Refund Policy

Refund Policy

This Refund Policy explains when a Social Bidz channel transaction may be cancelled, disputed, refunded, or treated as complete. It forms part of the Social Bidz Terms of Service and should be read together with the Escrow Policy and the transaction terms recorded for the relevant deal. Social Bidz is operated by AA MEDIA HORIZON ENTERPRISES LTD (company number 17143483).

1. Policy summary

• An offer or purchase request that has not been funded may be cancelled by the escrow team without a payment refund because no buyer funds have been secured.
• A funded, active deal may be disputed. Funds remain protected while the available evidence and transaction record are reviewed.
• If a funded deal is cancelled or a dispute is decided in the buyer's favour, the buyer is refunded where applicable under the payment and escrow workflow.
• Once a deal is completed and escrowed funds have been released, it is normally final. Any rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded remain unaffected.

A cancellation or refund is not automatic merely because one party changes their mind. The outcome depends on the deal status, transfer progress, evidence, recorded terms, and applicable law.

2. Seven-day ownership period and completion

A deal becomes funded when Social Bidz records or verifies the buyer's payment in the transaction workflow. A funded deal remains active while payment verification, seller access, buyer access, ownership transfer, the seven-day ownership period, final confirmation, or a dispute is pending.

The ownership period lasts seven calendar days and starts when the escrow team grants the buyer Manager access and records that access in the deal. During this period, the buyer can inspect the channel, verify the agreed information, and open a dispute if a material problem is discovered. The scheduled ownership date and time are shown in the live deal record. If the recorded workflow includes an additional operational or security buffer, the later displayed completion time applies.

Expiry of the seven-day period does not complete the deal by itself. After the period ends, the escrow team must confirm that the buyer has been made Primary Owner, remove the seller and escrow access where required, and mark the transaction completed. The seller-side payout schedule may follow a separate recorded protection step, but it does not shorten the buyer's seven-day ownership period.

A deal is complete only when the required transfer and ownership steps have finished and the transaction is marked completed under the escrow workflow.

3. Before funding

An unfunded offer, accepted offer, or purchase request may be cancelled or may expire before completion. Because Social Bidz has not secured buyer funds at that stage, there is normally no amount to refund. The listing may be restored or remain available in accordance with its current marketplace status.

4. Refund eligibility during a funded deal

A buyer or seller should open a dispute promptly if the transfer cannot proceed or the delivered channel appears materially inconsistent with the listing or recorded agreement. Depending on the evidence, a refund may be appropriate where:

• the seller cannot demonstrate the right or practical ability to transfer the listed channel;
• the seller fails to provide required access or complete a required transfer step within the applicable deal timeline;
• the channel is materially different from the listing or from a material representation recorded in the deal;
• the transfer cannot be completed without exposing either party to an unresolved ownership or security risk;
• a verified payment error, duplicate funding event, or other transaction-processing problem requires correction; or
• the escrow team decides, after reviewing the record, that refunding the buyer is the appropriate resolution.

These examples do not guarantee a refund. Social Bidz may instead resume the deal, require a corrective step, release funds to the seller, or take another action allowed by the Terms and the recorded transaction workflow.

5. Inspection during the seven-day ownership period

The buyer must inspect the channel and request verification before the deal completes. Inspection should focus on ownership, access, channel identity, analytics, monetization status, policy history, revenue evidence, and any other material point agreed in the deal. A material concern should be reported through the dispute workflow before escrow records final completion.

During the seven-day ownership period, the buyer should not upload or delete content, change the channel name, handle, branding, links, permissions, monetization, AdSense connection, owners, managers, or other material settings unless the listing or escrow team explicitly records that immediate channel changes are allowed. The seller must likewise avoid changes that could affect the asset or the accuracy of the transaction record.

Material changes, use of the channel, removal of required access, interference with monitoring, or failure to preserve the transfer state may affect the available remedy. Social Bidz will assess who made the change, why it was made, whether it can be reversed, and whether it caused or contributed to the dispute.

6. When a refund may be refused

Subject to rights that cannot be excluded under applicable law, a refund may be refused where:

• the deal has already been completed and the seller's payout released;
• the issue was disclosed in the listing or transaction record before funding;
• the complaint concerns a matter that was not promised, guaranteed, or materially represented;
• the requesting party caused the issue, obstructed the transfer, altered the channel, removed required access, or failed to follow reasonable security instructions;
• the requesting party fails to provide reasonably requested evidence or provides misleading, incomplete, or manipulated evidence;
• the claim concerns future views, revenue, audience behaviour, monetization, discoverability, or business performance that no party guaranteed;
• the issue results from a later decision, enforcement action, technical change, or policy change by YouTube, Google, AdSense, a payment provider, or another third party outside Social Bidz's control; or
• the request is abusive, fraudulent, duplicative, or intended to avoid a valid payment obligation.

7. How to request a review

1. Open the relevant deal and use its dispute workflow while the deal is still active.
2. Describe the issue clearly in the recorded deal conversation. Include dates, the affected transfer step, and the outcome requested.
3. Provide relevant evidence, such as listing screenshots, YouTube Studio screenshots, access notices, transaction messages, payment records, or an unedited screen recording where necessary to show a sequence of events.
4. Preserve the channel, account access, and transaction evidence while the review is open. Do not make further changes unless the escrow team instructs you to do so.

Requests sent outside the deal record may be harder to verify. If the in-platform dispute control is unavailable, contact Social Bidz support immediately and identify the transaction number.

8. Review and decision process

Opening a valid dispute pauses the normal transaction outcome while the case is reviewed. Social Bidz may consider the listing, accepted offer, transaction terms, payment state, access history, channel snapshots, platform messages, documents, screenshots, recordings, and information supplied by either party or a relevant provider.

The escrow team may ask questions, request additional evidence, set reasonable response deadlines, or require a reversible corrective step. A failure to respond may result in a decision based on the available record. The available outcomes include refunding the buyer and cancelling the deal, releasing the seller's payout and completing the deal, or closing the dispute and resuming the transaction.

9. How approved refunds are processed

When Social Bidz approves a refund for a funded deal, the transaction is marked refunded, the active deal is cancelled, and the listing may be restored to the marketplace. For a deal funded from the buyer's Social Bidz balance, the recorded buyer total is credited back to that balance. This includes the amount debited by Social Bidz for that deal under the recorded checkout calculation.

Where payment was made or verified through an external or manual method, the refund method, processing steps, deductions imposed by a payment provider, and timing depend on the method used and the verified payment record. Social Bidz will not represent an external refund as completed until it has been processed or confirmed through the applicable workflow.

Bank, blockchain, payment-provider, currency-conversion, network, or withdrawal timing is outside Social Bidz's direct control. A status shown by Social Bidz records the platform action and does not guarantee when an external institution will make funds available.

10. Chargebacks and payment disputes

Users should use the Social Bidz dispute process before starting a chargeback or external payment dispute, so the transaction and channel transfer can be paused and reviewed consistently. Starting an external dispute does not by itself determine ownership of the channel or the correct escrow outcome.

Fraudulent chargebacks, duplicate recovery, false evidence, or an attempt to retain both the channel and the refunded payment may lead to account restriction, recovery action, reporting to the relevant provider, or other remedies available under the Terms and applicable law. Nothing in this section prevents a user from exercising a payment or consumer right that cannot lawfully be restricted.

11. Responsibilities and third-party risk

The seller remains responsible for the accuracy of the listing, the authority to transfer the channel, and cooperation with the recorded transfer process. The buyer remains responsible for timely inspection, due diligence, securing the transferred account, and operating it in accordance with applicable platform rules and law.

Social Bidz facilitates the marketplace, records transaction steps, and administers the escrow outcome. It does not control YouTube, Google, AdSense, banks, payment providers, blockchain networks, or their later policy and enforcement decisions. Verification and escrow reduce transaction risk but do not guarantee future channel performance or prevent every third-party action.

12. Relationship with the Terms and legal rights

This Policy explains the operational refund process and does not replace the Terms of Service, Escrow Policy, accepted deal terms, or mandatory legal rights. If this Policy conflicts with a right that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, that right prevails. This Policy does not select or introduce a separate governing law or jurisdiction.

13. Changes and contact

Social Bidz may update this Policy to reflect changes in the platform, payment methods, escrow workflow, or legal requirements. Material changes apply as described in the Terms, and the date displayed on this page identifies the latest published version.

For a refund question, use the relevant deal conversation or the Contact page and include the transaction number. Do not send passwords, one-time codes, recovery codes, or full payment credentials.