Complaints and disputes

1. How to complain to us

You can also raise it from the job itself in the app, which is the fastest route because the job, the quote, the invoice and the messages come with it.

Tell us: what job it concerns, what happened, what you have already tried, and what you would like done. Attach photographs, the quote, the invoice and proof of payment if the complaint is about work or money. A payment made in the app is already on the job, so you only need proof of a payment made some other way.

2. What happens then

1. Within 2 business days we acknowledge, give you a reference and tell you who is dealing with it.
2. We put it to the other side and give them a fair opportunity to respond, usually 10 business days. If the complaint alleges something serious, we may restrict their account while we look.
3. We investigate. We may ask both of you for more, look at the messages on the job, and, where workmanship is in dispute, appoint an independent expert.
4. We decide and we tell you, in writing, with reasons. We aim for 30 business days from the point we have everything, and we tell you in advance if it will take longer.
5. We act on the account under Warnings, suspension and removal, where the complaint is upheld.

If your complaint is about a safety incident, a threat, or anything involving a child or a vulnerable person, it goes to the front of the queue and is read the same day.

3. What we can do, and what we cannot

We can:

• Investigate, and require both sides to answer.
• Appoint an independent expert to assess workmanship.
• Warn, restrict, suspend or permanently remove an account, on either side.
• Consider a payment under the ToolBox Guarantee.
• Correct or remove a review that breaks the Reviews policy.
• Report a matter to the SAPS or to a trade regulator, and support their investigation.

We cannot:

• Force a tradesperson to come back and finish or fix a job.
• Force a homeowner to pay.
• Reverse a payment. A payment made in the app goes through Paystack straight to the tradesperson, and never through a ToolBox account, so there is nothing for us to hold back or hand back. A card payment can still be disputed with your bank, as the next part explains.
• Decide who is legally right. Only a court, an ombud or an arbitrator can do that.

Payment disputes and chargebacks

When a homeowner pays through the app, Paystack processes the payment. If the homeowner's bank or card issuer disputes it (a chargeback), Paystack asks for evidence, and the card scheme's rules decide whether the payment stands. Neither we nor the tradesperson decides it.

• We flag the job and tell the tradesperson as soon as Paystack tells us.
• We give Paystack what the job holds: the accepted quote, the invoice, the messages on the job, and the proof the work was completed, such as the homeowner's confirmation and any photographs. We ask the tradesperson for anything else that would help.
• The tradesperson carries the chargeback. If it succeeds, the money is recovered from them, never from the Guarantee, as section 9 of the Terms for tradespeople explains.
• A chargeback decides only whether the payment stands, not whether the work was good. If your complaint is about the work, bring it to us as well, so that we can look at the account and, where it applies, the Guarantee.

4. If you are unhappy with how we handled it

Ask for it to be reviewed. Email complaints@toolbox.africa with your reference and say what you think we got wrong. A senior person who was not part of the original decision looks at it again and answers within 20 business days.

If you are still not satisfied, everything in section 6 remains open to you. We will not treat you differently for using it.

5. Complaints about us, not about a job

Complaints about ToolBox itself, our verification, our fees, our conduct or our app, go to the same desk and follow the same process. A complaint about how we handled your personal information can go to privacy@toolbox.africa, and from there to the Information Regulator. Section 6 has their details.

6. Where else you can go

You are never required to come to us first, and coming to us does not use up any of these. Pick the one that matches your problem.

The tradesperson's own regulator

If the complaint is about work that legally requires registration, the body that registered them can investigate and can withdraw that registration. This is often the most powerful route available to you, and it costs nothing.

Consumer bodies

The courts

Crime, fraud and safety

• SAPS. Report theft, fraud, assault, or a threat, at any station, and get the case number. Send it to us at safety@toolbox.africa and we will act on the account immediately.
• Your bank. If you were defrauded into paying the wrong account, phone your bank's fraud line the same day. Speed is the only thing that matters.
• Their insurer. If a tradesperson damaged your property or injured someone, their public liability insurance is the right route. Ask them for the policy details, or ask us and we will give you what we hold.

Personal information

Free legal help

• Legal Aid South Africa, 0800 110 110, for people who qualify on means.
• University law clinics, at most South African universities, free civil advice.
• Your local advice office, listed by the National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices.

7. Please also leave a review

If a job went badly and it is fairly described, a review helps the next homeowner more than anything else you can do. Keep it factual, keep it about your own experience, and follow the Reviews and ratings policy. Threatening a review to get a discount is a breach of our rules, but leaving an honest bad one is your right and we will not remove it because a tradesperson asked us to.