Refund & Cancellation Policy

Last updated: 10 September 2026

This Refund & Cancellation Policy forms part of the Terms of Service of Expert Bucket, operated by Expert Bucket. It explains when an order can be cancelled, when money is returned, and how disputes are handled. Capitalised terms have the meaning given in the Terms.

1. The nature of what is sold here

Expert Bucket is a marketplace for custom, made-to-order digital and professional services — design, development, writing, video, marketing, consulting, promotional and creator services and similar work. Each order is produced specifically for the Buyer who commissioned it.

Because of that, there is no general right to change your mind once a Seller has begun work. Refunds are available in the circumstances set out below, not on request.

Expert Bucket is an intermediary. Refunds are funded from the amount held for the relevant order and, where applicable, from the Seller's balance. We do not refund from our own funds except where we have charged you a fee in error.

2. Cancelling before work starts

  1. Before a Seller accepts. A Buyer may cancel an order that a Seller has not yet accepted, and the amount paid is returned in full to the Buyer's wallet or original payment method.
  2. Seller declines or does not respond. If a Seller declines the order, or does not accept it within the window shown on the Platform, the order is cancelled automatically and the amount paid is returned in full.
  3. Mutual cancellation. A Buyer and Seller may agree to cancel at any time. Unless they agree a different split and record it on the Platform, the full amount held is returned to the Buyer.

Payment-processing charges levied by a payment provider may not be recoverable and may be deducted from a refund where the law permits.

3. Cancelling after work has started

Once a Seller has accepted and begun work, an order may be cancelled only:

  1. by agreement between the Buyer and the Seller; or
  2. by a decision in the dispute process (section 5); or
  3. by us, where we cancel an order under the Terms — for example on fraud, breach of the Acceptable Use Policy, or a legal requirement.

Where a cancellation is agreed or ordered after partial delivery, the amount returned may be reduced to reflect work genuinely performed and delivered.

4. When a refund is due

A Buyer is normally entitled to a full or partial refund where:

  • the Seller did not deliver by the agreed deadline and has not agreed an extension;
  • the delivery is materially different from what the listing or accepted offer described;
  • the delivery is unusable, empty, corrupt, or is not the Buyer's work at all;
  • the delivery infringes a third party's rights, or was plagiarised or AI-passed-off in breach of what was promised;
  • the Seller becomes unresponsive after accepting the order; or
  • the order was placed fraudulently or without the account holder's authority.

A refund is not normally due where:

  • the work matches the agreed scope but the Buyer has changed their mind, their requirements, or their taste;
  • the Buyer failed to supply briefs, assets, access or approvals the Seller reasonably needed, or supplied them late;
  • the Buyer asks for work outside the agreed scope and the Seller declines;
  • the Buyer did not achieve a commercial result — sales, ranking, reach, engagement, followers, approval or funding — which no Seller may guarantee and which we never guarantee;
  • the Buyer has already accepted the delivery, used it, published it or built on it; or
  • the request is made after the dispute window in section 5 has closed.

Revisions come first: where the listing offers revisions, the Buyer should request them before seeking a refund.

5. Disputes and time limits

  1. Raise the problem with the other user through the Platform's messaging first. Most matters resolve there.
  2. If it does not resolve, open a dispute on the order within the dispute window shown on the order. If no dispute is opened in that window, the order may auto-complete and the funds are released to the Seller. After release, we may be unable to reverse the payment.
  3. Both users should submit their evidence promptly. We decide on the record available to us and on the Platform's rules.
  4. Our decision is final for the purpose of what the Platform does with the order and the funds it holds. It is an administrative determination, not a judicial one, and it does not decide your legal rights against the other user.
  5. We may cancel an order and refund a Buyer, or release funds to a Seller, without a dispute where we detect fraud, a chargeback, a breach of the Terms, or a legal requirement.

6. How a refund is paid

  1. Refunds are normally credited to the Buyer's Expert Bucket wallet immediately, where they can be used for another order or withdrawn.
  2. Where a refund is returned to the original payment method, it is processed within 5–7 business days of approval. The time it then takes to appear on your statement depends on your bank or card issuer, and is typically a further 5–10 business days.
  3. Refunds go back to the payment method used for the original payment. We cannot refund to a different person or a different instrument.
  4. Amounts paid using wallet balance are refunded to the wallet.
  5. Currency conversion is at the rate applying when the refund is processed. We are not responsible for a shortfall caused by exchange-rate movement or by your bank's charges.

7. Subscriptions, promotions and platform fees

  1. Seller subscription plans, featured-listing placements, promotions and other platform services are paid in advance and are non-refundable for the period already begun, including where an account is suspended or terminated for breach.
  2. Cancelling a subscription stops the next renewal. It does not refund the current term, and access continues until the term ends.
  3. Commission and service fees on a refunded order are reversed in proportion to the refund.
  4. Where we have charged you a fee in error, we will refund that fee in full.

8. Chargebacks

If you believe a charge is wrong, contact us first at admin@example.com. Raising a chargeback with your bank instead of using the dispute process may result in your account being suspended while the chargeback is investigated, and in the disputed amount, plus any fee we incur, being recovered from your balance. We will supply the payment provider with the transaction and delivery record. Chargebacks raised on orders that were delivered and accepted may be defended.

9. Statutory rights

Nothing in this Policy limits any right you have under consumer-protection law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where such a right conflicts with this Policy, that right prevails to the extent of the conflict.

10. Contact

Expert Bucket
Expert Bucket
Email: admin@example.com

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