Refunds

M

monaghan

New member
Fortunately, I've not had to deal with a refund issue (either I'm doing it right or I don't have enough customers to complain - probably the latter !)

I understand that the UK Distance Selling legislation requires a "cooling off period" and the customer can legally request a refund.

Does this include domain registration fees ? - If I register a domain for someone and they demand a refund, does this put me out of pocket for the domain registration or can some things be legally excluded from any refund ?
 
Hey
Just state in your TOS that domain registration fees can not be refunded.
You have no way of getting a refund for domain registrations you do so theres no reason for you to offer it to your customers either.

As long as its in your TOS then you are covered :)
 
One thing to realize about refunds: if a client gets snarky/snatchy, and the laws of their locality give consumers greater rights in terms of refunds, you may end up being forced to give refunds you never intended.

Granted, they'd have to complain to their local consumer advocate group / department / ministry, and probably start legal action against you...but there are laws that empower consumers.

One good way to avoid problems with people requesting a refund is to spell out, clearly and concisely, what is refunded and what isn't refunded. List all of your services. If you give partial refunds, spell out how much of a partial refund is given. For example, if you provide design services and a client places an order, then changes their mind after the initial payment has been made, is any of that initial payment refundable? If so, how much?

...and so on, and so forth.
 
Personally, I do not offer refunds for any services that my company offers - and have so far had no problems with this thankfully, as the client is fully aware of the terms before they sign up to any services.

With domain registrations - it would really depend on the situation. For example, if the person wanting the refund has no real reason for wanting it - and just "changed their mind", well then I'd have to say no if he/she wasn't already a client. If it were for a valid reason or they were already a customer of mine with another service - then I'd give them the domain for free; I'd rather give them a free domain and keep them as a client for either web hosting or consultancy which I know will bring in a lot more money than lose them totally due to an argument over a silly domain which cost me only $10.


So refunds with my company really depend on the situation. Normally there is no refund, period. However in a special case, I will allow a refund - and have already done so a few times.

But you have to make sure that the client is aware that your company does not offer refunds if you don't - eitherway, they need to be fully aware though of what you will refund and what you won't.
 
I would check with local businesses in the Uk to verify this information. If worst comes to worst - start a business in the US. Basically everything can be done remotely. Then the US laws apply to that business division.

Chris
 
I give a scaled refund policy.

Less than 30 days - 100 % refund of hosting fees
between 30 and 90 days - 100% refund MINUS the full monthly price for each month of service used.
After 90 days I give them 1/2 of the remaining balance.

This is all according to my TOS. I have only lost 1 customer in the last year and that was because he signed up 2 days before the big BurstNet network problem. So he just moved on.

I don't give refunds for domains, but if somebody wants it, I would probably give it depending on the name and the reason for the cancellation. If he were cancelling for something I did, I would give their money back. I would also keep the domain and have it link to my site.
 
I don't think I would go with a host which does not offer a refund. It gives the impression that they are not very profesional. But thats only my view of things.
 
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