What keeps a booking honest

The total you approve when you book is the contract. You see the full total for your exact car, with parts, labor, tax and Otopair’s service fee inside it, before you confirm. After inspecting the car the shop confirms the price: within what you approved, it is confirmed without another tap; above it, nothing happens until you say yes in the app.

• Mechanics never see your approved total. Your approved total and the running ceiling are stripped on the server before any booking is returned to a mechanic or shop screen, so an estimate cannot be anchored to your number. This is enforced in the data layer, not just hidden in the interface.
• Anything above needs your OK. A request to add work arrives in the app with the new total. You have 24 hours to approve or decline; the shop cannot proceed above your ceiling in the meantime, and it can withdraw the request.
• Declined work is never charged. If you decline added work mid-job, those lines are removed from the booking. If a mid-job request goes unanswered for 24 hours, the job continues at the last approved price and the added work is not charged.
• One exception to know about. If the shop’s first estimate after inspection is above what you approved and you do not answer within 24 hours, the $20 hold is kept to pay the shop for the inspection. See how the $20 hold works.

It stays with Stripe until the job is done. Booking places a $20 hold on your card, which is the most ever blocked before the shop has inspected the car. After inspection the hold is raised to the confirmed price. Nothing is captured until the shop marks the job complete; cancel before that under the policy and the hold is released or reduced to the stated fee.

• Your card number never reaches Otopair. Cards are entered directly with Stripe. Otopair keeps only the card brand and last four digits, for your receipt.
• An itemised receipt, from the actual charge. Once the payment settles you get a receipt with every line, and the settlement figures on it are read from the Stripe charge itself, not predicted.
• Refunds go back the way you paid. A refund is issued by the shop through Otopair and returns to the card you used. Cash paid at a walk-in has nothing to reverse online and is refunded in person by the shop.
• Shops are paid through Stripe, on Stripe’s payout schedule, after the job is complete. Otopair does not hold shop money itself.

One way, from completed bookings only. A driver can review the shop, and optionally the mechanic, once the booking is marked complete, and at most once per booking. Shops do not review drivers, and a shop cannot edit or remove a review of itself. Every review on a shop page therefore comes from someone whose booking with that shop was completed through Otopair.

Otopair’s team can hide a review that breaks the rules, for example one that contains someone’s personal details; it does not delete reviews. Nobody is paid or credited for writing a review.

Open a dispute in the app within 14 days of the final charge. You choose the reason: wrong part, overcharged, work not done, a quality concern, or something else, and add notes. A person at Otopair reviews the job record, the approvals and the messages on both sides, and records an outcome: no refund, a partial refund or a full refund.

A refund is then issued by the shop through Otopair; it is not automatic on the decision, and one dispute can be open on a booking at a time. If you take the charge up with your card issuer instead, Stripe runs that process and the shop responds to it through Stripe. Before any of this, the fastest route is usually to message the shop from the booking; most problems are a conversation, not a case. What a shop stands behind after the work is done is the shop’s own promise; see the warranty page.

These are product rules, not aspirations, and they are the same rules Oto is built to follow. Otopair never:

• Hides fees. The total you approve is the total you pay.
• Uses upsells, scarcity or countdowns.
• Uses panic or guilt language.
• Sells your name, contact details, messages, location or payment details. They go only to the shop you book and the service providers that run Otopair, and the privacy policy explains the vehicle-history data Otopair does license, and how to opt your car out.
• Pushes services your car does not need.
• Sends marketing notification blasts.

Danger first, diagnosis second. Before Oto decides what a message is about, a server-side check reads it for hazards: smoke or fire, fumes, a brake or steering problem, overheating, poor visibility, a wheel coming loose, a warning light, or an injury. When one is found, Oto leads with the stop-driving or pull-over instruction and only then talks about the cause, whatever the tone of the message.

• Oto never pretends to be a person. There is no live human in the chat, and Oto will not answer as the shop or the mechanic. Messages from a shop arrive on the booking, from the shop.
• Oto is not a mechanic, a lawyer or a salesperson. It does not walk you through repair procedures, does not quote prices, labor hours or durations, and does not evaluate legal cases.
• If someone in the chat is in crisis, Oto stops the car conversation and points to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, by call or text.
• Oto cannot send help. Otopair does not tow, jump-start or come to a stranded car, and Oto will say so rather than imply someone is on the way.
• Booking and payment are for adults. Oto answers car questions for anyone, but will not book or pay for someone who appears to be under 18.

Oto lives in the Otopair mobile app. The “Talk to Oto” on the website is a demo of the conversation and creates no real booking.

For a booking, use the app: message the shop from the booking, or open a dispute once the final amount has been charged. For anything else, including a shop, a review, a safety concern or something Oto said, email support@otopair.com. A person reads every message. Security issues have their own route on the security page.

Can the shop charge me more than the price I approved?

Not without your approval in the app. The total you approve when you book is the contract. If the shop's confirmed price after inspection is within it, it is confirmed without another tap. If added work would take it above, you get a request in the app and 24 hours to approve or decline. Added work you decline is removed from the booking and never charged.

Does the mechanic know how much I approved?

No. The approved total and the running ceiling are removed on the server before any booking is shown to a mechanic or shop screen, so an estimate can't be anchored to your number.

When is my card actually charged?

When the shop marks the job complete. At booking, Otopair places a $20 hold, which is the most that is ever blocked before the shop has inspected the car. The hold is raised to the confirmed price after inspection and captured when the booking is completed, or, under the cancellation policy, kept as the $20 fee if you cancel after the free window, are marked a no-show, or leave the post-inspection estimate unanswered for 24 hours. Card details go straight to Stripe; Otopair never sees the card number.

Can a shop review me back or edit my review?

No. Reviews on Otopair go one way, from the driver to the shop and optionally to the mechanic, and only after a completed booking. A shop cannot review a driver and cannot edit or remove a review. Otopair's team can hide a review that breaks the rules; it does not delete them.

How do I get a refund?

Open a dispute in the app within 14 days of the final charge, choosing the reason: wrong part, overcharged, work not done, a quality concern, or something else. Otopair reviews the job record and messages on both sides and records the outcome: no refund, a partial refund or a full refund. A refund is then issued by the shop through Otopair to the card you paid with. Cash paid at a walk-in is refunded in person by the shop.

Is the Oto on the website the same as the one in the app?

No. Oto lives in the Otopair mobile app, where it can see your car, your bookings and your health score. The 'Talk to Oto' on the website is a demo of the conversation; it does not create a real booking and does not have access to any account.