Why are my payments delayed?
When you are booked on GigSalad, clients pay the full amount upfront. The deposit is sent to you before the gig, and the balance is sent after the event is over. The specific time frame of your payments will vary based on the payout method you have chosen. However, there are a few circumstances where your payments may be delayed.
Reason #1: Past issues
If we have encountered issues with your past bookings, such as multiple no-shows, frequent cancellations without reason, or funds not being returned to GigSalad, your future bookings will be monitored, and your payments may be held.
If we are monitoring your bookings, you will not receive deposits before the event. Instead, your deposit and balance will be sent to you after the event takes place. If a hold is placed on your payments, we will display an alert to you in the booking confirmation email.
Reason #2: Security and fraud prevention
We screen each transaction at multiple steps to ensure it's legitimate. In rare cases, a payment is made on GigSalad which raises red flags after it has occurred. In most of these situations, there are no real issues, but we need to ensure everything is in order before releasing any funds. If we need extra time to research a payment, your deposit or balance may be held while we carefully investigate.
If we determine that a booking payment was made by fraudulent means, such as a stolen credit card or fake billing information, then the booking will be marked as disputed, and the payment returned. Any outstanding deposit or balance payouts cannot sent because the transaction has been reversed. This can happen after an event has been booked or even after an event has occurred.
Reason #3: Chargebacks
In rare cases, an event planner might dispute a transaction with their credit card company after booking you. This is known as a chargeback. When this happens, it harms us, our members, and our platform. In such cases, the planner is reporting the transaction as fraud despite it not being fraudulent. Sometimes, it is a mistake or unintentional; sometimes, it isn't, but we cannot determine this unless we contact the planner. Often, planners ignore calls and emails once they submit a chargeback. The money is returned by the underlying credit card network, so we no longer have the funds to pay out. This is, in essence, reverse fraud against us and the providers on GigSalad. We mark such bookings as disputed, and any outstanding deposit or balance payouts cannot be sent because the transaction has been reversed.
Reason #4: Incomplete or consequential communication
Prior to sending any payments, we look at the communication between you and the client to ensure the event has not been canceled, rescheduled, or edited. If you or the client sends a message with a crucial question that could result in a cancellation or some other major change, we may hold onto the payment until a confirmation message has been sent back.
For this reason, it's very important that communication is complete and remains on GigSalad as much as possible. If we place a hold on your payment, we will notify you and let you know what information needs to be received so we can process the payment.
For a full description of how GigSalad might hold or return payments, please read Section 9 of our User Terms of Service, which is an important part of the terms you agree to by using GigSalad.
If your payment is delayed and you're unsure what could be the cause, please contact the Customer Happiness team by emailing help@gigsalad.com or calling (417) 889-9909.