A buyer has received something that is not what was described. She is angry, she has already left a review, and she wants somebody to tell her she is right and that her money is coming back today.
The platform serves her and it also serves the seller, who has a version of events she has not heard.
What buyers ask
They usually ask how to raise a dispute, how long they have, what evidence is needed, how long a decision takes, whether they must return the item, who pays return postage, what happens if the seller does not respond, whether they get a full refund, what protection applies and what to do if they disagree with the outcome.
Publish the window prominently
The deadline for raising a case is the single most consequential rule and the one buyers most often miss. It belongs at the top of the help page, not in terms.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a platform might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Buyer: The item is not what was described. What do I do? Assistant: The disputes page explains how to open a case, the window for doing so and what evidence helps, including photographs and the original listing. The team reviews both sides before deciding, so I cannot say what the outcome will be. Would you like the link to open a case now?
Buyer: The seller is not replying to me. Assistant: The page explains what happens when a seller does not respond within the stated period and how the case proceeds. It also explains the timescales at each stage so you know when to expect an update.
Buyer: Do I have to send it back before I get a refund? Assistant: The page explains when a return is required, who covers the postage in different circumstances and what tracking evidence is needed. The outcome for your case depends on what the team decides once both sides have responded.
Never take a side
An assistant that sympathises with a buyer has prejudged a case involving another customer. Explaining the process neutrally is the only acceptable handling, and it is also the only thing a website can actually know.
Explain the evidence that helps
Photographs, the original listing, messages between the parties, tracking and packaging. Buyers who submit a well-evidenced case get a faster decision, and telling them so reduces your workload.
Publish realistic timescales
How long the seller has to respond, how long review takes and when money moves. Silence during a dispute is what turns a resolvable problem into a complaint about the platform itself.
Explain return postage rules clearly
Who pays, in which circumstances, and what happens if a buyer returns something without following the process. This is the most disputed part of most disputes.
Say what protection does not cover
Buyer's remorse, items bought outside the platform, off-platform payments and certain categories. Being explicit prevents a case that was never going to succeed.
Give an appeal route
Someone who disagrees with an outcome needs somewhere to go. Publishing it is fairer and keeps the argument inside your process rather than on a review site.
Sellers need the mirror image
They ask the same questions from the other direction, as covered in buyer and seller questions marketplace support teams repeat.
Trust rules underpin all of it
They are covered in trust and safety questions marketplace users ask.
Clearer pre-sale answers prevent disputes
That is the argument in reducing refund requests with better pre-sale answers, and refund terms behave similarly in refund, access and certificate questions for course creators.
Getting started
Publish windows, evidence, timescales and appeal routes, then answer neutrally at any hour while decisions stay with your team. SpideyChat for marketplaces answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.