Dispute Resolution Policy

1What this policy covers

This policy covers disagreements between a client and a freelancer about a funded engagement on the Platform, for example:

• work not delivered, or delivered late;
• work that does not match the agreed scope or brief, or is of unacceptable quality;
• a client not releasing payment for work that was delivered as agreed;
• requests for work outside the agreed scope, or unreasonable revision requests;
• the other party not responding; and
• hours billed on an hourly contract (see Section 10).

It does not cover:

• Payments already released. Once Escrow is released to the freelancer, there is nothing held for a dispute to decide.
• Contests. Contest prizes are refunded or awarded under the Refund Policy. Contest problems go to support@fastestfreelancers.com.
• Fees, plans and billing errors. These are covered by the Refund Policy.
• Payments made outside the Platform. We cannot see, hold or return them.
• Disputes with Fastest Freelancers itself. These are governed by Section 19 of the Terms.

2Before you open a dispute

Most disagreements are settled faster without one. Before opening a dispute:

• Message the other party through the Platform and say specifically what is wrong and what would fix it.
• Clients: ask for a revision on a delivered milestone. Nothing is released until you release it, so you can take the time you need to work it out. If the money is still in Escrow and you simply want to stop, you can cancel the milestone yourself (see the Refund Policy). No dispute is needed.
• Freelancers: confirm the agreed scope in writing, and keep your deliverables and messages on the Platform. They are the record a dispute is decided on.

3When you can open a dispute

Either the client or the freelancer can open a dispute from the Resolution Center while the money in question is held in Escrow:

• Fixed-price milestones and service purchases: after the milestone is funded and before it is released. Only the client releases a fixed-price milestone; there is no automatic release. A freelancer who delivered and has not been paid can open a dispute to have the milestone released.
• Hourly weeks: after the week is billed (Monday 12:00 p.m. ET) and before its review window closes (the following Saturday at 2:59 a.m. ET). See Section 10.

4Opening a dispute, and what it freezes

To open a dispute, you choose the milestone it is about (a dispute decides that milestone's Escrow), the reason, and the outcome you are asking for, and describe the problem. Only one dispute can be open on a milestone at a time. Possible requests include:

• Clients: a revision, a partial refund, or a full refund and cancellation.
• Freelancers: release of the Escrow as agreed, a partial release, or more time to deliver.

While a dispute is open:

• Automatic release is paused for the disputed Escrow, so the clock cannot decide the dispute.
• The client cannot cancel the disputed milestone to take the Escrow back. The dispute decides it.
• Neither party can withdraw the disputed Escrow. It is not in either party's balance until the dispute is resolved.
• The client may still choose to release payment to the freelancer at any time, which ends the disagreement in the freelancer's favor.
• Other milestones and other work on the engagement are not affected.

5Stage 1: Negotiation between the parties

A dispute opens as a structured, turn-based chat between the client and the freelancer in the Resolution Center. Whoever's turn it is can reply with a message, an offer, or both. Replying passes the turn to the other party.

• Offers. A freelancer can offer a full or partial refund to the client, an extension, or a mutual cancellation. A client can offer a full or partial release to the freelancer, an extension, or a mutual cancellation. Partial offers are a percentage of the disputed Escrow. Either party can decline an offer and counter it.
• Accepting an offer settles the dispute immediately on the terms of that offer, and the money moves accordingly. An accepted offer is binding on both parties and cannot be reopened.
• Neither party can settle a dispute alone. A dispute is settled only when one side accepts the other side's offer, when a response deadline passes (Section 6), or when Support decides an escalated case.
• AI summaries. After each turn, our AI mediator posts a neutral summary of where things stand to help both sides. It is decision support, not a decision (see the callout in Section 8).

6Response deadlines and default outcomes

Every turn has a deadline. We send a reminder before it passes. If a party does not respond in time, the dispute is decided against them on the record as it stands:

The deadlines differ because a freelancer is usually waiting on payment, while a client is usually reviewing work. Once a dispute has been escalated to Support (Section 7), these deadlines no longer apply. Support decides instead.

7Stage 2: Escalation to Fastest Freelancers Support

If negotiation does not settle the dispute, either party can escalate it to Fastest Freelancers Support for a decision.

• Free escalation becomes available once negotiation has stalled: after three declined offers or six turns between the parties.
• Early escalation is available once both parties have taken at least one turn, for an escalation fee (currently $20), shown before you confirm. You can pay it from your own balance (a freelancer's earnings, or a client's balance) or by card; a card payment adds the processing fee (currently $2). The other party is invited to match the fee the same way. The dispute is escalated whether or not they do. If your bank asks you to confirm a card payment, the dispute is escalated once the payment goes through.
• Escalation fees are not refundable, whatever the outcome, and the $20 fee is not waived on any plan. They pay for human review and are separate from the disputed Escrow.
• When a dispute is escalated, both parties are notified by email.

8How Support decides

Escalated disputes are reviewed in two steps:

• AI recommendation. Our AI mediator reviews the record and recommends an outcome with a plain-language explanation. The record includes the agreed scope, the deliverables, the dispute chat, the parties' messages and files on the engagement, and Platform activity such as delivery dates and, for hourly work, the work diary and time records.
• Human decision. A Fastest Freelancers Support reviewer examines the same record and decides. The reviewer may accept, change or reject the AI recommendation, and may ask either party for more information. No money moves on an escalated dispute until a human reviewer decides.

The reviewer applies neutral criteria: what was agreed, what was delivered and when, how each party behaved during the engagement and the dispute, and what a reasonable outcome is under the Terms. Where the agreed scope is unclear, the written record on the Platform carries the most weight. Claims about promises made off-Platform carry little.

9Possible outcomes and what happens to the money

• Refunds go to the client's balance, never to a card, and can be withdrawn to a bank under the Refund Policy.
• The Processing Fee is not refunded on any outcome. The Platform Fee applies only to the share released to the freelancer (currently 10%).
• A dispute decides only the Escrow that was in dispute. It cannot pay out more than was held, and it cannot claw back payments already released.
• Where a party's conduct breaks the Terms, Support may also issue a warning or suspend the account (Section 11).

10Hourly contracts: disputing billed hours

Hourly work is billed weekly. A billed week is held in Escrow while the client reviews it, and on hourly contracts a dispute is about the hours.

• When: after the week is billed (Monday 12:00 p.m. ET) and before its review window closes (the following Saturday at 2:59 a.m. ET). A week whose charge has not yet gone through must be paid before it can be disputed. A week the client has released, or that released automatically at 3:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, cannot be disputed.
• What: the client says which time is disputed, from one minute up to all the billable time in that week. The client's notes and flags in the work diary are part of the evidence.
• Outcomes: release the whole week; refund the whole week; or refund only the disputed time, repriced at the hourly rate that applied when the week was billed.
• Silence: if the freelancer does not respond on their turn, only the disputed time is refunded, and the rest of the week is released. If the client does not respond on their turn, the whole week is released.
• Only the disputed week is held past its Saturday release. Other weeks release on their normal schedule.

11Evidence, good faith and abuse

• Be honest and specific. Submitting fabricated, altered or misleading evidence is a material breach of the Terms.
• Keep it on the Platform. Messages, files and agreements outside the Platform are hard to verify and may be given little weight.
• No pressure tactics. Threats, harassment, or offering or demanding a rating or review in exchange for a settlement are prohibited.
• No bad-faith disputes. Repeatedly opening disputes without basis, opening one to delay payment for accepted work, or using a dispute to get work for free may result in an adverse outcome.
• Consequences. Support may issue a warning, decide the dispute against the party at fault, or suspend or close the account. Moving a funded engagement off-Platform to avoid dispute protection can lead to a ban under the Terms.

12Effect of a decision

A dispute is final once it is settled by an accepted offer, decided by default under Section 6, or decided by Support. The outcome is final and binding for how the disputed Escrow is released or refunded, and the money moves accordingly. A resolved dispute cannot be reopened.

A dispute outcome decides only who receives the Escrow. It is not a court judgment, it does not decide claims outside the Platform, and it does not limit any legal rights the client and freelancer have against each other, which remain between them. Fastest Freelancers is not a party to the contract between them (see Section 3 of the Terms).

13Disputes and chargebacks

Please use this process rather than a chargeback with your bank. A chargeback goes around Escrow and the other party's chance to be heard. Filing one instead of using the Resolution Center may result in an adverse dispute outcome and account suspension, as described in the Refund Policy and the Terms. Nothing here limits any right you have with your card issuer under law.

If you are the freelancer. When a client charges back the card payment that funded your milestone, we tell you straight away. Escrow for work you have not yet delivered may be taken back to repay the bank, and the milestone is then no longer funded, so pause that work until it is funded again. Escrow for work you have delivered is held until the bank decides: if the bank decides for us it is released as normal, and if it decides for the client the Escrow is taken to repay the bank and is not paid to you from that payment. You can still open a case here about the delivered work. A chargeback never reduces your own balance, and you are never charged for one.

14Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, including its deadlines and fees. The “Last updated” date above shows when it last changed. A dispute already open when a change takes effect continues under the version in effect when it was opened. If this policy and the Terms of Service conflict, the Terms control.