Refund Policy
We want you to be completely comfortable with your order. This policy explains when you can cancel, when you're entitled to a refund, and how to request one. It sits alongside your statutory rights under the UK Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
The short version
- Before your parcel reaches us: full refund minus transaction fees (typically £0.35–£0.50).
- After your parcel has arrived and been catalogued: no refund — the service has materially begun.
- If we make an error or the service fails: full refund or a replacement service at your choice.
1. Your statutory right to cancel
Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you ordinarily have fourteen (14) days from the day after placing an order with a UK trader to cancel without giving a reason. For services, that right applies except where you have expressly requested that service performance begin during the cancellation period.
By sending us your parcel, you request that service performance begin. Once the parcel physically arrives at our facility and is catalogued — which is when our work commences — the cancellation right under the Regulations no longer applies.
2. Cancelling before your parcel arrives
If you change your mind before your parcel reaches us, you can cancel at any time by emailing book.burial@webmatter.co.uk with your order reference number.
You will receive a refund of the order price minus:
- Non-refundable Stripe transaction fees (1.5% + £0.20 for UK/EU cards, typically £0.35–£0.70 per order). This fee is retained by Stripe, not by us.
Refunds are processed within five (5) working days of your cancellation request. The refund will be issued back to the original payment method. Depending on your card issuer, it may take a further 3–10 working days to appear on your statement.
If you have already posted your parcel when you decide to cancel, you'll need to recover it from the carrier (Royal Mail's Redirect / Return service) or accept that we will dispose of it as you instruct on receipt. We will not bury items for which we've refunded payment.
3. After your parcel has arrived
Once we've received, catalogued, and stored your parcel, the service has materially commenced and the statutory cooling-off period no longer applies. This is because:
- Labour has been expended receiving, inspecting, and shrouding the items.
- Storage has begun in our dedicated facility.
- A place has been reserved at the next pooled burial.
You may still ask us to halt the service and have your items returned — contact us by email and we will quote the return shipping cost. We cannot refund the original order price in this case, as work has been performed.
4. If something goes wrong on our side
If we fail to perform the service as described (for example, if a burial does not take place within twelve (12) months of parcel receipt for reasons solely within our control, or if we lose your items after they arrive with us), you are entitled to:
- A full refund of the order price, or
- A replacement service at no further cost to you (at your preference).
This is your statutory right under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and is not affected by anything in this policy.
5. Non-accepted items in your parcel
If your parcel contains items we don't accept (CDs, cassettes, ornaments, etc.), we will contact you with options:
- Return the non-accepted items to you at your cost (and bury the paper literature as ordered), or
- Hold the items until further instruction (up to 60 days), or
- Dispose of the non-accepted items on your written instruction.
If your parcel contains only non-accepted items, we will refund the order price in full minus Stripe fees and return the parcel at your cost.
6. How to request a refund
Email book.burial@webmatter.co.uk with:
- Your order reference number
- The email address used at checkout
- A brief explanation
We will acknowledge within two (2) working days and resolve within seven (7) working days.
7. Chargebacks
Please contact us before raising a chargeback with your bank. Chargebacks incur a fixed cost and often penalise small businesses unfairly when the underlying issue could be resolved directly. We're a small team and aim to respond quickly.
8. Questions
If anything in this policy is unclear, please contact us before placing an order.