Last Updated: July 28, 2023
As a nationwide marketplace for managing live experiences, Opendate, LLC. (“Opendate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) understands the importance of providing clear purchase expectations that are fair to both the event creators and consumers on our platform. Our "Organizer Refund Policy Requirements" outline the minimum requirements governing the refund policies of organizers of paid events ("Organizer," “you,” or “your”) hosted on Opendate, including when we expect you to issue refunds, and when we may issue refunds on your behalf, regardless of your refund policy.
The rights and obligations contained in these Requirements are in addition to and are incorporated into the Master Agreement Terms of Service and Ticketing Services Agreement by reference. Capitalized terms that are not defined in these Organizer Refund Policy Requirements have the definition provided in the Terms of Service or the Ticketing Services Agreement. In the event of a conflict between or among these Organizer Refund Policy Requirements, the Ticketing Services Agreement, and the Terms of Service, the following Order of Precedence will apply: first these Organizer Refund Policy Requirements, then the Ticketing Services Agreement, then the Terms of Service.
1. Refund Policies and Administration
1.1 Minimum Requirements.
We understand that refund policies vary depending on the type of event and the Organizer. We provide flexibility for you to post your own policies with respect to Your Opendate Events, so long as they meet the following minimum requirements:
(a) Refund policies must be posted on the applicable event page;
(b) “No refund” policies are permissible, but must be clearly identified as such and must otherwise comply with these minimum requirements (including the required exceptions where refunds would be granted, meaning they must provide for the “Specified Refunds” described below);
(c) Refund policies (including “no refund” policies) must provide for a refund or other accommodation through which you will “make good” on your obligations to your Consumers for the situations outlined in Section 1.2 Specified Refunds below. If you are offering your Consumers an event credit or other accommodation through which you will “make good” on your obligations to your Consumers in lieu of a purchase price refund, then
(d) Refund policies (including cash or credit refunds) must comply with all applicable local, state, provincial, national and other laws, rules and regulations, including all requirements imposed by Card Schemes or Alternative Payment Frameworks;
(e) Refund policies must include specific instructions on how to obtain a refund, including how, when and where to direct a refund request;
(f) Refund policies may not be changed retroactively, unless such changes operate to place impacted Consumers in an equal or better position as they were under the policy in place at the time of purchase;
(g) Refund policies must set out a specific time frame within which refund requests will be responded to, which should not exceed five (5) business days for a first response; and
(h) Refund policies must otherwise be fair and reasonable.
If a refund policy is not posted or does not meet these minimum requirements set forth above, we may (but have no obligation to) modify such refund policy to meet these minimum requirements. Such modification may take the form of prospectively making changes to your posted refund policy on the applicable event page or retroactively applying such changes at the time of a dispute, chargeback and/or refund request.
1.2 Specified Refunds.
(a) Your refunds policy must provide for refunds in the following situations:
The refunds described in Section 1.2(a) must be initiated by you. In the event we make such refunds on your behalf, we may use funds in your account, from related or unrelated events or otherwise, or invoice you directly, to fund these refunds.
(b) Regardless of your posted refunds policy, you are required to respond to all refund requests within five (5) business days and to issue refunds to ticket buyers in the following additional circumstances:
The refunds described in Section 1.2(b) must be initiated by you. However, as a limited payments agent, we are permitted, but not obligated, to make such refunds on your behalf in the event you fail to do so. We may use funds in your account, from related or unrelated events or otherwise, or invoice you directly, to fund these refunds. For the avoidance of doubt, Organizer authorizes Opendate to withdraw funds in your account via ACH debit to cover any refunds, Chargebacks or other related fees described in this Section 1.2(a)-(c) (Specified Refunds).
(c) Additionally, in the event we determine a refund is warranted in the following situations, we may, but are not obligated to, issue those refunds on your behalf, using funds in your account, from related or unrelated events or otherwise, or by invoicing you directly
The refunds described in this Section 1.2(c) may be initiated by us. However, you remain solely responsible for all refund obligations, and you must reimburse us in accordance with the Ticketing Services Agreement and these Organizer Refund Policy Requirements for any refunds that we make on your behalf.
All refunds described in Section 1.2(a), Section 1.2(b), and Section 1.2(c) shall collectively be referred to as “Specified Refunds.”
2. No Insurance or Guarantee
These Organizer Refund Policy Requirements do not create an obligation for Opendate to make refunds in connection with the circumstances described herein, or otherwise, nor does it create an obligation for Opendate to refund Event Proceeds or Fees. All determinations by us with respect to these Organizer Refund Policy Requirements, including without limitation the orders to be refunded and the size of any refund, may be made in our sole discretion and shall be final and binding on both you and your Consumers. These Organizer Refund Policy Requirements are not intended to be and do not constitute an offer to insure the performance of or to guarantee the performance of any Organizer and are not a guarantee that refunds will be issued in any given situation.
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