Proposed — not in force
Contributor Membership Refund Policy
Refunds for paid contributor memberships on The Insight Docket
- Proposed version
- 1.0
- Published for review
- Requested effective date
- (pending approval)
This text is proposed and is not in force. It is published for review by the Founder of GATHWAY INC. No user has been asked to accept or acknowledge it, and it does not change any agreement already in place. Passages marked [FOUNDER DECISION] are still to be decided.
This would be a new document. Until it is approved, refunds are handled under the documents in force.
1. Scope
This Policy applies to paid contributor memberships on The Insight Docket (“Platform”), which is owned and operated by GATHWAY INC. (“GATHWAY”, “we”, “us”), a Canadian corporation. Contact: legal@gathway.app. It forms part of the Terms of Use. Advertising and sponsorship purchases are not covered: their cancellation and refund terms are set in the advertiser- or sponsor-specific agreement (Advertising and Sponsorship Policy §7).
Nothing in this Policy limits a refund, cancellation or other right that you have under applicable consumer-protection law. Where the law gives you more, the law applies.
2. Payments are made to GATHWAY INC.
Membership fees are paid to GATHWAY INC. and processed by Stripe. Refunds are returned to the original payment method through Stripe.
3. Duplicate or mistaken charges
If you are charged twice for the same period, charged an amount different from the price shown at checkout, or charged after you cancelled in time, we refund the duplicate or mistaken amount in full.
4. Payments from accounts that are not eligible for paid status
Paid status requires an approved contributor application, completed government-ID verification, acceptance of the current Contributor Publishing Agreement and Monetization and Earnings Policy, and legal capacity (Contributor Publishing Agreement §1). If we receive a payment from an account that does not meet these requirements, paid status is not activated. We ordinarily refund that payment in full and cancel the subscription so that it does not renew.
5. Payment received but membership not activated
If your payment succeeded but your membership was not activated because of a technical problem on our side, we activate it as soon as the problem is fixed. If we cannot activate it within [FOUNDER DECISION — for example, 7 days], or you ask us to, we refund the payment in full.
6. Cancellation and renewals
You may cancel future renewals at any time from your contributor dashboard. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid, and paid status continues until then. Cancelling does not by itself refund the period already paid, except as stated in this Policy or required by law.
Annual renewals. [FOUNDER DECISION — choose one: (A) No refund of an annual renewal charge except as stated in sections 3 to 5 or required by law. (B) If you ask within [14] days of an annual renewal charge, and you have not used paid-member benefits since that renewal, we refund that renewal charge in full and end the membership.]
Monthly renewals. A monthly renewal charge is not refunded once the new month has started, except as stated in sections 3 to 5 or required by law.
7. Benefits already used
Where paid-member benefits have been used during a period (for example, monetization-eligible activity under the Monetization and Earnings Policy, once that programme is active), that period is not refunded except as stated in sections 3 to 5 or required by law. Paid status itself never guarantees publication, monetization or earnings, and a refund is not available because a work was not published or did not earn.
8. How to ask and how long it takes
Write to legal@gathway.app from the email address of your account, stating the charge concerned. We reply within [FOUNDER DECISION — for example, 5 business days]. Approved refunds are issued through Stripe within [FOUNDER DECISION — for example, 5 business days] of approval; your bank or card issuer may take additional time, often 5 to 10 business days, to show the refund. We confirm each refund by email, and it appears in the payment history in your contributor dashboard.
9. Disputes and chargebacks
If you dispute a charge with your bank, please contact us first so we can resolve it. During a dispute, paid status may be suspended until it is resolved. Your existing published works remain available under the Contributor Publishing Agreement.
10. Taxes
A refund includes the taxes charged on the refunded amount.
11. Changes
Changes to this Policy apply prospectively, are dated and versioned, and are communicated as required by law. The version in force when you were charged applies to that charge.