Cancellation and Refund Information

Tell me as early as you can

Whatever the position below, the practical answer is the same: email hello@alexanderwatson.co.uk as soon as you know. The earlier you tell me, the less work has been done and the simpler the outcome.

Consumer or business — I do not assume

Some cancellation rights apply only where you are buying as a consumer, that is, wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession. A website bought for a private practice will often be a business purchase, but that is not automatic and it is not for me to decide on your behalf.

I do not assume that you are either a consumer or a business. If you tell me which applies, I will confirm the position in writing. Nothing on this page is intended to remove or reduce any statutory right you may have. ⚖

If you are buying as a consumer

Where you buy a service online without meeting me in person, consumer protection law generally gives you a period of 14 days from the day the contract is made in which you may cancel without giving a reason. This is often called the cooling-off period. ⚖

Two things follow from that:

• If no work has started, you may cancel within that period and receive a full refund.
• If you have asked me to begin during that period — for example by sending your completed questionnaire and materials and asking me to start — you may still cancel, but you can be asked to pay a proportionate amount for the work already carried out. If the service has been fully performed within that period at your express request, the right to cancel may be lost altogether. ⚖

Because a Straightforward Website project only officially begins once your questionnaire and materials have been checked and I have confirmed a start date in writing, in practice most consumers who change their mind quickly will not have had any work carried out.

To cancel, a clear statement by email is enough. You do not need to use a particular form of words. [A model cancellation form should be provided and linked here if the statutory consumer regime applies.] ⚖

If you are buying for the purposes of your business

The statutory cooling-off period described above does not generally apply to business purchases. The position is then the one set out in the Straightforward Website Service Terms and summarised here. ⚖

The practical position, stage by stage

Before your project has officially begun

If you cancel before your questionnaire and materials have been checked and a start date confirmed, no build work has been done. A full refund will be made, less any payment processing fee that Stripe does not return to me. ⚖

After the project has begun, before the first version is delivered

A proportionate amount is retained for the work already carried out — setting up the project, reviewing and preparing your materials, and any build work done. The balance is refunded. I will show you how the figure was worked out.

After the first version has been delivered

By this point the substantial part of the work has been done. Refunds at this stage are not usually available, other than where the law requires it. If you no longer wish to continue, you may take the work as it stands. ⚖

After launch

Once the website has been approved by you and made live, the service has been delivered and the fee is not refundable, other than where the law requires it. Faults in what was delivered are corrected free of charge for thirty days after launch. ⚖

If I cannot proceed

If I am unable to continue with your project — through illness, capacity, or because I decline to publish content for the reasons given in the service terms — I will tell you in writing and refund the fee in proportion to the work not carried out.

If something is wrong with what I delivered

Ask me to put it right first. Where a service has not been carried out with reasonable care and skill, you may have a statutory right to have it done again or, in some circumstances, to a price reduction. Those rights are not affected by anything on this page. ⚖

Dormant projects

If a project goes quiet, I will send a written reminder after 30 days and treat it as dormant after 60 days. A dormant project can be restarted subject to availability. Dormancy does not by itself create a refund, and it does not by itself end the contract. ⚖

How refunds are made

Refunds are made through Stripe, to the card or payment method used for the original payment, normally within 14 days of the refund being agreed. The time it then takes to appear depends on your bank or card issuer.

Complaints

If we cannot agree, please put your complaint in writing to hello@alexanderwatson.co.uk. I will acknowledge within two working days and respond substantively within ten working days. [Consider whether an alternative dispute resolution route should be named here for consumer purchases.] ⚖

Draft version 0.1 — prepared 21 August 2026. Not legally approved, and not yet in force. Superseded versions are kept for reference.