Disputes
The dispute resolution on our marketplace is very closely related to the payment method chosen during the negotiations and payments process. There are four options for dispute resolution:
1. Arbitration provided by Transpact when its escrow service is used;
2. Mediation service provided by Eutradepoint in case of PayPal Marketplace escrow payment;
3. Arbitration provided by other escrow platforms (in case they offer it)
4. International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration in all other cases.
The online dispute resolution (ODR) for the Transpact escrow payment services works the following way:
Most escrow payments do not go to arbitration, so you won’t have to deal with the procedures below in most cases. In fact, the escrow payment provider does not notify the party you nominate as referee in a normal escrow payment process.
But a small minority of cases do go to arbitration, so it is very important that you are aware of the procedures and implications of the arbitration process.
Please note that the dispute and refereeing process refers only to any disputes you have with the other party to a Transpact escrow payment. Should you have a dispute with Transpact itself relating to payment services then such a dispute is dealt with by Transpact itself, and if it cannot be resolved then the Financial Ombudsman Service (FoS).
Once money has been paid to Transpact and a transaction is live, then at any stage you or the other party to the transaction may refer the transaction to arbitration by the referee you nominated. If you believe that money should be paid to you from Transpact, and the other side is not authorising the payment, then call for arbitration.
Arbitration should be used as a last resort.
It is always better to contact the other party and try and resolve the dispute
However, we recognise that there will be times when arbitration may be necessary, and that is why we provide the arbitration service as a core part of the Transpact process.
Step-01
You click on the button marked 'Request Arbitration' or ' Demand Payment' for the transaction.
Step-02
You and the other party will be asked to pay the Transpact arbitration fee. Until both parties pay the arbitration fee, the transaction will not be considered for arbitration. If you opted to not supply your own referee but chose Transpact's nominated referee, then the nominated referee's fee will be added to the Transpact payment request.
Step-03
Important: Once the dispute fee of one party has been received by Transpact, the other party has a set number of days (agreed by you as part of your transaction terms) to also pay the requested dispute fee. If the fee is not received within this time, then this non-payment is taken as an admission by the non-payer that payment is due in full to the other party! Payment of the full transaction amount currently held will be immediately paid to the other side, together with a refund of the refereeing fee that has been paid.
Step-04
Once both fees have been received, a code will be made available for both parties to pass on to the referee. This is a security feature to confirm the identity of the referee. Log in, retrieve the code, and pass this unique code on to your referee (not necessary if you have chosen Transpact's nominated referee).
Step-05
Once the referee has logged on to Transpact and entered the codes from both parties, he becomes the arbitrator for the payment under the Arbitration Act 1996 and decides to whom payment should be made. The referee is free to make whatever investigations he deems appropriate, and may call for funding to do so from the transacting parties. The referee will take evidence from both parties by email where possible.
Step-06
Once the referee is satisfied that he has taken sufficient evidence from both sides, he will log in to Transpact and authorise payment to the party he decides has correctly met the transaction conditions. The referee is also able to split payment in whatever proportion he sees fit between the two parties, if he decides that a split is more equitable.
Please note, for Step 3,
it is important to check Transpact from time to time to ensure that the other party has not requested arbitration and you have not responded, awarding default judgement to the other party (in case your email notifications do not reach you). It is also important to ensure that you set a time period long enough to enable you to always be able to pay a requested fee to Transpact in good time, but not too long so that it delays you receiving payment if the other party does not respond to your payment requests.
Since both sides have paid for the refereeing fee and refereeing expenses, effectively double paying them, the referee will also authorise the repayment of these amounts to one party (this repayment can also be split by the referee). This ensures that where the referee decides one party is innocent and the other fully to blame, then the innocent party incurs no net expense from the refereeing process whatsoever.
As soon as the payment instruction is received from the referee, Transpact transfers the money into your and/or the other party's bank account using the near immediate FPS system where possible for GB Pounds, or the SEPA protocol for Euro payments. This ends the transaction. There is no appeal against the referee's decision.
For more detailed information on the process, please visit the Transpact website.