How can we help?

Phifr is a service marketplace built around one idea: good work should be findable. We connect people who need things done — haircuts, plumbing, photography, tutoring — with the people who do them well.

Unlike most marketplaces, we don't take money to bump providers higher in search results. Rankings come from real things: review quality, response time, completion rate, and customer satisfaction. Read more about how rankings work →

How a typical booking goes

1. Browse categories or search for what you need.
2. Pick a provider, read their reviews, check their availability.
3. Book online — pick a service and time, add your details, pay.
4. The provider confirms (usually within an hour).
5. Show up at the appointment. They do good work.
6. Leave a review afterward to help the next person.

The whole point is to make finding great service feel less like a gamble. Every booking is covered by the Phifr Guarantee, so if something goes wrong, we've got you.

Not all providers are right for every job. Here's how to find one that fits.

Use search instead of categories for specific needs

Categories are great for browsing. Search is better when you know what you need — “wedding photographer Raleigh” will surface more relevant results than scrolling through the photography category.

What to look for in listings

• Verified badge — we've verified their identity and (where relevant) licenses.
• Recent reviews — a 5★ rating from 2 years ago means less than a 4.7★ from last month.
• Response time — providers who respond fast tend to follow through on bookings too.
• Portfolio photos — for visual work especially, real photos matter more than descriptions.

Still not sure? Message a provider before booking. Most are happy to answer questions, and how they message back tells you a lot.

Booking takes about a minute once you've found a provider you like.

1. On the provider's listing, click Check availability.
2. Pick the specific service you want (most providers offer several).
3. Choose a date and time that works for you.
4. Add any details the provider should know — special requests, reference photos, accessibility needs.
5. Enter your payment info. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
6. Review and confirm.

You'll get a confirmation email immediately. The provider has up to 24 hours to confirm — most do it within an hour. You can track everything from your bookings page.

Life happens. Here's how to handle changes.

Cancellation policy

• 24+ hours before: full refund, no fee.
• Within 24 hours: 50% fee applies. The provider has blocked that time for you.
• No-show: charged in full. Out of respect for the provider, please let them know if you can't make it.

How to cancel

Go to your bookings, click the one you need to change, scroll to “Cancel this booking”. You'll see the refund amount before confirming.

Rescheduling

Same place — but click Reschedule instead. Reschedules are free more than 24 hours out. Closer than that, the provider has to approve it (most do — just message them).

Heads up: if you cancel and immediately rebook the same provider for a different time, that's a reschedule, not a cancel. Use the reschedule button to avoid fees.

We try to keep this simple and honest.

What you pay

The price you see on the listing is the price of the service. On top of that, we charge a 3-5% service fee (varies by category) that covers payment processing, the Phifr Guarantee, and operating the platform.

How payment works

• You enter payment info when you book, but you're not charged immediately.
• The amount is authorized on your card — held but not collected.
• When the provider confirms, the charge goes through.
• If they decline or don't respond in 24 hours, the hold is released automatically.

Saved payment methods

Cards you save are encrypted and stored by our payment processor (Stripe) — Phifr never sees your full card number. Manage them anytime in your account settings.

See our pricing page for the full breakdown of provider fees too.

It happens occasionally — providers get sick, have emergencies, double-book by mistake. When they cancel on you:

• You get a full refund automatically, no action needed.
• We add a $10 Phifr credit to your account as a small “sorry for the trouble”.
• The cancellation is recorded against the provider — repeated last-minute cancels affect their ranking.

If you had something time-sensitive (wedding, important meeting, kid's birthday) and the cancel really hurt, contact us. We can sometimes help find a replacement and may extend additional credit.

You can have a live Phifr listing in under five minutes. Here's how.

1. Sign up with your business name and email.
2. Tell our AI about your business — paste your existing website copy, or just describe what you do in a few sentences.
3. Review the draft. Edit anything that's off — the AI is a starting point, not the final word.
4. Add 3-6 portfolio photos. This matters more than you think.
5. Set your services and prices.
6. Set your weekly availability.
7. Publish.

Once live, you can keep editing from your listing management page. There's no penalty for changing things — adjust as you learn what customers respond to.

Pro tip: write a personal confirmation message in your listing settings. It appears in every booking confirmation email and customers love it. Takes two minutes, makes a real difference.

This is the question we get most often. Here's the honest answer.

Rankings are based on merit, not money. There is no path to the top through advertising on Phifr. We don't sell placement. We never will. The whole point of this platform is to make that promise and keep it.

What affects your ranking

• Review quality and recency — recent 5★ reviews matter more than old ones.
• Response time — how fast you reply to messages and booking requests.
• Completion rate — percentage of bookings you complete vs. cancel.
• Booking volume — more completed bookings build trust signals.
• Profile completeness — bio, photos, services, hours. Half-done listings rank lower.
• Verified status — verified providers get a meaningful boost.

What does NOT affect your ranking

• How much you pay Phifr (the fee % is the same for everyone in a given category).
• Whether you're on the Pro tier.
• Whether you talk to our team.
• Anything you can pay extra for.

The way to climb is to do good work and treat customers well. That's it. Cheating won't work because the inputs are all customer-facing — fake reviews get filtered, gamed response times don't translate to bookings, etc.

Payouts run weekly. Here's the rhythm:

1. Customer books, you confirm, the charge goes through.
2. Funds enter your pending balance.
3. 24 hours after the booking completes, the funds move to your available balance.
4. Every Friday, your available balance transfers to your bank automatically.

Phifr takes 10-15% per completed booking, depending on category. There are no subscription fees, listing fees, or surprise charges. See full pricing.

You can view your earnings, payout history, and connected bank account on your payouts page.

Why the 24-hour hold? It gives customers time to flag any immediate issues, which is part of how the Phifr Guarantee works. After 24 hours, the booking is considered settled.

Responding to reviews is one of the most underrated things providers can do. A thoughtful response signals that you care, and that translates to bookings.

For positive reviews

Thank them by name. Mention something specific from their visit. Keep it short and warm. “Sarah, thank you! Can't wait to see you again next month. xo” is better than “Thanks for the review!”

For critical reviews

This is where most providers panic, but it's where the biggest opportunity is. Future customers read your responses to bad reviews more carefully than the reviews themselves.

• Don't argue. Even if they're wrong, arguing publicly never wins.
• Acknowledge their experience: “Sorry it didn't hit the mark for you.”
• If appropriate, take responsibility for whatever you can.
• Offer to make it right privately (don't hash out details publicly).

Respond from your provider reviews page. Critical reviews handled gracefully build more trust than perfect scores.

Phifr reviews come from real people who actually booked. No exceptions. Here's how it works:

• You can only leave a review after a completed booking.
• You have 30 days after the booking to leave one.
• You can edit your review within 48 hours of posting.
• Reviews show your first name and photo (you can hide your photo in privacy settings).

Why we don't allow random reviews

Most platforms let anyone leave a review, which is why fake reviews are everywhere. We'd rather have fewer reviews that are real than more reviews that are gamed. It's the whole reason this platform exists — if you can't trust the reviews, the whole thing falls apart.

We also auto-flag suspicious patterns: bursts of reviews from similar accounts, reviews from accounts with no booking history (which shouldn't happen, but we double-check), and other signals our system picks up.

If you're a provider and you got a review you think is unfair, you have options.

First, respond to it publicly

Most of the time, the best response to a critical review is a measured, professional response. Future customers can see your side.

When to dispute

We only remove reviews in specific cases:

• The review contains hate speech, threats, or personal attacks.
• The customer is reviewing a service they didn't actually receive.
• The review violates someone's privacy or contains illegal content.
• It's clearly from a competitor or a bot.

We do not remove reviews for being negative, unfair-feeling, or one-sided. Customers are entitled to share their honest experience, even if it stings.

To dispute, contact us with the booking confirmation code and a brief explanation. We'll respond within 48 hours.

Manage everything about your account from one place: your settings. Here's a quick map:

• Profile — name, photo, phone, bio.
• Notifications — granular control over email, SMS, and push notifications.
• Privacy — what providers can see, recommendations, data download.
• Addresses — saved addresses for in-home services.
• Payment methods — saved cards.
• Security — connected accounts, sessions, 2FA, account deletion.

If you signed in with Google or Apple, your name and email come from there. To change them, update them at the source first, then sign back in.

Short version: we don't sell your data. Not now, not ever.

The full version is in our privacy policy, but here are the highlights:

• We collect what we need to run the service — account info, booking history, messages between you and providers.
• We share booking details with the provider you booked (obviously). We don't share your data with other providers.
• We use Stripe for payments. They handle your card info; we never see the full number.
• You can download a copy of all your data anytime from privacy settings.
• You can delete your account permanently from security settings. This removes all your data within 30 days.

Every booking on Phifr is covered. If something goes wrong, we're part of fixing it — not just a middleman that takes a cut and disappears.

What's covered

• Provider no-shows: full refund + $10 credit, automatically.
• Service significantly different than advertised: we mediate. Refunds where appropriate.
• Property damage during in-home services: up to $10,000 in damage protection for verified providers.
• Safety issues: we take these extremely seriously. Same-day response.

What's not covered

• Disagreements about taste (e.g., “the haircut isn't exactly what I imagined”).
• Issues from agreements made off-platform (always book through Phifr to be protected).
• Services that violate our terms.

Full details on the Trust & Safety page.

If something's wrong, please tell us. We mean it — the only way we keep Phifr safe is when people speak up.

Urgency levels

Same-day response:

• Safety concerns of any kind.
• Suspected fraud, identity theft, or scams.
• Harassment or abusive behavior.
• Active disputes during a booking.

24-hour response:

• Quality complaints, refund requests, review disputes.
• Account issues, payment questions.
• Everything else.

How to report

Use our contact page and select “Trust & Safety issue” from the dropdown. Include:

• The booking confirmation code (if applicable).
• What happened, in your own words.
• Any screenshots or messages that help.

For emergencies, always call 911 first, then contact us.