Our goal is to bring you real, serious business opportunities. We check every project before sharing it, but no check is perfect. When a lead turns out not to be a genuine one, we refund it. This article explains what is refunded, what is not, how a decision is made, and what to expect once you have submitted a request.
Three things to know before you start:
You can request a refund up to 90 days after applying to the opportunity.
You can submit one request per opportunity. It can be re-examined until the 90 days have passed, and only in your favour.
Approved refunds are returned as Sortlist credits on your balance, valid for 12 months, to use on other opportunities.
What qualifies for a refund
We refund an opportunity when the lead turns out not to be genuine.
Fake or wrong prospect details. The contact details are wrong or fake, the person behind the brief is a student, a job seeker or another provider, someone testing the platform, or does not exist. Refunded in full.
Identical lead. The same client published the same project twice and you paid for both. The duplicate is refunded in full.
Unreachable client. You could not get in touch with the client at all. Because clients can take a few days to respond, this request can only be submitted at least 7 days after you applied, and you need to show at least 3 attempts on different days through at least 2 different channels (phone, email, chat, video call, social media). Whether the client was reachable is assessed at the level of the whole project, not only your own outreach. Depending on what that assessment confirms, the opportunity is refunded in full, refunded by half, or put on hold. See "How a decision is made" and "Possible outcomes" below.
What does not qualify for a refund
An opportunity is not refunded because it did not turn into a collaboration. Once a real, reachable client is behind the brief, the opportunity has been delivered, even if the outcome is disappointing. The following situations are not covered:
An exchange with the client took place. A meeting was declined after a first contact, the client stopped answering after a first meeting, or your application was rejected after an interaction. A request whose reason describes such an exchange is declined, and you are informed by email with the reason.
The project changed. The scope, budget or timing moved after you applied, or the project was delayed or paused.
No collaboration. The client chose another provider, hired internally, or abandoned the project.
You changed your mind about an opportunity you applied to.
You won the project.
How a decision is made
Every request is analysed against the same criteria, for every agency. The analysis looks at the project as a whole rather than at one application in isolation. It cross-checks what you describe and the evidence you attach, the exchanges recorded on the platform for that project, what we know about the client and the brief, the client's other projects, and whether the client turned out to be reachable and engaged for the other providers who applied. Weighing all of this together is what lets us apply the same criteria to everyone.
Requests are analysed once the project has closed to new applications, so that all the information about it is available. You receive the decision by email, together with the reason.
Possible outcomes
A decision is not a simple yes or no. Here is what each outcome means.
Full refund. The elements gathered on the project confirm the problem you reported. The full price of the opportunity is credited to your balance.
Half refund. The elements only partly confirm the problem you reported. In that case we share the loss and refund half of the price.
On hold. The elements available today do not confirm the problem. Your request stays open and is re-examined if new information appears, for up to 90 days. If nothing new confirms the problem by the date given in the decision email, the decision becomes final and the opportunity is not refunded.
Your request stays open for 90 days
A decision that is not a full refund is not final the day it is made. Until 90 days after your application, we keep crossing any new information about the project, such as new elements about the client's identity or interactions logged by other providers or by our team, and we update the decision automatically when it is warranted. A decision can only move in your favour, never down. If the refund is increased, the additional credits are added to your balance automatically and you are notified by email.
Because every update is applied automatically, you can only submit one request per opportunity: once a request exists, the "Request a refund" button on the opportunity shows "Refund requested" and there is nothing to re-file. The decision email tells you the date on which the decision becomes final.
How to submit a request
Open the opportunity and click Request a refund.
Select the reason that matches your situation.
Describe what happened and attach your evidence (call logs, emails, messages, screenshots).
Validate and submit. You receive a confirmation email.
A step-by-step guide with screenshots is available.
If you think a decision is wrong
Reply to the decision email and tell us what you think was missed. We will look at your case again and get back to you once it has been reviewed.
A note on fair use
Refunds exist to protect you from leads that are not genuine. Requests that are found to be fraudulent may lead to exclusion from the platform.