How the dispute Resolution Center has always been part of the platform roadmap

As our CEO Victorien De Doncker had the opportunity to explain, "the bulk of disputes on second-hand platforms (second-hand, rental between individuals or services) are mainly due to the quality of the objects sold."

It should be remembered that by design, this type of activity generates higher risk of scams and uncertainties about quality than buying new, therefore it is more likely that there will be requests to the Resolution Center. Indeed, the platforms cannot guarantee that the package will be received in the condition indicated on the description sheet, or that it will be 100% compliant with the order. As with everywhere, there are dishonest sellers, sellers on marketplaces who are acting in bad faith, or many others who lack objectivity regarding the quality of the objects that they sell.

It should be remembered that these players have only recently integrated transactional payment into their strategy. Faced with the explosion in the number of transactions (Leboncoin recently announced through its founder that it was carrying out an amount of €100 million per year for a volume of €25 billion¹), they have come to understand the importance of having a resolution center for their users. Especially since some disputes can drag on when a disagreement about the object arises: for example, if the seller does not want to take it back, the money remains blocked on the account...

By the way, is it really the role of platforms to manage these disputes between users?

According to Victorien, they have no choice. "Because when you have 37 million users on Vinted, they necessarily turn to the platform and contact its customer service. How well do they handle these situations? Rather badly, because it is complicated for them to arbitrate between a buyer and a seller, to compare the two versions of events. What's more, they are singularly lacking in data to do so! ».

A gap to which Tripartie wished to fix by specifically addressing this aspect of user disputes. The Resolution Center developed by Tripartie allows them to be processed very quickly and in a way this is impartial to the end users.

Help the user report their issue to the Resolution Center

Our "secure payment" brick allows users to open a dispute when things go wrong, when they are dissatisfied and when the conditions are met. "No matter how much we want to secure many aspects of transactions on platforms, this never guarantees zero risk!" says Andréas Lambropoulos, our CPO.

How does it work?

The Resolution Center first allows the user to report their problem. "With the help of a form, we collect the necessary information and then analyse it: How is the complaint written? What syntax does it use? Is it objective, to what extent? Is he disappointed? Angry? ... We rely on trained AI models, capable of detecting and analyzing sentiment in the text, to deduce criticality indicators and paint an accurate picture of the problem," explains Andréas.

'As the parties are in a mediation phase, Tripartie They also help them find the best amicable solution. " he continues.

Let's not forget that we are in the second-hand market. The guarantees provided to buyers are less than in the case of new purchases, where they benefit from a legal withdrawal period of 14 days. The Resolution Center will ensure that the order received has not been damaged upon receipt, as an item may have been shipped in perfect condition and be damaged, even unintentionally, by the buyer when unpacking their package.

"For example, you bought a smartphone. When you unpack it, you drop it unintentionally, creating a shock on the case. The buyer could then issue a complaint, many aspects of which need to be verified before it can be forwarded to the seller. Here, this is at the heart of our role as a trusted third party," concludes Andréas.

Forward the claim to the seller to handle the dispute

Before C2C players became concerned with transactional and payment, sellers and buyers had to agree to find a way out of their dispute and bear the consequences – without being able to turn to their platform.

Today, this is no longer the case and the fact of operating in the C2C market no longer exempts marketplaces. On the contrary, it secures their model and keeps their users returning. So they tackle the subject head-on, or at least, for the major players like Vinted, they no longer ignore this need.

That said, there is a caveat. "We are clear-headed about the fact that automating claims processing will never resolve 100% of cases. There will always be a human part that cannot be compressed. That's why we've developed the Resolution Center and are providing platforms with the tools they need to properly analyse and handle disputes which are bound to arise between their users."

C2C or not, we see that the trend is no longer towards exoneration but towards accountability. As competition between them rages (we invite you to download the latest edition of our annual study and consult the matrix of market players, on p.12), it is less and less conceivable that they will leave their users in the event of a problem. On the contrary, it creates value, and they cannot afford the resounding bad buzz that such behaviour would cause.

Are you launching a second-hand project?

Tripartie enables retailers, marketplaces and large companies to enter the peer-to-peer and second-hand market rapidly, without operational and reputational risk.

Tripartie has a trust-based approach and provides a set of tools to ensure secure and compliant transactions, including an efficient user dispute resolution center. Book a demo!

¹ Source BFM

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