Refund & Cancellation Policy

Effective Date: July 2026

Company: Hack Publishing Ltd (Company No. 12551051)

Registered Office Address: Queensgate House, 48 Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3SR

Contact Email: customerservice@hack-publishing.co.uk

This Refund & Cancellation Policy sets out the terms on which refunds, cancellations, and returns are handled by Hack Publishing Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”). It forms part of, and should be read alongside, our main Terms & Conditions.

1. Statutory Right to Cancel (14-Day Cooling-Off Period)

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, individual consumers in the UK have a legal right to cancel a distance contract (purchased online or remotely) within 14 calendar days without giving any reason.

How this right applies depends on the specific product or service purchased, as detailed below.

Note on Business (B2B) Purchases: Statutory 14-day cancellation and return rights apply strictly to individual retail Consumers. Any orders placed by business entities, schools, institutions, or trade buyers (“B2B Purchases”) are exempt from change-of-mind return rights.

2. Digital Content & Online Courses

2.1 Immediate Access & Statutory Waiver

When you purchase digital products, pre-recorded online courses, downloadable materials, worksheets, or digital templates (“Digital Content”):

During checkout, you expressly request and consent to immediate access to the Digital Content.
You acknowledge that once access has been provided, you forfeit your statutory 14-day right to cancel.
Definition of Access: Access is legally defined as the exact moment your login credentials, platform access link, or automated download links are dispatched to your registered email address.

2.2 Faulty Content vs. Temporary Site Outages

If Digital Content file is broken, corrupted, or defective, you are entitled to a repair or replacement under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If we cannot fix the defect within a reasonable timeframe, you are entitled to a full or partial refund.

Temporary maintenance, short platform downtime, or third-party internet outages do not render digital content legally defective, provided access is restored within a reasonable timeframe.

3. Fixed-Fee & Custom Services (Editing, Critiques & Mentoring)

3.1 Cancellation Within the 14-Day Cooling-Off Period

If you purchase an editing package, critique, or mentoring service and request to cancel within 14 calendar days of payment:

Before work has commenced: You will receive a 100% full refund.
After work has commenced (at your request): You may still cancel, but you must pay for the work completed and direct costs incurred up to the date you notify us.

3.2 Calculating Pro-Rata Refunds After Work Starts

We do not charge penalty fees or hidden administration charges. If a service is canceled midway through, your refund is calculated based on actual, objective work completed:

Refund Due = Total Fee Paid – Value of Work Completed + Direct Non-Refundable Costs

Value of Work Completed: Calculated based on manuscript proportion reviewed, completed milestones, or delivered mentoring hours.
Direct Non-Refundable Costs: Out-of-pocket expenses directly paid to third parties to deliver your specific project (e.g., non-refundable software credits, dedicated reviewer assignments).

3.3 Cancellation After 14 Days or Project Termination

If you cancel after 14 days: You will receive a pro-rata refund for any unperformed work, less the value of work completed and direct costs incurred to date.
If we terminate due to Client Breach (e.g., abusive behavior, non-payment, or illegal material): No refund is payable, and you remain liable for all work completed up to the termination date.
If we terminate for Unworkability (Section 6.4 of T&Cs): If we end the engagement simply because we are not a good fit, you receive a full refund for all unperformed work, keeping payment only for work already completed.

4. Physical Goods & Merchandise

4.1 14-Day Standard Return Right

For standard physical products (such as stock print-on-demand anthologies, single-author books, standard notebooks, stationery, tote bags, and apparel):

You have 14 calendar days from the date you receive the goods to notify us of your wish to return them.
You then have an additional 14 calendar days from notification to dispatch the items back to us.

4.2 Exceptions: Custom & Personalized Physical Goods

Under Regulation 28(1)(b) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, items made to your specific specifications or clearly personalized (e.g., custom-printed notebooks, personalized inscribed books, or custom-branded merchandise) are strictly non-refundable for change of mind, unless damaged or defective.

4.3 Conditions for Physical Returns & Return Postage

Items must be returned unused, undamaged, and in their original packaging.
Return Shipping Costs: Unless the item is damaged, defective, or incorrect, you are responsible for paying the direct cost of returning physical goods to us.

4.4 Damaged, Defective, or Faulty Physical Goods

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015:

Within 30 Days of Receipt: You are entitled to an immediate full refund or a free replacement for damaged/defective items.
Between 30 Days and 6 Months: We will offer a repair or replacement in the first instance before issuing a partial or full refund.
We will reimburse reasonable return postage costs for damaged or defective items upon receipt of a valid postage receipt.

5. Summary Table: Refund Eligibility

Product / Service Category	14-Day Cooling-Off Applies?	Refund Rules & Exceptions
Digital Content / Courses	Waived upon access	Non-refundable once login/download link is dispatched, unless file is defective.
Services (Unstarted)	Yes	100% full refund if canceled within 14 days before work starts.
Services (In Progress)	Partial	Pro-rata refund for unperformed work; you pay for work completed and direct costs.
Standard Merchandise / Books	Yes	Full refund upon safe return within 14 days. Client pays return shipping.
Custom / Personalized Goods	Exempt	Non-refundable unless damaged or defective.
B2B Bulk Orders	Exempt	Exempt from statutory consumer change-of-mind return rights.

6. How to Request a Refund & Abandoned Claims

6.1 Process

Email customerservice@hack-publishing.co.uk with the subject line “Cancellation Request – [Order Number]”.
Include your full name, order date, order/invoice number, and details of the item/service.

6.2 Verification & Abandoned Claims

To process a refund, we must be able to verify your order. If you submit a cancellation request within the 14-day window but fail to provide requested order verification details within 30 calendar days of our response, your request will be deemed abandoned and closed. Any late refunds requested after 30 days of non-response will be handled solely at company discretion.

7. Processing & Method of Refund

Timeline: Approved refunds are processed within 14 calendar days of receiving returned physical goods (or proof of postage) or receiving your cancellation notice for unperformed services.
Payment Method: All refunds are issued to the original payment method used at checkout (e.g., Stripe, card).

8. Governing Law

This Refund Policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any legal claims or disputes regarding refunds shall be subject to the jurisdiction set out in our main Terms & Conditions.