ConsultEarth processes refunds in five distinct categories, each with its own rule. This article covers all five. The platform aims for the same outcome support would give: if the platform or another user did not deliver what was paid for, a refund is issued. If the buyer simply changed their mind after the service began, refunds are limited.
Advisory call refunds
A customer can cancel an advisory call from the manage link in the booking confirmation email at any time more than 72 hours before the scheduled call time. Cancelling within this window triggers a full automatic refund.
Inside 72 hours, the cancel action on the manage link is unavailable. The customer can still contact support, but a refund within this window is discretionary and reviewed case by case.
A full refund is always issued, regardless of timing, in the following cases:
- The expert does not attend the call
- The session is unusable due to a platform fault
- The customer disputes the call within the post-call confirmation window with a substantiated reason, and the dispute is upheld
Discount-code interaction: refunds return the amount the customer actually paid, not the pre-discount price. If a discount code was applied, its usage count is released back so the customer or another user can apply it again, subject to the code's own remaining limit and expiry.
See /help/advisory-booking for the booking flow and manage link.
Job post refunds (Starter and Basic)
Starter posts cost $50 and Basic posts cost $200, each charged as a one-time job token. Refunds on job posts are not automated and are handled by support on the following basis:
- Refund issued in full when a Starter brief is rejected at admin approval before publication for reasons not attributable to the client (for example, a platform error). Basic briefs publish instantly and are not held for approval, so this case does not arise on Basic.
- Refund issued in full when a platform outage prevents a brief from going live or from receiving applications during its listing window.
- Partial refund or token credit considered when a brief published correctly but received zero qualifying applications within its listing window despite being properly written. Reviewed case by case.
- No refund when the client cancels a brief after it has been live and received applications, or when the brief is removed for breach of the Acceptable Use Policy.
Pro clients use monthly tokens rather than per-post charges; see the next section.
Subscription refunds
Both client Pro and expert paid tiers (Ace, Veteran, Enterprise) are subscriptions billed in advance for the period. Cancellation behaviour is the same on both sides.
- Cancel takes effect at the end of the current billing period. The subscription remains active until then. Stripe does not refund the remainder of an active period.
- No proration on monthly cancellations. A user who cancels mid-month keeps Pro or paid-tier access for the rest of that month, then drops to the lower tier.
- No partial-year refunds on annual plans. An annual subscription runs to the end of the term. Cancelling stops auto-renewal but does not refund the unused portion.
- Unused credits and tokens are preserved through cancellation. They remain in the account and remain spendable under the Free or Basic tier's rollover and cap rules (see /help/credits-explained for experts and /help/basic-vs-pro for clients).
Refunds for accidental or duplicate subscription charges (for example, a user resubscribed by mistake within 24 hours) are issued at support's discretion on request.
Credit and token top-up refunds
Credit and token top-ups are one-time Stripe Checkout charges. After a purchase completes:
- Top-ups are not refundable to the card. Once purchased, the credits or tokens are added to the account and remain usable on the platform until their normal expiry.
- Expiry follows the tier's standard rule. Expert credits roll over for two months on Ace, Veteran, and Enterprise, and client Pro tokens carry over for two months in the same way.
- An exception applies if Stripe processed a charge in error (for example, a double-charge from a known Stripe outage). Support reverses these on request.
Automatic action-level credit refunds
Two in-app actions automatically return a credit to the expert's account without anyone having to ask, both at the interest stage, before the client has asked for a full proposal:
- A client rejects an applicant at the interest stage. The credit spent to apply is returned automatically.
- An expert withdraws their own application before the client has acted on it. The credit is returned automatically.
In both cases a refund row appears in the credit ledger. Once the client has progressed the application past interest, the credit is locked in. Other refund situations require a support request.
Requesting a refund outside the automatic rules
For any refund that is not handled automatically, contact support with:
- The transaction ID or the order email confirmation
- The reason for the refund request
- Any supporting evidence (for example, a screenshot of an error message, a missed call notification, or a chat showing the other party failed to deliver)
Refund requests are reviewed within two business days. Decisions follow this policy. A refund granted at the platform's discretion in one case does not establish a rule for future cases.
How long refunds take
Once a refund is initiated, Stripe processes it and returns the amount to the card used for the original payment. Settlement to the cardholder's account typically takes 5 to 10 business days, depending on the issuing bank. Refunds appear as a separate line item on the card statement rather than reversing the original charge.
For action-level credit refunds (inside the platform's own credit ledger), the credit returns to the account balance immediately.
Related
- Booking, paying, and changing an advisory call: /help/advisory-booking
- Credits and what they're spent on: /help/credits-explained
- Choosing a client plan: /help/basic-vs-pro