Where human interactions happen there is always great potential for good, and also some for conflict. No matter how ethical or community-oriented we make it, our marketplace will always be a place for human interaction and will see some conflict appearing at some point, especially after a transaction has happened.
Since we strive to create a Comunidad, we consider Mediation as the best way to solve any conflict and also prevent fraud, scams or any kind of disruptive behaviour. Communicating with all parties involved, seeking common understanding and finding a solution that satisfies everyone is our way to go! That’s a sign of a strong community. And even if this doesn’t solve the issue at hand and escalation is needed, EthicArts will support both parties through the whole process in any way that we can.
Mediation
In short: We encourage everyone to solve any issues by respectfully communicating and actively try to find a solution, to which extent we will happily mediate and help both parties equally. This will only apply to transactions happening in our website and ideally the matter will be solved in 30 days or less.
When you have a problem with another member of the community over any matter related to our website (a transaction gone wrong, delayed payment, a service or product that doesn’t respect the agreed terms of the transaction, etc…) you just need to contact us and tell us about it to create a dispute. We will gather any information we may have on the matter and sit down (virtually) with both sides as a mediator, trying to define what the problem is and what solutions can we come up with together.
This method is referred in our Terms of Service as Informal Negotiations and can escalate if a solution has not been agreed on in 30 days.
Disclaimer: when the problem is about a specific transaction that has taken place outside of our website and without using our payment gateways (i.e. because you have shared personal contact details to contact each other and take the transaction out of EthicArts, something we dearly advise against here) we won’t be able to help or mediate on that matter at all.
Stripe and Paypal dispute resolution protocols
In short: Both Paypal and Stripe have their own protocol to deal with disputes that you can also recur to when using their payment systems through our website.
Our two payment gateway providers, Stripe and Paypal, have their own approach when it comes to deal with disputes arising from using their services.
In Stripe’s case, it focuses on the payment execution and can be affected by problems with the card or bank details used. You can find more information about their policy here.
Paypal’s approach is more similar to ours as they encourage to solve the issue initially by communicating between the parties. However they don’t mediate in the matter. You can find more about their policy here.
Binding arbitration
If the problem isn’t solved via mediation, our members have the possibility to escalate the issue to an Arbitrator, which will be in in accordance with the Arbitration and Internal Rules of the European Court of Arbitration being part of the European Centre of Arbitration having its seat in Strasbourg. The arbitration will take place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, its language will be English and will be subject to the substantial laws of the United Kingdom. We will collaborate with the arbitration process in any required way and supporting both parties equally.
If you need more information about this process please do not hesitate in contacting us.