Complaints & disputes

Two different things

A dispute is a disagreement between the two parties to a deal about whether the conditions for release have been met. We decide those.

A complaint is about us: our conduct, our decision, our service. Different route, set out further down.

Raising a dispute

Either party may raise a dispute once the agreed delivery deadline has passed, or earlier where there is clear evidence the terms have been breached. Quote the deal reference, say what has or has not happened, and send whatever supports it.

What happens immediately

This part is automatic. It does not wait for office hours and it does not depend on anyone being awake.

What happens next

This part involves people. Our working week is Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00 Kuwait time (AST, UTC+3), so each target is stated in working time with a calendar-time backstop that holds over the weekend.

We run two short duty checks over the Friday–Saturday weekend so the 24-hour backstop is real rather than decorative.

If we miss a published target, the escrow fee for that deal is waived. We would rather pay for a missed clock than quietly redefine it.

We publish our median resolution time monthly. Targets are targets. Complex cases take longer, and we will tell you that rather than let a clock run silently.

How we decide

Against the terms both parties accepted at the start of the deal. Not against what was said afterwards, not against what either party now says was intended, and not against whoever argues more forcefully.

We consider:

• The written terms recorded when the deal was created
• Evidence of delivery or non-delivery submitted by both sides
• The on-chain record of what moved and when
• Correspondence between the parties through our channels

We do not consider side agreements made off-platform that neither side can evidence.

Possible outcomes

• Release in full to the seller
• Return in full to the buyer
• A proportionate split, where the evidence supports partial performance
• No decision, where the evidence is genuinely insufficient. Funds remain in escrow and both parties are told exactly what would resolve it

If you disagree with our decision

Step one: internal appeal. A person who did not make the original decision reviews it. Free, and available for 14 days after the decision.

Step two: external escalation. The right forum depends on the amount, because arbitration routinely costs more than the sum in dispute. Ours is tiered accordingly.

The SIAC Streamlined Procedure applies automatically below SGD 1 million, runs on documents alone, and produces an award enforceable under the New York Convention in over 170 countries.

A note on what we do not use. DIFC-LCIA is frequently cited in Gulf contracts and no longer exists. It was abolished by Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021. We do not name a Kuwaiti seat, because enforcement of an award against an offshore entity would be the harder path, not the easier one. And we do not send small disputes to a full institutional arbitration whose floor exceeds the amount at stake.

Your agreement with us is governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The arbitration agreement, in full. The seat is Bahrain in every tier. One seat means one supervisory court over the whole ladder, and splitting the seat by value is the usual way a tiered clause is later held unenforceable. Referrals to the BCDR run under the BCDR Arbitration Rules 2022; referrals above $100,000 run under the SIAC Rules, Streamlined Procedure. There is one arbitrator, which is the BCDR default where the parties have not agreed otherwise. The language is English, though the BCDR Rules are equally authoritative in Arabic, English and French and either party may file and give evidence in Arabic, with translation paid for by the party relying on the document. The tier is fixed by the amount in dispute when the arbitration is commenced.

Escalation is a condition precedent to arbitration, not to your access to a court. Nothing here prevents either party seeking urgent injunctive or protective relief from a competent court at any time, and nothing here removes any right you have under applicable consumer protection law that cannot be contracted out of.

Complaining about us

A different thing from a dispute, and a different clock.

Complaints are free. Always, and regardless of outcome. We keep complaint records for ten years.

Write to complaints@kafil.com, marked for the attention of the Compliance Officer. Do not send a complaint to your usual deal contact. It goes to someone who was not involved in what you are complaining about.

Tell us the deal reference, what went wrong, and what you would like done about it.

If we do not resolve it to your satisfaction, you may take the matter to the Central Bank of Bahrain, which licenses and supervises us and operates its own consumer complaints route through its Consumer Protection Unit. Our final response will say so explicitly and will carry the CBB's current contact details. You should not have to find them yourself, and if a final response from us omits them, that omission is itself worth complaining about.

We will not treat going to the regulator as a reason to stop dealing with you, to slow down a live deal, or to price you differently. This is the escalation that exists precisely because we should not be the last word on our own conduct.

Records

We retain dispute and complaint records as set out in our Privacy Policy.