Key Takeaways

Assume good faith first: Miscommunication happens, but stay calm and take your time to talk with your peer. Disputes should be open as much as possible as last resort method for clear fraud attempts. In my experience 99% of users are honest and fraud attempts are extremely rare.
If peer does not answer, wait for the 24h Chat window:
- If your peer seems unresponsive, use the 24 hours time window. Your peer might be busy/working/sleeping/having troubles with tor, or they might live in a different timezone than yours, so be patient. Never open dispute in this case.Simply let the 24h chat timer expire: a dispute will be open automatically in that case.
- If during that period you change your mind and want to cancel the trade, as a rule you need to try to cooperate with your peer and seek for collab cancel, but your peer cannot be forced into it.
- Importantly, keep in mind that if you are the only party that seeks for cancellation without finding a common ground with your peer, at the dispute stage the coordinator might see that as a unilateral cancellation attempt, which is one of the possible condition the bond might be forfeited.
- Once the bonds are locked, you enter into a contract, and as a rule both parties are expected to finalize the trade within the timeframes provided.
Collab Cancel requires mutual agreement: As a rule they are not to be forced by coordinator, except edge cases. Unilateral cancellation might result in the bond being forfeited. If coordinators were to grant Collab Cancel easily, Some dishonest users may take advantage of it for example to avoid penalties during unfavorable price swings. The recommendation is to talk to your peer and try to find a common ground.
Prepare in advance: before making or taking an order, make sure you are in the conditions to conclude the trade and use the defined payment methods.

What Are Disputes and Bonds?

Disputes and bonds are an important part of Robosats, that make it theplatform so many love. They exist to incentivize taker and maker to play by the rules and engage with each other in good cooperation. In Robosats they are particularly important because users privacy is protected and there is no system in place to rate sellers and buyers reputation.

In short:

They incentivize honest behavior by penalizing fraud or bad faith actions.
They protect both parties in cases of genuine disputes (i.e. chat timer expiring).

In edge cases, bonds can be forfeited for any violation outlined here: Robosats Bond Rules . Mistakes happen—edge cases exist—but disputes should never be opened lightly or for non-fraud reasons.

When Should You Open a Dispute?

Only open disputes in this case:

Evidence of fraud

Do NOT dispute for:

BTC Price changes.
Minor delays or simple misunderstandings (try to work them out first).
Peer "not replying" before 24 hours pass (they might be working, asleep, in a different time zone!).
You changed your mind during the 24h and you want to cancel.
To get coordinator to force collab cancel the trade (talk to your peer and try to find a common ground. Take your time, the chat lasts for 24 hours).

These cases might result in the bond being forfeited.

If a dispute open?

Release your statement within 24 hours, and try to be as clear as possible.
The coordinator will wait for both parties statement, and talk with peers if needed. The process might take a few days and you are welcome to reach out to your coordinator if you want to check about the status or provide further information.
Contact the coordinator with the same contact method provided in the statement.
Do not panic, disputes can happen, but in the vast majority of time (I would say 99%) the dispute is easy to solve as both parties statements will match. If they do not, both parties will have chances to explain what happened and provide evidence. In this case, the more proactive you are in your cooperation with the coordinator the more you will help to come to a smooth resolution.

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