# Disputes

URL: /products/service/disputes · Id: `page:products/service/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](/business/nouns/dispute) is a buyer contesting a delivery or a payment. Every kind holds the money, answers with [Evidence](/business/nouns/evidence), reaches a ruling, and posts each move as [Entries](/business/nouns/entry).

## 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](/business/nouns/customer), disputing delivered lines of an [Order](/business/nouns/order) | A buyer, claiming against a [Supplier](/business/nouns/supplier) | The cardholder's bank, through Stripe |
| `decidedBy` | `worker`: a [Worker](/business/nouns/worker) who did not do the work | `worker`: the marketplace [Startup](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/order/dispute) names the lines that miss, opens the Dispute, and starts the remedy the [Outcome Contract](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/dispute/answer) before `answerBy`, and a missed deadline decides for the buyer. The answer assembles itself from records. It holds the [Agreement](/business/nouns/agreement) [Version](/business/nouns/version) the buyer accepted, the delivered work and every [Evaluator](/business/nouns/evaluator) verdict, frozen at delivery, and the [Actions](/business/nouns/action) on the Order.

An [Agent](/business/nouns/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](/business/nouns/event), the download record, and the two revision requests the buyer sent afterward.

## The ruling
[Decide](/business/nouns/dispute/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](/business/nouns/decision) on record, with its reason. A refund above the deciding [Role](/business/nouns/role)'s [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) waits for an [Approval](/business/nouns/approval); everything below it runs at once.

## One appeal, except chargebacks
Either side of an outcome or marketplace Dispute may [appeal](/business/nouns/dispute/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](/business/nouns/order/refund) |
| Split | Each share goes to its side |
| Chargeback fee | A [Cost](/business/nouns/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](/systems/legal-and-corporate/floor/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](/business/nouns/issue). [Daily ship](/workflows/processes/shipping/daily-ship) fixes the cause with a sharper `done` term, a better Evaluator, or a clearer intake brief.

## Next
- [Outcome contracts](/products/service/outcome-contracts): the terms every outcome Dispute turns on.
- [Delivery and acceptance](/products/service/delivery-and-acceptance): where the Evidence comes from.
- [Trust and safety](/workflows/processes/trust-and-safety): fraud and abuse before they reach money.