Complaints & Redress

Sometimes a booking, a payment or a match doesn't go to plan. When that happens, we want to hear about it and help put it right 🐾 Here's how to tell us, how fast we answer, how disputes over a protected payment are decided and where else you can go if you're still not happy.

In short: Tell us in the app, through our contact form or at [email protected]. We confirm in writing within one business day and resolve booking and payment complaints within 7 calendar days; if yours is still open on day 5, a senior team member steps in. A dispute opened before release keeps the payment frozen under Payment Protection until we refund, release or split it. Hindi pa rin ayos? Go to the DTI, a small claims court, the BSP for payment problems, the National Privacy Commission for your data, or the police for scams. Complaining is free and never counts against you.

1. About this page#

1. Swipaw is operated by Parada Technologies Inc. ("Swipaw", "we"). This page is our redress mechanism under the Internet Transactions Act of 2023 (RA 11967): how we receive, handle and resolve complaints from consumers and providers. It forms part of our Terms of Service, alongside the Payments & Refunds Policy, the Provider Agreement and the Community Guidelines.
2. A requester books and pays; a provider performs the service. A complaint is any message telling us that something went wrong with a booking, a payment, a provider, another member or Swipaw, and asking us to act. A dispute is a complaint about a paid booking, opened from that booking before its payment is released. A business day is Monday to Friday, except Philippine public holidays, and all times are Philippine time.
3. Anyone may complain, including providers (about payouts, holds, strikes or listings) and people without an account. The same process applies whether the provider is a business or an individual, and to each "coming soon" service from the day it launches. Headings and summaries are aids; the numbered clauses govern.

2. Where to start — saan magsisimula#

1. Start where the table points. If you pick the wrong route, we still handle your complaint, and the clock runs from your first message.

2. Only a dispute freezes a protected payment; a ticket or e-mail does not, so open the dispute before the payment is released.
3. If your pet needs a vet, get care first and complain afterwards.

3. How to make a complaint#

1. In the app. Open a dispute from the booking, or open a support ticket in the app's Help section, linked to the booking or payment concerned. Tickets get a reference number starting with "SW-SUP".
2. Without the app. Use our contact form, which e-mails you a ticket number and a link to follow up, or write to [email protected], with or without an account. You may also call (to be published) or send a letter to 24 Sheridan Towers North, Buayang Bato, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila 1550, Philippines.
3. Someone helping you. A relative, friend or representative may complain for you with your written authority, which we may check before sharing your account details.
4. Language. English, Filipino or Taglish are all fine.
5. Filing date. A complaint is filed when it first reaches us through any of these channels, and that day is day 1 of the timeline in section 5. Whatever topic you choose for a ticket, a complaint about a booking or a payment gets the booking-and-payment timeline.

4. What to include#

1. Who you are: your name and the e-mail address or mobile number on your account.
2. References: the booking (complain from it or send its link), the number on your payment acknowledgement (like SW-202611-000123) and, for a payment problem, the date, amount, payment method and the reference number your bank or e-wallet shows.
3. What happened, when, and what you would like: a refund, a partial refund, the service redone, a correction or an explanation.
4. Evidence: photos, screenshots, receipts, vet records or statements. Outside a dispute or a report our team cannot read your chats, so send screenshots of the messages that matter.
5. Leave out other people's personal details we don't need, and never send card numbers, PINs, passwords or one-time codes; no one at Swipaw will ask for them. Missing details never stop the clock: we ask for what we need and decide on the information we have.

5. Our timeline#

1. Acknowledgement. Within one business day of filing, and usually at once, we confirm in writing, in the app or by e-mail, that we received your complaint, with its reference number and, for a booking or payment complaint, the date by which we will resolve it.
2. A person reviews it. A member of our team, never an automated system, checks the booking, payment and message records and your evidence, and hears the other party where there is one.
3. Escalation. A complaint still unresolved on day 5 passes automatically to a senior team member, who makes sure it is decided on time.
4. Decision. We resolve complaints about a booking or a payment within 7 calendar days of filing, weekends and holidays included, and aim for the same with every other complaint. Our decision comes in writing, with our reasons and the next steps. If a step we cannot speed up, such as a refund moving through your bank, is still running by then, we tell you when to expect it.
5. When our process ends. Under section 24 of the Internet Transactions Act, our process counts as exhausted if a complaint is still unresolved 7 calendar days after filing. From then on, or as soon as we have given our decision, you may go elsewhere (section 7). If your complaint is still open by then, we keep working on it and remind you of those routes.
6. A second look. If you disagree with a decision, you may ask once for a review by a senior team member who was not involved, who answers within 7 calendar days of your request. This step is optional and never delays your other routes.

6. Disputes and Payment Protection#

1. Payment Protection. Our payment partner Xendit Philippines, Inc. ("Xendit"), an operator of payment systems registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the "BSP"), collects your payment into an account it keeps for your provider and holds it there until the service is done or the payment is refunded: that is Payment Protection. Swipaw never holds the money itself; we instruct its release or refund, and our commission is split off only at release.
2. When to open one. Requesters may open a dispute from the booked start if the provider hasn't come, during the service, and after the provider marks it done until they confirm it or it confirms automatically 48 hours later (or after the period your booking shows). Providers may open one once the service has started. Confirming releases the payment at once, so don't confirm a booking you want to dispute.
3. The freeze. While a dispute is open, nothing from that payment is released or paid out, and the provider's payouts wait until we decide. We tell the other party about the dispute.
4. Both sides are heard. Messages and evidence added to a dispute are seen by the other party and our team. For that dispute only, our team may read the booking chat, and every access is logged.
5. Decision. We aim to decide within 72 hours, always within the timeline in section 5. For requesters, the decision gives effect to the remedies of the Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7394, Art. 102): the service redone at no extra cost, a refund, or a proportionate price reduction. If you both agree that the provider will redo the service, the payment stays held until it is done.

6. Refunds go back the way you paid, or to an account in your own name, with no fees deducted, as section 6 of the Payments & Refunds Policy explains.
7. Settled between you? Tell us in the dispute. We close it without a decision, and the booking continues from where it stopped.
8. After release. A dispute can no longer be opened, but a support ticket can, and confirming never waives your rights for problems you could not see at the time. If we find a refund is owed, we can order it and recover it from the provider's unpaid earnings.
9. Chargebacks. Please come to us first. If you ask your card issuer to reverse a payment instead (a chargeback), the card network's and Xendit's rules decide it, and we share the booking record with them. No one is refunded twice for the same payment.
10. Off-app payments, such as cash, transfers, or QR codes and links sent in chat, have no Payment Protection and we cannot refund them. Tell us anyway: asking for them breaks our rules and may be a scam.

7. If you're still not satisfied — kung hindi pa rin ayos#

1. Your choice. For a complaint about an online transaction, the Internet Transactions Act requires you to try our process first. Once we have decided, or 7 calendar days have passed since filing, you may use any route below without our permission. Never wait for us to report an emergency, a crime or an unauthorised payment. We can explain these routes, but we cannot give you legal advice.
2. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). For problems with a service, a provider or our platform, contact DTI Consumer Care (hotline 1-DTI (1-384); [email protected]; consumercare.dti.gov.ph) or file online, free of charge, through the Philippine Online Dispute Resolution System (podrs.dti.gov.ph). The DTI starts with mediation and may then decide the complaint; its E-Commerce Bureau oversees online marketplaces such as Swipaw.
3. Small claims. You may claim up to ₱1,000,000, not counting interest and costs, in the first-level courts (in Metro Manila, the Metropolitan Trial Courts) under the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts (A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC). Lawyers may not appear for either side, the judgment is final, and court fees may apply. Against an individual provider who lives in the same city or municipality as you, barangay conciliation usually comes first (Local Government Code of 1991, RA 7160).
4. Payment problems. If you were charged but your booking still shows unpaid, don't pay again; send us the payment reference. For a failed, double or unauthorised payment, contact your bank or e-wallet, which must handle it through its own complaint process under the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (RA 11765). We also raise it with Xendit, the BSP-registered company that processed it, and share what we learn. If it is still not settled, use the BSP's Consumer Assistance Mechanism through its online assistant BOB (BSP Online Buddy) on bsp.gov.ph or the BSP's official Facebook page. Providers can take the same steps for a payout, with their receiving bank or e-wallet.
5. Your personal data. Write to our Data Protection Officer at [email protected]; we answer privacy requests within 30 working days, extendable once for complex requests with our reasons (section 8 of our Privacy Notice). If you are not satisfied, complain to the National Privacy Commission under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173). Its complaint forms are on privacy.gov.ph, and it generally expects you to have raised the matter with us in writing first.
6. Scams and other crimes. In an emergency, call 911. Report scams, hacking, threats, extortion and identity theft to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center hotline 1326, to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (acg.pnp.gov.ph) or any police station, or to the NBI Cybercrime Division (nbi.gov.ph) or any NBI office. If you lost money, tell your bank or e-wallet at once: under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (RA 12010) it can hold disputed funds while it checks. Report suspected animal cruelty to your barangay, the city or municipal veterinary office, the Bureau of Animal Industry or the police. Then tell us, so we can preserve evidence and act on the account.
7. Courts and mediation. You may also go to court, or agree with the other side to try mediation (Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004, RA 9285). Where cases are filed is set out in section 21 of the Terms of Service and clause 14.1 of the Provider Agreement; consumers may sue where they live or where our registered office is.
8. Deadlines. Claims have time limits. Claims under the Consumer Act (Art. 169) and claims for damages under the Internet Transactions Act (Sec. 28) generally must be brought within two years, and other routes, such as the National Privacy Commission, have their own deadlines, some of them shorter. Don't let a deadline pass while you wait for us.

8. How we cooperate#

1. If you take your complaint to the DTI, the BSP, the National Privacy Commission, a court, the police or another authority, we answer its notices within its deadlines, take part in mediation in good faith, give it the records it lawfully requests and comply with its final decisions and orders.
2. On request, and free of charge, we give you a copy of the records of your complaint and booking that relate to you, for use before any agency or court, redacting other people's personal data where needed.
3. The provider's legal or registered business name appears on your confirmed booking and on your payment acknowledgement. If an agency or court handling your complaint needs the provider's address or other details we hold, we give them on its lawful request.
4. A remedy we owe you never depends on you withdrawing a complaint to an authority, deleting an honest review or keeping quiet about your experience.

9. Free, fair and no retaliation — walang gantihan#

1. Our complaints process is free, and complaining waives none of your rights under the law, including your Consumer Act remedies and your right to go to the DTI or the courts whenever the law allows.
2. We never close or limit your account, rank your profile or listings lower, delay a refund or payout, or treat you worse in any other way because you complained in good faith, to us or to anyone else. The freeze in clause 6.3 applies to every dispute and is not retaliation.
3. The other party may not threaten, harass or punish you for complaining, whether by message, review or otherwise. Tell us if that happens: it breaks the Community Guidelines.
4. We act against a complaint only if it is knowingly false or abusive, never because it turns out to be mistaken.

10. Records we keep#

1. For each complaint we keep what each side sent, the evidence, our messages and internal notes, our decision and reasons, the date of each step, who handled it and any access to chats.
2. We use these records to handle your complaint, answer agencies and courts, protect our legal position and fix recurring problems, as our Privacy Notice explains.
3. We keep support tickets for 2 years after they close, dispute files with the related payment records for 10 years, and reports about content or conduct for 2 years after resolution, with their evidence files for the shorter period the Privacy Notice sets. We keep records longer only under a legal hold, such as an open case, an agency complaint or a preservation order, and then delete or anonymise them.
4. Only staff who need these records for their role may see them; the other party sees what is added to a dispute; and Xendit, banks, agencies and courts receive them only as clauses 6.9, 7.4 and 8.1 describe.

11. Contact us and changes#

1. Parada Technologies Inc., SEC Registration No. (to be published), 24 Sheridan Towers North, Buayang Bato, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila 1550, Philippines: use these details when you name us in a complaint to an agency or court. Complaints and support: [email protected], (to be published) or our contact form. Personal data: [email protected].
2. We may update this page as the law or our service changes. A complaint already filed keeps the timelines in force when it was filed, or the new ones if they are better for you. English prevails over any translation.