Disputes

Most auction transactions complete without any platform involvement after the auction closes — the seller confirms payment in SMA, or the buyer pays Haubot in HMA, and that's it. When something doesn't go smoothly, Haubot runs a structured dispute process focused strictly on platform consequences.

When a dispute opens

The most common trigger is a contested Seller Managed payment:

• Buyer clicks "I have paid".
• Seller denies receipt within their 7-day confirmation window.
• The case opens as a dispute; both parties are notified.

Other triggers can include:

• A contested Haubot Managed outcome (e.g. release withheld, dispute over documentation).
• Suspected manipulation or circumvention flagged for review.

Either party may also escalate proactively if the situation has clearly gone off the rails before the automatic trigger fires.

The 3-round, 24-hour structure

A dispute runs in up to three rounds, each 24 hours long.

Per round:

1. Both parties submit their position and supporting evidence (photos, bank statements, screenshots, communications, anything relevant).
2. Submissions are sealed during the round — neither party sees the other's submission while writing their own.
3. The round closes; both submissions are revealed simultaneously to both parties and to the Haubot admin reviewing the case.

After each round, the admin can either:

• Move to the next round if they need more from either side.
• Accept the case as ready and issue a decision.

If three rounds elapse, the admin reviews the full case file and decides. There is no fourth round.

This structure is deliberate: simultaneous reveal prevents the second party from tailoring their submission to undermine the first. Limited rounds prevent disputes from dragging indefinitely.

What Haubot decides

Haubot decides platform consequences only:

• Whose deposit is released vs forfeited.
• The success-fee status (charged, waived, pending).
• The platform status of the auction (Sold, Defaulted, Cancelled, etc.).

Possible outcomes:

• Full payout to seller — Haubot is satisfied the buyer met their obligations; seller's complaint isn't supported; seller-side enforcement may follow.
• No payout — Haubot is satisfied the seller's denial is well-founded; buyer-side enforcement may follow.
• Split decision — neither side is clean; partial release / partial forfeiture across deposits and fees as the admin deems appropriate.

The decision is final at the platform level. It is recorded against both accounts.

What Haubot does NOT decide

Haubot is not a court and does not act as one:

• Haubot does not move money between buyer and seller. No award of damages, no refund, no compensation. If the buyer paid USD 50,000 and the seller denies receipt, Haubot will not order the seller to return the money — that's a matter for the parties' lawyers and the courts.
• Haubot does not adjudicate the underlying sale — ownership, title, condition, warranty, transport, customs and taxes are all between the parties.
• Haubot's decision does not waive any party's rights against the other under their contract or applicable law.

The platform record from the dispute (timestamps, submissions, decision) is preserved and can be requested by either party as evidence for downstream legal proceedings.

How to make your case effectively

• Be specific. "I paid on the 14th, IBAN XX..., reference auction-1234" beats "I paid".
• Attach evidence. Screenshots of bank confirmations, the WhatsApp message where the seller acknowledged receipt, the original invoice, the conversation thread. Anything that can be timestamped.
• Don't argue with the other party in the submission. Address the admin; the other side will see your submission after the round closes anyway.
• Stay calm. Inflammatory submissions don't help the admin understand what happened.

Sanctions and account effects

A dispute decision can trigger:

• Deposit forfeiture (one or both sides).
• Account restrictions on the losing side — temporary bidding ban, listing restriction, or, in serious cases, account termination.
• A note on the account that is taken into account in future risk decisions (deposit tier adjustments, verification reviews).

A finding of confirmed circumvention, fake bidding or fraud lands harder than a finding of simple non-performance.

Reaching support

If you can't get a dispute to open through the normal in-platform flow, or you believe a decision was based on missing information, contact support through the help centre and reference the auction ID and dispute ID.