Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. Scope & Definitions

GrailGuard provides a courier service. There is no physical product to return — we transport your item from point A to point B. This policy explains cancellations (before delivery is complete) and refunds (when we fail to deliver the service you paid for). Damage and loss are handled separately under our insurance policy.

For the avoidance of doubt, the following terms have the meanings below throughout this policy:

• Dispatch: the moment a GrailGuard courier accepts your booking and begins traveling to the pickup location. Dispatch is recorded by timestamp in our system and shown in your account dashboard.
• Pickup: the moment the courier takes physical custody of your item from the pickup location and completes the pickup chain-of-custody record (photo + signature).
• Delivery complete: the moment the recipient signs for the item and the courier captures the proof-of-delivery photo.

2. Cancellation by the Customer

You may request a cancellation at any time before delivery is complete by emailing support@grailguard.io or via your account dashboard. The refund amount depends on what stage your booking is in:

Before courier dispatch

100% refund, including service fees and insurance premium. Processed within 5–10 business days to the original payment method.

After dispatch, before pickup

The courier is en route. We refund your booking minus the actual costs already incurred — mileage, time, fuel, and any non-refundable third-party charges (e.g. tolls, parking, prepaid flight segments). The deduction is itemized on your refund receipt. Depending on route length and stage, the deduction can range from a nominal amount up to the full booking value.

After pickup

Once your item is in our custody, the booking is non-refundable. If you need the item returned to the pickup address rather than delivered to the destination, we will do so at the regular booking rate for the reverse trip — this is a new booking, not a refund.

Multi-leg deliveries

For bookings that span multiple legs (e.g. pickup → airport → destination), each leg is evaluated separately under the rules above. Cancelling mid-route after the first pickup applies the "after pickup" rule to any leg already in custody.

3. Refunds for Service Failure

You are entitled to a full or partial refund — independent of the cancellation rules above — if GrailGuard fails to deliver the service you paid for. The following are the only documented service-failure conditions:

• Courier no-show: the courier did not arrive within 4 hours of the scheduled pickup window, and we did not notify you of a delay.
• Failure to deliver by the agreed date: excluding delays caused by any event listed in §4 below.
• Material breach of the booking terms that affected the delivery outcome: e.g. a broken chain of custody, missing required tracking milestones, or improper handling that materially affected the service delivered. Minor or technical deviations that did not affect the outcome are not material breaches.
• Confirmed loss in transit: the item cannot be located after a reasonable search. Loss claims also trigger an insurance payout; the refund covers the booking fee, the insurance covers the item's declared value.

Time limit for refund requests: all refund requests under this policy must be submitted within thirty (30) days of the booking date or fourteen (14) days of delivery, whichever is later. Requests submitted after this window will not be processed, except where required by applicable law or by your card-network chargeback rules.

4. Reasons That Do Not Qualify for a Refund

To set expectations clearly, the following situations are not grounds for refund:

• Recipient refused delivery (the item was successfully transported; we delivered the service).
• Customer-provided pickup or delivery address was incorrect, incomplete, or otherwise caused a failed delivery attempt.
• Customer changed their mind after booking and cancelled after dispatch (use the cancellation rules in §2).
• Item arrived as booked but the customer is dissatisfied with the underlying transaction (we transport; we are not a party to the transaction between buyer and seller).
• Delays or non-performance caused by events outside our reasonable control, including but not limited to: weather, flight cancellations or rebookings, airport closures, customs holds, security holds, government action or restrictions, quarantine, epidemics or pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, civil unrest, labor strikes or work stoppages (including third-party carriers), utility or internet outages, acts of God, or any other event meeting the legal definition of force majeure.

5. Damage or Loss Claims

Damage and loss go through our insurance process, not this refund policy. The full claims procedure — including timelines, evidence requirements, and payout caps — is on the insurance page. In short:

• Inspect your item at delivery and document any damage immediately (photos, signed inspection sheet).
• File the claim within 48 hours of delivery (or of the missed delivery date for loss claims) by emailing support@grailguard.io with the subject line "Claim — [your booking ID]", or via the claim form.
• Insurance payouts are capped at the declared value selected at booking. Standard published coverage is up to $25,000; declared values above that scale up to $500,000 per shipment with the insurance premium shown at checkout; declared values above $500,000 require manual underwriting at booking. Under-declaring caps the payout — you cannot retroactively raise the cap after a loss.

6. How Refunds Are Paid

Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method (the card or wallet used at booking). We cannot redirect a refund to a different card or to a check. Processing time:

• Card payments: 5–10 business days for the credit to appear on your statement (Stripe + your bank's posting cycle).
• Apple Pay / Google Pay: same as card; the refund posts to the underlying card.
• Account credit (referral, courtesy): applied to your GrailGuard balance immediately, available for your next booking.

If your refund hasn't appeared after 10 business days, contact support@grailguard.io with your booking ID. We will provide the Stripe refund ID for you to share with your card issuer.

7. Disputes & Chargebacks

If you believe a refund decision was wrong, contact support@grailguard.io first — most refund disputes resolve faster through us than through your card issuer. We aim to respond within 2 business days and to close all refund disputes within 30 days.

Filing a chargeback before contacting us suspends our ability to process a voluntary refund and may delay resolution. Where a chargeback is filed, we will submit to the card network the evidence described in §11A of our Terms of Service, including booking confirmation, declared value, pickup and delivery timestamps and GPS traces, chain-of-custody photos, recipient signature, and your correspondence with support. Your chargeback rights under your card agreement are not affected by this policy.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Changes apply to bookings made after the update date — bookings already in flight are governed by the policy in effect at the time of booking.

9. Reservation of Rights

This policy supplements, and does not replace, our Terms of Service and Insurance Policy. In the event of a conflict between this policy and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service control as to matters of liability, limitation, governing law, and dispute resolution. Nothing in this policy waives any right we have under the Terms of Service or applicable law, and nothing here is intended to limit any non-waivable rights you may have under your state's consumer-protection statutes.