Three pallets arrived, one was crushed
A buyer emails your support address: an order of three pallets arrived, one crushed, and a box of fittings on another is the wrong size. They want a credit and they want it now, because they have a job starting. Your support agent forwards the email to the supplier, who replies two days later that the goods left their warehouse in perfect condition and the wrong size was what the buyer ordered. The buyer replies with photos, which are attached to a different email thread.
A week later, three people have spent time on it, nobody has decided anything, and both parties are unhappy with the marketplace.
Why disputes spiral
On a B2B marketplace, you are the referee between two businesses who both think they are right. Your terms set out how disputes work: what can be disputed, time limits, evidence required and who bears the cost in which situation. But in practice, disputes arrive through email and phone, evidence is scattered, supplier responses are slow, and the terms are applied by whoever picks up the case.
Trade disputes also have their own detail. Short deliveries against signed delivery notes, damage noted or not noted on the carrier's paperwork, wrong items against the order confirmation, pack size misunderstandings.
| Dispute type | Evidence that settles it |
|---|---|
| Short delivery | Signed delivery note, packing list, weights |
| Damaged in transit | Photos, notes on delivery paperwork, carrier record |
| Wrong item | Order line, photos of item and label |
| Pack size or unit misunderstanding | Listing content at the time of order |
| Quality or specification | Specification on the listing, test or inspection results |
What disputes cost you
Staff time, first: long email threads with two parties. Buyer and supplier goodwill, which a marketplace depends on. Money, when disputes are settled by giving the buyer a credit to make the problem go away and then failing to recover it from the supplier or carrier. And inconsistency: similar disputes decided differently depending on who handled them, which both sides notice.
The dispute desk we build
- Structured raising: buyers raise a dispute from the order, choosing the lines affected and the dispute type, with prompts for the evidence that type needs, such as photos and delivery paperwork.
- Supplier response: the supplier is notified in the same case and asked for their side and evidence, with the response time your terms allow shown to them.
- Evidence pack: the case gathers everything automatically: the order, the listing as it was at the time of order, carrier tracking and proof of delivery, and both parties' submissions.
- Suggested outcome: your rules suggest an outcome for common cases, for example a short delivery with a signed note showing full quantity, and a person reviews and decides.
- Resolution actions: the decision triggers the right actions: a buyer credit, a supplier payout adjustment, a carrier claim or a return, with the dispute removed from collections while open.
- Patterns: disputes are reported by supplier, category, carrier and type, so recurring problems are dealt with at source.
Your terms decide outcomes. The desk applies them consistently and records the reasons for every decision.
Disputes in a normal week
Buyers raise disputes in a couple of minutes with the right evidence. Suppliers see the case and respond in one place. Your support team decides with everything on one screen and moves on. Deadlines in your terms are tracked, so a supplier who does not respond in time is handled under your rules rather than chased indefinitely.
Are disputes eating your team's week?
- Disputes are handled in long email threads with both parties.
- Evidence arrives in pieces and gets lost.
- Similar disputes are decided differently.
- Credits given to buyers are not recovered from suppliers or carriers.
- Nobody can say which suppliers cause the most disputes.