Something Serproz got wrong? Here is where it goes.

Which route is yours

Getting this right at the start is the single biggest difference between a fast answer and a slow one.

• Money on a job is a dispute: Work not done, work done badly, a milestone you do not want released, a refund you believe is owed. Open it on the milestone so the funds freeze and the evidence stays attached.

• A decision Serproz made is a complaint: A dispute outcome you think was decided wrongly, a listing removed, a profile suspended, a review taken down or left up, a verification label you believe is inaccurate.

• A charge Serproz took is a complaint: A platform fee, a subscription charge, a renewal you did not expect, or a refund that did not arrive. Job payments themselves are governed by the payment terms.

• A platform error is a complaint: Something broken, something showing the wrong information, or a message that never arrived.

• How you were treated is a complaint: Conduct by anyone acting for Serproz, an answer you were given, or being left without one.

• Personal information is a privacy complaint: It follows the privacy policy's route and can be escalated to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which is independent of Serproz.

• An accessibility barrier: Report it as a barrier first. It is triaged as a defect against the accessibility statement, and can be escalated here if it is not addressed.

Job disputes go to dispute resolution. Privacy matters start on the privacy policy. Barriers go to accessibility. Everything else belongs here.

Complaints about a provider or a customer

A complaint about another person on the marketplace is handled by Serproz, but it is not the same thing as a dispute over money.

• Unsafe conduct, harassment, or behaviour on site should be reported immediately, and to the police first where anyone is at risk.

• A profile that misstates a licence, a qualification or an insurance position is a report about the listing, and is checked against the evidence on file.

• A review that is not a genuine first-hand experience is handled under the reviews policy.

• An outcome may be a correction, a label change, a restriction, or removal from the marketplace. Serproz will not disclose what action was taken against another person's account beyond confirming that the report was actioned.

How to make a complaint that can be acted on

Specific complaints get resolved. General ones get clarifying questions.

• Say what happened: The job reference, profile, charge or page, and the date. Those identifiers are how the record is found.

• Say what you think went wrong: Which decision, charge or policy you are challenging. If you can name the policy, name it.

• Say what outcome you want: A correction, a refund, a reversal, an explanation, or a change to how something works. An outcome you have not asked for cannot be given.

• Attach what you have: Screenshots, message references, dates. Do not send passwords, full card numbers or identity documents — none of those are needed to investigate a complaint.

Send it through the support page. A separate published complaints address is not available yet, so the support form is the channel of record. It reaches the same team and it does not require an account.

What happens to it

• 1. It is acknowledged: You are told the complaint was received and what it has been recorded as being about, so a misrouted complaint can be corrected early.

• 2. It is investigated against the record: The job, the audit trail, the fee snapshot, the message thread and the policy version that applied at the time. Serproz keeps an append-only record of state changes specifically so a complaint can be checked rather than argued.

• 3. You get a reasoned answer: The outcome comes with the reasoning behind it and the policy it was decided under. An outcome without a reason is not an answer.

• 4. It can be reviewed: If you think the answer is wrong, say why and ask for it to be looked at again. A review is done by someone who did not make the original decision wherever that is possible.

• 5. It changes something: Where a complaint reveals a defect in the product or a policy, the fix is made rather than being handled case by case.

A published response-time commitment for complaints has not been set yet, and this page will not invent one. What is committed to is the sequence above and a reasoned written answer. When target times are set they will be published in this section. A privacy request is different: it has a statutory deadline of 20 working days, set out in the privacy policy.

Escalating outside Serproz

You do not need Serproz to agree, and you do not need to finish this process first.

• Disputes Tribunal: A low-cost forum for a civil claim up to its current monetary limit, against Serproz over the platform service or against a provider over the work.

• Commerce Commission: For conduct you believe breaches the Fair Trading Act, including a misleading claim on this site.

• Office of the Privacy Commissioner: For a complaint about how your personal information was handled. It is independent and free to use.

• Occupational regulators: For the conduct or competence of a licensed practitioner, complain to the board or authority that licenses that occupation.

• Consumer Protection: Government guidance on your options if you are unsure which route fits your problem.

Contact details for these bodies are published on their own sites: comcom.govt.nz, privacy.org.nz and consumerprotection.govt.nz.

What Serproz will not do

• Close, restrict or downrank an account because the holder made a complaint, escalated one, or took a matter to a regulator or a tribunal.

• Require you to withdraw a review, a complaint or a claim as a condition of resolving something.

• Treat the complaints process as a substitute for a legal right. Nothing on this page limits what you can do under New Zealand law.

The rights sitting behind all of this are summarised on the your rights page.

Changes to this page

This page carries a version string so a complaint can be read against the process that applied to it. The current version is complaints-policy-2026-09-06-v1.