Disputes — the Seller's Side
Within 14 days of a post going live, the advertiser can raise a fraud concern on a delivered or completed booking — their claim that the placement was not honestly delivered. Disputes are rare when delivery is clean, because the platform's own monitor witnesses every placement. But when one is opened against you, this is exactly what happens.
The moment a concern is raised
- You are notified — "A fraud concern was raised" — on the booking, in your activity feed, and through your notification channels.
- The payout on that booking goes on hold. If it had already been scheduled it does not release; if you try to claim it, the claim is refused with "A fraud concern on this booking is under review — the payout is on hold until our team resolves it."
- Your wallet is temporarily frozen while the review runs. Payouts and withdrawals pause until the concern is decided, in either direction. Money already in the wallet stays yours and stays visible; it just cannot move out until the freeze clears.
- You cannot accept new bookings while a review is open against you. Work already in flight can still be finished — and should be.
Note that the window is measured from the post going live, so even a booking that has already paid out can be disputed inside those 14 days.
You do not have to file a defense or gather screenshots. The review is arbitrated on the platform's own records, which already exist. If you have relevant context, you can contact support — but the evidence that decides most disputes was collected automatically while your placement ran.
What the review looks at
The Onflow Ads team arbitrates using evidence neither side can edit after the fact:
- The monitor's check history — every visit to your post: existed or not, pinned or not, timestamped.
- The measured delivery numbers — the views, forwards, reactions and clicks the monitor sampled while the ad ran.
- The signed proof archive — the creative frozen at delivery, your live post link, and any later captures showing whether the content drifted.
This is why the standing advice in Posting the ad matters: a post that went up on time, stayed up, stayed pinned and was never edited produces a record that defends you by itself.
Depending on the advertiser's plan, the dispute may carry a published resolution deadline, shown as a countdown on the booking.
The two outcomes
Concern rejected — the claim did not hold up:
- The hold clears and your payout proceeds on its normal schedule.
- Your wallet freeze lifts immediately.
- Your reliability is untouched, and no mark is left on your account.
- The advertiser who made the false claim loses reliability instead — and a pattern of rejected concerns escalates on their side.
Concern upheld — the claim was found valid:
- The buyer is refunded. On the top advertiser plans that refund is paid immediately from platform funds rather than waiting on recovery.
- Your reliability drops by 2.00 — the largest single penalty in the system.
- Any good-faith deposit on the booking is forfeited to the advertiser.
- Your wallet freeze lifts once the decision lands.
Either way, the freeze is cleared the moment the concern is decided. It exists only to keep the money still while the question is open.
Disputes and everything else
- A monitor flag is not a dispute. A flag is the bot acting on hard evidence — the post gone, or unpinned early — and it pauses only that booking's payout. A dispute is a human review opened by the advertiser, and it freezes your wallet too. Both can exist on one booking.
- Insured placements refund without a dispute. When the monitor flags a placement an advertiser insured, the buyer is refunded automatically and never opens a concern. For you the consequences are the flag's, and nothing more.
- Retention escrow follows the dispute. A booking with an open or upheld concern does not release its retention slice.
- Guaranteed-views placements settle their guarantee only after an open dispute closes — the dispute decides the money first. See The view guarantee.
Protecting yourself — the short version
- Post inside the window, from the booked creative, without edits.
- Keep the post up and pinned for its full promised duration.
- Keep @OnflowAdsBot as an admin so the monitor can witness your delivery — the monitor's clean record is your best defense.
- Submit the correct proof link, pointing at the exact ad message.
- If a change to a live ad is ever genuinely needed, agree it with the advertiser first, in writing.
FAQ
Can I dispute the advertiser?
The fraud-concern mechanism runs buyer to seller. If an advertiser behaves badly — false claims, abusive content swaps — the platform already penalizes false claimants automatically, and you can rate the advertiser (1 to 5 stars, once per booking) so other owners see their track record before accepting. For anything beyond that, contact support from the booking.
How long does a dispute take?
Some advertiser plans carry a published resolution deadline, shown as a countdown on the booking; otherwise the review takes as long as the evidence requires. The holds last exactly as long as the review and not a moment longer.
The concern was rejected — is there any trace left on my account?
No penalty and no lasting mark. Your payout proceeds, your reliability is untouched, and your wallet works normally again.
Can an old completed booking be disputed forever?
No. The fraud-concern window is 14 days from the post going live. After that, the booking's money is settled for good.
My wallet is frozen but I have bookings in progress. What should I do?
Deliver them. A freeze stops money leaving your wallet and stops you taking on new counterparties; it does not excuse an accepted booking, and letting one lapse would add a separate penalty on top.
Several bookings are held but only one is disputed.
The wallet freeze is account-wide while a review runs, so other payouts wait too. They resume the moment the concern is decided, in either direction.
Next: Promoting your listing — with delivery under control, put your channel in front of more buyers.