FAQ - PetitBoulot.ch

This page answers common questions about accounts, job offers, and safety on PetitBoulot.ch. For binding rules, see the Terms of use (add your language prefix if needed, e.g. /fr/terms-of-use/).

How to create a free user account

Open the Register page.
You can either:
Sign up with different social account (if shown), or
Sign up with email: enter your address and complete the security check (reCAPTCHA) when it is enabled.
If you use email registration, we send a message to that address with a temporary password.
After submitting the form, use the check your inbox step to sign in with your email and that temporary password.
The first time you connect, you may be asked to complete your profile (name, location, and other required fields). Until this is done, some pages may redirect you to the profile completion flow.
You can change your password after signing in (see Settings, if your account uses a password).

If the address is already registered, you will see an error: use Log in or Lost password instead of registering again.

How to delete your user account

You can delete your account yourself; you do not need to email us first.

Sign in and open Settings.
Scroll to the Danger zone section.
Click Delete account.
In the dialog, read the notice, then continue.
Type your account email by hand (copy-paste is disabled on purpose) to confirm it is really you.
If your account has a password, enter it as the final confirmation. (Accounts that only use Google sign-in do not ask for a password here.)

What happens when you delete: your profile and ability to sign in are removed permanently. Job offers you published, bids you placed, private messages you exchanged, and reviews you wrote can remain visible but are shown as coming from an anonymized “deleted user” account, like other deleted users. Reviews written about you are removed. We do not keep any of your personal data when the user is deleted.

How to reply to a job offer or contact the advertiser

PetitBoulot works as a marketplace: how you interact depends on the stage of the offer.

Public messages (questions)
If you are logged in and the offer is still in the bidding phase, you can post public messages on the ad (for example to ask details before bidding). The advertiser can reply in the same thread. Rules for who can see these messages are shown on the ad.
Public discussion closes when the offer is no longer in open bidding (for example after the bidding period ends or the job moves to another status).
Bids (offers)
While the task is open for offers, you can submit a bid with your proposed terms. Only the job offer owner can accept a bid.
Private discussion
After the owner accepts your bid (or yours is the selected offer), a private discussion link is available between the owner and the selected provider for that job.

So there is not a single generic “Reply” button for all cases: use public messages and/or bids as appropriate, then private discussion once a provider is selected.

What other users can see: public and private profile information

Your profile stores contact details and other fields (name, email, phone numbers, address, social links, occupation, and more). For many of these, PetitBoulot lets you choose whether each item is public or private.

Public means the information can be shown to other users when they view your profile (for example from a job offer or a review).
Private means it is not shown on your public profile to others. You can still see and edit it when you are logged in.

You manage these choices on your profile edit page: next to several fields you will find a Public switch. Defaults vary by field (for example, email and phone numbers are usually private until you choose to make them public).

Why it matters: keeping email, mobile number, exact address, and social profiles private reduces how much strangers can collect from your profile alone. It does not stop someone from seeing text you voluntarily put in a public message on an ad or in a private conversation—so what you write in those channels still matters for your privacy and safety.

What do you do with my personal information?

We use the data you give us to run the service: accounts, job offers, messages, notifications, moderation, and support. We send transactional email (e.g. registration, password reset, important alerts) through our email provider.

The public site may load third-party components where configured (for example Google Tag Manager, Google AdSense, Google reCAPTCHA on registration, Google sign-in, or maps). Those services have their own privacy practices.

We do not sell your personal data. For full details, retention, and your rights, refer to our Terms of use and any privacy information we publish there or on dedicated pages.

I registered but did not receive an email

Check the address you typed (a typo is the most common cause).
Look in Spam / Promotions and allow messages from our domain.
If you already have an account under that email, registration will fail: try Log in or Lost password to receive a reset link instead.
If nothing arrives after that, contact us via the Contact form so we can help (mention the email address you used).

How long is my job offer valid? How long can people bid?

A published offer is open for new bids only while its status is bidding. When the bidding deadline is reached, the offer moves to bidding closed: new bids and new public messages are no longer accepted for that phase.

The owner may also cancel the offer or go through other statuses (assigned, completed, etc.) according to how the job progresses.

Draft or disabled offers are not treated the same as live, published ones. You can manage visibility from your ad’s actions where the site allows it.

How to report something suspicious

Job offer: on the ad page, use Report this job offer (logged-in visitors who are not the owner).
User profile: use the report flow from the profile you want to report.
Public message on an ad: the job offer owner can report a specific public message via the link provided on that message.
General enquiry or anything else: use the Contact form and describe the ad, user, or message and why it worries you.

Reports are handled by the team; please give clear, factual information.

How to tell if a job is suspicious

PetitBoulot moderates content, but some inappropriate or fraudulent posts can still appear. Be careful if someone asks for money upfront, unusual personal or banking details, or to move the conversation outside the platform too quickly.

Be careful what personal information you share

Scammers often try to move the chat to email, SMS, phone, WhatsApp, or other apps so they can bypass moderation, pressure you faster, or hide evidence. Do not share the following with someone you do not trust, especially in public messages on an ad:

Phone number (mobile, home, work)
Personal or work email address
Home address or precise location details
Identity document numbers, copies of IDs, or bank / card details
Passwords, verification codes, or access to your accounts

Even harmless-seeming details can be combined to impersonate you or target you elsewhere.

Prefer the platform’s messaging

We strongly recommend keeping as much contact as possible inside PetitBoulot—public messages and private discussion on the site—rather than switching immediately to external channels.

Public messages are still visible to other users according to the rules shown on the ad, so avoid putting secrets or full contact details there.
Private discussion (between the job owner and the selected provider) is limited to those two accounts and is a safer default than posting your phone number or email for everyone to see.
Your profile visibility settings (see What other users can see: public and private profile information) control what appears on your profile page—for example you can keep email and phones private so casual visitors do not see them. That does not apply to text you paste into messages: you still choose what to type.

Together, on-platform messaging and private-by-default contact fields help you limit what strangers learn about you; they are not a substitute for caution about what you write in any message.

If something feels wrong, use Report this job offer on the ad.

Useful resources:

Further information (videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAVbXfEwE38ez2bgKqd7Vjg

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)