HandyBid Reliability Policy

Effective June 05, 2026

HandyBid is a marketplace built on the assumption that once a bid is accepted, both parties intend to honor the contract. When that breaks down, the other party gets hurt — a contractor blocks out time and turns down other jobs; a homeowner waits and may have already coordinated permits, materials, or related trades. This policy is how we keep post-award cancellations rare without resorting to financial penalties.

What counts as a post-award cancellation

A "post-award cancellation" happens when:

• A homeowner cancels a job that already had an accepted bid (status was "in progress"), OR
• A contractor uses the "Withdraw acceptance" button on a bid they won, before the job is marked complete.

Cancelling an open job (no accepted bid yet) does not count. Withdrawing a pending bid does not count. Reporting an off-platform-solicitation issue does not count.

The 3-business-day cooling-off carve-out (homeowners only)

Federal law (FTC Cooling-Off Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 429) and most state home-improvement statutes give consumers a 3-business-day right to cancel after entering a contract. HandyBid honors that right in full: a homeowner cancellation within 3 business days of award is logged in your history (for transparency) but does not count toward the suspension threshold below.

Contractors do not have a parallel cooling-off period — they submitted a binding offer, the homeowner relied on it by rejecting other bids, and a same-day walkaway is exactly the harm this policy exists to discourage.

The threshold + suspension

While suspended, the account cannot post new jobs, bid on jobs, accept bids, or send messages. The account can still read, edit profile info, and file an appeal. The suspension lifts automatically when the 30-day window ends.

Reliability score on profiles

Every contractor and homeowner profile shows a reliability score: completed-or-still-active contracts as a percentage of all awarded contracts, plus the raw count. The score includes all post-award cancellations (including cooling-off) so the public record is complete — but only non-cooling-off cancellations count toward the suspension threshold described above.

No financial penalties

HandyBid does not impose fines, dock subscription fees, or withhold funds because of a post-award cancellation. The consequences are reputational (visible on your profile) and structural (suspension threshold). Money matters between the homeowner and contractor — like deposits already paid, work already started, or contractor "kill fees" written into the bid — are between the parties under the terms of their signed service agreement and any applicable state law. HandyBid does not mediate those.

Appealing a suspension

If you believe a cancellation was the other party's fault (no-show, breach of contract, scope dispute, etc.), file an appeal at /appeal-suspension. Provide context, screenshots from the message thread, and any photo or document evidence. A HandyBid moderator reviews and can reverse the suspension or clear individual cancellation records.

If the other party is at fault

If a contractor solicits off-platform work, fails to show up, or breaches the contract, the homeowner should use Report this contractor on the job page before cancelling. A report opens the proper settle/amend/terminate workflow that doesn't count the cancellation against the homeowner.

This policy is enforced by the platform and is separate from the legally binding service agreement between homeowner and contractor. HandyBid is not a party to that agreement and does not warrant either party's obligations under it. See the Terms of Service for the full marketplace policy.