Refunds & disputes

Effective date: 2026-05-08 (v0.1) Provider: Raveno Pty Ltd · ABN 17 697 807 239

This policy explains what happens to a payment from the moment a merchant accepts a supplier's quote until the engagement reaches a terminal state.

1. The lifecycle at a glance

Every project passes through a defined sequence of states. Funds remain in Stripe's platform balance for the entire escrow window — never on Raveno's books, never in a Raveno-operated wallet.

2. Auto-release window

When a supplier marks a project delivered, the merchant has a fixed window to approve or open a dispute.

If neither approval nor dispute occurs before the auto-release timer fires, Raveno releases the funds to the supplier's connected Stripe account, less the platform fee. The auto-release is a hard mechanical step, not a discretionary one — it runs from a server-side cron and is logged.

You will receive notifications as the auto-release window approaches so you have a chance to act.

3. Pre-delivery cancellation (merchant)

Before a supplier marks delivery, the merchant may cancel the project from the chat thread. On cancellation:

• The PaymentIntent is refunded in full to the merchant's original card.
• The supplier is notified.
• The project moves to cancelled (terminal).

Refunds typically reach the merchant's card 5–10 business days after the cancellation, depending on the issuing bank. There is no platform fee on cancelled projects.

4. Approval (merchant)

After the supplier marks delivery, the merchant may approve the work from the chat thread. On approval:

• A Transfer is created from Raveno's Stripe platform balance to the supplier's connected account.
• The platform fee (5%) is retained.
• The project moves to released (terminal).

The supplier sees the Transfer on their Stripe Express dashboard. Stripe's payout schedule applies from there to the supplier's bank account.

5. Dispute (merchant, within the auto-release window)

If, before the auto-release timer fires, the merchant believes the delivered work does not match the agreed scope, the merchant may open a dispute from the chat thread.

On dispute:

• The auto-release timer pauses.
• Both parties receive a notification with the dispute details.
• Raveno's admin team reviews the in-thread audit trail (every quote, message, file attachment, and timestamp is preserved as evidence).
• An admin will reach out to both parties for any clarifying information.

Decision target: within 5 business days of dispute open. The admin's decision is one of:

• Release in full to supplier — the work is judged to substantially match the agreed scope. The project moves to released.
• Refund in full to merchant — the supplier is judged not to have substantially delivered. The project moves to refunded. The supplier is responsible for any chargebacks attributable to non-delivery (see Supplier Agreement §1).
• Negotiated outcome — where both parties agree to a partial-rework or modified scope, admin will facilitate and the parties may close the dispute by mutual approval.

Admin decisions on disputes are final under Raveno's internal venue. Either party retains all rights they may have under applicable law (see Terms §13) — the admin venue is a contractual first step, not a legal arbitration.

6. Card-network chargebacks

If a merchant initiates a chargeback through their card issuer (e.g. via the issuing bank's dispute mechanism, separately from the in-platform dispute flow), Raveno will:

• Respond to Stripe's dispute notification with the in-thread audit trail as evidence.
• Pause any in-flight Transfer for that project until the chargeback resolves.
• Where the chargeback succeeds and the funds had already been released to the supplier, recover the amount from the supplier's pending payouts or future earnings under the supplier-debt mechanism in the Supplier Agreement §6.

Raveno is the merchant of record on the card charge under its Stripe Connect platform agreement. We carry chargeback exposure during the escrow window, which is why supplier delivery liability is structured as it is.

7. Refund-after-payout (narrow case)

Because the auto-release window holds funds in Stripe's platform balance until release, the typical refund happens cleanly off the held balance. The unusual case — a refund needed after funds have already been transferred to the supplier — only arises through external chargebacks or admin-initiated reversals. In those cases:

• Raveno may issue a Transfer Reversal against the supplier's connected account, debiting the supplier's Stripe Express balance.
• If the supplier's balance is insufficient, the supplier-debt mechanism in the Supplier Agreement applies, capturing the amount from future earnings or, if necessary, through other lawful collection means.

8. Withdrawal by supplier

A supplier may withdraw a quote at any time before the merchant has accepted it. If the merchant has already paid (the project is in pending_funding or funded), the supplier cannot unilaterally withdraw — the project must reach delivered and then resolve through approval, dispute, or admin.

9. Decline by merchant

A merchant may decline a quote at any time before accepting. No payment is taken; no fee is charged.

10. Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts, or modifies any non-excludable consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law or any other non-excludable Australian law. Where Australian Consumer Law applies, our handling will be at least as protective as that law requires.

11. Contact

Questions, dispute escalations, or refund requests — email hello@raveno.ai. We acknowledge within 1 business day.

For dispute admin escalation outside the chat-thread flow, mark the email subject [DISPUTE] and include the project ID.