Effective date: July 5, 2026
Download as PDFWelcome to Expert Connect. Expert Connect is a direct marketplace where clients can find, book, and pay for video consultations with independent domain experts. Clients choose experts themselves. Expert Connect is not a staffing agency, consulting firm, employer, broker, or agent for either party. We provide the platform for discovery, scheduling, payment, and quality enforcement, but we do not provide the consultation services themselves.
By creating an account, using the platform, booking a consultation, offering consultations, or otherwise using Expert Connect, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use Expert Connect.
Please read these Terms carefully. They contain a mandatory arbitration provision and a class action waiver in Section 21 that affect your legal rights.
You must be at least 18 years old to use Expert Connect. By using the platform, you represent that the information you provide is accurate, complete, and kept up to date. You may sign up using an email address and password, or through Google or LinkedIn single sign-on, both managed by our authentication provider, Clerk. Email signups require one-time passcode verification.
Each person may maintain only one account. Accounts are non-transferable. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
You may not impersonate another person, create accounts using false information, or use the platform in a way that misrepresents your identity, professional background, company affiliation, or authority to act on behalf of an organization.
You may not share your account with anyone else. We may suspend or terminate accounts that present security risks, contain inaccurate information, or violate these Terms. You must notify us immediately at support@expert-connect.co if you suspect unauthorized access.
Clients can browse expert profiles, create projects, send booking requests, propose times, and pay for consultations. Experts can review requests, answer screening questions where required, accept or decline requests, propose meeting times, and deliver consultations through the platform's video tools.
A consultation generally moves through these stages: pending, scheduling, scheduled, processing, completed, cancelled (in some cases with a charge, as described in Sections 9 and 11), withdrawn, or disputed. A booking is not confirmed until a time is accepted and payment authorization is successfully placed. Before an expert can propose times, the expert may be required to answer any screening questions attached to the client's project. Either party may decline or withdraw before a time is confirmed, with no penalty and no charge.
Consultations are delivered by video through Daily.co directly in your browser. No software download is required. Video rooms are created when a time is accepted and expire after the scheduled end time.
After a consultation ends, there is a 72-hour processing window before payment is transferred to the expert. During this window, clients may raise a dispute. After the processing window closes without dispute, the consultation is marked complete and the expert is paid.
If you use Expert Connect as an expert, you agree to:
Experts are independent providers. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, agency, partnership, joint venture, or fiduciary relationship between Expert Connect and any expert.
Expert compliance undertakings. In addition to the responsibilities above, if you offer consultations as an expert you agree to the following:
If you use Expert Connect as a client, you agree to:
Clients are responsible for deciding whether an expert is suitable for their needs. Expert Connect does not recommend, guarantee, or endorse any particular expert.
Expert Connect may review expert profiles before making them visible on the platform. Verification may include review of identity and professional background information, such as public profile information or other onboarding materials. Expert profiles must meet our publish requirements, including a completed onboarding profile with a bio, approved verification status, at least one work history entry, and availability (office hours or a connected calendar).
Verified does not mean endorsed. Verification confirms that we reviewed identity and professional background information provided to us. It does not guarantee qualifications, performance, accuracy, availability, or the outcome of any consultation.
We may use quality signals such as ratings, reports, attendance history, reschedule patterns, and other trust and safety indicators to rank, limit, suspend, or remove accounts.
Experts keep 100% of the hourly rate they set on the platform. Expert Connect charges the client a separate 25% platform service fee on top of the expert's rate, plus payment processing fees. Payment processing fees include a percentage of each charge plus a small fixed fee per charge, regardless of call length.
Consultations are billed by the minute. The per-minute rate is the expert's hourly rate divided by 60, and the platform service fee is calculated on the billed consultation amount. Payment processing fees are passed through to you in full: your total is calculated so that it covers the billed consultation amount, the platform service fee, and the payment processor's charges on the entire payment (the percentage applies to the full amount charged, including the fees themselves, plus the fixed per-charge fee), with the result rounded up to the nearest cent. An estimate of your total is shown before you book. Partial minutes are rounded down.
The "booked amount" for a consultation means the total authorized when the booking is confirmed: the expert's rate for the full scheduled duration, plus the platform service fee and payment processing fees on that amount.
All billing is calculated in cents. We may apply minimum processing fee rules as required by our payment provider.
All payments are processed through Stripe. Clients must keep a valid payment method on file. When a booking is being finalized, Expert Connect may place an authorization hold using Stripe before funds are captured.
After a consultation ends, there is a 72-hour processing window before payout is released to the expert. During that period, payment is held for dispute review. Payment authorization holds expire after 7 days. If a hold is approaching expiry, we may cancel and re-authorize the same amount to preserve the booking.
Client rescheduling. You may reschedule more than 1 hour before the scheduled start time at no charge; the existing payment authorization is voided and a new one is placed for the rescheduled session. If you request to reschedule less than 1 hour before the scheduled start time, the expert may choose either to accept new times at no cost to you, or to apply a late-reschedule fee of 50% of the booked amount (Section 9) for the original session. If the expert applies the fee, the fee is charged and the original consultation is cancelled. If the expert does not respond before the original start time passes, the fee is charged and the consultation is cancelled in the same way.
Expert rescheduling. If an expert reschedules more than 1 hour before the scheduled start time, there is no penalty, but rescheduling events are recorded and may affect quality ranking. If an expert reschedules less than 1 hour before the scheduled start time, a strike is recorded against the expert's account, and repeated late reschedules may result in suspension at our discretion. If an expert reschedules less than 1 hour before the start time, the client does not accept a new time, and the expert does not attend the original session, the expert's account is suspended immediately pending review and the client receives a full refund.
No-shows. Client no-shows are billed as described in Section 9. If an expert does not appear within the no-show window, the client is not charged, any payment authorization is cancelled, and the expert's account is temporarily suspended pending review. Affected experts may contact support@expert-connect.co to request a review of the suspension.
Decline or withdraw before scheduling. Before a time is confirmed, either party may decline or withdraw the request without completing the booking. No charge is due.
Clients should raise disputes within 72 hours after the consultation ends. That is the default dispute window used by the platform. In exceptional circumstances, clients may submit a late dispute up to 7 days after the consultation by contacting support@expert-connect.co.
Experts may also raise concerns about a recent consultation within the same window, including where a client engaged in prohibited conduct. Expert Connect reviews expert-raised concerns, but an expert concern does not by itself withhold the expert's own payout.
Expert Connect will review disputes and aims to resolve them within 48 hours. After review, Expert Connect may decide one of the following outcomes:
During the dispute review period, payment is frozen and will not be released to either party until a resolution is reached. We may also issue a quality-related strike to an expert when appropriate. Our dispute decisions are made in our reasonable discretion based on the information available to us.
For disputes raised after payment has already been released to the expert, Expert Connect may, in its reasonable discretion, seek reimbursement from the expert, offset future payouts, absorb the refund as a platform expense, or deny the late dispute.
You may not use Expert Connect to:
If we receive a report involving possible material non-public information or circumvention, we may immediately hide or suspend the account while we review the matter. Expert Connect does not monitor live consultation content, but we take action on reports. We may cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities when legally required.
Mutual confidentiality. By using Expert Connect, clients and experts agree to treat Consultation Content as confidential and not disclose proprietary or confidential information shared during a consultation except as permitted by these Terms, authorized by the disclosing party, or required by law. This obligation survives termination of your account.
Consultation Content means transcripts and, where recording was enabled, recordings, along with materials or attachments exchanged through the platform in connection with a consultation, and summaries, embeddings, tags, classifications, and other derivative data generated from the foregoing.
Access to consultation records. Expert Connect may make transcripts, any recordings, and related consultation records available to the client account or client organization that booked the consultation and its authorized users. Expert Connect may also make a copy of a consultation's transcript available to the expert who delivered that consultation, for that consultation only. Recordings, where enabled, remain available only to the client account or client organization that booked the consultation and its authorized users. Expert Connect does not disclose Consultation Content from one client's consultation to other clients, does not make a cross-client transcript library available for browsing, and does not sell, license, or repackage Consultation Content as a research product.
Internal use. Expert Connect may use Consultation Content internally to host, store, reproduce, analyze, process, operate, develop, train, evaluate, secure, support, and improve the platform and the features and systems it provides, including matching, ranking, search, trust and safety, dispute review, quality scoring, workflow automation, and customer-facing AI features. Customer-facing outputs may reflect generalized patterns and learnings derived from prior consultations, but will not disclose verbatim excerpts, client identity, expert identity, or other identifiable Consultation Content from one client's engagement to another client.
Service providers. Expert Connect may engage service providers to perform recording, transcription, storage, access-control, and related services on its behalf. Consultation Content may be shared with such providers only as described in the Privacy Policy.
User responsibility. Each user remains responsible for deciding what information to share during a consultation and for complying with confidentiality, employment, fiduciary, securities-law, and similar obligations. Expert Connect does not monitor live consultation content and is not responsible for information voluntarily disclosed by users during a session.
Transcription. Consultations are transcribed by default so the client receives a written record. The client may turn transcription off for a particular consultation at any time before the call starts, from the call page. Experts do not have a transcription toggle; by joining a session, experts and clients consent to the transcription setting shown on the pre-join notice for that session.
Recording. Consultations are not video- or audio-recorded by default. Recording occurs only where it has been explicitly enabled for a consultation through platform functionality, and when it is enabled, both parties are notified before the session begins and at the start of the session.
Pre-join notice. Before each consultation begins, every participant receives a conspicuous on-screen notice stating whether transcription and recording are enabled for that session, and may decline to join.
Access. Transcripts may be made available to the client account or client organization that booked the consultation and its authorized users, and a copy of a consultation's transcript may also be made available to the expert who delivered that consultation. Any recordings are made available only to the client account or client organization that booked the consultation and its authorized users. Transcripts and recordings are not made available to unrelated clients, and are not sold, licensed, or repackaged as a research product. A transcript that the delivering expert downloads remains subject to the confidentiality obligations in Section 14 even after Expert Connect deletes its own copy.
Recordings, transcripts, and related derivative data are used as described in Section 14 and the Privacy Policy.
Each party retains ownership of its own intellectual property, materials, data, content, trademarks, and other proprietary rights. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of a client's materials to an expert, or an expert's materials to a client.
You grant Expert Connect a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, transmit, process, analyze, and create derivative data from content you submit to or generate through the platform, including profile data, booking information, communications, and Consultation Content, for the purposes of operating, securing, supporting, developing, training, evaluating, and improving the platform and its features, and otherwise as described in these Terms and the Privacy Policy. As between you and Expert Connect, you retain ownership of your underlying content.
This license continues for as long as needed to provide the service and to maintain records, derivatives, and model or system improvements already created from such content as permitted by these Terms and the Privacy Policy, even if you later delete the underlying content or close your account.
Your use of Expert Connect is also subject to our Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how we share it with service providers, and what choices and rights you may have.
Expert Connect is a marketplace platform only. We do not provide consulting services, legal advice, investment advice, employment services, or staffing services. We do not guarantee that any expert is accurate, qualified, available, or suitable for your needs. We do not guarantee any business, investment, legal, strategic, or commercial outcome from a consultation.
The platform may experience downtime, delays, or interruptions. Consultations depend on third-party systems such as payment processors, video infrastructure, email providers, and internet connectivity. Expert Connect is not responsible for failures or limitations of third-party services.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the platform and all services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Expert Connect and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and reasonable expenses (including attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Expert Connect will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenues, goodwill, data, or business opportunities arising from or related to your use of the platform.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Expert Connect's total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the platform will not exceed the greater of: the total amount of platform fees paid by you to Expert Connect in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or $100.
Please read this section carefully. It affects how disputes are resolved.
Mandatory arbitration. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, your use of Expert Connect, or the services offered through the platform will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its applicable rules, rather than in court. The arbitration shall take place in New York, New York, or at another mutually agreed location. The arbitrator's decision is final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Small claims exception. Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if the claim qualifies and seeks less than $10,000.
Class action waiver. You and Expert Connect agree that any proceeding will be conducted only on an individual basis. Neither you nor Expert Connect may bring a claim as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action, collective action, representative action, or class-wide arbitration. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims or preside over any form of class or representative proceeding.
Severability of waiver. If any part of this class action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, then that claim must be severed and may proceed in court only to that extent, while the remainder of this arbitration agreement will continue to apply.
Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration provision by sending written notice to support@expert-connect.co within 30 days of first agreeing to these Terms. Your notice must include your name, account email address, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts specified in Section 22.
These Terms and any dispute related to them are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of laws principles, except to the extent federal law governs arbitration or other issues. To the extent that litigation is permitted under these Terms, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York, New York.
We may suspend, limit, or terminate access to Expert Connect if we believe you violated these Terms, created legal or trust and safety risk, engaged in prohibited conduct, or harmed other users or the platform.
You may close your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting support@expert-connect.co. If you request account deletion, your profile is deactivated promptly. We delete or de-identify personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy, except to the extent retention is reasonably necessary for legal, financial, tax, dispute-resolution, trust-and-safety, security, fraud-prevention, operational, product-improvement, or recordkeeping purposes. Consultation Content, consultation records, derivative data, model-improvement datasets, model artifacts, trust-and-safety records, and transaction records may be retained for the periods described in the Privacy Policy.
Suspension or termination does not affect obligations under the following sections, which survive: Section 14 (Confidentiality), Section 19 (Indemnification), Section 20 (Limitation of liability), Section 21 (Arbitration and class action waiver), and Section 22 (Governing law).
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the platform at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of Expert Connect after the updated Terms take effect means you accept the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the platform and close your account.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Expert Connect regarding your use of the platform.
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. Expert Connect may assign its rights and obligations under these Terms without restriction.
Expert Connect may offer a referral program that lets eligible users earn a commission when people they refer use the platform. Participation is optional and is governed by these Terms together with any additional program details we make available.
Expert Connect determines commission eligibility and amounts in its reasonable discretion based on platform records.
If you have questions about these Terms, or if you need to raise a late dispute within the permitted support window, contact us at:
Expert Connect
Email: support@expert-connect.co