Refund Policy
Effective date: 6 November 2026
1. Identify the payment A refund may concern a seller’s goods, a professional’s services or a fee paid to Lighthouse. The order/invoice must identify the recipient and refund responsibility. Lighthouse does not promise to refund money it never received on behalf of another party, but remains responsible for its own duties and any collection arrangement it undertook.
2. Product and service refunds Valid cancellation, non-supply, qualifying delivery failure, defect, misdescription or other legal entitlement is assessed under the accepted terms and mandatory law. No blanket “all payments non-refundable” clause applies to statutory remedies. A professional engagement should state advance payments, work completed, approved expenses and cancellation treatment. Any retention from an advance must be contractually and legally justified; it cannot be an undisclosed penalty.
3. Lighthouse fees Before purchase, disclose the precise service, fee, taxes, activation/delivery trigger, term and refund basis. Enrollment, subscription, promotion and procurement-service charges are not automatically identical. Duplicate or erroneous charges must be corrected. If Lighthouse cancels or fails to provide the promised paid service, the appropriate unearned amount must be refunded subject to law and the accepted scope. A clearly disclosed voluntary cancellation rule may apply to a service already provided, without excluding mandatory rights. Existing founding-partner terms remain governed by their signed commercial schedule. This generic policy does not retrospectively change a promised fee waiver, commission or refund.
4. Subscription and store payments Cancellation must be easy to initiate and must stop future renewal charges as disclosed. Explain whether access continues until the paid term ends. Do not require a user to keep an account merely to prevent another charge. For App Store or Google Play billing where used, the store’s process may administer the payment/refund. Provide the correct route and help resolve the issue without disclaiming statutory duties. A procurement order for physical goods must not be confused with an app subscription.
5. Process and timing Submit the payment/order ID, reason, amount and necessary evidence through [CONFIRM support route]. Confirm receipt, identify the decision-maker, give a reasoned decision and communicate the approved amount, method and timetable. Proposed operational standard, subject to finance validation before publication: initiate an approved refund within seven business days; state the payment provider’s expected settlement time and notify the user of a delay. This is a proposed service target, not a claim that legislation grants a universal seven-day processing period. Any shorter applicable legal requirement prevails. Refund to the original payment method where feasible and lawful. Use an alternative only after secure verification and agreement. Do not force store credit or collect unnecessary bank data.
6. Deductions and partial refunds Show an itemised calculation, including taxes, permitted completed work, freight or other lawful deductions. Never deduct an undisclosed platform charge from a statutory refund. For returned or cancelled items, reverse related commission or settlement entries according to the accepted commercial terms. A pending chargeback and refund must be coordinated to avoid duplicate recovery, without blocking a valid complaint. No term prevents the user approaching the bank or competent authority.
7. Complaints Escalate rejection or unreasonable delay through the Contact, Grievance & Dispute Resolution Policy. Keep the original invoice and refund reference. This policy cannot waive mandatory consumer rights.
8. Refund decision and calculation Record the reason for the refund, the affected order lines, amounts paid, prior credits, discounts, tax and delivery components, and the party responsible for repayment. Issue a clear decision with the approved amount, payment method and expected processing stage. For a partial return, allocate genuine item and bundle discounts transparently; do not retroactively invent a higher price to eliminate the refund. A deduction must have a lawful disclosed basis and supporting calculation. A seller error, defective product or failed supply must not automatically attract a restocking or platform penalty. Refund statutory entitlements in money through the original method where required. Store credit, vouchers or replacement goods are alternatives only where law permits and the buyer freely agrees. A consumer should not have to accept a marketing subscription or release unrelated claims to receive an undisputed repayment.
9. Processing, failed refunds and payment disputes Distinguish approval, initiation by the responsible party and settlement by the payment system. Supply a transaction or refund reference when available. If a refund fails because an account has closed, use a secure verified alternative with the payer’s authority; never request an OTP or card PIN. A chargeback and a refund may run in parallel. Cooperate with the payment provider and avoid duplicate recovery, but do not use a pending chargeback to refuse a separate duty to respond. Evidence supplied in a payment dispute must be accurate and limited to the relevant transaction. Lighthouse must identify whether it holds the payment, merely facilitates it, or only assists with the seller’s repayment. It will meet its own legal obligations in each role. This policy does not authorise Lighthouse to refund or debit money outside its actual mandate.
10. Fees, subscriptions and professional services An enrollment, subscription, lead, advertising or procurement fee must have its own accepted refund terms. Separate the portion already supplied from undelivered future services, subject to mandatory rights. A label such as “non-refundable” cannot protect a charge for a service never provided where law requires repayment. Cancellation of a renewal and refund of an earlier charge are different actions. Explain the cancellation effective date and confirm whether future billing has stopped. Where a free period converts to paid service, the price, billing frequency and consent must be clear before charging. For milestone professional services, retain the scope, approved variations, work delivered and payment allocation. Lighthouse does not adjudicate every design dispute as the professional’s insurer, but it must fairly address its own fee and grievance obligations.
11. International refund requirements EU/EEA withdrawal refunds generally follow the statutory 14-day framework, including the permitted withholding rule for goods and standard-delivery reimbursement. Apply national implementation and any longer rights rather than a shorter generic processing target. UK distance-sale refunds follow the applicable cancellation and return rules. For covered US internet merchandise orders, suppliers must have a reasonable basis for shipment promises and give the required delay/cancellation options if they cannot ship. The policy adopts affirmative approval for revised material delays rather than relying on silence. Australian statutory refunds must not be replaced with credit against the consumer’s entitlement. Cross-border orders must explain settlement currency, the exchange basis and treatment of third-party conversion charges, without deducting amounts prohibited by law. Duties paid directly to a customs authority may require a separate recovery procedure; describe the actual process before sale where relevant.
12. Evidence, complaints and no retaliation A repayment decision should not depend on deleting a genuine negative review. Do not condition a safety-related refund on confidentiality that would prevent a lawful report. Record any settlement scope clearly and preserve non-waivable rights. Disputed or overdue refunds can be escalated through the grievance process and applicable payment, consumer or judicial routes. Correct accounting records and tax credit documents where required; do not retain excess personal data merely because a refund occurred.
13. Authority to approve and pay The refund record must identify who owes repayment, who holds the funds and who has authority to initiate the payment. A Lighthouse support employee may facilitate evidence or approval without holding the seller's money. Where Lighthouse received a fee for its own service, it must determine that fee's refund separately and cannot postpone its own decision indefinitely pending the seller's response. An approved refund must not be diverted to a different beneficiary merely on an email or messaging request. Verify a changed destination through an appropriate secure process. Refund procedures must never ask for a card PIN, OTP, remote-device access or a new payment described as necessary to “release” the refund.
14. Advances, deposits and staged performance An advance must be allocated to the relevant order or service. On cancellation, identify work actually authorised and performed, unavoidable lawful costs, payments already applied and the unearned balance. A deposit label does not by itself establish a right to retain the entire amount. For milestone services, approval of one stage is not advance acceptance of all later work. If a stage is disputed, calculate any undisputed repayable amount separately. A claim for damages or cancellation costs must have a lawful basis and evidence and cannot be deducted arbitrarily from money otherwise due.
15. Failed, duplicate and excess payments Where two payments appear for one obligation, reconcile provider and bank references before collecting again. An unsuccessful screen notification may coexist with a bank debit; explain the verification and reversal steps. A duplicate settled charge must be corrected once established. A payer who transfers more than the agreed amount should receive an explanation and appropriate return of the excess. The excess must not be silently converted into a credit balance or subscription. Suspected fraud may justify a proportionate verified process but not an indefinite unexplained withholding.
16. Itemised settlement and tax documents The refund statement should show the original amount, affected quantity, discounts allocated, tax component, shipping treatment, earlier repayments and final balance. Any permitted deduction must be described and supported. Reversals of Lighthouse
commissions and seller settlements must be coordinated without diminishing a mandatory customer entitlement. Issue or correct credit notes and other tax records where required. A tax-document dispute between businesses must not be misrepresented as a universal bar on paying a consumer refund. Where a separate government or customs recovery is necessary, explain the responsible party and available supporting documents.
17. Delay, escalation and unresolved payment failures If the promised processing stage is missed, the responsible party should explain the cause, current status and next action. Provide an available reference that enables tracing with the payment provider. Do not repeatedly describe an uninitiated refund as “bank processing.” If the original payment route is no longer usable, establish a lawful secure alternative rather than closing the claim. An unresolved complaint remains eligible for grievance escalation and applicable payment or statutory remedies. A user need not maintain an active marketing or marketplace account to receive a payment already owed.
18. Settlement scope and no double recovery A goodwill payment, partial repayment and full settlement are different. Any proposed settlement must clearly state the claim resolved and the consideration, allow informed agreement and preserve rights that cannot be waived. Receipt of an undisputed amount does not by itself release a disputed balance. Where a chargeback or third-party reimbursement covers the same loss, reconcile the overlap accurately. Lighthouse may seek correction of proven duplicate recovery through lawful means, but must not threaten unrelated account penalties merely because a customer exercised a legitimate payment-dispute right.