This Refund Policy applies to paid subscriptions, additional business locations, promotional boosts and any other paid services purchased through Southern Directory.
Southern Directory is operated by Data Menu Limited. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Data Menu Limited, and “you” and “your” refer to the person or business purchasing the service.
1. Business-use services
Our paid directory services are intended primarily for businesses, sole traders, professionals, organisations and persons purchasing in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession.
By purchasing a paid service, you confirm that you are authorised to make the purchase for the relevant business or organisation.
If you are legally acting as a consumer, nothing in this policy excludes, restricts or replaces any statutory right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.
2. No general right to a refund
Except for an eligible accidental purchase of an additional location under section 6, payments are final and non-refundable once processed.
We do not provide refunds or account credit merely because:
- you change your mind after purchasing;
- you no longer require the listing or service;
- you do not use all or part of the service;
- you forget to cancel before a renewal;
- you remove, close or cease operating your business;
- you receive fewer visits, enquiries, sales or other commercial results than expected;
- your listing is suspended or removed because it breaches our terms, policies or verification requirements;
- you purchased the wrong subscription package, billing interval or promotional service; or
- you found a different service or price elsewhere.
3. Subscriptions and renewals
Monthly and annual subscriptions are charged in advance for the applicable billing period. Subscription payments, including renewal payments, are non-refundable except where required by law.
Cancelling a subscription prevents future renewal charges. Cancellation does not normally reverse a payment that has already been processed and does not create a right to a full or partial refund for the current billing period.
Unless we state otherwise, your paid features will remain available until the end of the billing period for which payment has already been received.
We do not provide prorated refunds for unused days, weeks, months, locations, listing capacity or account features.
4. One-off purchases and boosts
Charges for featured listing boosts, promotional placement, verification services, listing enhancements and other one-off services are non-refundable once purchased, scheduled, activated, supplied or made available to your account.
Purchasing promotional placement does not guarantee a specific search position, number of views, enquiry volume, customer response, sale or commercial outcome.
5. Additional business locations
Additional location purchases are generally non-refundable.
Once any information has been uploaded, entered, imported, submitted or published for the additional location, the purchase is treated as used and fulfilled. No refund will then be provided unless required by law.
This includes, without limitation, adding or submitting:
- a business name or trading name;
- an address, postcode or map location;
- telephone, email, website or social details;
- opening hours;
- descriptions, categories or services;
- logos, photographs, documents or other media; or
- any request for the location to be reviewed, verified or published.
6. Accidental additional-location purchases
We may provide a refund where an additional location was genuinely purchased by accident or duplicated unintentionally, but only where all of the following conditions are satisfied:
- the request relates solely to an additional-location charge;
- you contact us within 7 calendar days after the payment was processed;
- no information, content, images or documents have been uploaded or entered for that location;
- the location has not been submitted, reviewed, verified, published, promoted or otherwise used;
- you have not received or used any benefit arising from the additional location; and
- you provide sufficient evidence showing that the purchase was accidental or duplicated.
An accidental-purchase refund is not available for a base subscription, subscription renewal, featured boost, promotional service or any additional location that has already been used.
Meeting the above conditions allows us to review the request. It does not automatically establish entitlement to a refund where we reasonably identify account usage, fulfilment, fraud, abuse or conflicting evidence.
7. Unauthorised purchases
If you believe a payment was made without the authority of the account holder, payment-card holder or relevant business, you must notify us as soon as reasonably possible and, for review under this policy, within 7 calendar days after the payment was processed.
You should also contact your bank, card issuer or payment provider immediately if you believe your payment details or account have been used without permission.
The seven-day reporting period is our administrative deadline for direct review under this policy. It does not remove any separate legal rights you may have against your payment provider in relation to an unauthorised transaction.
We may temporarily suspend the relevant account, listing, location or service while an unauthorised-payment report is investigated.
8. Evidence required
Accidental and unauthorised purchase requests must contain enough information for us to identify and investigate the transaction. We may request:
- your full name and contact details;
- the account email address;
- the business or organisation name;
- the relevant company number, where applicable;
- the payment date and amount;
- the invoice, receipt or payment reference;
- an explanation of how the purchase occurred;
- evidence that the purchaser lacked authority or made the purchase accidentally;
- evidence showing that the location or service has not been used; and
- any other information reasonably needed to prevent fraud and determine the request.
9. How to submit a request
Requests must be sent to:
corporate@datamenu.co.ukFor an unauthorised purchase
Use the following email subject:
For an accidental purchase
Use the following email subject:
Requests sent elsewhere, submitted without sufficient transaction information or submitted using an unrelated subject line may take longer to identify and investigate.
10. Review and refund decisions
We will review the available payment, account and service records together with the evidence you provide.
We may refuse a request where:
- the request does not meet this policy;
- the service or additional location has been used or fulfilled;
- the evidence is incomplete, inconsistent or insufficient;
- our records show that the purchaser was authorised;
- the request appears fraudulent, misleading or abusive; or
- the request was made outside the applicable period and no legal exception applies.
Where a refund is approved, it will be returned to the original payment method wherever reasonably possible. We do not normally issue refunds to a different person, card, bank account or payment method.
The time taken for an approved refund to appear will depend on the relevant payment processor, bank or card issuer.
11. Faulty or incorrectly supplied services
If you believe a paid service was not supplied as described, was charged incorrectly or is affected by a material technical fault, you should contact us promptly and provide reasonable details of the issue.
Depending on the circumstances, we may correct the service, restore access, repeat performance, provide an account credit or issue a refund where expressly agreed or legally required.
A temporary interruption, planned maintenance period, third-party outage or issue outside our reasonable control does not automatically create a right to a refund.
12. Chargebacks and payment disputes
We ask that you contact us before initiating a chargeback or payment dispute so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve the matter.
Nothing in this section prevents you from exercising a lawful right to contact your bank, card issuer or payment provider. However, knowingly submitting a false, misleading or abusive payment dispute may result in account suspension, service termination and recovery action where permitted by law.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Refund Policy where necessary to reflect changes to our services, billing arrangements, business practices or legal obligations.
The version displayed when a payment was made will normally apply to that payment, except where a later change is required by law or provides greater protection.
14. Contact
Questions about this policy should be sent to:
Data Menu Limited
Email: corporate@datamenu.co.uk