Payments, refunds & disputes

How payments work

Every contract on MeGC is paid by milestone. The client funds a milestone before the work on it starts, and the money is held in escrow. It is paid to the vendor only once the client has approved the milestone and the escrow holding period since the payment has passed - never before the client approves.

Approving a milestone

When the vendor asks for a milestone to be approved, the client checks the work and approves it or explains what is missing. If the client does not answer within the approval period, the milestone is approved automatically - so if something is wrong, open a dispute before then. Approved milestones cannot be taken back.

Ending a contract early

If the work was settled outside MeGC, or has stopped, either side can ask to close the contract from the project's Payments page, as completed or terminated, and say why. It closes only when the other side accepts. Milestones that were never funded are then cancelled, and the vendor leaves the project; both sides keep the contract's record under Closed contracts. A contract cannot be closed this way while a milestone holds money or is disputed - that money is approved or disputed first.

Disputes

If a client and a vendor cannot agree, either can open a dispute on the contract from the project's Payments page, naming the milestones it is about (every funded milestone, if none is named). From that moment:

• the named milestones are held: nobody can approve or pay them, and they are not approved automatically;
• a member of our support team is assigned and joins a conversation with both of you, where each side sends its account and evidence;
• the contract cannot be closed early until the dispute is settled.

Support reviews the contract and its terms, the project's messages and files, and what both sides send, then decides each held milestone: released to the vendor, refunded to the client, or continued - the work goes on as agreed. Support also decides whether the contract continues, or closes as completed or terminated, and tells both sides why.

Refunds

• A refunded milestone is returned to the client in full, to the card that paid it, card processing fees included.
• A milestone that was never funded has nothing to refund; it is cancelled.
• Money already paid out to the vendor is between the client and the vendor.
• A milestone is refunded in full or not at all; splitting one milestone's money between the two sides is not offered yet.

Reviews

Once a contract is closed - completed or terminated - the client can review the vendor. The review appears on the vendor's public profile.

Timing

Released payments reach the vendor's account on Stripe's payout schedule. Refunds go back to the original card; banks usually show them within a few business days.

Contact

For a payment question, use the contact form and include the project and milestone.