Buyer & Seller Dispute Resolution Policy

This policy governs how Resonatta manages claims, refunds, and disputes between buyers and makers. By purchasing or listing an item on the platform, you agree to these procedures and accept Resonatta's determinations. All eligible purchases are covered under the Resonatta Protection Program. Payouts to makers are held in a pending state until the applicable inspection window passes or delivery is verified.

Inspection windows by category

• Physical Instruments (New & Used): 72 hours from carrier-confirmed delivery to inspect and open a dispute.
• Custom & Made-to-Order Work: 7 days from carrier-confirmed delivery. See Section 4.
• Digital Goods (samples, presets, downloadable material): 48 hours from purchase or license delivery to report invalid keys, non-transferable licenses, or technical defects.
• Online Courses: 7 days from purchase to request a refund, provided less than 20% of the course video content has been consumed.

1. 1

   Direct Resolution

   Mandatory first step — message the maker through the order thread.

2. 2

   Case Escalation

   Escalate to Resonatta Support; the payout freezes and a specialist is assigned.

3. 3

   Evidence Submission

   Both parties supply documentation within 48 hours.

4. 4

   Review & Final Determination

   Support weighs the evidence and issues a determination.

Step 1 — Direct Resolution (mandatory first step)

Before Resonatta intervenes, the buyer must contact the maker through platform messaging by selecting “Help with Order.” The maker has 48 hours to address the issue, offer a resolution, or process a refund.

Step 2 — Case Escalation

If the maker fails to respond within 48 hours, refuses to resolve a valid issue, or no agreement is reached, the buyer may click “Escalate to Resonatta Support.” Any pending payout for the order is automatically frozen, and a support specialist is assigned to review the case.

Step 3 — Evidence Submission

Both parties may be asked to provide documentation within 48 hours.

• Physical Instruments: clear photos and video of the shipping box, packing materials, serial numbers, and any damage or defect; original listing screenshots.
• Digital Goods: screenshots of activation error codes, communication logs with the developer, or proof of system incompatibility against the listed requirements.
• Online Courses: system audit logs, checked automatically by the platform, showing video watch percentage and quiz completion.
• Tuning claims: see Section 5.5 for the specific evidence required.

Step 4 — Review and Final Determination

Resonatta Support evaluates the evidence against the original listing description, category policies, the Specification Agreement where one exists, and communication logs. Resonatta aims to issue a determination within 5 business days of receiving complete evidence from both parties. Determinations are final within Resonatta's internal process and do not affect any rights you may have under applicable consumer protection law.

A. Non-Delivery Claims

• Physical items: full refund if the maker fails to provide valid tracking within the stated handling time, or if tracking shows the package was not delivered.
• Signature requirement: items valued at $500 or higher require signature confirmation on delivery. If a maker fails to add signature confirmation and the carrier reports the item delivered but the buyer claims non-receipt, the dispute is resolved in the buyer's favour.
• Digital goods and courses: full refund if the download link, license key, or course access is not delivered within the automated or stated timeframe.

B. “Not as Described” (NAD) Claims

Handmade instruments are frequently built to order. Because a maker commits materials, shop time, and irreplaceable labour to a piece that may have no second buyer, custom work is governed by this section rather than the standard return provisions in Section 3.

4.1 What counts as custom work

An order is Custom Work when the listing is designated “Made to Order,” “Commission,” or “Built to Spec,” or when buyer and maker agree to any modification not offered as a standard listing option. This includes changes to key or tuning, wood or shell material, inlay and stone selection, engraving or personalisation, dimensional changes, and finish variations. Stock items shipped from existing inventory are not Custom Work, even where the maker produced them by hand.

4.2 The Specification Agreement

Before a Custom Work order is accepted, the maker must provide, and the buyer must approve in platform messaging, a written Specification Agreement covering at minimum: instrument type, key or scale, and reference pitch; primary materials, including species of wood and any stone, metal, or shell inlay; finish and decorative work; total price, deposit amount, and balance due; estimated completion window as a date range; and any agreed check-in points during the build. The Specification Agreement is the controlling document in any dispute. Requests communicated outside the platform, or agreed after acceptance without a written amendment, are not enforceable and will not be considered as evidence.

4.3 Cancellation windows

“Material commitment” means the maker has cut, drilled, shaped, hammered, or otherwise altered stock for this specific order, or has purchased material sourced specifically to fulfil it. Makers must record material commitment in the order thread; a dated photo of the blank or stock is sufficient and is the evidence Resonatta will look for. Deposits on Custom Work are capped at 50% of the order total and are non-refundable once material commitment occurs, absent maker fault.

4.4 Lead times and delay

The maker must post an estimated completion window in the Specification Agreement and update the buyer in the order thread if that window changes.

• A maker who has not shipped within 14 days past the outer edge of the stated window must, on buyer request, provide a revised date and photographic evidence of work in progress.
• A maker who has not shipped within 45 days past the outer edge of the stated window, without the buyer's written agreement to an extension, is in breach. The buyer may cancel for a full refund including deposit.
• A maker who becomes unresponsive for 21 consecutive days on an open Custom Work order is in breach regardless of elapsed lead time.

Delays from documented material scarcity, illness, or force majeure do not excuse the notice obligation, but will be weighed by Resonatta Support in determining whether a deposit is forfeited.

4.5 Build check-ins and waiver

Where the Specification Agreement provides for check-in points, the maker submits photographs at those stages and the buyer has 72 hours to approve or request correction. Buyer approval at a check-in waives any later “Not as Described” claim relating to what was visible and identifiable in the approved images. A buyer who approves a photograph of a completed inlay may not later dispute the stone placement; the same buyer may still dispute a crack that appeared afterward, or tuning that could not be assessed from an image. Silence past 72 hours is treated as approval, provided the maker's images were clear and the request was delivered through platform messaging.

4.6 Inspection and valid claims

Custom Work carries a 7-day inspection window from carrier-confirmed delivery, extended from the standard period in recognition of the time a player needs to properly evaluate an instrument.

Valid grounds

• The instrument materially departs from the Specification Agreement (wrong key, wrong species, omitted or substituted inlay, dimensions outside agreed tolerance).
• Structural defect present on arrival (cracks, unsealed joints, failed glue lines, leaking pads or bindings, unstable rests or mounts).
• Tuning outside the tolerances in Section 5.
• The instrument is unplayable as delivered or requires repair to function as described.

Not valid grounds

• Buyer's remorse, changed circumstances, or a decision that the instrument is no longer wanted.
• Natural variation in grain, figure, colour, patina, or mineral inclusion where disclosed.
• Dissatisfaction with tone, voice, or feel where the instrument conforms to specification and tuning tolerance.
• Specification elements approved at a check-in under Section 4.5.
• Modifications, repairs, refinishing, or retuning performed by the buyer or a third party after delivery.
• Damage caused by failure to follow the care and acclimation instructions supplied with the instrument.

4.7 Resolution of custom work disputes

Where decided for the buyer, Resonatta Support applies the outcome best suited to the defect:

1. Correction by the maker — where the defect is remediable and the buyer consents, the instrument is returned at the maker's expense for correction and reshipment. Preferred for tuning deviation, finish defects, and minor specification errors.
2. Partial refund with retention — where the buyer wishes to keep the instrument despite an undisclosed defect.
3. Full refund with return — where the instrument materially fails the Specification Agreement or is structurally unsound; returned at the maker's expense for a full refund including original shipping.
4. Full refund without return — where return shipping presents a risk of further damage disproportionate to the instrument's value, or the instrument is unsafe to handle.

Personalised elements such as engraved names, dedications, or commissioned artwork are not grounds for a reduced refund where the dispute is decided for the buyer. The maker retains the instrument and any resale loss is the maker's.

Pitch disputes are the most common source of disagreement in instrument sales and the least amenable to subjective resolution. This section establishes a measurable standard so tuning claims are decided on evidence rather than impression.

5.1 Required listing disclosures

Every listing for a pitched instrument must state:

• Fundamental note or key (e.g. F# minor, key of A, B3).
• Reference pitch (A = 440 Hz, A = 432 Hz, or other, stated in Hz).
• Temperament where the instrument produces more than one pitch (equal temperament, just intonation, or a named traditional tuning).
• Full note layout for handpans, tongue drums, and multi-chambered instruments.
• Nominal frequency in Hz for singing bowls, gongs, and other instruments where pitch is descriptive rather than targeted.

A listing that omits reference pitch is presumed to be A = 440 Hz equal temperament for dispute purposes. Makers tuning to 432 Hz or to a traditional non-equal temperament must say so; Resonatta will not treat a buyer's discovery of an undisclosed alternate tuning as acceptable variation.

5.2 Measurement standard

Tuning claims are assessed against a measurement taken under the following conditions. Measurements taken outside these conditions may be given reduced weight.

• Instrument temperature: acclimated to the measurement environment for at least two hours, at 18–24°C (65–75°F).
• Relative humidity: 40–60% where the instrument is made of wood or bamboo.
• Warm-up: wind instruments measured after at least two minutes of continuous play, as pitch rises with the warming of the bore.
• Breath pressure: wind instruments measured at moderate, sustained playing pressure, not at the extremes of the instrument's dynamic range.
• Reading: sustained tone of at least three seconds, averaged across a minimum of three separate soundings.
• Instrument: any chromatic tuner or tuning application with cent-level resolution, reference pitch set to match the listing.

5.3 Tolerances

Deviation within these tolerances is not a valid basis for a dispute. Deviation beyond them, established by evidence conforming to Section 5.2, is a valid “Not as Described” claim.

5.4 What is not a tuning defect

The following are inherent to acoustic instruments and are not grounds for dispute:

• Pitch variation with breath pressure, embouchure, or playing technique on wind instruments.
• Pitch drift with temperature and humidity, including seasonal change.
• Gradual detuning of hammered steel instruments through normal play, impact, or transport.
• The beat rate, chorus, or wobble produced by a drone against a melody bore, where within the stated tolerance.
• Overtone content, sustain length, or timbral character, none of which are pitch measurements.
• Dissatisfaction with a temperament that was accurately disclosed.
• Any tuning condition arising after the buyer or a third party has attempted adjustment.

5.5 Evidence for a tuning dispute

A buyer raising a tuning claim must submit, within the evidence window:

1. Continuous video showing the instrument being sounded with a tuner display visible in the same frame. Separate audio and screenshots are insufficient.
2. At least three soundings of each disputed note.
3. A statement of ambient temperature, relative humidity, and the tuner's reference pitch setting.
4. For wind instruments, confirmation that the instrument was warmed per Section 5.2.

The maker may submit their own pre-shipment measurement of the same instrument. Where a maker's dated pre-shipment recording conflicts with the buyer's measurement and both conform to the standard, Resonatta Support will consider transit damage, environmental change, and post-delivery handling in reaching a determination.

5.6 Resolution

Tuning disputes decided for the buyer are ordinarily resolved by return to the maker for retuning at the maker's expense, where the instrument's construction permits it. Full refund applies where the deviation cannot be corrected without compromising the instrument, where the maker declines to retune, or where the fundamental is wrong by a semitone or more.

Where a dispute is decided in the buyer's favour, one of the following applies:

• Full Refund with Return (Physical Instruments): the buyer returns the item to the maker. The maker pays return shipping if the item was Not as Described. Once tracking proves return in original condition, a full refund including original shipping is issued.
• Full Refund without Return: issued if the item is proven counterfeit, if shipping it back presents a safety hazard, or if return shipping cost exceeds the value of the instrument.
• Partial Refund: where both parties agree, a buyer may keep an item with undisclosed minor defects in exchange for a partial refund negotiated through Resonatta Support.
• Digital Revocation: for valid software or course disputes, the license key is voided, access revoked, and a full refund processed.

Return shipping for instruments valued at $1,000 or more must be insured for the full purchase price and packed to the standard described in the maker's original packaging guidance. A buyer who returns an instrument inadequately packed may bear the cost of damage incurred in transit.

• Off-Platform Chargebacks: filing a credit card chargeback or PayPal dispute outside the platform while a Resonatta dispute is open violates our Terms of Service.
• Maker Protection Against Fraudulent Chargebacks: where a buyer files an unauthorised chargeback for a physical item and the maker provided valid tracking with signature confirmation to the address on file, Resonatta will defend the claim on the maker's behalf using platform escrow logs.
• Chargeback Fees: where a chargeback is decided against a maker due to maker fault, such as non-delivery or failure to respond to a dispute, any processing fees incurred by the platform are deducted from the maker's account balance.

• Buyers: accounts exhibiting excessive dispute filing, fraudulent “Not as Described” claims, or swapping working components before initiating a return face permanent account termination.
• Makers: accounts with elevated order dissatisfaction rates, frequent non-delivery cases, or sale of invalid or unauthorised software keys face account suspension, reserve holds on funds for up to 180 days, and permanent banning.

This policy forms part of the Resonatta Terms of Service and should be read alongside our Shipping & Returns policy. Nothing in this policy limits any rights you may have under the consumer protection law of your jurisdiction.