📡 Do you want to submit a dispute resolution for a fixed-rate job contract? Read about fixed-rate contract disputes.
We understand the effort needed to select the right expert for your job. We offer the Billing Security policy for hourly contracts and ensure you only pay for verifiable time logged by your expert. The policy allows you to challenge the expert’s timesheet if you believe you were overbilled for a job.
🚀 In this article
📡 Critical information: Contacting Cad Crowd support or asking your expert for a refund is different than submitting a dispute. You must use the process below to submit a formal dispute. You have a 5-day deadline to dispute an hourly contract invoice after your weekly billing period has ended (Sunday night).
Your expert must submit all timesheets by Sunday night (11:59 p.m. / UTC timezone) to add billable hours to your weekly invoice. The job invoice is automatically billed to your account. You have a 5-day window between Monday afternoon (12:00 p.m. / UTC timezone) and Friday night (11:59 p.m. / UTC timezone) to review and dispute those hours if necessary.
Ask expert for a refund
Please ask your expert for a refund before you submit a formal dispute (steps below). You must submit a dispute within five days of your weekly billing period, so prompt action is critical. If your expert disagrees with a total (or partial) refund request, immediately submit a dispute before the 5-day deadline expires.
Steps to ask an expert for a refund:
- Visit your Job contracts > select the contract
- Click ••• dropdown > select Ask for refund
- Choose the Invoice > add amount > add message (optional)
📡 Remember: Asking an expert for a refund is not a formal dispute. You must submit a dispute within the 5-day window after your weekly billing period ends if the expert doesn’t reply or agree to a refund.
Submit a dispute for hours
Please submit a dispute if the expert still needs to approve a refund and the five-day dispute deadline is approaching.
Steps to submit a dispute:
- Visit your Job contracts > select the contract
- Click ••• dropdown > select Ask for refund
- Click Submit work dispute link
- Complete Dispute request form > click Submit button
Next steps after submitting a dispute
Next steps after a the dispute is submitted:
- We take action after you submit a dispute by emailing and notifying the expert. We transfer a refund to your account balance if the expert fails to reply or agrees to your request. Our support team starts the conflict resolution if the expert declines a refund.
- The dispute process temporarily suspends the expert’s payment while we review the request.
- The conflict resolution team examines the Work Journal based on the requirements in our Billing Security policy. We will determine if the dispute qualifies for a refund, which typically takes five business days.
- If the conflict resolution team approves your dispute claims, the total (or partial) refund is deposited into your Cad Crowd balance (including all service fees). If our conflict resolution team determines the expert’s hours are legitimate, the invoice funds are sent to the expert.
Questions and answers
âš¡ What happens if I miss the five-day deadline for submitting a dispute?
The deadline for submitting a dispute for hourly contract payments is Friday night (11:59 p.m. UTC timezone), following your weekly billing period. If you fail to submit your dispute before the deadline, we advise talking with the expert and asking them to consider a partial (or full) refund. If the issue still needs to be solved and your invoice was paid over the past 30 days, contact us for details about mediation services.
âš¡ What if I want to dispute the expert’s work quality rather than the billable hours?
When you submit a dispute on Cad crowd, the conflict resolution team can review hour the expert’s billable timesheets. We can only review timesheets and cannot evaluate the quality of the work provided by an expert. If you are unsatisfied with the work delivered, we recommend speaking with the expert and working towards a payment compromise. You can also submit a refund request to the expert with the steps outlined earlier in this article. Please contact us to discuss mediation services if your invoice was paid over the past 30 days.
âš¡ What will happen if I decide that I want to cancel a dispute?
The expert is automatically paid for the work invoice if you cancel your dispute. Canceled disputes cannot be resubmitted for a refund.
âš¡ How do I submit a dispute for a fixed-rate job contract?
Please our article dispute a fixed-rate job payment to learn about refund criteria.
