Refund Policy

Once work begins on a phase, the payment for that phase is earned and generally non-refundable, because it compensates us for completed work, reserved production time, planning, and resources committed to your project.

If you cancel before a future phase begins, you will not be charged for that future phase. Amounts already paid for work that has not started may be refundable, excluding completed work, payment-processing costs where legally permitted, and nonrecoverable third-party expenses.

Refunds or other remedies will still be provided where required by applicable law, or when we are unable to deliver the agreed scope.

The kickoff payment covers project scheduling, discovery, requirements review, research, sitemap and content structure, technical setup, and the initial design direction. That work starts as soon as the project does, so once kickoff work has begun, this payment is generally earned and non-refundable.

If you cancel after paying kickoff but before we've actually started any kickoff work, we'll refund it, less payment-processing costs where legally permitted.

This milestone is invoiced after you approve the homepage or primary design direction, and it covers that approved design work, the included revisions in that phase, and your approval for the full build to continue. Because it's billed for work you've already reviewed and approved, it's earned when paid.

The final milestone covers the remaining build, the included final revisions, staging review, final quality checks, and launch preparation. It's requested when the site is finished and ready for launch, so it's earned when paid. Launch, transfer, and delivery of files and credentials follow once it has cleared.

Payments for phases that are in progress or delivered are earned and non-refundable, whether or not the project later continues. Work completed up to a cancellation can be delivered to you once all earned balances are paid.

You are never charged for a phase that hasn't begun. If a payment was collected ahead of a phase that then never starts — for example, you cancel first — the unstarted portion may be refunded, excluding nonrecoverable expenses and processing costs as described below.

You may cancel your project at any time by telling us in writing (email is fine). Completed and in-progress phases remain payable; future phases that haven't begun are not owed. See the Payment & Cancellation Policy for the full cancellation process.

If we're unable to deliver the agreed scope — or we end the project for reasons that aren't about your conduct or responsiveness — we'll refund amounts you've paid for work we haven't delivered. That's the fair outcome, and it applies regardless of the phase rules above.

Some money spent on a project can't be recovered when it's canceled: domain registrations, hosting fees already paid, software subscriptions, licenses, and other third-party purchases made for your project. These are excluded from any refund, and they remain your responsibility when a project is canceled.

Where legally permitted, payment-processing costs (such as Stripe's fees on the original transaction) may also be deducted from a refund, since processors don't return them to us.

If something's wrong, contact us first — we'd rather fix a problem or agree on a fair refund than dispute a chargeback with your card network. Filing a chargeback on an earned milestone (work delivered per the written scope) doesn't make the payment unearned, and we'll respond to the chargeback with the project record: the written scope, approvals, and delivered work.

Projects need your input to move: content, assets, feedback, approvals. If we go 30 days without a response from you, we may close or archive the project. Earned payments on an archived project aren't refundable, and restarting later may require a new schedule or a restart fee.

Delays caused by late materials or approvals move the schedule; they don't create a refund right for phases already underway.

Choosing not to proceed with an addition or change order before its work begins simply means it isn't billed. Approved change orders whose work has started follow the same phase rules as everything else.

When a refund is approved, we issue it within 10 business days of approval to the original payment method through Stripe. If the original method can't accept a refund, we'll agree on a reasonable alternative with you.

If anything here is unclear, or you think a situation deserves an exception, email admin@harborlineco.org — a conversation costs nothing.