A dispute is open and nothing is happening Serious

Disputes are read by people working through a queue. Movement is often slower than it feels, and the strongest thing you can do is make your case easy to read.

What decides it

Whoever is deciding has two accounts of the same order, whatever the market recorded, and both parties histories. They are looking for which version fits the record. Dates, order references and consistency do that work. Volume and tone do not.

Write it like this

1. Open with the order reference and the key dates
2. State plainly what was ordered, what arrived and when
3. Quote the listing terms where they support you
4. Say what outcome you are asking for
5. Stop there, because length reads as anxiety rather than evidence

If it stays frozen

Add a short factual follow up rather than a longer version of the same case. Escrow is holding the funds in the meantime, so the delay costs time rather than money.

How the deciding vote works

Escrow needs two of three keys. In a normal order those are yours and the vendor. In a dispute the market key becomes the tiebreaker, which is the only point at which the market has any say over the money. It is a narrow power and it is the reason arbitration exists at all rather than the market simply refunding whoever complains loudest.

Because it is a judgement between two accounts of the same order, the material that helps is the material that can be checked. Dates that line up, an order reference, listing terms quoted accurately. The material that does not help is a description of how unfair the situation feels, however true that is.

What not to do

• Do not submit the same case again in longer form while waiting
• Do not threaten feedback as leverage, since it reads as pressure rather than evidence
• Do not confirm receipt to close a dispute you think is going badly