Refunds and cancellation

In shortThe whole thing on one screen

Before you pay anything: Walk away, no obligation at all
Notice period: None
Cancellation fee: None. If you change your mind in your first 14 days, we keep £25 of the £99 setup fee for the domain we bought you
How to cancel: Email hello@deftly.uk
Your domain: Ask for it and we transfer it to you. We do not charge you
Your website: Stops being published at the end of the month you have paid for

Section 1Before you have paid anything

We build your preview and send you the link before you pay a penny. If you look at it and decide it is not for you, that is the end of it. You owe us nothing, you do not need to give a reason, and you do not need to tell us anything at all. The preview link stops working after 7 days and we delete it.

This is the whole reason we work this way. Nobody should have to pay for a website they have not seen.

Section 2How to cancel

Email hello@deftly.uk and tell us you want to cancel. One line is enough. We will reply to confirm, normally within one working day.

You do not need to give notice, give a reason, or speak to anyone who will try to talk you out of it.

Honesty about how this works today. Cancelling is done by email, not by a button in an account area, because we have not built a self-serve cancel button yet. That does not make cancelling any slower or any harder: your email is enough on its own, and the date we act on is the date you sent it, not the date we got round to it.

Section 3What happens after you cancel

You are not charged again. We stop the subscription so no further payment is taken.
Your site stays up until the end of the month you have already paid for. You have paid for that month, so you get it. It comes down at the end of it.
Your domain is transferred to you if you ask for it, and we do not charge you. Within 5 working days of you asking. If you never ask, we hold it and keep it renewed for 90 days, and you can still have it in that time. Full detail in the domain terms.
You can ask us for your content. We will send you the text and the photographs from your site. There is no automatic download, so you do need to ask. See what happens to your website.

Section 4Your 14-day cancellation right

Because you buy from us over the phone or online rather than face to face, consumers have a legal right to change their mind within 14 days. That right, in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, is written for people buying for themselves rather than for a business, so it does not automatically apply to a tradesperson buying a website for their work.

We give it to you anyway. We are not going to argue about whether a sole trader counts as a consumer. Every Deftly customer gets a 14-day right to change their mind, on the terms set out here, whether or not the law obliges us to give it.

The 14 days run from the day your first payment is taken. To use it, email hello@deftly.uk within those 14 days and say you are cancelling. You do not need to give a reason and you do not need to use any particular form of words.

By asking us to build and publish your site straight away, rather than waiting 14 days, you are asking us to start the service inside the cancellation period. That is normal and it is what everybody wants. It does mean that if you then cancel, what we have already done and already spent is taken into account, as set out below.

Section 5Getting money back

The setup fee, and why the domain is the awkward bit

Your first payment is the £99 setup fee. Part of that is building your site. Part of it is your domain name, which we buy with real money the moment you go ahead. Once a domain is bought, it cannot be handed back for a refund. It exists, and the money is gone.

If you change your mind in the first 14 days: we refund £74 of your £99, and you can still have the domain. Ask us and we transfer it into your name, and we do not charge you for that. The £25 we hold back covers the domain itself, which we have already bought and cannot hand back, and the work of registering it and getting you set up. No forms, no awkward phone call, and you do not need to give us a reason.

If we had not bought your domain yet when you told us, there is nothing to cover, so you get the whole £99 back.

After the first 14 days

We do not refund part-months. The subscription is monthly and rolling: you cancel, you are not billed again, and the site stays up until the end of the month you have already paid for. There is nothing to claw back because there is nothing paid in advance beyond that month.

If we have got something wrong

None of the above limits your legal rights. If the service is not carried out with reasonable care and skill, or is not what we described, you are entitled to have it put right or to get money back, and we will sort it out. Email us and tell us what has gone wrong. We would always rather fix it than argue about it.

How refunds are paid

Refunds go back to the card you paid with, through Stripe, within 14 days of us agreeing the refund. Your bank may take a few more days to show it.

Section 6If we end things

If we close your account for a reason that is not your fault, we refund the unused part of the month you have paid for, and we transfer your domain to you at no charge. See section 11 of the terms.

If we close your account because you have not paid, or because of a serious breach of the terms, there is no refund. You can still ask for your domain and we will still transfer it to you, and we will still not charge you for it.

Section 7If you are not happy with the outcome

Email hello@deftly.uk with "Complaint" in the subject line. We will acknowledge within 5 working days and answer properly within 20 working days. If you are still not satisfied, you can take the matter to court, and you can get free independent advice from Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 or at citizensadvice.org.uk.