[RESOLVED] Paid for 20 guest posts, received 6 — seller made it right after 9 days

Posting the full timeline because the pinned thread asks for it, and posting the resolution because disputes that end well almost never get updated.

What happened
Paid $1,840 for 20 guest posts on 2 Feb. Agreed turnaround 21 days. By day 34 I had 6 live URLs and no replies to three messages.

The 72 hours
Messaged on day 31, 33 and 34. No reply. Opened this on day 35 with the listing quote, the payment reference, and all messages.

What the seller said
Replied here within 6 hours. Their outreach VA had left without handover and 14 placements were in a Gmail account nobody else could access. Not an excuse I expected and, having seen the evidence they posted, one I believe.

Resolution

• Day 36: seller offered a full refund on the 14 outstanding or 21 days to deliver. I took the 21 days
• Day 44: 14 placements live, all matching the agreed site list
• Day 44: seller refunded $200 unprompted for the delay

What I would do differently
Used escrow. I did not because I had bought from this seller twice before, and familiarity is exactly how you end up with $1,840 outstanding and no leverage.

Marking resolved. No action needed against the seller as far as I am concerned, and I would buy again.

Recorded as resolved with no sanction. Thank you for posting the timeline and the resolution — both halves are useful to the next buyer.

Not my dispute, but the VA-leaves-with-the-inbox failure mode is real and I have now moved all outreach to a shared mailbox because of this thread.

The escrow admission is the most valuable line here. Repeat sellers are exactly who people skip escrow with, and exactly where the big losses happen.

Refunding $200 unprompted after delivering late is what separates a business from a seller. Noting the name.

Genuinely reassuring to read a dispute that ends with both parties behaving reasonably.

Disagree with half of this but the half I agree with is worth the read.