When a requester isn't happy with submitted work, the platform freezes settlement, an admin reviews within 48 hours on weekdays, and the deposit either fully refunds (no fee) or pays out as normal. No splits. No haggling. The recording is the proof.
Once a Hitlooper submits work, the requester has 72 hours to accept, request clarification, or dispute. Clicking dispute freezes settlement and routes the project to the admin queue with the requester's stated reason attached.
The Hitlooper sees the dispute in their dashboard immediately. The recording, transcript, deliverable, and AI flags are preserved exactly as submitted — nobody can edit anything once dispute is filed.
A human admin watches the recording, reads the transcript and deliverable, checks the AI flags, and considers both parties' reputation history. The goal is one of two outcomes: refund the requester in full, or release the deposit to the Hitlooper as normal.
Either party can submit one written response (max 1,000 chars) via email reply. The platform does not negotiate or split funds — the mechanic is binary on purpose. Predictable beats nuanced.
The order matters. We start with the recording because the recording is the proof. Everything else is supporting context.
The deposit is refunded in full — no platform fee, no payout. The project status flips to disputed_refunded. The Hitlooper takes a −10 reputation hit logged as dispute_lost.
We don't ban accounts for a first lost dispute. Two in a 30-day window triggers a manual account review.
Settlement runs as if the requester had accepted: the Hitlooper is paid (deposit − 15%) via Stripe Connect transfer on the normal cadence. The requester's reciprocity window opens — they can still close it by reciprocating within 30 days.
The requester takes a −3 reputation hit logged as dispute_lost. Light, because filing a losing dispute is a worse signal than losing one as the worker but not by much.
Drawn from real dispute outcomes plus the policy above. Not exhaustive — there's always nuance — but these are the patterns that resolve fastest.
Disputes are filed from the review screen on the project. Use the contact form for anything broader — policy questions, edge cases you think we should codify, or escalation if you feel a resolution missed something.