What to do if something goes wrong

Flag the problem within 72 hours of the contractor marking the job done. That is the action that holds your money. Staying quiet does the opposite — the payment releases automatically when the window closes.

Raise it in the app, inside the window

When the contractor submits the work, you get 72 hours. If the job is not right — not finished, not what was agreed, done badly — flag it rather than confirming. The money freezes in escrow while it is reviewed. If you are not sure whether something counts as a problem, flag it anyway: you can always resolve it afterwards, but you cannot un-release a payment.

What we look at

A dispute is reviewed against the record, not against who argues hardest:

• The signed agreement — the scope, price, and timeline you both agreed before work started.
• The chat history, including anything that changed along the way.
• The photo proof the contractor submitted, and any photos you add.

This is why the agreement matters more than it looks. A vague scope makes a dispute a matter of opinion; a specific one makes it a matter of fact.

Talk to the pro first, if you can

Most problems are not disputes. A missed spot or a misunderstanding is usually fixed faster by a message than by a process — and the contractor generally wants it resolved too. But do not let a conversation run past the deadline. If the 72 hours are nearly up and it is not settled, flag it. Flagging is not an accusation; it stops the clock.

If it is serious

Damage to your home, work that looks unsafe, or anything involving a license you doubt — flag it and contact us. Serious concerns about licensed work can also go to the CSLB directly; they are the regulator, and a complaint to them carries weight we do not have.