Support Policy
1. Service Tiers
Every Handbid subscription includes access to the full Handbid platform. Service tiers describe the relationship Handbid delivers alongside the platform — how quickly we respond, which channels are available, whether a Customer is assigned a named contact, and how proactively Handbid engages with the Customer's program. Customer's tier is set on the applicable Order Form.
| Tier | Relationship | Support Channels | First Response (Email) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guided self-serve | Email + Chat | Next business day |
| 2 | Event setup by Handbid | Email + Chat + Phone | Within 4 business hours |
| 3 | Named partner | Priority queue + named contact | 2–4 business hours |
| 4 | Branded platform | Priority queue + dedicated account manager | 2–4 business hours |
| 5 | Enterprise | Dedicated technical contact | 1–2 business hours |
Night of Event ("NOE") live phone support is included at every tier. NOE coverage is described in Section 5.
2. Support Channels
The support channels available to Customer depend on Customer's tier as set forth in the table in Section 1. Channels are provided through the following means:
- Email — service@handbid.com or the in-platform ticketing system.
- Chat — in-platform chat widget and the public website chat widget.
- Phone — for tiers that include phone support, a direct inbound line or a named-contact direct line as applicable to Customer's tier.
Self-service resources, including the Handbid Knowledge Base, are available to all Customers at all tiers regardless of channel entitlement.
3. Business Hours
Standard business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time, excluding United States federal holidays observed by Handbid. Tickets submitted outside of business hours are acknowledged and worked on the next business day. SLA timers described in Section 4 are calculated against business hours unless otherwise noted.
NOE coverage, described in Section 5, operates outside of standard business hours during a Customer's registered event window.
4. Service Level Commitments
The following response and resolution commitments apply to support tickets opened by Customer during the subscription term. "First response" means the first substantive human response to Customer; automated acknowledgments do not count. "Resolution" means the ticket is marked resolved by Handbid.
| Metric | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First response — email | Next business day | 4 business hours | 2–4 business hours | 2–4 business hours | 1–2 business hours |
| First response — chat | Next business day | 2 business hours | 2 business hours | 2 business hours | 1 business hour |
| First response — phone | Not included | 2 business hours | 1 business hour | 1 business hour | 30 minutes |
| Resolution — standard issue | 3 business days | 2 business days | Same business day or next morning | Same business day | Same business day |
| Resolution — critical / event-blocking issue | 1 business day | Same business day | 4 business hours | 2–4 business hours | 2 business hours |
| Proactive check-ins | Not included | Not included | Minimum 3 per year | Monthly | Weekly during active build phases; monthly otherwise |
| Named contact | Not included | Not included | Named partner | Dedicated account manager | Dedicated technical contact |
A "critical / event-blocking issue" means an issue that prevents Customer from conducting an active auction or that prevents guests from being able to bid or pay.
For Tier 5 Customers, Handbid's contracted Order Form or Statement of Work may modify or replace the default commitments in this table. In the event of a conflict, the Order Form or Statement of Work controls.
5. Night of Event (NOE) Support
Handbid provides live human phone coverage during each Customer's registered event window at every tier. NOE support is intended to address platform issues arising during the event.
5.1 Event Window
The NOE window begins one (1) hour before the event's stated start time and ends one (1) hour after the event's stated close time, or when final bidder checkout is complete, whichever is later.
5.2 Registration
Customer must register each event window with Handbid at least five (5) business days before the event. Handbid cannot guarantee NOE coverage for events not registered within this window.
5.3 What NOE Covers
- Live phone support staffed by a Handbid service team member.
- Real-time troubleshooting of platform issues during the event window.
- Escalation to on-call engineering where warranted.
5.4 What NOE Does Not Cover
- General "how do I" questions that should have been addressed during onboarding or event setup.
- Issues caused by Customer's network, venue Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity, or third-party hardware.
- Outbound calls to guests or bidders on Customer's behalf.
- On-site staffing, dedicated remote event-day staffing, or any other staffing services. These are Professional Services, described in Section 9.
5.5 Staffing by Tier
| Tier | NOE Staffing |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Shared NOE team, first available |
| 3 | Named partner on call, or named backup briefed on the account |
| 4 | Dedicated account manager on call, or named backup briefed on the account |
| 5 | Dedicated technical contact; detailed staffing plan defined in the applicable Statement of Work |
6. Scope of Support
Handbid's support obligation under this Support Policy includes:
- Responding to Customer questions about the Handbid platform.
- Diagnosing and triaging reported defects in the Handbid platform.
- Escalating platform defects to Handbid engineering for correction.
- Advising Customer on use of platform features, including configuration best practices.
- Providing access to platform release notes and Knowledge Base articles.
Handbid's support obligation does not include:
- Correcting issues caused by Customer's misuse of the platform, unauthorized modifications, or use contrary to Handbid's documentation.
- Troubleshooting or remediating issues with Customer's or its venue's network connectivity, hardware, or third-party software.
- Event setup, item import, image processing, theming, or other event-build work, except where such work is included in Customer's tier as set forth in Section 1 or in the applicable Order Form.
- On-site staffing, dedicated remote event-day staffing, coaching hours, or other project-based services. These are Professional Services, described in Section 9.
- Custom development, integrations, or professional services beyond what is scoped in the Agreement or an applicable Order Form.
- Recovery of data deleted by Customer, except as specified in the Agreement.
7. Escalation
Support tickets that cannot be resolved within the applicable SLA window, or that require cross-team coordination, follow this escalation path:
- Assigned service representative — or, for Tier 3+, the named partner, dedicated account manager, or dedicated technical contact.
- Service team lead — for unresolved tickets past SLA or for cross-team coordination.
- Engineering on-call — for platform-level defects, data issues, or infrastructure problems.
- Executive sponsor — for Tier 4 and Tier 5 Customers with unresolved critical issues affecting an active event.
For Tier 5 Customers, the escalation path may be further specified in the applicable Statement of Work.
8. Customer Responsibilities
To enable Handbid to provide support effectively, Customer agrees to:
- Submit support requests through the channels identified in Section 2.
- Provide sufficient information to reproduce and diagnose reported issues, including affected event URLs, approximate timestamps, user or bidder identifiers where relevant, and any error messages displayed.
- Cooperate with Handbid's reasonable requests for additional information or access during the course of diagnosis.
- Maintain a current administrator contact on Customer's account.
- Register each event window for NOE coverage as described in Section 5.2.
- Maintain adequate internet connectivity at event venues and provide for event-day staffing appropriate to the event's size, as further described in the Agreement.
9. Professional Services — Separate from Support
Handbid offers additional project-based Professional Services that are separate from the standard support provided under this Support Policy. These services include, without limitation, on-site event staffing, lead and support event staff, dedicated remote event-day staffing, virtual event assistants, coaching programs, and event setup ("Headstart") packages. Professional Services are purchased separately, are described on the applicable Order Form, and are governed by the Professional Services terms referenced on that Order Form. Hours or services purchased as Professional Services do not replace or modify the support commitments in this Support Policy, and support hours under this Support Policy may not be substituted for Professional Services.
10. Changes to This Policy
Handbid may update this Support Policy from time to time. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this document will reflect the most recent update. Material changes — including changes to SLA response or resolution targets that reduce Customer's entitlement — will be communicated to Customers with active subscriptions reasonably in advance of taking effect, and will not apply retroactively to tickets opened before the change.
11. Contact
For support: service@handbid.com For escalation of unresolved issues affecting an active event: escalation@handbid.com For questions about this Support Policy: legal@handbid.com
