At Baton, we aim to be fair to both sides of the referral—the company that receives the lead and the company that sent it. If a lead wasn’t valid, we’ll credit it. But if you got a fair shot at a real customer, we’ll stand by the referral. This page explains our credit policy and outlines when a referral can and cannot be credited.
✅ What Makes a Referral Valid?
A referral is considered valid if all of the following are true
The customer initiated contact or was reachable and willing to talk.
The service requested matches your Baton profile.
The ZIP code is within your selected service area.
There is no clear evidence of error or disqualification.
The company that referred the lead had good reason to believe it was helpful.
We can’t guarantee a sale, but we can guarantee that you’ll only pay for a fair opportunity.
💡 Before You Dispute a Lead…
We recommend checking the following first:
Call tracking: Was there a call from the customer? Many leads are forwarded via phone.
Service profile: Is the service and ZIP selected in your Baton settings?
🛠 Valid Reasons to Request a Credit
You can expect a full credit for situations like:
📵 No Contact + No Call Tracked: You never spoke with or heard from the customer.
🕒 Outside Business Hours: The referral was sent when your business was closed.
📍 Wrong Service: The customer requested a service not listed on your profile.
🏘 Wrong Area: The ZIP code is outside your selected coverage.
🧑🎓 Not a Qualified Buyer: The caller was a renter, minor, or someone unable to approve service.
🆘 Emergency Job (if not accepted): You don’t accept same-day/emergency work and that’s clearly noted on your profile.
🔁 Duplicate Lead: You already received this customer from another referral.
Heads up: If we issue a credit, we may still pay the referrer—especially if they acted in good faith.
Partial Credit Approvals
In some cases, a lead credit request may be partially approved rather than fully credited or denied. This typically occurs when:
Referral Criteria Were Met but Discrepancies Arose: The referring company qualified the lead based on customer-provided details, and the referral met the criteria to be sent to your business. However, discrepancies between the initial representation and the actual situation may have impacted your ability to perform the work.
Partial credits are issued to balance fairness to both parties:
Acknowledging the referrer’s proper submission of the lead.
Recognizing the impact of discrepancies on the recipient business.
❌ Reasons We Don’t Credit
We do not credit referrals for the following reasons:
🛑 You didn’t answer the phone when the customer called.
🗣 Contact was made, even if brief or unsuccessful.
📦 Customer canceled, chose a competitor, or didn’t like your price.
💰 Customer was price shopping or seeking options.
⚖️ Referral matched your profile but you changed preferences after the fact.
📆 You waited too long to follow up (standard=follow-up within 15 minutes).
⌛ Referral is more than 30 days old.
🧾 Submission Guidelines
You can request a credit from your Baton dashboard or by replying to your lead notification email.
Beginning April 1st, 2026, we will no longer accept disputes submitted more than 7 days after a referral is sent.
Please include any relevant context or evidence to help us review your request quickly.
🧠 How to Get Better Referrals
Keep your services and ZIPs up to date in your profile.
Use exceptions to exclude very specific lead types (e.g. "For dead animal removal, we only pick up dead deer").
Route Baton calls to a real person, not an IVR.
Answer and follow up within minutes, especially for urgent jobs.- Implement a process to capture and promptly return transferred calls to minimize missed opportunities.
🙏 Our Commitment
We value the integrity of our network. That means:
Being fair and transparent in resolving disputes.
Rewarding companies that refer legitimate, qualified leads.
Helping you succeed by getting better over time.
If you ever have questions, our team is here to help.