Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. Overview

This policy explains how refunds and cancellations work across the Coutari.ai platform, including the consumer-facing booking experience at CatchMeTonight (CMT). It applies to solo service providers, agencies, venues, and clients who book, pay, or receive payouts through Coutari.ai. Coutari.ai acts as the software platform; the underlying service (for example, a session, appointment, or venue booking) is delivered by the provider you book with. Unless stated otherwise, payments are processed by Stripe and refunds are returned to the original payment method.

Nothing in this policy limits rights you have under applicable consumer-protection law, including the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) in India, or equivalent laws in other jurisdictions.

2. Subscriptions (Solo, Agency, Venue)

Coutari.ai offers paid subscription plans for solo providers, agencies, and venues. The terms below apply to fees you pay directly to Coutari.ai for platform access.

• Free trial. You can cancel during any active free trial without charge. If the trial converts to a paid plan and you were not notified of the conversion, contact support within 7 days for a review.
• Monthly plans. Monthly fees are non-refundable once billed. You can cancel at any time and will retain access until the end of the current billing period; you will not be charged for the following month.
• Annual plans. If you cancel an annual plan within 14 days of the initial purchase or renewal, you are eligible for a pro-rata refund of the unused portion, less any amounts attributable to usage during that window. After day 14, annual fees are non-refundable and the plan remains active until the end of the paid term.
• Add-ons and overages. One-time add-ons (SMS credits, premium features, seat expansions) are non-refundable once consumed. Unused credits expire at the end of the billing term unless otherwise stated at purchase.
• Downgrades. Downgrades take effect at the next billing cycle. We do not issue mid-cycle refunds for downgrades.

3. Booking Deposits & Prepayments

When a client prepays or deposits against a booking with a provider or venue, the refund window is tied to how far in advance the booking is cancelled. Unless the provider publishes a stricter or more generous policy on their profile, the default schedule below applies.

• Cancellation 48 hours or more before the scheduled start: full refund of the deposit or prepayment, less non-refundable platform fees (see Section 4).
• Cancellation between 24 and 48 hours before start: 50% refund. The remaining 50% is retained by the provider to compensate for held capacity.
• Cancellation less than 24 hours before start, or no-show: no refund. The full prepayment is retained by the provider.
• Provider-initiated cancellation. If the provider or venue cancels, the client receives a full refund of the deposit and the platform fee.
• Force majeure.Where the service cannot be delivered due to events outside either party's reasonable control (for example, natural disaster, government order, serious illness with reasonable evidence), Coutari will, on request, facilitate a full refund or reschedule at no additional charge.
• Custom provider policies. Agencies and venues may set a different cancellation policy that is displayed before checkout. That policy, once accepted at booking, governs the transaction and supersedes the default schedule above.

Refunds for bookings are initiated by the provider (or by Coutari support when the provider is unreachable) and returned through Stripe to the original payment method. Depending on your bank, funds typically post within 5–10 business days.

4. Platform & Service Fees

Coutari.ai charges a platform fee on booking transactions to operate the marketplace, payment rails, discovery, and support. Consistent with industry practice, platform fees are non-refundable once a booking is confirmed, except in the following cases:

• The booking is cancelled by the provider or venue.
• The booking could not be delivered due to a verified platform outage on Coutari.ai's side.
• The booking is refunded in full under a force-majeure determination (see Section 3).

Payment processing fees charged by Stripe or other processors may be withheld from refunds where those processors do not return them to us. Where Stripe refunds the processing fee, we will pass that benefit to you.

5. Gift Cards & Vouchers

• Validity. Gift cards and vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of issue unless a shorter or longer period is printed on the voucher.
• Non-refundable. Gift cards and vouchers are non-refundable for cash, except where required by law.
• Transferability. Vouchers may be transferred to another recipient once. After redemption or transfer, the voucher is locked to the redeeming account.
• Partial redemption. Where a voucher is partially redeemed, the remaining balance stays on the voucher until expiry.
• Lost or stolen vouchers. We cannot replace lost, stolen, or unauthorised-shared vouchers after delivery.
• Provider closure. If a provider becomes permanently unavailable before a voucher is redeemed, Coutari.ai will, at its discretion, refund or reissue the unused balance.

6. Chargebacks & Payment Disputes

Before raising a chargeback with your bank, please contact Coutari.ai support at support@coutari.ai. In most cases we can resolve the issue directly and faster than a dispute process. Opening a chargeback while a support ticket is active may pause the refund flow until the bank dispute closes.

• We cooperate in good faith with bank and card-network disputes and will submit transaction evidence as required.
• Fraudulent or materially unfounded chargebacks may result in account suspension and recovery of any resulting processor fees from the responsible party.
• Where a dispute is resolved in your favour by the issuing bank, no additional refund is owed by Coutari.ai for the same transaction.

7. India — DPDP Act Compliance (§8.2)

For users in India, Coutari.ai handles refund-related personal data in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. This includes processing only what is necessary to action your refund or dispute, keeping records for the period required by tax and payment regulations, and letting you exercise access, correction, and grievance rights.

Grievance officer (India): Rishu Kalra. You can reach the grievance officer at privacy@coutari.ai with the subject line "Refund grievance". Postal correspondence: 4 Lorikeet St, Glenwood, NSW - 2768, Australia.

Response window. We acknowledge refund grievances within 48 hours and issue a substantive response within 30 days of receipt, in line with DPDP Act expectations. If we need more information from you to proceed, the clock pauses until you reply.

Escalation. If you are not satisfied with our resolution, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India in the manner prescribed under the DPDP Act and its rules.

8. How to Request a Refund

The fastest way to resolve a refund is from inside the app on the booking or invoice itself. If that is not possible:

1. Email support@coutari.ai from the email address on the account, with "Refund request" in the subject line.
2. Include: the booking or invoice ID, the reason, and any supporting detail (screenshots, receipts, correspondence with the provider).
3. We will acknowledge within 2 business days and, where eligible, initiate the refund through Stripe. Time to post to your account is set by your bank, typically 5–10 business days.
4. For help understanding the policy before you submit a request, see the Help Center.

9. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

This policy is governed by the laws of India. Subject to any mandatory consumer protections in your place of residence, disputes arising from or relating to this policy shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Nothing in this section prevents you from seeking remedies available to you under local consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction, including Australia (Australian Consumer Law), New Zealand (Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and Fair Trading Act 1986), and the United States (state and federal consumer-protection statutes).

For users in Australia, this policy does not exclude, restrict, or modify the application of any statutory guarantee under the Australian Consumer Law. For users in New Zealand, nothing in this policy overrides your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 where those rights apply. For users in the United States, depending on your state of residence, you may have additional rights under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the CPRA, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), or other applicable state legislation.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes (for example, changes to the refund windows in Section 3 or to the platform fee treatment in Section 4) will be communicated to active account holders by email or in-app notice at least 14 days before they take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

Bookings and subscriptions that were confirmed before a change takes effect remain governed by the policy that was in force at the time of that transaction.