Refund Policy

Effective: 2026-05-09 Last updated: 2026-05-09 Applies to: Service Fees paid to consumerdisputes.org — Appeal Fees and Accreditation Subscriptions

The short version

The rest of this page explains why and adds detail.

Appeal Fees

What the Appeal Fee buys

When a Business pays an Appeal Fee to challenge a Review, the fee buys:

• Notification of the Reviewer
• The 14-day defense window for the Reviewer
• Receipt and preservation of evidence from both sides
• Routing to and review by a trained Agent
• A documented Decision under our published Removal Taxonomy
• Communication of the Decision to both parties
• Recording of the Decision in our audit log
• Updating of the public statistics on the Business's profile and platform-wide

The fee buys the process. It is earned when the process begins.

Why the fee is not refundable based on the outcome

Whether the Agent decides in favor of removing the Review or in favor of leaving it in place, our process happened in full. The fee compensates us for that process — not for any specific outcome.

This is a structural choice. If we refunded the fee when Businesses "won" their Appeals, we would have a financial incentive to favor removal — which would compromise the credibility of every Decision we make. By keeping the fee non-refundable on either outcome, we have no financial incentive to favor either side.

When we will refund an Appeal Fee

We will refund the Appeal Fee in these specific situations:

• Technical failure on our end. If we are unable to process the Appeal because of a problem in our systems and the process never ran.
• The matter was outside our jurisdiction. If we declined to process the Appeal because, for example, the targeted Review had already been removed for an unrelated reason before we began processing.
• Required by law. Any other refund required by an applicable law in your state.

What does not qualify for a refund

The following do not qualify for a refund of an Appeal Fee:

• The Agent decided against the Business
• The Reviewer responded with counter-evidence the Business did not anticipate
• The Business changed its mind after filing
• The Business did not understand our Removal Taxonomy when filing
• The fee schedule changed after filing
• The Reviewer responded to the notice and the Business preferred a non-response (this is not a thing — the Reviewer's defense is part of the process, not a defect of it)
• The Business has many Appeals to file and the cumulative cost is high

Chargebacks for unfavorable Decisions

If a Business initiates a payment-card chargeback for an Appeal Fee on the basis of an unfavorable Decision (i.e., the Decision was not what the Business hoped for), the chargeback is a breach of the Business Terms of Service.

When this happens we may:

• Recover the disputed amount through any lawful means
• Suspend the Business Account during the chargeback period
• Terminate the Business Account if the chargeback is sustained
• Charge a $25 chargeback-handling fee
• Decline to provide future business-side features to the Business

Filing a chargeback for a Decision-based reason is the most common way Businesses lose their Accounts on this Service. Don't do it. If you genuinely believe an Appeal Fee was charged in error or qualifies for a refund, write to us at billing@consumerdisputes.org before disputing with your card issuer.

Accreditation Subscriptions

14-day cooling-off refund

If you signed up for an Accreditation Subscription and changed your mind, you can get a full refund within 14 days of the initial purchase, provided:

• You have not yet had your Accredited Business badge displayed publicly on your profile
• You have not used Premium Features

To request the cooling-off refund, sign in and cancel from your dashboard, or email billing@consumerdisputes.org with the subject "Cooling-off refund." We will process the refund within 7 business days of confirmation.

After 14 days — what happens when you cancel

If you cancel an active Accreditation Subscription after the 14-day cooling-off period:

• Future renewals stop. No more annual charges will go through.
• Your current paid term continues. You keep using Accreditation features until the end of the term you've already paid for.
• No partial refund of the current term. The portion of the year that's elapsed is not refunded; the portion remaining is not refunded either.
• Your badge stays up until your paid term ends. After the paid term ends, the badge comes off automatically.

This is the standard pattern for annual subscriptions. We don't try to retain you with friction or recovery dialogs — but we also don't refund partial years.

When we will refund an Accreditation Subscription pro-rata

We will refund a portion of your Accreditation Subscription:

• If we materially reduce Premium Features mid-term. If we remove or substantially reduce a feature you were paying for, you are entitled to a pro-rata refund of the remaining portion of your term and may cancel without losing any past benefit.
• If we terminate your Business Account without cause. If we close your account for reasons not based on your conduct (for example, we exit the market, or we restructure tiers), you are entitled to a pro-rata refund.

To claim a pro-rata refund in either situation, write to billing@consumerdisputes.org with your Business Account email and a description of the situation. We will process the refund within 14 business days of confirmation.

When we will not refund an Accreditation Subscription

The following do not qualify:

• Termination for cause. If we terminate your account because of a violation of our Terms (for example, threatening Reviewers, submitting false evidence in an Appeal, or coordinating fake Reviews), no refund.
• Voluntary departure. If you stop using the service mid-term but don't cancel, no automatic refund. (Cancellation is easy and immediate; we don't reward forgetting.)
• Business changes. If your Business is sold, dissolved, restructured, or otherwise changes, no refund. Coordinate transfer or cancellation through billing@consumerdisputes.org.
• Unfavorable Appeal outcomes. Whether or not you "won" specific Appeals during the term has no effect on Accreditation Subscription refundability.

Renewal price changes

If we change the price of your Accreditation Subscription for an upcoming renewal, we will email you at least 30 days before the change takes effect. The email will include the new price, the new renewal date, and clear instructions to cancel before the change.

If you don't cancel before the change, your renewal will proceed at the new price. If you cancel before the renewal date, no charge at the new price will go through.

How to request a refund

Use one of these channels:

• Online: Sign in → Subscription details → Request refund
• Email: billing@consumerdisputes.org with subject "Refund Request" and your Business Account email
• Mail: [your registered business address]

Include:

• Your Business Account email
• The fee or subscription you're requesting a refund for
• The date the fee was paid
• Why you believe the fee qualifies for a refund under this Policy

We will respond within 14 business days. If your request qualifies, we issue the refund to the original payment method within an additional 7 business days.

How long refunds take to appear

Once we issue a refund, it appears on your payment method within:

• Credit cards: 3–10 business days
• Debit cards: 5–10 business days
• ACH transfers: 5–7 business days

These timelines are set by the payment networks, not by us.

What if you disagree with a refund denial?

You can:

• Reply to the denial email asking us to reconsider, with any additional information you'd like us to weigh
• Escalate by writing to escalation@consumerdisputes.org
• Use small-claims court for disputes within the small-claims threshold in your state, per our Business Terms of Service Section 22 carve-out
• Initiate arbitration under Business Terms of Service Section 23

We do not view a refund disagreement as a relationship-ender. Most are misunderstandings about which terms apply.

A note on chargebacks

If you genuinely believe a charge was unauthorized or qualifies for a refund under this Policy, please contact us first at billing@consumerdisputes.org. We respond quickly to legitimate requests.

If you initiate a chargeback through your card issuer instead of contacting us — particularly for an Appeal Fee on the grounds that the Decision was unfavorable — you may lose your Business Account. This is described in Business Terms of Service Section 6.1 and Section 15.

It is genuinely faster, cheaper, and lower-risk for everyone to email us first.

Why this Policy is the way it is

This Policy reflects three principles:

1. The Appeal Fee buys our process, not an outcome. This is the structural defense against pay-to-remove perception. Refundability based on outcome would compromise it.
2. Accreditation is sold as an annual product. Mid-term refunds are not standard for annual subscriptions. We provide a 14-day cooling-off window, then commit to the term.
3. We don't punish customers and we don't retain them with friction. Cancellation is one click. Cooling-off refunds happen quickly. Disagreements get a real human response.

If you think the Policy is unfair to you in a specific situation, write to us before assuming we won't help. The Policy describes our defaults; the default isn't always the answer.