When something goes wrong
A dispute freezes the money where it is and puts it in front of a person. Every one is read and decided by hand — no automated scoring, no algorithm weighing your history.
Who can open one, and when
The buyer, from the moment the parcel is in transit until the 48-hour confirmation window closes. That is the whole span during which we are holding money and the outcome is still undecided.
Sellers have no dispute button, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight. A seller has nothing to dispute: if the buyer never confirms, the 48-hour window pays the seller anyway. A dispute button on that side would only be a way to stall a refund somebody already owed.
Once an order has completed, the money has left escrow and reached the seller. We cannot take it back — not for a buyer, not for ourselves. Report the problem before the window closes.
What you tell us
A reason, in your words, and photographs if you have them. The reasons are:
- It never arrived
- Not what was described
- It arrived damaged
- It's a fake
- Something was missing
- Something else
Photographs matter more than anything you write, particularly for damage or a fake. So does the message thread — it is read as part of the dispute, which is why keeping the conversation on 9jaCycle protects both sides rather than just us.
The four things we can decide
There are exactly four outcomes. Whichever we choose is recorded with a note both sides can read, and with the name of the person who decided it.
Refund the buyer in full
Everything you paid comes back, delivery included. Used when the item never arrived, or when what arrived was not what was sold.
Refund part of it, buyer keeps the item
You keep the item and some money comes back. Used when the item is usable but not as described — undisclosed wear, a missing part.
Buyer returns it, then gets a refund
The item goes back to the seller and you are refunded. Used for higher-value items where the seller should have their property returned. You get everything back, delivery included.
No refund — pay the seller
No refund, and the seller is paid. Used when the evidence does not support the complaint. You will be told why.
Why a partial refund is capped
On the ₦21,300 order used as an example throughout these pages, a partial refund can be anything up to ₦19,000 — the item plus our fee, but not the delivery.
The reason is that the delivery has already been done and paid for whatever we decide: the seller paid the rider, and the delivery fee goes to them. So a partial refund comes out of the item price first, and our own fee absorbs the rest if the refund is larger than the item price. A full refund is different: there, you get everything back including the delivery you paid, and the seller bears the cost of the ride.
How we decide
By hand, one at a time, for as long as we can. Every early dispute is read by a person rather than scored by a rule, because the rules worth automating later have to be written from what actually happens rather than from what we imagine will.
That means we are slower than a large marketplace and better at the cases that do not fit a template. It also means we will sometimes decide against you, and say so in words, with a reason attached to the order you can go back and read.
We are not a court and we are not an insurer. What we can do is decide where money we are already holding should go. Anything beyond that — damages, compensation for your time — is not something we can offer, and we would rather say it here than imply otherwise.
Reporting a listing or a person
Separate from a dispute, and it does not need an order. Anything counterfeit, misdescribed, or pushing you to pay outside 9jaCycle can be reported from the listing or the message thread, and it reaches the same queue a person works through.
Acting on it can mean taking the listing down or suspending the account. It never moves money — refunds only ever happen through the dispute above, so that the power to stop somebody and the power to move their money stay separate.