Refund Policy — Thricebound

⚠️ UNREVIEWED DRAFT — DO NOT PUBLISH

This document has not been reviewed by a lawyer. It was drafted as a structured starting point, not as legal advice. It contains unfilled [PLACEHOLDERS], and its central mechanism — who actually processes a refund — depends on a payment processor that has not been chosen. It must be reviewed by qualified counsel in the operating jurisdiction before it is published or relied on.

See docs/legal/README.md for the full list of placeholders and open decisions.

Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE] Last updated: [LAST UPDATED DATE]

No purchases are currently possible

Thricebound is free during its playtest. There is nothing to refund yet. This policy takes effect when real-money purchases go live, and must be finalised before that happens.

1. What you can buy

When purchases go live, the Game will sell:

• TP — the in-game currency, in bundles.
• Chests — randomised reward containers.
• Boosters and consumables — single-use match effects.
• Character unlocks and cosmetics.
• The custom-board unlock — a one-off unlock that lets you use the board editor and host custom lobbies.

All of these are digital items delivered to your account immediately after payment is confirmed. None of them has any cash value and none can be transferred, sold, or traded outside the Game. See §8 of the Terms of Service.

2. Who processes a refund — DECISION PENDING

The payment processor has not been chosen. This determines who you ask for a refund and who actually issues it, so the correct version of this section must be written once the choice is made:

• Option A — Paddle (merchant of record). Paddle is the seller of record for your purchase. It handles billing, and it operates its own refund process and buyer terms. You would be able to contact either Paddle or us, and refunds would be issued by Paddle. Paddle's own policy would apply alongside this one, and where the two conflict on a purchase Paddle sold, Paddle's governs.
• Option B — Stripe (payment processor only). We are the seller. You contact us directly, we decide the request, and we issue the refund through Stripe to your original payment method.

Draft text, to be finalised once the processor is chosen:

Purchases are sold and processed by [PAYMENT PROCESSOR]. Refund requests should be sent to [REFUND CONTACT — us at [email protected], and/or the processor's support]. Refunds are returned to the original payment method. [Where Paddle is the merchant of record, state that Paddle's buyer terms also apply.]

3. Your statutory rights come first

Nothing in this policy removes rights you have under consumer law where you live. If your local law gives you a stronger right than this policy, that law wins.

EU and UK — the 14-day right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer in the EU or the UK, you normally have 14 days to withdraw from a distance purchase without giving a reason.

For digital content delivered immediately, that right can be lost — but only if, at checkout, you gave prior express consent to immediate delivery and acknowledged that you were losing the right of withdrawal. If we never asked you for that consent, you keep the 14-day right and can withdraw for a full refund.

⚠️ IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENT. This means the checkout flow must present an explicit, unticked-by-default consent-and-acknowledgement step before delivering any purchased item, and must keep a record that it was given. This does not exist in the Game today. Without it, this section cannot claim the right of withdrawal has been waived. Build it before launch.

[REVIEW WITH COUNSEL: this interacts with the merchant-of-record decision in §2. If Paddle is the seller of record, Paddle's checkout handles the consent step and its own withdrawal terms apply.]

Other jurisdictions

[REVIEW: Australian Consumer Law guarantees, and any other market you sell into, impose their own non-excludable remedies. Confirm which apply once the sales jurisdictions are known.]

4. Our own policy, on top of your statutory rights

Outside of your statutory rights, digital items are generally non-refundable once delivered, because they are delivered instantly and are used inside the Game.

We will normally refund anyway in these cases:

• You were charged but did not get the item. Always refunded, or the item is granted — your choice.
• You were charged twice for the same purchase. Always refunded.
• You bought the wrong thing by accident and tell us within [ACCIDENTAL PURCHASE WINDOW — recommend 48 hours], and you have not used the item (see §5).
• A purchase was made by a child on your account or device without your permission. Tell us and we will refund it. [Confirm the process and any evidence needed with counsel; this interacts with the age decision in §13 of the Privacy Policy.]
• The item was materially misdescribed in the store.

We will normally not refund in these cases:

• You changed your mind after using the item.
• You are unhappy with a balance change. We rebalance the Game; that is normal and is set out in the Terms of Service.
• You are unhappy with the contents of a chest. Chests are explicitly randomised and the odds are [disclosed where? — see §6].
• Your account was suspended or terminated for breaking the Terms of Service.
• You want to convert unused TP back into money. TP has no cash value and cannot be cashed out.

5. What counts as "used"

An item is used once it has been consumed or has taken effect. Specifically:

• TP is used once it has been spent on anything.
• A chest is used once it has been opened. An opened chest cannot be refunded, because the reward has already been revealed and granted.
• A booster or consumable is used once it has been equipped or applied to a match.
• A character or cosmetic unlock is used once it has been used in a match.
• The custom-board unlock is used once you have created or hosted a custom board.

If part of a bundle has been used, we may refund the unused part only, or decline the request.

6. Randomised items (chests)

Chests give randomised rewards. Because the outcome is revealed the moment you open one, opening a chest is a final act and is not reversible.

[DECISION + IMPLEMENTATION: many jurisdictions and both major mobile app stores require the odds of randomised items to be disclosed before purchase. Decide where the odds will be shown in the store UI, then state here that they are disclosed and where. Do not publish a policy that leans on disclosed odds until the odds are actually disclosed.]

7. How to request a refund

Email [email protected] [or, if Paddle is the merchant of record, contact Paddle's support — insert their route] with:

1. The username on the account.
2. What you bought and roughly when.
3. The order or receipt reference from your confirmation email.
4. What went wrong.

We aim to reply within [RESPONSE TARGET — recommend 5 business days]. If a refund is approved, it goes back to your original payment method, and [PROCESSOR]'s own timing then applies — usually [5–10 business days, CONFIRM] for the money to appear.

When a refund is issued, the item is removed from your account. If the refunded TP has already been spent, your balance may go to zero and the purchased advantage is reversed.

8. Chargebacks

If something has gone wrong, please contact us first — we can usually fix it faster than your bank can. Starting a chargeback without contacting us [may result in the account being suspended until the dispute is resolved — CONFIRM this stance with counsel; it is common practice but must be stated in the Terms of Service to be enforceable].

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. Changes do not apply retroactively to a purchase you have already made — the policy in force at the time of your purchase governs it.

10. Contact

[LEGAL ENTITY NAME] (No Crunch Games) [BUSINESS ADDRESS] [email protected]