How Escargo keeps things honest
Escargo is building the operating system Irish garages run their business on, so trust is the product. This page explains how we verify businesses, protect data, rank results and label anything paid — and where we are honest about features that are not live yet.
Verification
Businesses shown as verified on Escargo have had their identity and relationship to the business checked. Garages claim their profile and confirm ownership before they can manage it. Recovery providers are verified before they appear on the network, and driver and insurance verification is recorded where required. A profile always shows its status honestly — verified, member, free claimed profile, or unclaimed — and an unclaimed profile clearly states that the business has not yet joined Escargo.
Data protection & privacy
Private information is kept private. The following is never published on public pages, exposed to search engines or placed in structured data:
Customer repair-tracking links are secure, expiring and never indexed. Garage dashboards, staff and payroll pages, and account and admin routes are protected by authentication and excluded from search engines.
How search results are ranked
When the public directory and search launch, results will be ordered by genuine relevance signals — distance, service match, current availability, verification, profile completeness, opening hours, response speed, ratings and completed Escargo jobs. The ranking is meant to be explainable.
Sponsored placement — if offered — will always be clearly labelled Sponsored, will still have to meet minimum relevance and verification, and will never hide a clearly better emergency option or override a business shown as closed or unavailable. We do not sell fake organic ranking.
Reviews
Reviews will only be possible after a genuine interaction — a confirmed booking, a completed Escargo job or a verified recovery request — and will carry a verified badge and service date. Providers can respond and dispute, but cannot delete honest reviews or expose a reviewer's private details. We do not create fake reviews or fake aggregate ratings.
Honest about what's live
Escargo is onboarding its first garages, and some features are still coming. We label them clearly rather than pretend:
- Live: vehicle recovery and transport across the North East and Greater Dublin; the garage software pilot; garage and driver registration.
- Coming soon: the public garage and recovery directory and search; profile claiming; the parts, tools and equipment Marketplace; online parts ordering; the car-sourcing marketplace.
We do not display fake products, prices, stock, availability, distances, ratings or demand numbers anywhere. Any import or cost estimates will be clearly separated from confirmed charges.
Corrections & contact
If a business listing is wrong, out of date or should not appear, tell us and we'll fix it. Email hello@escargo.co.uk.