Complaints and disputes

v0.7 · updated 2026-07-26

Vastura Travel — Dispute Resolution Policy

Last updated: 2026-07-26 Version 0.7

1. The core policy: we monitor, we do not mediate

Vastura Travel is a DBA of Vastura Ltd, a Canadian company based in Alberta. Vastura Ltd is the legal entity that operates Vastura Travel; every reference to "Vastura Travel," "we," "us," or "our" in this policy means Vastura Ltd.

Registered address: Vastura Ltd, 62431 Range Rd 443, Ardmore, Alberta T0A 1H0, Canada

Vastura Travel is a directory, not a booking agent. We actively want to hear from travellers when something goes wrong — that feedback is one of the main things that keeps our listings honest. But we do not step into the middle of a booking dispute between a traveller and an operator.

Vastura Travel will NOT:

negotiate or mediate a dispute between you and an operator
arrange or pursue a refund on your behalf
act as an ombudsman or referee
hold, receive, or move any funds related to your booking
advocate for either side in a disagreement
inspect, certify, or issue a safety verdict on an operator — we are not a regulator, and complaints don't turn us into one (see our Terms of Service, Section 3, and Provider Agreement, Section 4)

Vastura Travel WILL:

record every piece of feedback we receive
use that feedback to assess whether an operator continues to meet our standards
take action on a listing — warning, suspension, or ban — where the evidence supports it under Section 4

Our only remedy is changing or removing a listing. We cannot make an operator refund you, and we cannot force a specific outcome for your booking. What we can do is make sure that operator's standing on Vastura Travel reflects reality.

2. Standard response to a dispute

When a traveller raises a dispute with us, we respond with this, in substance:

"Vastura Travel is a directory, not a booking agent — your booking is a direct contract between you and the operator, so refunds and service issues have to be resolved with them. Please do send us your feedback: we record it, and it feeds directly into whether an operator stays listed or is removed. That's the leverage we have, and we use it."

3. How to submit feedback

You can submit feedback about any listed operator through travel@vastura.ca. Please include what happened, when, and any supporting detail (photos, correspondence with the operator, etc.) — the more specific the feedback, the more useful it is to our review.

4. What can end a listing

A listing can be warned, suspended, or ended on these grounds:

Customer complaints — substantiated individually, or forming a pattern over time.
Safety issues — Vastura Travel does not assess or inspect safety (see Terms of Service, Section 3, and Provider Agreement, Section 4). But we may act on a credible allegation or a reported incident that reaches us. Reacting to information is not the same as certifying its absence — we are responding to what we're told, not conducting an inspection.
Fraud.
Misrepresentation — a dishonest gap between what an operator advertises and what they deliver.
Vastura Travel's discretion, including fit — Vastura Travel may end a listing for any reason it considers sufficient, including reasons unrelated to the Provider's conduct or score: a breakdown in the working relationship, a judgement that the business is not a fit for the Vastura Travel brand, or a change in the categories or regions we cover. Decisions under this ground are final and not subject to appeal, and Vastura Travel will not enter into correspondence about them.

This is not a disciplinary finding. It does not follow the ladder in Section 5, requires no warning, and is not a statement that the Provider did anything wrong. Where a listing ends on this ground alone, Vastura Travel will confirm as much if asked, so the Provider is not left carrying an implication of misconduct. See Provider Agreement, Section 14.5.

A low score is not, by itself, grounds for removing a listing. We publish low scores honestly (Section 6) precisely because a poor-but-honest result is what makes any of our scores worth reading — scoring badly is not treated as an offence.

5. What happens to a complaint

Recorded — every complaint is logged against the operator's (or specific service line's) record, whether or not it results in immediate action.
Assessed — we review the complaint against what the operator advertises, our assessment history, and any prior complaints.
Action, if warranted — depending on severity and the grounds in Section 4, this may result in:

a warning (first substantiated complaint or a minor advertised-vs-delivered gap)
a suspension (listing hidden; subscription continues to bill — see our Provider Agreement, Section 15)
a permanent ban (confirmed fraud, confirmed misrepresentation, a substantiated safety incident, concealment of an incident, retaliation against a reviewer, or a repeat offence)

6. Publication of scores, including low ones

Assessment scores are published per-criterion, alongside the assessment date and the assessor's role, whether the result is good or bad. A low score does not get held back, softened, or withheld while a complaint is investigated — publication and the complaints process in Section 5 run on separate tracks. See our Terms of Service, Section 6, and Provider Agreement, Section 10.

7. Timelines

we aim to acknowledge a complaint within 3 business days and give you an initial response within 10 business days. Where we are travelling and cannot meet that, we will say so rather than go quiet.

8. No compensation from Vastura Travel

Vastura Travel does not offer compensation, refunds, or credits of any kind to travellers, because we never held your money in the first place — payment always goes directly to the operator. Our only tool is the status of the listing itself.

9. Appeals for Providers

A Provider who has been warned or suspended under Section 5 may appeal by writing to travel@vastura.ca with any evidence disputing the finding. Appeals are reviewed on their merits. An appeal does not pause a suspension while it is under review, except where we determine in our discretion that the underlying allegation was clearly unfounded.

Decisions made under Vastura Travel's discretion (Section 4, ground 5) are final and not subject to this appeals process — see Provider Agreement, Section 14.5.

To be clear, this appeals process is about the underlying complaint or finding — it is not a way to dispute a published score. A Provider who disagrees with a score may request another audit by a different assessor under Provider Agreement, Section 9. There is no fee and no limit on how many they may request — the terms are the same as any audit, and both scorecards are retained and published with their dates.

We charge nothing for this deliberately. If we earned money from providers challenging their scores, we would have an interest in producing scores worth challenging.

10. Defamation and malicious reviews

We take reasonable steps to ensure feedback we act on is genuine and specific, not fabricated — this includes the review verification process described in our Privacy Policy, Section 5. If an operator believes a piece of traveller feedback is false, malicious, or defamatory, they can raise it through the appeals process (Section 9) with supporting evidence. We may remove or disregard feedback we find, on investigation, to be fabricated, and providers may separately have legal remedies against the individual who posted it — Vastura Travel's action on a listing does not replace or limit those legal rights.

11. Retaliation against reviewers

Providers may not retaliate against a traveller for submitting honest feedback (e.g., by threatening, harassing, or publicly attacking them). Confirmed retaliation results in an immediate ban under our disciplinary ladder — see the Provider Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy.

12. Relationship to other documents

This policy works alongside our Terms of Service, Provider Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy. Where there is a conflict, the more specific provision on disputes in this document governs disputes specifically.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent to travel@vastura.ca.

Terms confirmed in this document

travel@vastura.ca — how travellers submit feedback (Section 3)
we aim to acknowledge a complaint within 3 business days and give you an initial response within 10 business days. Where we are travelling and cannot meet that, we will say so rather than go quiet — response/assessment timelines for complaints (Section 7)
travel@vastura.ca — appeals contact for Providers (Section 9)
travel@vastura.ca — general contact address (Section 13)