Electronic Card Payment Refunds
Retail and Fundraising Electronic Card Payments Refund Policy
The work of the Retail, Fundraising and Communications and Marketing teams at St Oswald’s Hospice will be Legal, Open, Honest and Respectful, and will aim to adhere to best practise as formalised by the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practise and guidance from the likes of the Charity Retail Association.
For electronic card payments, donations and e-commerce we must ensure we comply with standards that apply to electronic payments, such as the Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard (PCI- DSS) for processing card transactions.
This policy applies to electronic card payment transactions both where the donor / customer is or is not present.
Refunding Donations
When a donation is made over the telephone using a credit or debit card, St Oswald’s Hospice donors are provided with relevant financial statements such as email confirmation or the Direct Debit Guarantee, including their rights to cancel or be refunded within three days of the donation. Any refunds requested will be given in line with guidance below and where donors correctly exercise their rights to a refund as part of the direct debit guarantee.
If an error has been made as part of a one-off donation, or a donor changes their mind about donating to St Oswald’s Hospice, we will refund the donation provided that the donor makes contact within 7 days of making the donation. The refund will be credited to the card from which it was taken. Donations must only be refunded in line with any policies or in exceptional circumstances. It may not be lawful to return a donation and fundraisers must take advice from legal advisers or the Charity Commission before doing so.
Supporters can request refunds for donations that have been made via an online giving platform (e.g, JustGiving, Facebook Donate) if it falls within the first 7 days of making the donation or if the reason for the donation no longer exists. This could be due to a challenge event being cancelled, or the sponsored participant becoming injured. In this case, the supporter that made the donation must contact St Oswald’s Hospice directly in order to request a refund and it will be credited to the card from which it was originally taken. All donation refunds via online giving platforms must be authorised by St Oswald’s Hospice before refunding. Donations over 6 months old must be processed directly with St Oswald’s Hospice and not the original online platform.
If an individual’s sponsorship money is given on the basis of completing an event (e.g. The London Marathon) and the event is cancelled, or a participant is unable or unwilling to take part or complete the event for any reason, the participant must contact donors and ask if they are still happy for sponsorship monies to go the organisation. If not, the donation must be refunded to the relevant donors. If sponsorship is already in possession of the charity (e.g. the donation has been made through an online platform) then the relevant donor must contact the charity directly to arrange a refund. Refunds will be given in accordance with this policy and the original system used to make the donation of sponsorship.
Online trading, trading subsidiaries and e-commerce
St Oswald’s Hospice and St Oswald’s Promotions governing documents stipulate the way we trade in compliance with Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
If merchandise sales or fundraising events (such as challenge events) are carried out through a trading subsidiary (e.g. Different Travel or Wild In Art), St Oswald’s Hospice must make this clear on relevant communications and web pages.
St Oswald’s Hospice must ensure that descriptions and images of goods are sufficiently accurate that donors/customer are not misled about what they are buying.
St Oswald’s Hospice must comply with legal requirements as to delivery, cancellation, refunds and returns and have the following policy in place that sets out processes and timings for potential customers.
In brief: Delivery, Cancellation, Refunds and Returns
- Online, mail and telephone order customers have the right to cancel their order for a limited time even if the goods aren’t faulty.
- You may cancel your order (or any part of it) and return your Products for any reason before dispatch (where applicable) or within 30 days after the date of purchase.
- You will lose your right to cancel after the expiry of the 30 day period, this does not affect your rights if there is any problem with the Products.
- You must arrange for the return of the Product(s) as soon as possible and in any event not later than 14 days after the day on which you cancel your order.
- Refunds will be given back on to the electronic payment card that was used to pay for the original order.