Disputes

Open a dispute from the booking detail screen. Time limits:

• Tasks: 7 days from completion (helper QR scan).
• Borrow rentals: 14 days from when the return is confirmed.
• Only one open dispute is allowed per booking at a time.

After you open a dispute, the other party has 48 hours to respond with their side and evidence using the Respond now button on the booking detail screen. If they don't reply within 48 hours, the dispute is escalated to an admin for a decision — but it is not auto-resolved in your favour. Our team always reviews before issuing a refund. Hearing both sides before deciding is required by EU Digital Services Act Article 20.

For Stripe chargebacks (see below), our system gives the helper a 7-day evidence window matching Stripe's rules.

HandIt requires photo evidence for both task completion and borrow handoffs/returns — this protects both parties when something is disputed later. You can also upload additional photos and a written statement when you open a dispute.

We retain dispute-related evidence for as long as the dispute is open. Photos from disputed bookings are exempt from our 90-day routine deletion of completion photos.

If you contact your bank and ask them to reverse a HandIt charge, that's a chargeback. Things to know before you do:

• Stripe will deduct the disputed amount from the helper's Connect balance until the chargeback resolves.
• The lender or helper is notified and our admins are alerted.
• If you opened a HandIt dispute first and the helper or admin response is in flight, opening a chargeback may freeze that process.
• Repeated chargebacks may result in your account being suspended or banned, even if individual chargebacks are decided in your favour.

If we win the chargeback (Stripe rules in HandIt's favour), the helper's transfer is restored. If we lose, the helper's earnings are clawed back from their balance and our platform commission is not recovered — HandIt absorbs that cost.

If you are an EU consumer and our internal dispute resolution doesn't satisfy you, you can escalate to ANPC SAL — the Romanian National Authority for Consumer Protection's alternative dispute resolution body. Submitting a complaint is free for consumers and there is no obligation on you to use any specific ADR provider.

More on the ANPC SAL page. The previous EU online dispute resolution platform (Regulation 524/2013) was repealed in July 2025; ANPC SAL is the current path for Romania.

Most helpers on HandIt are private individuals, not registered businesses. EU consumer-protection law (warranties, the 14-day withdrawal right, etc.) applies between traders and consumers — not between two consumers.

What this means in practice: if a helper performs a task badly, you cannot rely on EU consumer warranty rules against the helper directly. You can still use HandIt's own dispute system, which is independent of consumer law and applies to every booking on the platform.