Mechanic FAQ

This is an independent-contractor marketplace opportunity, not employment. Mechanics operate independently, use their own tools, remain responsible for their business expenses and taxes, and control how accepted work is performed within the agreed scope, safety requirements, applicable law, and documentation standards. Actual working relationships must also remain consistent with that classification.

No. Joining is free, but applying does not guarantee approval, job offers, work, hours, income, territory, or continued platform access. Offers depend on customer demand, location, selected capabilities and equipment, profile completeness, availability, compliance status, and other job-specific needs.

Yes. You may accept or decline each offered job without penalty. Claiming an offer is not final dispatch until Mechanical Matt confirms the assignment.

Yes. Your profile includes your service location, travel radius, mobile or shop-based service, availability, emergency and roadside availability, and limitations. You decide whether a particular offer fits your location and schedule.

You must have the professional experience and qualifications needed to perform every job you claim safely and competently. The application asks about years of experience, specialties, certifications, and the types of work you perform. You must decline work outside your capability.

You separately list the diagnostic, programming, lifting, mobile, welding, roadside, towing, and recovery equipment available to you. Equipment ownership does not establish competence; select the related capability separately and accept only work you can perform safely and lawfully. Regulated equipment may require additional documentation before the related capability is activated.

Your profile uses a searchable capability catalog covering vehicle and equipment types, engine and fuel specializations, repair systems, diagnostics, roadside and mobile services, towing, welding, and fabrication. Select only capabilities supported by your experience, tools, insurance, and qualifications.

Required compliance records include a completed Form W-9, government photo ID, current general liability insurance, and workers’ compensation coverage or a legally valid rejection of coverage when permitted. Certifications or credentials may also be required for certain work.

The photo ID supports identity and eligibility verification. The W-9 provides the taxpayer and business information needed for payouts and required tax reporting. These records are stored in a private compliance area and are not shown to customers.

Yes, before dispatch you must provide current proof of the insurance Mechanical Matt requires for the work offered, including applicable commercial general liability and automobile coverage.

You must maintain workers’ compensation coverage or provide a legally valid rejection of coverage when Colorado law permits it. Mechanical Matt may request verification before your first dispatch. This is a compliance requirement, not insurance or legal advice.

The exact service address and customer contact information remain hidden while an offer is available and while a claimed assignment is pending confirmation. They become visible after Mechanical Matt confirms the assignment.

After application approval, profile completion, compliance approval, activation, and job-specific matching eligibility, a mechanic may receive an invitation showing a general location, scope, timing, proposed payout, saved rate snapshot, and other material terms. Matching is not an assignment and does not guarantee work. You may accept or decline; Mechanical Matt confirms the assignment before releasing customer contact information or the exact address.

You own and edit your future rate expectations for each selected capability. Mechanical Matt may use those expectations, job-specific terms, parts costs, travel or service fees, and disclosed platform charges to prepare a written customer estimate. A saved profile rate does not authorize a customer charge. The customer’s price and any additional work require the applicable written estimate or change order and authorization.

When you accept an offer, the applicable capability, your then-current rate expectation, proposed payout, minimums or fees, and job-specific adjustments are saved with the accepted terms. Later profile edits do not change accepted or completed jobs.

The job offer or accepted work order will state who is responsible for sourcing and purchasing the parts. Depending on the job, parts may be purchased through Mechanical Matt, purchased by the mechanic using funds collected for the job, or supplied by the customer under disclosed customer-supplied-parts terms.

Mechanics are not expected to finance customer parts with their own money unless they knowingly agree to different written terms for a specific job. Do not order, purchase, substitute, or install parts until the required customer deposit or payment authorization is recorded. Any material price change or substitution must be approved through the platform before purchase.

The work order should also identify responsibility for pickup, delivery, returns, cores, warranties, and unused parts.

Yes, when the offered and authorized scope is diagnostic work. Record the complaint, diagnostic steps, codes, readings, test results, confirmed findings, and recommendations. A diagnostic fee pays for professional analysis and does not guarantee that every repair can be quoted or completed immediately.

Stop and document the additional finding or changed scope. Additional work and charges must receive the required customer and platform authorization before work continues or parts are ordered.

Requirements include arrival and mileage, vehicle condition and safety photographs, diagnostic steps and results, customer authorization, parts and receipts, added-work approval, work performed, final tests, completion photographs, remaining concerns, customer communication, and departure time.

Each offer shows the expected payout or formula and disclosed deductions. Payout becomes eligible after authorized work is complete, required documentation is submitted, customer payment has settled, and any immediate completion issue is addressed. Mechanical Matt ordinarily initiates an undisputed eligible payout within seven business days; bank or processor timing may vary. An accepted W-9 is required.

Before dispatch, no payout is earned unless the offer says otherwise. After confirmed dispatch, Mechanical Matt pays a cancellation or trip amount only when it was stated in the accepted offer and successfully collected from the customer. Document changed conditions immediately.

The mechanic is responsible for correcting verified workmanship that materially fails the accepted scope or applicable professional standard, subject to the written job and operating rules. Unrelated failures, preexisting conditions, defective or customer-supplied parts, declined recommendations, abuse, and documented scope limitations are excluded. Do not promise a warranty beyond written platform terms.

Mechanical Matt reviews the authorization, documentation, complaint, and available records. Only a genuinely disputed portion may be held during review. A documented loss attributable to unauthorized work, material breach, falsification, negligence, property damage, or an uncorrected covered workmanship issue may result in a disclosed deduction; an unsupported complaint or ordinary customer nonpayment does not automatically make the mechanic responsible.

Communication with an assigned customer is permitted when needed to perform authorized work. Customer information may not be harvested, sold, or used before a legitimate confirmed assignment. The original platform-sourced transaction—including its authorized scope, deposits, payments, documentation, warranties, disputes, and existing obligations—must remain on-platform. After it is completed, you and the customer may handle future work directly or voluntarily bring it back to Mechanical Matt.

Not without approval. Any approved helper remains under your direction and responsibility and must meet applicable identity, qualification, insurance, confidentiality, and legal requirements.

Yes. Approval is discretionary. Mechanical Matt may decline an application or pause, restrict, or suspend access for expired compliance records, nonpayment, fraud, safety concerns, policy violations, misrepresentation, documentation problems, customer-protection concerns, or legal risk, consistent with applicable law and agreements.

Tax forms, photo IDs, insurance records, and other compliance documents are stored in a private compliance area with access limited to authorized administrators and service providers that reasonably need it. Customers do not receive these records. Review the Privacy Policy for collection, use, disclosure, retention, and request details.

Review the agreement, operating rules, privacy policy, and terms; create your account; and submit the application. If approved for onboarding, complete your service profile, select capabilities and equipment, enter applicable rates and limitations, upload required compliance documents, accept the operating rules, and wait for administrator review and activation. Only active, profile-complete, compliant mechanics receive matching invitations.

No. The original platform-sourced transaction and its existing obligations remain on-platform. After that transaction is completed, you and the customer may handle future work directly. Mechanical Matt is not a party to direct work and does not provide platform tools, payment processing, authorization records, warranty administration, customer-history records, chargeback assistance, or dispute support for it.

You may voluntarily bring future work back to Mechanical Matt for available platform administration, including deposits or prepayment, estimates and invoices, documented authorization and scope changes, parts-funding records, payment processing, service and warranty records, chargeback assistance, and dispute support. The mechanics-only customer-review forum remains coming soon until it is fully functional and access-controlled.

Yes. You may accept diagnosis-only work and receive the payout disclosed in the offer after completing the authorized visit and submitting the required diagnostic documentation. You are not required to accept the repair.

Submit a complete handoff report and request release of the remaining scope. Mechanical Matt reviews the report, preserves your attribution and eligible diagnostic payout, and decides whether the remaining work can be offered again.

Yes, after the first mechanic documents the handoff, an administrator reviews it, the continuation scope and estimate are prepared, and the customer authorizes that work. A new qualified mechanic then receives and safely claims a separate offer.

Include the complaint, inspection performed, tests, codes, measurements, confirmed findings, recommendations, photographs, work completed, required parts, estimated remaining labor, specialty or tools required, safety issues, operability, authorization status, and reason for release.

A limited collaboration workflow is planned. Until it is specifically enabled, assistants, collaborators, and substitute mechanics require Mechanical Matt approval and must meet identity, qualification, insurance, confidentiality, and legal requirements.

On-platform transactions can receive administrative help organizing estimates, authorization, change orders, invoices, and payments. Mechanics remain responsible for accurate technical findings, parts and labor information, and staying within the customer-authorized scope.

After a verified assigned platform event, a mechanic may submit private, structured, transaction-based feedback. It is not a public review, blacklist, or place for unrelated personal allegations.

The MVP uses factual verified event history—such as completed jobs, cancellations, no-access incidents, documented disputes, safety issues, and structured feedback—rather than a public blacklist or opaque risk score. Access is limited to legitimate platform use.

Yes. A customer may request correction or dispute an event. Mechanical Matt records the dispute, reviews supporting records, distinguishes allegations from verified facts, and preserves the audit trail for any amendment.

Future optional services may include websites, subdomains, custom domains, hosting, business email, cards, signs, forms, decals, apparel, vehicle graphics, and other shop print materials. These services are coming soon or interest-only and are not currently included.