Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. General Refund Policy

2. When Refunds MAY Be Available

The following circumstances may qualify for a refund or credit within 14 days of the charge:

1. Service Delivery Failure: You purchased a paid membership but cannot access the Service or your community-backed member features due to a technical error, system outage, or failure on XDL's part that persists beyond 24 hours. This requires evidence of the technical problem and must not be caused by your own actions.
2. Duplicate Charge: You were charged twice for the same membership or subscription in the same billing period.
3. Unauthorized Charge: The charge was made to your payment method without your authorization (fraudulent charge).
4. Approval Not Granted: You purchased a membership upgrade, but XDL human review did not approve your membership application. In this case, you may be eligible for a refund of the upgrade charge (not the initial free account).

3. When Refunds ARE NOT Available

Refunds will be denied and forfeited in the following cases:

1. Account Suspension or Termination for Misconduct: If your community account was suspended, muted, or terminated for violation of the Terms of Service—including but not limited to harassment, abuse, fraud, spam, unauthorized access, or circumventing safety measures—you are ineligible for any refund. Membership payment is forfeited.
2. After Using Services: If you have actively used paid member features (published capabilities, posted to member boards, sent messages, engaged with the directory), you are ineligible for a refund based on changed mind or dissatisfaction. Membership fees are non-refundable once services are rendered.
3. Refund Request During Investigation: If your community account is under investigation for potential Terms of Service violation or abuse, refund requests will be held pending the outcome of the investigation. If violation is confirmed, the refund request is automatically denied.
4. Chargeback or Dispute After Denial: If your refund request is denied and you attempt to reverse the charge through your payment processor (chargeback) or dispute the charge, you forfeit all platform access and right to future refunds or reactivation.
5. Coordinated or Repeat Abuse: If you attempt to circumvent this policy through multiple accounts, fraudulent claims, false evidence, or coordinated abuse with other users, XDL reserves the right to permanently terminate your community account and all associated accounts, and to forfeit all funds.

4. Refund Request Process

1. Refund requests must be submitted within 14 days of the charge date to support@xdl.network. Requests submitted after 14 days will be automatically denied.
2. Provide all relevant information:
   • Your email address associated with the community account
   • Transaction ID or exact date of charge
   • Any relevant receipt, invoice, or processor reference from the community billing flow
   • Clear description of why you believe you qualify for a refund
   • Specific technical evidence if claiming service failure (screenshots of error messages, timestamps, etc.)
   • XDL will verify your community account status and payment history.
3. XDL will investigate your claim, which includes:
   • Verifying your community account is in good standing and has not violated the Terms of Service
   • Checking if you have actively used paid member features
   • Confirming the stated reason for refund matches our records
4. XDL will respond within 5 business days with an approval or denial decision.
5. If approved, the refund will be processed to your original payment method within 7–10 business days, depending on your financial institution.
6. Automatic Denial: Any refund request will be automatically denied if your account has a history of Terms of Service violations, repeated abuse reports, spam, or if you have disputed prior charges.

5. Membership Cancellation

How to Cancel

You may cancel your paid membership at any time, at no penalty:

1. Log into your community account at community.xdl.network
2. Open the active subscription or billing management flow provided there.
3. Choose the membership cancellation option and confirm the cancellation.
4. You will receive a confirmation email or processor confirmation.

When Cancellation Takes Effect

• Your cancellation is effective immediately for future billing purposes.
• Your access to member-only features ends at the end of your current billing cycle (you are not charged again).
• Example: If you cancel on March 15 and your billing cycle is monthly (renews April 15), you retain member access through April 14.
• No pro-rata refunds are issued for the unused portion of your billing period.

Account After Cancellation

• Your community account converts back to the applicable non-paid status after the billing cycle ends.
• You retain access to your profile, messages, and contact history according to current community policy.
• You can reactivate your paid membership at any time by resubscribing and will be re-approved instantly (no new human review required for returning members).

6. Subscription Plan Changes

Upgrades

1. If you upgrade from monthly to annual membership, the upgrade is charged immediately.
2. You receive credit for any remaining time on your monthly plan (calculated pro-rata).
3. Your annual billing cycle starts immediately.

Downgrades

1. If you downgrade from annual to monthly membership, the change takes effect at the end of your current annual billing cycle.
2. You do not receive a refund for the unused annual portion.
3. After your annual period expires, your monthly billing cycle begins at the monthly rate.

7. Trial Periods (If Offered)

1. If XDL offers a free trial membership, you must cancel before the trial period ends to avoid being charged.
2. Cancellations must be made through the community billing flow or processor portal, not by email alone.
3. If you are charged after a trial ends without explicit consent, contact support immediately for potential refund eligibility.

8. Failed Payment and Account Suspension

1. If your payment method fails, you will receive an email notification.
2. You have 3 days to update your payment method through the community billing flow to avoid account suspension.
3. If payment repeatedly fails, XDL may cancel your subscription and suspend member access.
4. To restore your account, you must update your payment method and resubscribe with current pricing.

9. Chargeback and Dispute Billing Process

If you dispute a charge with your bank, credit card company, or payment processor (chargeback):

1. XDL will be notified of the disputed transaction.
2. Your community account will be immediately suspended pending resolution.
3. If you lose the dispute (i.e., the charge is deemed legitimate), your community account will remain permanently suspended and you will be liable for chargeback fees.
4. If we determine the chargeback was made in bad faith (i.e., you made the refund request, it was denied, then you filed a chargeback), we reserve the right to:
   • Permanently terminate your community account
   • Forfeit all funds in the account
   • Mark your email address and payment information for permanent ban from XDL Network
   • Report the fraudulent chargeback to payment processors
5. For legitimate billing disputes, contact support@xdl.network FIRST before initiating a chargeback. We can often resolve issues more quickly through our support process.

10. Free Account Status

Community accounts without paid charges are not subject to refund requests as there are no charges. Free community features are provided as-is.

11. Advertising and Sponsor Placements

Advertising and sponsor placement charges are one-time purchases that are non-refundable after placement goes live. XDL may offer credits in cases where placements fail to display due to technical errors on XDL's part.

12. Contact and Appeals

If you believe your refund denial was unjust or you have extenuating circumstances, you may submit a formal appeal to:

legal@xdl.network

Include "Refund Appeal" in the subject line and provide detailed context. Appeals will be reviewed within 10 business days.

13. Policy Changes

XDL may modify this Refund & Cancellation Policy at any time. Changes will be announced via email or notice in the Service. Your continued use of the Service indicates acceptance of the updated policy.