Refund Policy

Last modified: 21 April 2026

This policy sets out when and how PRIVATEBYTE issues refunds. It forms part of our Terms of Service. Where this policy and the Terms of Service conflict, this policy prevails for refund matters.

Our default posture is pragmatic: if something is genuinely our fault, we fix it and refund where appropriate. If something is outside our control or results from your own use, we will explain and act within the framework below.

1. Principles

We offer a 7-day money-back guarantee on first-time purchases of new VPS and OpenClaw services.
Proxy services are billed from a pre-loaded balance and refundable on the unused portion.
Green Credits are never withdrawable and are reversed when the service that generated them is refunded.
Downtime is compensated through account credits calculated under our Service Level Agreement, not refunded to source.
Refund decisions are made in good faith. If you believe your case deserves an exception, write to us — [email protected] — and we'll look at it.

2. 7-day money-back guarantee

We will refund 100% of fees paid for a new VPS or OpenClaw service if you cancel within 7 days of first purchase, subject to these conditions:

The guarantee applies once per service type per customer — the first Flare you buy, the first OpenClaw instance you buy, etc. It does not apply on repeat purchases of the same product.
The service must not have been used in breach of our Acceptable Use Policy.
The guarantee does not apply to fraud chargebacks, stolen payment methods, or accounts opened with false information.
Accounts with a history of guarantee-triggered refunds (e.g. signing up, refunding, signing up again with the same payment method) may be disqualified.

The 7-day guarantee is a customer trust measure, not a free trial. Please don't abuse it.

3. Refund methods

3.1 Card payments

Card refunds are processed back to the original card via our payment provider. They typically clear in your statement within 5–10 business days, depending on your issuer.

3.2 Cryptocurrency payments

Crypto payments can be refunded in two ways, your choice:

Back to the originating cryptocurrency. We refund the equivalent amount in the same crypto at the exchange rate on the day of refund (not the day of original payment). Network and gas fees for the refund transaction are deducted from the refund amount.
To your PRIVATEBYTE account balance as credit. Full refund amount, no fees, no exchange-rate movement. The credit is applied against future invoices automatically.

We recommend account-balance credit unless you have a specific reason to recover in crypto — it avoids fee erosion and exchange-rate drift.

3.3 Account balance credit

Any refund can be taken as a credit to your PRIVATEBYTE account balance instead of the original payment method. Balance credits do not expire while your account is active and offset future invoices automatically.

3.4 Credits on account closure

If you close your account with unused balance credit, you may request a refund of the remaining credit to your original payment method under this policy. Unclaimed credits are forfeited at closure. This applies equally to all sources of credit — refunds, wallet deposits, downtime credits, Green Credits that have already landed on your balance, and any other account credit.

4. Green Credits and refunds

Green Credits earned on a service are reversed when that service is refunded. This prevents double compensation — you cannot keep the credit for leaving a service powered off AND get your original payment back.

Worked example:

You pay $49.99 for a Flare VPS.
You leave it powered off for most of the first 7 days.
During that time you accrue $2.50 in Green Credits.
You request a refund under the 7-day guarantee.
We refund the full $49.99 AND reverse the $2.50 credit from your balance.

If the Green Credits generated by a refunded service have already been used against a different invoice, we deduct the equivalent amount from the refund. In the example above, if you'd already spent the $2.50 credit on a different service, your refund would be $47.49.

This is explained here so there are no surprises, not because we expect people to exploit it.

5. Proxy service refunds

Proxy services are billed from a pre-loaded proxy balance. When you top up, we split what arrives in your balance into two parts:

Paid portion — the cash amount you actually paid us
Bonus portion — any promotional credit, volume bonus, or top-up reward we add on top (for example, our "pay $50, get $60 spend power" top-up promotions)

5.1 What's refundable

The paid portion is refundable, less any amount consumed against it.
Bonus credits, promotional credits, volume rewards, and any other credit you did not pay for in cash are not refundable under any circumstances. They exist to reward larger top-ups and can only be monetised through actual bandwidth consumption.
Consumed bandwidth is not refundable — once the bytes have passed through our network, they've cost us.
Consumption is deducted from your paid portion first. Your bonus portion is drawn down only once your paid portion is fully consumed. This makes the rule above unambiguous: if you have bonus remaining at the moment you request a refund, it's because you haven't yet used up what you paid, and we refund the paid portion that's left.
Refunds of proxy balance are processed via the refund methods in Section 3 (card, crypto, or account credit).
If your proxy access has been suspended for AUP breach, unused balance is not refundable.

5.2 Worked examples

Example A — no usage, full refund of paid portion

You top up $50 and your balance shows $60 ($50 paid + $10 bonus)
You use $0 in bandwidth
You request a refund
You receive $50. The $10 bonus is forfeited.

Example B — partial usage, refund of remaining paid

You top up $50 and your balance shows $60 ($50 paid + $10 bonus)
You consume $15 in bandwidth. It's drawn from the paid portion first: paid now $35, bonus still $10.
You request a refund
You receive $35. The $10 bonus is forfeited.

Example C — bonus-stage usage, nothing to refund

You top up $50 and your balance shows $60 ($50 paid + $10 bonus)
You consume $55 in bandwidth. It's drawn from paid first ($50 consumed), then from bonus ($5 consumed). Paid now $0, bonus $5.
You request a refund
You receive $0 — you've already used every cent of what you paid us. The remaining $5 bonus can still be used for bandwidth; it cannot be cashed out.

6. Add-on refunds

Add-ons attached to a service (additional IPv4 addresses, extended backup retention, managed support) are refundable pro rata within the 7-day window if you cancel the parent service. After that window, add-ons run to the end of their billing cycle and are not refunded, but you can cancel the auto-renewal at any time.

7. Cancellation outside the guarantee window

After the 7-day window, cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. We do not issue pro-rata refunds for partial months or years paid in advance, unless:

we terminate your service without cause (in which case we issue a pro-rata refund for the unused portion — see our Terms of Service, Section 9)
we materially change our service and you do not accept the change (see Terms of Service, Section 16)
UK consumer law otherwise requires a refund

Annual plans in particular: you commit to the term in exchange for the discount. If you cancel mid-term, you keep the service until the term ends; you do not get money back for the unused months.

8. Downtime credits

Unplanned service unavailability is compensated through our Service Level Agreement (SLA), not this policy. Key points:

Downtime credits are calculated on a formula defined in the SLA, based on the length of the incident and the monthly fee for the affected service.
Credits are applied automatically to your account balance once an incident is formally resolved and the SLA calculation is run.
Downtime credits are not paid back to the original payment method — they apply against future invoices.
Downtime caused by your own actions, scheduled maintenance, force majeure, or upstream network partners beyond our reasonable control does not qualify. See the SLA for exact definitions.

9. Non-refundable items

The following are explicitly not refundable:

Bandwidth already consumed through proxy or dedicated uplink services
Cryptocurrency gas and network fees paid in connection with refund transactions
Green Credits (non-withdrawable to cash, and reversed on service refund as above)
Accounts terminated for material breach of our Acceptable Use Policy
Services paid for by a fraudulent or chargeback-disputed payment
Third-party services purchased through us for which the third party has already rendered the service (e.g., upstream proxy bandwidth resold at cost)

10. How to request a refund

Contact [email protected] from the email address on your account. Include:

the service or invoice number you want refunded
the reason (optional but helps us improve)
your preferred refund method (original payment method or account balance credit)

We acknowledge refund requests within 24 hours and process approved refunds within 5 business days. Time for funds to actually arrive with you varies:

Account balance credit: immediate
Cryptocurrency: typically within 24 hours of approval, subject to network confirmations
Card refunds: 5–10 business days depending on your bank

If a refund is disputed or we need more information, we'll reply within the 24-hour window explaining what we need.

11. Chargebacks

Before raising a card chargeback, please contact us first. Chargebacks cost both parties time and money, and most issues can be resolved directly in hours. An unfounded chargeback may result in:

recovery of the chargeback fee from your account balance
suspension of card payment methods
in severe or repeated cases, account closure

This does not affect your statutory consumer rights.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes are notified to active customers by email at least 14 days before taking effect. Non-material changes (typos, clarifications, re-ordering) may be made without notice. The "last modified" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version. Previous versions are available on request.

13. Contact

Refund requests: [email protected]
Billing questions: [email protected]
Legal or escalation: [email protected]
Post: PRIVATEBYTE, 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom