Most jobs run fine. When one doesn't, you shouldn't have to guess what happens next. Here are the stages, the timeframes, and who decides.
The moment you raise an issue, the release clock stops. Nothing moves out of escrow while we're working it out, which means neither side is negotiating with a gun to their head.
You raise it through the platform and both of you get notified. Most disputes in this line of work are a scope misunderstanding rather than a failure, and most get sorted right here. We're watching, but we don't step in yet.
If the other party goes quiet for five business days, it moves straight to stage two.
Either of you can escalate. We ask you both for evidence and give you three business days to send it, then we come back within five business days with a proposal.
Most things end here.
If either of you rejects the proposal, we finish it.
Under $2,000, we make a binding call on how the money is split, in writing, with our reasons. You both agreed to that when you signed up.
$2,000 and over, we don't impose a decision. We put a written recommendation to you both and hold the funds while you consider it.
The brief, the quote, and what you settled between you in platform messages. Written scope beats remembered scope. If it was never written down anywhere, that counts against whoever says it was agreed.
Substantially. Not perfectly, and not to taste. Small imperfections in otherwise complete work aren't a failure. A missing chunk is.
We decide on what's on the platform. If the real conversation happened over WhatsApp and a phone call, we often can't establish what was agreed, and we'll tell you that rather than guess.
We rule on scope and delivery. Was something agreed, and did it turn up.
We do not rule on whether the advice was any good.
That's a professional judgment question, and we're a matching platform, not a tribunal. We're not qualified to decide whether an HR strategy was the right one or a safety audit reached the right conclusion, and pretending otherwise would do you no favours.
If your complaint is about the quality of the professional judgment rather than whether the work was delivered, we'll say so plainly and point you somewhere useful. Usually that's the expert's professional indemnity insurer, which every verified expert on Handballed is required to hold. That's exactly what it exists for.
| What we find | What happens |
|---|---|
| Delivered as agreed | Funds released to the expert |
| A small gap the expert will close | One round of rework, new deadline agreed. Money stays in escrow |
| Partly delivered | Split proportional to the work actually done |
| Not delivered, or the expert walked | Full refund to you |
| You dispute the quality of the thinking | Outside our call. We'll offer rework if the expert is willing, and point you to their insurer |
| The evidence is all off-platform | We'll decline to decide, and explain why |
Refunds go back to the card you paid with. Our 8% is reduced in the same proportion, so on a full refund you receive the entire amount you paid and we keep nothing.
On a $1,000 job:
| Outcome | You get back | Expert gets | We keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released in full | $0 | $920 | $80 |
| Split down the middle | $500 | $460 | $40 |
| Refunded in full | $1,000 | $0 | $0 |
We don't make money from a job that failed.
One thing worth being straight about: we only ever move money we're already holding for that job. We don't pay compensation out of our own pocket, and we don't offer a money-back guarantee beyond the amount in escrow. Worth knowing when you're deciding how big a job to run through the platform.
Our decision settles how the money we're holding gets released. It doesn't take away a single right you'd otherwise have.
If a client won't confirm completed work, you're not stuck. Funds release automatically seven days after you mark a job complete unless the client raises a genuine issue, and you can escalate to us if they do.
We decide on evidence, not on who complains loudest. Keep your scope in writing and keep the conversation on the platform, and you'll be in a strong position if it ever comes to it.
Email us and ask. We'd rather answer it now than have you wondering.
hello@handballed.com.au