If something goes wrong

Who decides, what they look at, and how long it takes.

Mehfil does not insure your space

We should say this first, because every other platform buries it. Our damage process is not insurance. It decides who is right about a specific booking, and what we do about it on this platform. It does not write you a cheque for a broken pergola.

Most hourly-rental platforms elsewhere offer a damage guarantee that is supplemental to the host's own home insurance policy. Home insurance is rare in Pakistan, so we are not going to pretend a policy sits behind us. What we have instead is evidence, and a process that uses it.

The evidence is the photos

Both the guest and the host can take timestamped before-and-after photos at the start and end of every booking. Those are what a claim is decided on.

1. They are timestamped by us, not your phone. A handset's clock can be changed in seconds.
2. Neither side can change them. One set each, per party, per end of the booking. You cannot revise photos after seeing damage.
3. Both sides see both sets. Nobody argues against evidence they have not been shown.
4. They can be taken from 1 hour before the booking starts until 24 hours after it ends.

If nobody took photos, we cannot decide a claim. We will say so rather than guess. This is the single most useful thing you can do to protect yourself, and it takes about thirty seconds.

Raising a claim

1. Within 72 hours of the booking ending. Damage is visible immediately, and a claim raised a week later cannot be told apart from damage the next guest caused.
2. One claim per person per booking. You cannot re-file a claim that went against you.
3. The other party has 72 hours to respond. If they do not, we decide on the photos alone.

Who decides

A member of the Mehfil team, not an algorithm. They look at the condition photos from both sides, the messages on the booking, and anything either party sends in. They write down what they decided and why, and both parties see that reasoning.

Target: a decision within five working days of the other party responding, or of their 72 hours running out.

What a decision can actually do

Being straight about the limits:

1. We can refund the Mehfil fee, in full or in part. It is the only money we hold.
2. We can suspend a listing or an account where the evidence warrants it.
3. We can record the outcome against both parties, which affects future disputes.
4. We cannot take money from a guest and give it to a host. The balance is handed over in person and never passes through us. If a guest owes a host for damage, that is between them, and our written decision is something a host can take to that conversation.

If you disagree with a decision

Reply on the same ticket. It is reviewed again from the start, by somebody other than whoever decided it whenever Mehfil has more than one moderator. While it has one, that moderator reviews it afresh. That review is final on this platform, which does not affect any right you have to pursue the matter elsewhere.

Getting hold of us

Open a ticket from inside the app — Profile, then Get help. A ticket raised against a booking carries its photos and messages with it, so you do not have to explain the context twice.

If you cannot sign in, email support@mehfilofficial.com from anywhere. Say the number you sign in with, and which booking it is about if it is about one.