Application
1.1 This Policy applies to every Order placed with the Company, whether paid by card or against an invoice. Terms defined in the Terms of Purchase (LAS-01) have the same meaning here.
1.2 This Policy is exhaustive. A refund is made only in a circumstance set out at clause 3. No other circumstance gives rise to a right of repayment.
Orders are final
2.1 Orders are final and non-refundable, as provided at clause 9.1 of the Terms of Purchase. There is no cooling-off period.
2.2 The reason is the nature of what is sold. On Confirmation the Price is committed at once to procurement of saplings, ground preparation, irrigation and enclosure serving the Purchaser's Cell. Those steps are seasonal and are not reversible: a sapling raised for a Purchaser's Pot cannot be returned to the nursery, and ground prepared cannot be un-prepared. The Company incurs the cost before any Tree is in the ground.
2.3 Where a Tree fails, the Purchaser's remedy is replanting under clause 6.1(c) of the Terms of Purchase, at no cost to the Purchaser, and not repayment. The Trees are assessed once in each year of the Undertaking Period and losses are replanted in the following planting season.
2.4 Clause 2.1 does not exclude, and is subject to, the refunds required by the mandatory rules of the international card schemes and by Mongolian law. Those cases are set out at clause 3.
Circumstances in which a refund is made
3.1 The Company refunds the Price, in full, in each of the following circumstances and in no others.
(a) Duplicate or erroneous charge
Where the Purchaser has been charged more than once for the same Order, or charged an amount other than the Price of the Order placed, the excess is refunded in full.
(b) Payment taken without a Confirmed Order
Where funds have been taken but no Order was Confirmed — including where a payment succeeded at the payment service provider but the Company's record of the Order did not complete — the payment is refunded in full.
(c) Unauthorised transaction
Where a transaction was made without the authority of the cardholder and this is established with the issuing bank or the card scheme, the payment is refunded in full.
(d) The Company cannot perform
Where the Company is unable to plant the Pots purchased and the Purchaser declines each of the alternatives offered under clause 10 of the Terms of Purchase — relocation to another Cell, deferral to the following planting season, or transfer of the Order to another person — the Price is refunded in full. This includes permanent loss of access to the Site and any legal or regulatory prohibition on planting there.
(e) Mandatory law and card scheme rules
Where a refund is required by the mandatory rules of Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay or any other scheme through which payment was taken, or by a mandatory provision of Mongolian law that cannot be varied by agreement, the Company makes that refund irrespective of clause 2.1.
Circumstances in which no refund is made
4.1 For the avoidance of doubt, and without limiting clause 2.1, no refund is made where:
- the Purchaser changes their mind, or no longer wishes to be associated with the Artwork;
- a Tree dies, is damaged or is lost, for which replanting under clause 6.1(c) is the remedy;
- the Purchaser is dissatisfied with the position, appearance or surroundings of the Cell allocated;
- the Purchaser's circumstances change, including a change of employer, sponsor or corporate ownership;
- the Purchaser is unable to visit the Site;
- a currency conversion, cross-border fee or other charge has been applied by the Purchaser's own bank, none of which is received by the Company; or
- the Undertaking Period has expired.
How to request a refund
5.1 A request is made by email to hello@shambala.today, quoting the payment reference shown on the payment confirmation page or in the confirmation email.
5.2 A request under clause 3(a), 3(b) or 3(c) should be made as soon as the Purchaser becomes aware of the circumstance, and in any event within [period — typically 30 to 90 days] of the charge, so that the Company can act within the time limits the card schemes allow.
5.3 The Company acknowledges a request within three business days and determines it within fourteen business days of receiving the information reasonably required to assess it.
5.4 Where a request is refused, the Company gives its reasons in writing, identifying the clause of this Policy relied on.
How refunds are paid
6.1 A refund is made to the card or account used for the original payment. The Company does not refund to a different card, account or person, and does not make refunds in cash.
6.2 The Company instructs the refund within five business days of accepting a request. The time taken for funds to appear is determined by the Purchaser's bank and the card scheme, and is typically a further five to ten business days.
6.3 The Company refunds the amount it received. Charges applied by the Purchaser's own bank, and any difference arising from currency conversion between the date of payment and the date of refund, are not received by the Company and are not reimbursed.
Cancellation by the Company
7.1 The Company may decline or cancel an Order before Confirmation, in which case no charge is made or any charge taken is refunded in full.
7.2 The Company may cancel an Order after Confirmation where the payment is reversed, is not received in cleared funds, or is found to have been made without authority. In that event no undertaking under clause 6 of the Terms of Purchase arises, and any Tree already allocated is returned to the pool of available Pots.
Chargebacks
8.1 The Purchaser is asked to contact the Company before initiating a chargeback. Most circumstances at clause 3 are resolved more quickly directly than through the issuing bank.
8.2 Where a chargeback is initiated, the Company cooperates with the issuing bank and the card scheme and provides the transaction record, the Order record and this Policy.
8.3 Where a chargeback succeeds, clause 7.2 applies and the corresponding Pots are returned to the pool of available Pots.
Complaints
9.1 A complaint about the handling of a refund request is made to hello@shambala.today, marked for the attention of the Company's director, and is answered within fourteen business days.
9.2 Nothing in this Policy deprives a consumer of any mandatory right, or of recourse to any forum, available under the law of the consumer's country of habitual residence.