Dispute Resolution Process: Filing and Outcomes
How Serpverse disputes work: who can open one, when, the possible outcomes for in-progress and completed orders, and how admin resolution works.
Dispute Resolution Process
How Serpverse Dispute Resolution Works
Sometimes an order does not go as planned. A dispute is the buyer's way to escalate a problem to the Serpverse team when the publisher is at fault — instead of cancelling and paying a cancellation fee, or absorbing a broken placement after the order is done. An admin reviews the order and decides the outcome.
Understanding how disputes work — who can open one, when, and what an admin can decide — helps you use the process correctly if you ever need it.
Who Can Open a Dispute
Disputes are opened by buyers. They exist to protect a buyer when the publisher hasn't delivered what was agreed.
Publishers do not open disputes. A publisher can cancel any order for free at every stage, so they never need to escalate to recover money. For operational questions or problems unrelated to a specific order, publishers (and buyers) use the regular support channel instead. There is one separate path open to publishers too: if an order's content is illegal or abusive, a publisher can report it for review — explained in the next section.
Reporting Content Is Different From a Dispute
A dispute and a content report solve different problems, and it's worth keeping them straight.
A dispute is buyer-only and about a delivery or quality problem with an order — the publisher went silent, the work missed the brief, the placement was broken. It opens a private back-and-forth between you and our team.
Reporting content is for when the content itself crosses a line — illegal, defamatory, hate speech, copyright infringement, or anything else that shouldn't be published. Either party can do it from the order using Report content. It's a one-time submission, not a back-and-forth: you pick a reason, add detail, and send. Submitting immediately pauses the order while our team reviews it, deadlines and all. It is not a dispute and not a support thread.
The two can also overlap — an order can be under review for its content and in dispute over delivery at the same time, and our team handles each on its own track. For the full walkthrough, see orders under review and how to report content.
When You Can Open a Dispute
There are two situations where a buyer can open a dispute.
1. An in-progress order, once work has started. Once the publisher is writing your article, the content is in review, or you've submitted your guest-post draft, you can open a dispute if things go wrong — for example, the publisher goes silent, refuses reasonable revisions, or the delivery doesn't match the order.
Before work has started — while the order is still Awaiting Publisher (waiting to be accepted) or Content Needed (before you've submitted your guest post) — you don't need a dispute. You can simply cancel for a full refund, so opening a dispute there has no benefit.
2. A completed order, if the placement is later broken. After an order is Completed, you can open a post-completion dispute if the publisher breaks the placement — the content is removed, your link is removed or changed (for example switched to nofollow), the page is taken down, or the domain expires. There is no deadline to report: a placement is expected to stay live for the listing's placement guarantee (permanent on most listings), so you can raise a breach whenever you notice it.
| Order status | Can the buyer open a dispute? |
|---|---|
| Awaiting Publisher (not yet accepted) | No — cancel for a full refund instead |
| Content Needed (before you submit) | No — cancel for a full refund instead |
| In progress (work started) | Yes |
| In review | Yes |
| Revision requested | Yes |
| Completed | Yes — as a post-completion dispute |
| Cancelled / Rejected / Refunded | No |
How to Open a Dispute
- Go to Dashboard > Orders and open the order in question.
- Click Open Dispute (it appears only when the order is eligible).
- Choose the reason that fits — a delivery or quality issue for an in-progress order, or what went wrong with the placement (link removed, page down, and so on) for a completed order.
- Write a clear, specific description of the problem.
- Submit.
Disputes are text-based. You describe the issue in writing — there are no file or screenshot uploads. For a broken placement, the team checks the published page directly, so you don't need to attach proof; just describe what changed.
Once you submit, the order shows an "under dispute" banner, and any active deadlines on the order pause until the dispute is resolved.
What to Include in Your Description
A clear description is the single biggest factor in a good outcome. Be specific and factual:
- For a delivery or quality problem: what the order asked for, what was actually delivered, and exactly where it falls short. Point to the relevant parts of your original content brief and the order details.
- For an unresponsive publisher: when you last heard from them and what you're waiting on.
- For a broken placement on a completed order: what the page used to contain, what changed (link removed, switched to nofollow, page or site gone), and the URL where the placement was published.
The order's full message history and details are already visible to the admin reviewing your case, so you don't need to re-paste them — just explain the problem.
How Review Works
A dispute opens a private conversation between you and the Serpverse team — the publisher does not take part in it. Here's the sequence:
- The team is notified that a dispute is open, and the other party is told the order is under dispute.
- An admin reviews the order: the original requirements, the full message history, the order's timeline, and — for a completed-order dispute — the live published page.
- An admin decides. Every dispute is reviewed by a person; there are no automated decisions. You're notified of the outcome with an explanation.
Possible Outcomes — In-Progress Orders
A dispute on an in-progress order ends in one of three outcomes:
Full refund
The order is cancelled, any cancellation fee is waived, and your full payment — including the service fee — returns to your account balance. This applies when the publisher clearly failed to meet the order: nothing was delivered, the work was entirely off-brief, or the placement was never made.
Order continues
No refund. The order resumes from where it was and its paused deadlines restart. This applies when the delivery actually met the requirements, or when the two sides sort the issue out and agree to carry on.
Cancelled with the standard fee
The order is cancelled and you're refunded minus the normal stage-based cancellation fee (20%, or 50% once the link is already live). This applies when responsibility is shared — some work was done, but the order can't reasonably continue.
Possible Outcomes — Completed Orders
A post-completion dispute (a broken placement on a finished order) ends in one of two outcomes:
Refund
If the team confirms the placement was broken, you're refunded. This refund is recovered from the publisher and credited to your balance. Two things to know:
- The 15% service fee is not returned — the refund covers the placement value, not the platform fee.
- It may be partial. The refund is recovered from the publisher's own balance; if they don't have enough, you receive what can be recovered. The order itself stays marked Completed.
No refund
The completed order stands as delivered — for example if the placement is in fact still live, or the change isn't something the publisher is responsible for.
What Happens to Funds and Deadlines During a Dispute
While a dispute is open, the money for the order is held by the platform — nothing moves until an admin decides.
- For buyers: your payment stays protected. If the dispute resolves in your favor, the refund lands in your account balance.
- For publishers: earnings tied to the disputed order are held and kept out of the available-to-withdraw balance until the dispute resolves.
- Deadlines pause. Any countdown on the order (content, review, revision) is frozen while the dispute is open and resumes afterward, so neither side loses time.
Disputes vs. Chargebacks
A Serpverse dispute is not the same as a bank chargeback:
| Serpverse dispute | Chargeback | |
|---|---|---|
| Opened by | The buyer, on Serpverse | The buyer's bank or card issuer |
| Reviewed by | The Serpverse team | The card network |
| Timeline | A few business days | 60–90 days |
| What it's for | Order and placement problems | Unauthorized or fraudulent charges |
A Serpverse dispute is the correct channel for any order-related issue. A chargeback should only be used with your bank for genuinely unauthorized transactions — never for a content disagreement. Filing a chargeback instead of using the dispute process is a policy violation and can lead to account suspension.
How to Avoid Disputes
Prevention beats resolution. These habits cut dispute risk sharply:
For buyers:
- Write clear, specific content briefs with explicit requirements.
- Choose publishers whose metrics and fit match your needs.
- Review submissions within the review window rather than letting them auto-approve.
- Use revision requests for fixable issues before considering a dispute.
- Know the difference between order types and set expectations accordingly.
For publishers:
- Read the full brief before accepting.
- Ask questions early through the order messages.
- Deliver content that matches every stated requirement.
- Respond promptly to revision requests.
- Follow the publisher rules and keep your placements live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I withdraw a dispute after opening it? No. Once a dispute is open, only an admin can close it. If you and the publisher resolve things between yourselves, let the team know in the dispute conversation and the admin can close it with the order continuing.
Does opening a dispute affect my account? Opening a genuine dispute does not count against you. Repeated bad-faith disputes may trigger an account review.
What if the publisher doesn't respond? The admin decides based on the order record and the live placement. A publisher going silent doesn't automatically decide the outcome, but it does mean the admin works from the available evidence.
Can I dispute an order I already approved? Yes, if the publisher later breaks the placement — content removed, link removed or altered, page or domain gone. That's a post-completion dispute, and there's no time limit on reporting a genuine breach. See disputing a completed order for the full walkthrough.
Related Resources
- Refund Policy for which scenarios are refundable and where the money goes
- Review Window Guide for approval deadlines and revisions
- Chargebacks Explained for how bank chargebacks differ
- Publisher Rules for content and conduct standards