FAQ
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General Questions |
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Buyer questions |
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Service Provider questions |
| My account could not be activated, what should I do? |
| Yes, the idea behind Servicestart is to let all types of service providers compete on the same terms. In most cases the buyer of a service has an incomplete picture of the entire supply of service providers available. This in turn decreases the likelihood of being offered the best price and the best quality work possible. The cost of advertising in traditional media often results in smaller service providers not being able to compete in that market place. Foreign service providers can sometimes not compete due to the language barriers. Owing to the multi-lingual functionality in the standardised forms on Servicestart foreign service providers can for example see your posted project in Polish although you submitted it in English. By inviting all types of service provider there is a bigger chance that you will find the service provider that can supply you with great quality work at the lowest price. Top |
| I have used Servicestart before but forgot my password, what do I do? |
| Servicestart has a strict policy when it comes to handling personal information. Your address or contact information will never be passed on to a third party without your prior consent. Top |
| Can I be sure that my address and other contact information are handled appropriately? |
| Servicestart has a strict policy when it comes to handling personal information. Your address or contact information will never be shown to a third party without your direct consent. In order to post a request and have it published to get free quotes you have to consent to interested providers will be able to see your name and address. However, you can easily close your request by a single click if you don't want any more quotes. Under no circumstances will your name and address be shown to more than five interested providers at which number the request is automatically closed. Our entire Privacy Policy covering our users information can be found HERE. Should you wish to have all your information registered on Servicestart deleted please contact Servicestart support HERE. Top |
| My account could not be activated, what should I do? |
| When you register on Servicestart we will send you an activation email with a link you have to click in order to activate your services on Servicestart. If you don’t get an activation email you can resend it by clicking the red text on the top of the page. Be aware that the activation email might have ended up in your spam folder, check it if you can’t find it in your regular mailbox. Another reason why you haven’t received the activation email might be that you misspelled your email address when you signed up. Make sure your email address is correct on the page with your user info. If you still are unable to activate your account please send an email to support@servicestart.com and we will help you. Top |
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| Does it cost anything for me to use Servicestart? |
| No, as a buyer of service it's free to register requests and receive quotes from potential service providers. Top |
| Am I obliged to hire any of the service providers that contact me via Servicestart? |
| No, there are no obligations whatsoever. Be aware of that all providers contacting you have paid a small fee to do so and deserve to be treated politely. As a buyer you should therefore respond to all interested providers that contact you to give you an offer. Also, please remember to close your request when you feel you don't need more offers or for some reason it is not valid anymore. Top |
| What happens after I posted my request? |
| Servicestart reviews all in-coming requests and might contact you if needed to verify some information and potentially ask supplementary questions to ensure your request is well represented. Matching providers will get an email or text message sent to them with a notification that a new matching request has been posted. Your contact details are kept hidden from all provider not showing a confirmed and genuine interest in your job by paying a small fee. No more than five interested providers are allowed to see your contact details, after this it is closed automatically. As soon as anyone pays the fee to contact you an email is sent to you with the name, contact details and summary of previous reviews of this provider to inform you about who will be contacting you. You may at any given time chose to close your request if you don't want any more quotes from interested providers. Just log in to your Servicestart account and click on your request. Top |
| What should I consider when writing my request? |
| To maximise your chance of getting several really competitive quotes from highly rated providers please make sure to include all information and make it very clear. Make sure nothing vital is left out concerning the job you want performed. Most request forms include pre-defined questions to facilitate compiling your information in an attractive format for the providers. Please also take use of the free-text box to give more flavour to your need and do not leave out any special requirements you might have, e.g if the provider has to be based in your local area. Top |
| How many providers will contact me? |
| You may get up to five quotes. How many you actually end up getting is to a large degree depending on the requirements of your request and how available matching providers are within the time frame you have selected. Servicestart has limited the number of providers allowed to contact you on a specific request to five to avoid you being contacted by too many. Moreover, it is important for the providers to know how many other providers thy are competing with in order for them to be interested at all. Would you, after having reviewed the initial batch of offers, still like to take in more offers you can easily re-post your request by clicking a link in an email we will send you after a few weeks. Top |
| I have posted a request but no service providers are contacting me. What can I do? |
| In the event matching providers were not available when you first posted the requests you will be offered to re-post it after a couple of weeks. Alternatively, if you suspect it might have had to many requirements you may create a new request, either with slightly different requirements or in a better suited category. Top |
| Do I have to use the pre-defined forms to describe what I need help with when I post my request? |
| No, you can always use any general forms under any service category and fill out your need in the free text box. Our support team will make sure to post your request into an appropriate category to maximise getting good quotes. Top |
| How do I know if the service provider I hire does a good job? |
| Amongst the general public there is a lot of dissatisfaction with service providers, in particular with builders and the like. Servicestart's aim is to increase the level of satisfaction for both buyers of services and service providers. Servicestart endeavours to create a high level of transparency for both buyers and sellers of services by facilitating communication and thus making the whole process more effective. Our rating system will make it less likely that you end up with unreliable service providers. As always it is very important that you carefully evaluate several service providers before you hire them (see Buyer's Check List). Servicestart does on the other hand take no responsibility for any disputes arising between buyers and service providers at a later date. However, we have compiled a BUYER'S CHECK-LIST to assist you in the process of sourcing and managing purchases of more complex services. Top |
| How can I remove a request that I have posted? |
| Log into your account and click on the project you want to remove. You will then be given an option to remove it. Top |
| How do I rate the service providers I have hired via Servicestart? |
| Some time after the work is due to be finalised you will be contacted by Servicestart so that we can get your feedback. Since you can only rate service providers you have been in contact with the rating system will have a high level of credibility which will benefit both buyers and service providers. Top |
| What kind of help can I get from your service providers? |
| Our network includes service providers skilled in more than 600 home related and other services, from plumbing and home re-modelling to catering services and tax advice. If you find that we are not covering a service area that you are interested in please do send us email to (click CONTACT US) and describe what you are looking for. Top |
| How do I know if I'm getting the right service provider? |
| You can use service providers' profile information and ratings from past customers to decide who is best for you. In many cases of more complex services it will require a meeting with the service provider for you to get a full and qualified quote. Do not only compare prices and reviews, also evaluate licenses and references providers make available through Servicestart. Our mission is to create transparancy on all information to facilitate a better connection between the right buyer of services and the right service provider. The way to get there is to foster clear communication, professional and honourable behavior. Both parties have a responsibility in a business transaction. Top |
| Does it cost anything to use this platform? |
| As a service provider you can sign up and create a personal profile - based on the type of work that you would like to do - and receive request from buyers all for FREE. You only pay a fee for a lead if you are interested in pursuing the business opportunity - we then send you the contact information of the buyer. Lead fees range from £4-50 with the majority of leads in the lower range. Lead prices can be discounted 10-75% due to low response rate or different membership levels. Top |
| How do I get started? |
| Apply to join our network Top |
| How does it work? |
| After we have reviewed your company details and interviewed you regarding the types of customers you want to reach, you are going to get access to your Servicestart account that is tailored to your business needs. Our system enables you to capture all the types of jobs you are interested in in all geographical areas that you cover. On top of that you will be able to apply advanced filters to cherry pick the customer requests that you absolutely don’t want to miss. Each request contains the information about the time and place where the help is required and a detailed description of the type of work that is expected. You can contact the customer directly to set up a meeting. You can always be sure that it is no more than 4 other companies that have responded to the same request, in the majority of cases your competition will only be one other company. By subscribing to both e-mail and text notifications you make sure that you are notified immediately about all the matching requests as they come in. It is always free of charge to subscribe to e-mail notifications, and in case you’ve selected the digital platform you can even get text messages at no extra cost. Top |
| What benefits do I get as a service provider? |
| Your provider profile contains both the geographical area and service categories in order for you to get job requests that you are looking for in the areas where you work. You no longer need to spend time on managing requests that do not suit you and avoid travelling to work places outside of your desired geographical work area. Moreover, Servicestart helps you reduce your marketing costs because with us you know exactly what you are getting for your money. You can even choose how many client requests or budget you are willing to invest per month, week or day to optimally calibrate your marketing and sales. With us you can also build a transaction and rating history and let your competence and experience be promoted in an unparalleled way. Top |
| How do I pay? |
| Payment is done by credit card through our automated billing system. All sensitive details are encrypted and stored on a secure server. Servicestart cooperates with DIBS, a leading Internet payment provider to bring you the most convenient and secure payments. It is also possible to buy single leads via your mobile phone, by sending a text message. Top |
| How can Servicestart help me get more and better clients? |
| We are targeted by customers who are looking for a good quality of service at a reasonable price. You can use our advanced filters on your monitoring platform to sort for the exact type of customers you are looking for. Top |
| How do I know that a new request has come in? |
| Our support team quality checks and verifies every request before we send it to you. When your company profile matches to a request that has been approved for publishing you automatically get an email and/or text message with the project description. Top |
| How can I get more (or fewer) requests? |
| You are going to be able to regulate and control both the amount and the type of new requests on your Servicestart account. You will be able to select a budget that suits your company. Maybe you do not get enough of the requests you would like to focus on or get too many requests that do not match your business profile. In order to regulate the amount of leads that you receive you can either delete or add new categories or adjust your geographical profile to optimise your work area. In the event that you are happy with your profile settings but are wanting to have a short break, for example for the duration of your holiday, you can easily pause the flow of leads on your account with us. Each supplier’s response rate is visible to buyers - that is why it is wise to create a provider profile that you can live up to. Top |
| What is Extended profile? |
| All members are offered the opportunity to receive new requests via text messaging. You simply click that box when you are creating your provider profile. E-mail notification is free for all members but text message notifications cost £0.50. Pro members receive text messages for free. Top |
| What are the benefits of using Priority Delivery? |
| Priority Delivery is a kind of an insurance you can add to your manual platform. The digital platform has a built-in warranty which means that if the price you chose to pay is higher or equal to the publication price of a lead, you automatically get this request without worrying about other Top |
| How does the rating system work? |
| We encourage every customer to rate and review a service provider when the job is completed. The customer rates the work according to a five-grade scale, where 5 is the highest rating (=Excellent). We even ask the customers to leave a short comment. You can reply to every comment they leave on your account. The rating system is a benefit for those businesses who have many satisfied clients and provide great service at a reasonable price. If you are a reliable service provider and are proud of the quality of services you offer, then you have everything to win more jobs and are going to realise in no time how easy it is to secure new business opportunities through our platform. The large majority of the reviews submitted on Servicestart are positive. Top |
| What happens if I receive a review I believe is unfair? |
| You can always reply to every review you receive. Top |
| How is the payment carried out when the job is completed? |
| The buyer pays you directly and you decide together what payment terms should apply. Servicestart is not involved in this part of the transaction. Top |
| What is the difference between all the monthly pot levels? |
| If you use our manual monitoring platform you cannot choose which price per inquiry you pay. But you can always should you want to get a discount on the price to reply to a request. You qualify for a discount by selecting to prepay a certain amount of money every month. Depending on the amount of monthly pot you choose you get different levels of discount on all our requests. Top |
| How do I change the card that I have been using to pay for the leads? |
| The first step is to log on to your Servicestart account. The go to ACCOUNT HISTORY & PAYMENTS. Under Account Overview there is a link in blue text CHANGE DEFAULT CARD. Click on that link and fill in your new card details. Top |