Dispute Resolution Policy

Version v3-policy-hub-1 · Effective date: 04 July 2026 · Last updated: 04 July 2026

PawTrack uses a simple, recorded process for material concerns about a completed booking. We apply the published platform rules and make a payment decision from the information available; we do not provide legal advice.

1. Opening a participant dispute

  • Either booking participant may open one dispute for a completed appointment.
  • It must be opened within 48 hours after the recorded completion time. The deadline is exclusive.
  • Choose: service not provided, care or safety concern, or agreed care not followed.
  • A written description is required. Up to three JPG or PNG photographs may be added.
  • The booking payout is frozen as soon as the dispute is recorded.

There is one participant-dispute record for the lifetime of a booking. Contact Support about an appeal or an alleged process error; a duplicate case cannot be opened.

2. Response and privacy

The other participant has 12 hours from PawTrack's recorded notification time to submit one response. A request at or after the deadline is late. No response creates a rebuttable presumption for the opener, but an Admin must still decide the case.

Both participants can see the category, shared status, response deadline, and final outcome. Each participant sees only their own statement and photographs. Admins reviewing the case can see both sides. Evidence is not copied into emails or the general booking timeline.

3. Admin decision and money

An Admin cannot decide before a response arrives or the response deadline expires. The decision is recorded with the Admin identity, reason, and server time.

  • Pet Parent outcome: PawTrack requests a refund of all remaining captured booking funds, including the service fee, and does not release professional earnings.
  • Pet Professional outcome: PawTrack releases the full advertised professional earnings and does not make a partial parent refund.

Amounts are calculated by PawTrack. An Admin cannot type a different refund or payout amount. Existing chargebacks, paid payouts, or inconsistent legacy records go to Finance review instead of causing a second refund or payout.

4. Card chargebacks

A bank or Stripe chargeback is an allegation, not automatic proof of misuse. PawTrack immediately holds affected settlement and may temporarily restrict the Pet Parent account while an Admin reviews the facts. Existing-booking logistics, active dispute actions, Support, and logout remain available during that review.

A permanent account closure requires an Admin to document objective evidence that a chargeback was knowingly false, duplicated, or used to avoid payment after agreed service. Unauthorised card use, identity theft, genuine service failure, accidental duplication, or a bank or provider error are not misuse.

If misuse is confirmed, requested and confirmed bookings that have not started are closed under the existing cancellation policy. Care already in progress may finish. Professionals receive a booking-specific, neutral payment notice and no reliability penalty; PawTrack does not disclose the ban, evidence, or Stripe details to them. The parent has 14 calendar days to appeal through Support, and a different Admin decides the appeal. A successful appeal does not recreate cancelled bookings.

5. Evidence retention

Statements, original filenames, and evidence files are normally purged 180 days after final resolution. A confirmed legal hold pauses deletion. Hold changes require an Admin reason and are permanently audited. After purge, PawTrack retains only the minimum outcome, financial, actor, timestamp, hash, enforcement, and audit facts needed for accounting, legal, and platform-integrity purposes.

6. Support

For process errors, accessibility help, or an enforcement appeal, contact support@pawtrack.uk and include the booking or case reference.

Consumer and statutory rights are not limited by this policy. PawTrack may update this policy; the latest accepted version is available here.