Disputes
A disputed Service line, a buyer's claim against a Supplier, and a chargeback each hold the money, answer with Evidence, and post every move as Entries.
A Dispute is a buyer contesting a delivery or a payment. Every kind holds the money, answers with Evidence, reaches a ruling, and posts each move as Entries.
Three kinds
A buyer contests in one of three ways. The kinds differ in who opens the Dispute, who decides it, and what each side may do next.
| Rule | outcome | marketplace | chargeback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opened by | The Customer, disputing delivered lines of an Order | A buyer, claiming against a Supplier | The cardholder's bank, through Stripe |
decidedBy | worker: a Worker who did not do the work | worker: the marketplace Startup, between the two | issuer: the cardholder's bank |
decision | buyer, seller, or split | buyer, seller, or split | Won or lost |
| Answer | Evidence before answerBy | Evidence before answerBy | One submission before answerBy |
| Appeal | One | One | None: the bank's ruling is final |
held | The disputed lines' fee, still unearned | The Supplier's earnings on the Order | The charge plus the network's fee, taken when it opens |
| Refund while open | Allowed | Allowed | Refused |
Remedy first
Most outcome Disputes end without a ruling. Dispute names the lines that miss, opens the Dispute, and starts the remedy the Outcome Contract names. Lines the Customer did not dispute stay open to confirm and bill.
Take the Startup that copyedits book manuscripts. The author revised part three once, and the re-edit still breaks the style sheet in four chapters. The author disputes part three alone; parts one and two are already earned.
The remedy re-edits part three within three days, the author confirms the redelivery, and the Dispute closes with the line earned. A Dispute reaches a ruling only when the remedy fails to settle it. Either the Customer rejects the fix, or the Startup holds that the work met its terms.
The answer
The seller answers before answerBy, and a missed deadline decides for the buyer. The answer assembles itself from records. It holds the Agreement Version the buyer accepted, the delivered work and every Evaluator verdict, frozen at delivery, and the Actions on the Order.
An Agent drafts the answer, and the Evidence it cites is frozen once submitted. The ruling then turns on one narrow test: did the delivered lines meet the done term the Customer bought?
A chargeback takes the same records in one submission. A buyer of a résumé rewrite tells their bank the work never arrived. The Startup answers through Stripe with the delivery Event, the download record, and the two revision requests the buyer sent afterward.
The ruling
Decide rules for the buyer, the seller, or a split, and cites the Evidence and the contract term the ruling turns on. The decider never did the work: a Startup cannot grade its own delivery a second time with the same eyes.
A marketplace decides between two outside parties. Take a remote notarization network where the connection drops halfway through a signing. The ruling splits: the buyer gets a full refund and a free rebooking, and the notary keeps a fee for the time spent.
Every ruling is a Decision on record, with its reason. A refund above the deciding Role's Limit waits for an Approval; everything below it runs at once.
One appeal, except chargebacks
Either side of an outcome or marketplace Dispute may appeal once, with a reason. A Worker who took no part in the first ruling reviews it, the money stays held, and the second ruling is final.
A chargeback has no appeal and no split. The bank rules won or lost, within 60 to 75 days. Before a chargeback, a bank may send an inquiry; answering it, or refunding in full, closes it with no fee.
The money
Each move posts its Entries, so the books always show what is held, released, and returned. Money moves only through Stripe; the platform never holds a buyer's money itself.
| Move | Entries |
|---|---|
| Opened | The disputed amount moves from earnable to held |
| Ruled for the seller | The held amount releases to revenue, or to the Supplier's payable balance |
| Ruled for the buyer | The held amount reverses as a refund |
| Split | Each share goes to its side |
| Chargeback fee | A Cost to the Startup, whatever the ruling |
Disputes as a signal
A Dispute costs more than its refund. Chargebacks count against the shared merchant account. The chargebacks floor row watches every Startup's daily rate and pauses paid acquisition past the threshold.
A refund before a chargeback is cheaper than an answer after one. A Customer who asks for money back gets a remedy before they ask their bank.
Every Dispute reason is data. The same reason on three Orders becomes an Issue. Daily ship fixes the cause with a sharper done term, a better Evaluator, or a clearer intake brief.
Next
- Outcome contracts: the terms every outcome Dispute turns on.
- Delivery and acceptance: where the Evidence comes from.
- Trust and safety: fraud and abuse before they reach money.