1. Why this policy exists
We work with travel and tourism businesses across 23 countries — from pre-seed startups to publicly listed tour operators — under three commercial structures: monthly retainers, fixed-fee projects and milestone-based transformation work. Each has different refund mechanics because each has a different cost structure. This policy explains all three in plain English so you know exactly what happens if you need to cancel, pause or end an engagement.
This policy applies to every paid engagement governed by our Terms of Service and a signed Statement of Work (SOW). Where an SOW contains specific refund language different from this policy, the SOW prevails.
2. Free strategy calls and discovery
The 30-minute Travel Growth Strategy Call is free. There is nothing to refund. You keep the audit notes and 90-day roadmap discussed on the call whether or not we end up working together.
3. Monthly retainers
Retainers (SEO + AI search + paid + content + social) are billed monthly in advance, on Net 14 terms, with a minimum 3-month initial term.
3.1 Cancellation notice
Either party may cancel with 30 days written notice after the initial term. Notice is effective from the date of email receipt at legal@traveltradeinsights.com.
3.2 Pro-rata refund mechanics
If you have paid for a partially used month at the time notice ends, we refund the unused days on a pro-rata basis (calendar days), excluding work already committed or sub-processor / paid advertising spend already committed. Example: you cancel on the 10th of a 30-day month already invoiced — you are refunded for days 11–30 less any committed costs.
3.3 Non-refundable items inside a retainer
- Paid media spend already placed (Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads) — these are paid directly to the ad platforms.
- Third-party SaaS or licence costs paid on your behalf (HubSpot seats, premium plugins, stock imagery, premium fonts).
- Content already produced and delivered (articles, videos, design assets).
- Hours already logged against deliverables.
3.4 Initial term refunds
Inside the 3-month initial term, retainers are not refundable for convenience. Termination for cause (uncured material breach, 30-day cure period) is available at any time under section 10 of our Terms of Service.
4. Fixed-fee projects
Fixed-fee projects (travel websites, redesigns, AI builds, single-engagement consulting, discovery sprints) are billed 40% upfront / 40% on agreed mid-milestone / 20% on handover.
4.1 Cancellation before kickoff
If you cancel within 7 calendar days of paying the initial 40% deposit, and we have not yet started discovery, you receive a full refund less a USD 500 administration fee covering account setup, contract execution and scheduling.
4.2 Cancellation during discovery / design phase
If you cancel after discovery has started but before the mid-milestone payment, the initial 40% is non-refundable. We will deliver everything completed up to that point — discovery notes, sitemaps, wireframes, brand directions, copy drafts — as a usable asset pack for you to take elsewhere.
4.3 Cancellation between mid-milestone and handover
After mid-milestone payment, work delivered is yours. If you cancel before handover for convenience, you pay (a) the full mid-milestone amount already invoiced, (b) any out-of-scope change-request hours logged and (c) a kill-fee of 20% of the remaining 20% handover invoice. We then transfer all completed deliverables — code, designs, content, accounts — to your domain and ownership within 10 business days.
4.4 Cancellation by TravelTradeInsights
If we cancel the engagement for our convenience (rare — usually due to capacity, conflict of interest or a discovery that surfaces an unworkable scope), we refund any fees paid for work not yet delivered, with no kill-fee charged.
5. Milestone-based transformation projects
Transformation projects (customer follow-up system, bookings that happen automatically, AI agent builds, simple screen showing your numberss) are scoped as a series of milestones with per-milestone invoicing. Refunds and cancellations work on a milestone-by-milestone basis:
- Before a milestone starts — cancellation is free; nothing to refund.
- During an in-flight milestone — cancellation triggers payment for work logged plus a 15% kill-fee on the remaining milestone budget.
- Between milestones — cancellation requires written notice; no kill-fee.
Specifications, source code and configuration completed up to the cancellation point are transferred to the Client as documented in the SOW.
6. Paid media spend
Paid media budgets (Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads) are paid by the Client directly to the ad platforms via Client-owned billing accounts whenever possible. Where TravelTradeInsights fronts the budget on the Client's behalf, the spent amount is non-refundable; the unspent ad balance (if any) is refunded within 14 business days of platform reconciliation.
7. Discovery sprints
The 2-week paid discovery sprint that precedes most engagements is non-refundable once started, because the deliverable — Growth Diagnostic, 90-day roadmap and SOW for the larger engagement — is produced inside the sprint regardless of whether you proceed. You keep the deliverable whether or not we engage further.
8. Dispute resolution path
If you are unhappy with the work delivered, talk to us before requesting a refund. We follow a transparent four-step path; in our experience, 92% of refund-stage disputes are resolved at steps 1 or 2:
- Step 1 — Account team review. Email refund@traveltradeinsights.com with specifics. Your account lead responds inside 2 business days with a written assessment and proposed remediation.
- Step 2 — Department head escalation. If unresolved, the relevant head of department (SEO, design, engineering, AI) reviews and proposes a settlement inside 5 business days.
- Step 3 — Regional VP escalation. If still unresolved, the regional VP (MENA, EMEA, APAC) reviews inside 10 business days, including any commercial settlement decision.
- Step 4 — Formal mediation. If steps 1-3 do not resolve, the dispute moves to formal mediation under the governing law of the SOW (Dubai by default; English, Singapore or Indian as elected). See Terms of Service section 15.
9. Refund processing and timelines
- Approved refunds are issued within 14 business days of agreement on the refund amount.
- Refunds return to the original payment method (wire, Stripe, Razorpay) in the original currency.
- Foreign exchange variance between deposit and refund is borne by the Client.
- Bank charges or payment processor fees on outgoing refunds are deducted from the refund amount.
- Stripe disputes (chargebacks) trigger a 30-day evidence response window and a hold on further work until resolved.
10. Special cases
- Force majeure — engagements paused due to events beyond either party's control (natural disasters, pandemics, war, government action) are not cancelled automatically; we agree pause terms case-by-case, with no kill-fee and no penalty.
- Insolvency — if either party becomes insolvent, the engagement terminates immediately. Refunds are governed by applicable insolvency law in the SOW's jurisdiction.
- Conflict of interest — if a new conflict arises during an engagement (e.g. we onboard a direct competitor unknowingly), TravelTradeInsights terminates with a full pro-rata refund and no kill-fee.
11. How to request a refund
- Email refund@traveltradeinsights.com with: (a) Client name, (b) SOW reference, (c) specific reason, (d) requested refund amount.
- Acknowledgement inside 2 business days.
- Decision and proposed timeline inside 10 business days.
- Refund issued inside 14 business days of agreement.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Effective date" at the top reflects the most recent revision. The version that applies to your engagement is the one in force on the date your SOW was signed, unless we mutually agree otherwise.