How an enquiry progresses
The six states an enquiry moves through, who moves it, what each one means for your credits and your contact details, and why an enquiry that goes unanswered is not the same as one that is declined.
An enquiry is not simply open or done. It moves through states, and the state answers the three questions people actually ask: can they see my number yet, where did my credits go, and is this still live.
Both sides see the same timeline on the enquiry itself, so "did they get it?" is not a phone call.
The states
Pending
Sent, and waiting on the business. It has the requirement and can see who you are in outline — your standing, your verification — but not your contact details.
There is a date on it by which the business is expected to respond. Both sides can see that date.
Accepted
The business took it. This is the moment the relationship becomes real:
- Contact details are exchanged. Not before.
- A person is named on the business side, so the enquiry belongs to someone rather than to an inbox.
- Accepting spends credits on the business's side, which is why acceptance means something.
Rejected
The business declined. Your credits come back.
A decline is not a failure of the system working — it is the system working. A business that says no quickly costs you nothing and tells you something.
Missed
Nobody answered by the response date. Your credits come back exactly as they do on a decline.
This is the state that makes sending safe. The worst case for a sender is not a no — it is silence, and silence here is refunded and recorded against the business's response score.
Partially closed
One side has closed it and the other has not. The enquiry is winding down but not finished, and the side that has not closed can still do so.
Closed
Both sides have closed. This is where ratings are recorded, and where the enquiry becomes part of both parties' track record.
Submitting that rating earns credits back into your wallet — for both sides, and independently of each other. See Closing and ratings.
What each state means for you
| State | Contact details | Your credits | Still actionable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pending | Hidden | Held | Business decides |
| Accepted | Exchanged | Spent | Yes — this is the working state |
| Rejected | Never revealed | Refunded to the sender | No |
| Missed | Never revealed | Refunded to the sender | No |
| Partially closed | Already exchanged | Spent | The other side can still close |
| Closed | Already exchanged | Spent | No — ratings recorded |
The two ways an enquiry ends without going anywhere
They look similar in a list and are completely different in what they tell you.
Rejected is a decision. Somebody read it and said no. That is information — often that you asked the wrong supplier, or asked in a way that could not be priced.
Missed is an absence of a decision. Nobody acted before the date. That is information about the business, not about your requirement, and it is counted as such.
Both refund the sender
The difference is not financial. It is what you learn, and what it does to the business's public responsiveness.
Closing is a separate act from accepting
An accepted enquiry does not close itself when the conversation ends. Someone has to close it, and either side can.
That is deliberate. The close is where the rating happens, and a rating that is collected automatically at an arbitrary moment is worth nothing. See Closing and ratings.
What does not happen
It does not go to anyone else. There is no state in which an enquiry you sent to one business becomes visible to its competitors. Not on decline, not on missing the date, not on close.
It does not reopen. A rejected or missed enquiry stays that way. If the requirement is still live, send a new one — which is a fresh decision by you, not a zombie thread that resurfaces months later.
Assigning an owner
Every accepted enquiry is handed to a named person with their own contact details — what the buyer sees, why a shared inbox is not an option here, and how to route enquiries sensibly.
Closing and ratings
How an accepted enquiry ends — either side can close, both are asked to rate, both earn credits for doing it, and the enquiry only finishes when both have.