider accepts your booking.

What happens after my booking is accepted?

The booking will be considered ‘active’ and your card will be charged for the total amount. If paying the provider privately, this will just be the booking fee ($10). If using BlinknPay then it will be the Job total + 5% of the job total + the booking fee. See below examples:

• For a $100 booking made without using BlinknPay, each user will pay Blinkn $10. Payment will be then facilitated privately between the users.

• For a $100 booking made with BlinknPay, each user will pay $5 (5%) to use Blinkn pay plus the $10 booking fee. Therefore, the customer will pay $115 and the service provider gets $85.

What is a service provider?

A service provider is a user who advertises their services on the platform, this could be a Carpenter offering building services, a Chef offering catering services or a casual worker who offers casual retail, construction or hospitality services.

How can I list my services on Blinkn?

Simply sign up, create a profile and make a job listing of your choosing!

Do I need to be vetted?

You may use Blinkn without prior getting vetted. However, you will be asked to submit your ABN, contractor’s license, relevant tickets and qualifications on your listing page. You will also be required to sign a declaration signifying your details are true and that you agree to the platform terms and conditions.

Do I need an ABN to use Blinkn?

We strongly encourage Service Providers to have an up-to-date ABN before they start contracting on our platform. We do not enforce users to have an ABN to use Blinkn, however you should note there are certain Tax obligations and restrictions you must be aware of before you start contracting out your services.

Failure to comply with these obligations will likely result in heavy fines from the ATO. See more

If you do not have an ABN you will still be able to use the platform to find work, you will however need to sign up to the customer’s payroll, likely as a casual, or part time worker, and be paid via a PAYG scheme that withholds your tax and pays it to the ATO.

Does Blinkn need to verify my ABN or trade license etc.?

We currently do not offer verification service, we will however offer this service in the future.

How do I add GST to my booking page?

If you are registered for GST you can select the GST option when creating your listing. This will automatically update the booking total in check out, when a customer creates a booking request.

• Note: Your price must include GST as it can not be added later.

How long does it take me to get paid after completing a job?

We use Stripe as our payment partner, payment takes typically 3-7 business days.

Can I contact a user without making a booking?

Yes, if the listing is enquire only you may send a free enquiry by pushing the ‘send enquiry button’ in the users listing page. If the provider’s listing page is an hourly/daily listing, you may contact the user by pushing the ‘contact’ button in the bottom of their listing page.

Communicating before, during and after a booking?

After sending a booking request, users may freely chat by using the message box in the left hand side of the booking page. It is recommended that users exchange messages prior to confirming a booking, this reduces the likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding when booking a service/job.

Users will maintain the ability to chat during and after a booking is completed.

Can I change booking details after I make a booking request, but before it is accepted?

Yes! You can easily change the booking details after you send a service provider a booking request and before they have accepted. This may happen if the specific details (start time, end time etc.) of the booking request need to be changed to accommodate changes to user’s schedules, or a change in job requirements. This is done in the booking page.

Can I change booking details after the job is accepted, but before it starts?

Yes, you can easily change booking details after a job is accepted. This is done in the booking page.

More or less work was done then planned, can I change the job total after the booking?

Yes! Blinkn is unique in that users can easily modify and change job totals, during and even after a booking is completed. This is because it is very common that providers may work more or less hours than planned, or a custom price needs to be created to allow for project variations.

This means that if a provider had to work overtime or leave early, or the scope of the job was extended, you can cater to those changes in the console without having to issue a new booking request and incur extra fees.

How do I change the job total?

Users can change the job price at any time before, or during a job. However, users will only have 72 hours (see cooling off period) after a job’s end time/date to make changes.

If a customer wants to change the job total to allow for an increase in price, go to the jobs console and simply enter the amount into the ‘Change booking’ Button in the booking page. Since you are adding to the job total you do not need the providers permission.

Similarly, if a provider wants to change the job total to allow for a decrease in price, they may do so by entering an amount in the ‘issue partial refund’ button. Since they are decreasing the job total, they do not need the customers permission.

In summary, a customer may instantly increase the job total and the provider may instantly decrease the job total without needing the other party’s permission. This may be done before or during a job and up to 72 hours after the completion of a job.

Can I create a custom price?

Yes! If the actual cost of the job is different to what can be selected using the providers hourly or daily listing, you can create a custom price by selecting the ‘Custom price’ button underneath the select time fields. Simply enter the new price and a new booking will be generated.

When is a job over?

A booking will be complete when both users sign off, this is done by pushing the ‘job complete’ button on the booking page. This may be done before, during or after a job’s duration is completed, but must be done before the expiration of the 72-hour cooling off period.

What if one user signs off after a job and the other does not?

If a booking reaches its conclusion and both users do not sign off, it will automatically continue onto the cooling off period. At the end of this period, if both users still have not signed off, or if one user has, then payment will be released. A user may choose to dispute the booking if they feel it was not done as expected, this must be done before the expiration of the 72 hour cooling off period.

Cooling off period

After the completion of a booking there will be an automatic cooling off period of 72 hours applied. This is done so users have a buffer after the completion of a booking, in the case a job has not been completed as expected. Users may still change the booking total in the cooling off period.

After the completion of the 72 hour cooling off period the booking will be considered over and payment released, unless a user chooses to dispute or cancel the booking.

Release of payment

Once a job is completed, payment will be instantly released. Users should expect payment within 3-7 business days.

Reviews

After a booking has been marked as complete, users will be notified to leave a review and a star rating, communicating their experience with the user.

What happens if a user cancels before the start of a booking.

If a booking request is accepted and cancelled before the start of the job, then the customer will be fully refunded, the provider will however forfeit their booking fee. Similarly, if the customer, cancel the job after the provider accepts, but before the booking starts, the customer will still be refunded the full amount, but will forfeit the booking fee.

What happens if a user cancels during a booking.

If a booking is cancelled during a job, or during the cooling off period, then the refund will depend on who cancelled the job:

• If the provider cancels the job, then it is assumed that they were not able to fulfill their obligations and have cancelled the job on their own accord, therefore the customer will be fully refunded, the provider will however forfeit their booking fee.

• If the Customer cancels it is not assumed that the provider was unable to fulfill their obligations. The provider will be notified of the cancellation request and have up to 72 hours (See cooling off period) to either accept or dispute the cancellation. See disputes

  • If the provider does not action the cancellation request within the 72 hours, it will be assumed they accept the cancellation and the customer will be refunded.
  • If the provider accepts the cancellation, then the customer will be fully refunded.
  • If the provider does not accept the cancellation and chooses to dispute, the booking will progress to the dispute and mediation phases.

These measures and counter measures are done as a safety precaution for the provider to ensure jobs are not wrongly or mistakenly cancelled.

Does Blinkn allow partial refunds on a booking?

Yes! If service providers need to issue partial refunds to customers for a booking, it can easily be done in the booking page. This feature is very helpful as users can issue a partial refund, instead of having to either cancel the job and create a new booking, or to refund the customer privately.

This is done in the booking page, by entering an amount in the booking refund box and clicking the ‘refund’ button. We do not charge for partial refunds.

Does Blinkn allow extra pay-outs on a booking?

Yes, if a customer needs to issue extra payment to a service provider, it can easily be done in the booking page. Simply press the change booking button at the bottom of the booking page, then you may either change the job date/time or create a custom price.

The new price must be greater than the original, however you will only be charged for the difference.

We do not charge for extra payouts.

How does Blinkn deal with job disputes?

Unfortunately, there may be times when a job does not go as planned and there is a dispute between users. Blinkn has a series of measures and counter measures built into our payment system, that allows users to mediate disputes should they arise. These are:

1. Ability to freely issue partial refunds and extra payments.
2. Automatic 72 hour cooling off period after a booking completion.
3. Dispute State.
4. Mediation State.

If there is a problem during a booking that cannot be resolved within the cooling off period, users can choose to dispute the booking. This is done by clicking the ‘dispute’ button at the bottom of the booking page.

Users can only access these measures if choosing to use BlinknPay and will not be able to if facilitating payment privately.

• Note: We will remain neutral if a dispute happens, however we reserve the right to make a judgement in certain circumstances, where the platform terms and conditions have been violated.

Dispute State

If a user clicks the ‘dispute’ button at the bottom of the booking page, the booking will enter the dispute state. During the dispute state, the booking will still be ‘live’ on our system, meaning payment will still be held by us in trust. During this state, users will have access to the dispute portal, which will just be the booking page as normal, however, users can alter the job total, issue partial refunds and extra payments.

The dispute state will last for 2 weeks, meaning users have that time to resolve their dispute, issue changes to job total (if applicable) and sign off on the job.

If both users do not do anything while in the dispute state, payment will be released as normal at the end of the 2 week dispute period.

After the 2 weeks, If both users are still unsatisfied, they can choose to escalate the dispute further and will enter the ‘mediation state’, which will automatically start after the elapse of the 2 weeks.

Mediation State.

After the dispute state, users will enter the mediation state, this state will last for the remainder of the booking duration (see booking durations), however we will look to resolve the dispute ASAP. Payment will still be held in trust by Blinkn. Like the dispute state, users can still alter the job total by issuing partial refunds and extra payments.

The main difference between the dispute and mediation states, is that Blinkn will now investigate the situation and offer to help mediate the dispute. We will also look to see if there have been any blatant violations of our terms and conditions, which may cause a decision to be made regarding issue of payment or refunds. We will however look to help both users reach a decision that is both amicable and fair.

Users will be encouraged to resolve the dispute in this state, so that all parties may move on and continue to use the platform.

What happens if there is no resolution after mediation?

At the end of the mediation state, a decision by Blinkn may be made if deemed necessary, however in most cases unless there has been blatant evidence of violations to the platform terms and conditions, we will not intervene.

In the case where a resolution between users has not been found and Blinkn does not intervene, the default process will be to refund the customer the total booking amount. Both users however will forfeit their booking fee.

What to do after mediation if still not happy with the outcome?

After a decision has been made in mediation, the booking will be considered closed as the job total will be automatically released according to the outcome of mediation. Therefore, the money will no longer be held in trust by Blinkn and we have no ability to issue refunds, partial refunds or extra payments.

If the user/s are unhappy with the outcome of mediation they may wish to take the matter up privately, by contacting agencies such as the fair work ombudsman, or the fair work commission.

Users must do this at their own expense and Blinkn not get involved in any capacity.

How can I contact customer support?

You can contact info@blinkn.io at any time and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

What should I do if there’s an issue with a user?

Depending on the type of issue you are experiencing, you may choose to contact Blinkn directly and we can help advise with possible resolutions. Blinkn has a no harassment and bullying policy, so if there have been any blatant violations of our terms and conditions, we will cancel the booking and refund you your money.

If at any time you feel unsafe or uneasy in the company of a user, you must take what reasonable steps you believe is immediately necessary to deescalate, diffuse and safely exit the situation. We would then advise you to call emergency services on 000, to report the situation.

What safety measures are in place for users?

Blinkn is an open jobs platform, we do not discriminate or pre-screen users before they can use the platform. Therefore, it is up to the users discretion to apply due diligence and sound judgement before engaging with a user and soliciting their services.

However, all users on our platform receive peer reviews and ratings after completing a job and any misbehaviour will likely be reported to us and published on a user’s profile via a review. We believe this to be the best method in keeping people accountable while using the platform as it offers users a level of transparency and trust.

We will soon be offering verification services that users can use to verify their information so it can be made publicly available.