How to raise a problem with something bought or sold here, how we look at it, and what happens to money we are holding.
Last Updated: August 01, 2026Try to settle it with the other party first. If that does not work, open a support ticket or report the listing, and an administrator will look at it. Where we are still holding the money, we can return it. Where the payment was made outside the Platform, we cannot.
This policy covers disagreements about something bought, sold, hired or listed on The Homes Lab: work that was not delivered, a design file that was not what was described, a payout that did not arrive, a listing that misrepresents what is on offer.
It applies to payments made through the Platform. Where two people agreed terms privately and paid each other directly, we are not part of that transaction, hold none of the money, and cannot reverse it – though we will still act on a listing or an account that breached the Acceptable Use Policy.
Most problems are a misunderstanding about scope, timing or condition, and are settled fastest between the two people involved. Message the other party through the Platform, say plainly what you expected and what happened, and give them a reasonable chance to put it right.
Keep the conversation on the Platform. If the matter later comes to us, that record is what we read.
There are two ways to bring something to us, and which you use depends on what it is about:
Tell us what you expected, what actually happened, and what you would like done. Attach anything that helps: photographs, the delivery note, the file you received. Quote the order or withdrawal reference.
An administrator reads the ticket or report, looks at the order and the messages between you, and asks the other party for their account of it. We decide on what we can see, not on who wrote to us first or who wrote the most.
A report moves through open, then reviewing, and ends as resolved or dismissed. A ticket is open, pending while we are waiting on someone, then closed. You can see where yours has got to from your account at any time.
The outcome is recorded against the transaction rather than settled informally, so there is a record of what was decided and why.
These are the times we work to. They are targets rather than guarantees, and a complicated matter can take longer – but if it is going to, we will tell you rather than leave you waiting.
Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding Kenyan public holidays. If we have asked you for something and are waiting on it, the clock pauses until it arrives.
When a customer pays through the Platform, we receive that payment and hold the seller’s share in their wallet on the Platform until they withdraw it. While we still hold it, we can act:
Money held in a wallet belongs to the seller who earned it. Holding it during a dispute does not transfer it to us, and if the dispute is decided in the seller’s favour it is released in full.
Every movement – the sale, our commission, a refund, a payout, a reversal – is written to a ledger against the account it belongs to. You can see your own in your accounting page.
Freelance payments are held rather than released. The customer pays the agreed amount up front, we hold it, and it is credited to the professional only when the customer confirms the work is complete.
If the work is not delivered, or is not what was agreed, raise it before confirming completion. While the money is held we can return it to the customer. Once it has been released and withdrawn, we no longer hold it and the two of you would need to settle between yourselves.
Where the work was partly done, we may release part of the amount and return the rest, in proportion to what was actually delivered.
A design plan is delivered immediately on payment, so it cannot be returned in the way a physical item can. We will refund where the file was not what the listing described, was corrupt or unusable, or was not the seller’s to sell.
We will not refund simply because you changed your mind after downloading it, or because you have decided not to build. Please read the listing and ask the designer any questions before you buy.
If a payout does not reach you, the amount is returned to your wallet automatically and you are told why. It is not lost, and you can request it again once the underlying problem is fixed – usually a payout account number or a name on it that does not match.
Every payout we make is recorded with its confirmation code or bank reference. If you believe a payment was sent but did not arrive, open a ticket and we will give you that reference to take to whoever holds your payout account.
Reply on the same ticket and say why. Point to anything we appear to have missed. A different administrator will look at it again, and we will tell you the result.
Nothing in this policy takes away any right you have under Kenyan law, including your right to take a matter to a court or to a consumer protection body.
Write to us and we will answer. If your question concerns a particular listing, order or payout, quote its reference so we can look it up.
