Disputes & refunds

When to open a dispute

Open a dispute any time something on a booking didn't go the way it should have. The categories on the form are:

• No-show — the helper accepted the booking but never arrived or marked it complete without doing the task.
• Quality — the task was done, but poorly. The TV was mounted crooked; the groceries arrived spoiled; the assembly looks wrong.
• Damage — your property was damaged during the booking (also files an insurance claim — see /safety/insurance).
• Billing — you were charged the wrong amount, charged twice, or charged for a cancelled booking.
• Safety — the helper behaved unsafely, made you feel unsafe, or violated Helpward's community standards.
• Other — anything else. We'd rather you over-report than not at all.

How to open a dispute

1. Open the booking from /bookings.
2. Scroll to Report an issue (the link is also at the bottom of the booking detail).
3. Pick the category. Disputes with the wrong category still go through — we re-route internally — so pick the closest match.
4. Describe what happened. We require at least 20 characters so a real description is captured; longer is better. Attach photos if you have them.
5. Submit. You'll get a dispute reference number immediately and an acknowledgement within 4 hours.

What happens after you submit

What gets refunded

Refund amounts are calibrated to the category and severity of the dispute:

• No-show: 100% refund, including the service fee. Helper receives nothing.
• Quality (minor): Partial refund (typically 20–50% of base) and a credit toward a future booking. Helper receives partial payout.
• Quality (major): 100% refund. Helper receives nothing or partial depending on whether ops finds the task was attempted in good faith.
• Billing error: 100% refund of the disputed amount. Service fee is also refunded if the error was on our end.
• Damage: 100% refund of the booking + insurance claim opened. Repair costs/replacement value handled by the carrier.
• Safety: 100% refund. Helper consequences (warning, suspension, removal) decided separately.

How the helper is involved

Helpward uses an asymmetric communication modelfor disputes — the customer's verbatim description stays private, but the helper is given the category and a chance to share their side of the story. The reviewer balances both. We do this because:

• Customers reasonably worry that their words could be used against them outside the dispute (in reviews, in retaliatory behaviour, in public posts). Keeping the description private removes that concern.
• Helpers reasonably need to know what they're being accused of so they can address it. The category and severity is enough information for a productive response.
• The reviewer needs both sides to make a fair call — neither verbatim transparency nor a one-sided process gets to a fair outcome.

Appeals

You can appeal any dispute decision once. Send a written appeal to safety@helpward.comwithin 14 days of the decision, including new information or evidence the original reviewer didn't have. Appeals are reviewed by a different person than the original decision-maker.

Talking to a human at any step

Read the customer-friendly version at help / refunds and disputes, or open a dispute right now from your bookings.

Frequently asked

What if I notice the issue after the 24-hour window?

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Email safety@helpward.com directly. Edge-case exceptions exist (you were travelling, you only noticed the damage when you returned), and a real human at Helpward reviews late disputes. Property-damage and safety disputes are accepted for up to 30 days; quality and billing disputes have the hard 24-hour cap.

Can the helper retaliate by leaving me a bad review?

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Helpers don't write reviews — only customers rate helpers, not the other way around. Helpward's reviews are one-directional by design specifically to prevent this kind of retaliation.

Will the helper see what I wrote in the dispute?

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The helper sees the category (Quality / Damage / No-show / etc.) and is given a chance to respond, but they don't see your verbatim description unless you choose to share it. The full content goes to Helpward's ops team and stays there.

What's the difference between a dispute and a chargeback?

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A dispute is filed with Helpward and resolved by our ops team using the booking's full record. A chargeback is filed with your credit-card issuer and bypasses Helpward entirely. We strongly recommend disputes first — they're faster, free, and don't risk your helper losing already-issued payout. Filing a chargeback also pauses your Helpward account until the chargeback is resolved.

Does opening a dispute trigger an insurance claim?

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Disputes in the Damage and Safety categories are auto-flagged as insurance claims and routed to both the ops team and the underwriting carrier. Quality and billing disputes don't go through insurance — they're handled by Helpward operations only.

What if the helper says I broke something they didn't do?

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Helpward reviews evidence from both sides: photos, the in-app chat history, GPS location history during the task, and any prior-condition photos either side has on record. Our default in genuinely ambiguous cases is to favour the customer up to a reasonable amount (typically $500), beyond which we require photographic evidence.