Dispute & Refund Policy
Governance & Arbitration Timelines
1. Escrow Protection Architecture
Every fixed-price milestone on SAPBENCH requires upfront escrow deposit before work begins. Held funds cannot be unilaterally withdrawn by Clients or seized by Freelancers. They are released exclusively upon Client approval or through platform administrative arbitration.
2. Dispute Initiation & Eligibility
Either party to an active contract may initiate a formal dispute on any funded or submitted milestone if:
- The delivered SAP work product substantially fails to satisfy documented requirements or acceptance criteria.
- The Client refuses or unreasonably delays milestone review beyond acceptable windows.
- A project is cancelled prematurely after substantial progress has been delivered.
3. Dispute Timelines & Process (3 / 3 / 5 Days)
Evidence Submission
Initiator submits documentation, commit logs, test runs, and specs.
Counter-Evidence
Responding party provides rebuttal evidence and workroom history.
Mutual Mediation
Parties attempt amicable settlement or proposal adjustment.
If mutual mediation fails, an administrative arbitrator issues a binding decision within 10 business days.
4. Arbitration Outcomes & Financial Balancing
Administrative arbitration yields one of three financial outcomes:
- Full Refund (100%): 100% of the milestone escrow is credited back to the Client source. Freelancer receives zero.
- Full Release (100%): 100% of the milestone escrow is released to the Freelancer balance less standard platform service fee.
- Split Verdict: Escrow is partitioned according to verified partial deliverables. Invariant holds:
ClientSplit + FreelancerSplit = DisputedAmount.