Your card is authorized, not charged
This is the bit ya'll should know before anything else.
When a dentist posts a case and enters their card, we do not take the money. We place a hold on the card for the case amount. The button on that last step says Authorize, not Pay, and the page says it plainly: your card is authorized now, not charged.
The charge only happens when a designer accepts the case. That is the moment the money actually moves.
If no designer takes the case on within 6 days, the hold is released on its own. Nothing is charged and the dentist is free to post the case again.
If a designer declines the case, the hold is released the same way. Declining is not a refund, because there was never a charge.
What the dentist sees
On the last step of New Project you get a payment summary: the project title, the service, how many files you attached, your case notes, the service price and the Amount to Authorize.
Underneath that is the plain-English version of everything above, and a note that a refund on an accepted case goes back to your original card, minus the payment processing fee.
Then the card form, and a button that reads Authorize $ and the amount.
Following the money on a case
Open any case and look at the Overview tab. Payment status tells you where the money is.
You will see things like:
- Awaiting Payment - the case exists but the card authorization has not settled yet.
- Escrow - the card has been charged and we are holding the money while the work happens.
- Waiting Release - the dentist has accepted and the designer's share is on its way.
- Released - the designer's share has been paid out.
- Refunded or Partial Refund - money has gone back to the dentist's card.
The activity timeline in the left rail shows the case's own journey alongside it.
What the designer takes home
The dentist pays the price the designer set for that service. ExoConnect keeps a 12% commission and the designer keeps the remaining 88%.
So on a $150 case, ExoConnect's commission is $18 and the designer's share is $132.
That share is released when the dentist clicks Accept Design & Complete. It lands in the designer's payout account, and it shows up on their Earnings page.
A designer needs their payout account set up before any of that can reach them. If it is not done, the Dashboard shows a "Setup Payment" notice.
Refunds
Refunds go back to the original card. There is no store credit and no wallet on ExoConnect. Money paid by card comes back to that card.
One thing to be straight about: a refund is returned net of the card processing fee. The payment processor keeps its fee on the original charge whether or not the case is refunded, so the refunded amount is what actually landed with us, not the full sticker price. The dentist absorbs that fee. We say so on the payment page and again in the dispute window, so it is never a surprise later.
Disputes
If a case goes wrong, the dentist can open a dispute. It is available for the whole active stretch of a case: while it is in progress, after work has been submitted, during a revision, and after a resubmission.
To open one, open the case and click Dispute Case in the left rail. Write what went wrong and click Submit Dispute. The more specific you are, the faster it moves.
The case status changes to Disputed and our admin team picks it up. The designer is notified right away, and you can follow it from the case page.
What can happen. An admin reviews the case and settles it one of three ways:
- Refund the dentist in full. The captured amount goes back to the dentist's original card, net of the processing fee. The designer is not paid for the case.
- Release to the designer. The dentist is not refunded and the designer's share is paid out as normal, less the 12% commission.
- Split it. A set percentage goes back to the dentist's card and the rest is released to the designer, with commission taken on that remaining part.
Either way the case ends up as Disputed Closed, and the Overview tab shows the payment status that goes with the outcome.
Both sides get a notification when the dispute is resolved.
Referral earnings
If a case came in through a referral link, the referral earning is created at the same moment the card is charged. A full refund voids that earning, and a partial refund reduces it by the same share.
Full details are in ExoConnect referral program.