Location: Oahu, Hawaii
Hi everyone,
A little over 6 months ago, some friends and I scheduled a class with a small business on Oahu. We paid through their website, and the owner reached out about adding additional services, which we were interested in adding. She asked us to pay the additional fee through (edit: it was CashApp, not Chime), which we did.
When it came time for our class, she cancelled the morning of and asked to reschedule. We agreed on a later date, but when that day arrived she ended up cancelling again. This time we asked for refunds instead, because our schedules were getting busier, and honestly after two day-of cancellations we were done trying to work with her.
She agreed to refund us in full, and said it could take up to ten business days for the payments through her website to be refunded. 10 days went by and only one person had their refund. The owner said she corrected it on her end and we should see the refund. When I finally got the email about the refund, it was for store credit rather than an actual refund. When I reached out, she said it was a mistake and she would have to work with Shopify to correct it. That was about a month ago.
For the chime payment, she has still not repaid me. She keeps making excuses. And now she isn’t responding to me.
It has now been 42 days since the refund process began. Between the two payments I’m out just under $400, and I’m freaking out. What is the best course of action to take to get my money back? Should I call the non-emergency police line and report it? I can’t afford to hire an attorney.
Her website policy states the following:
“$50 non-refundable booking fee included in your ticket
Your workshop is subject to 1 reschedule if unforeseen circumstances arise/low participation.
If the workshop date you book is the ONLY day you can come in, please let us know“
“If you are rescheduled, we will
A) work with you to book a seat in the next workshop that works for you, free of charge
B) provide you with a Gift Card that will honor your tickets in full for up to 5 years. The gift card is transferable or sellable.
C) Refund your tickets, minus the deposit. Your deposit will be on file & you can rebook within six months, at your convenience, using your $50 deposit.
If you can only come on the date you choose- please reach out to us and we will do our best to place you into a workshop that will work for you.”
“If anything arises on my end and [business name redacted] cannot perform our duties, your money is refundable in full within 30 business days”
“Refunds may take up to 30 days. Please be patient”