Refund policy

Last updated: 2026-04-30

Buyer payments are held in escrow via Stripe authorisation, not immediately captured. This means a failed or disputed trade can be refunded without ever moving money — Stripe simply releases the authorisation. Captured trades follow a 30-day clawback window before settlement is final.

Pre-capture: authorisation release

Until the trade reaches the CAPTURED state, the buyer's card has only been authorised, not charged. Authorisation releases automatically in these cases:

• TRADE_FAILED — operator-confirmed failure (verification provider mismatch, seller withdrew, KYC review failed).
• TRADE_TIMEOUT — no transaction-nonce posted within 24 hours of NONCE_ISSUED.
• Buyer no-claim — seller released handle but buyer did not claim within 7 days.

Authorisation hold ends within 7 days; some banks may show the pending charge for slightly longer.

Post-capture: 30-day clawback window

Once captured, payment moves to a 30-day SETTLEMENT_HOLD before the seller's Connect account is paid out. Within this window:

• A buyer may raise a dispute. If the dispute is resolved in the buyer's favour, payment is refunded directly from escrow (no clawback from seller).
• Wausernames may unilaterally refund if we detect fraud, sanctions match, or handle-recovery activity by the seller.

Post-settlement: dispute-driven refunds via insurance fund

After SETTLEMENT_HOLD ends and the seller is paid, wausernames cannot claw back the funds from the seller's bank account. If a buyer can prove the handle was not genuinely transferred (or was recovered by the seller), we make the buyer whole from the insurance fund — funded by 1% of every capture.

Insurance fund payouts are decided by the dispute resolution process (see Dispute resolution). The buyer is made whole; the seller is reported and may face listing bans, KYC tier downgrade, or legal action if the conduct was fraudulent.

Card chargebacks

UK / EU buyers retain their statutory right to dispute a card payment with their bank. Where a chargeback is filed against a captured trade, we provide Stripe with the trade record (verification log, About-field history, KYC tier, prior trades) and let the chargeback process run alongside our internal dispute. We do not attempt to suppress chargebacks.

Currency and processing fees

Refunds are issued in the original currency of the capture. We do not deduct processing fees from refunds — Stripe's processing fees are absorbed by wausernames out of the take rate.

How to request a refund

From the trade detail page (linked from your account), choose “Open a dispute”. We respond within 48 hours for trades up to £25,000 and within 14 days via external arbitration above £25,000.

Contact

Refund questions: [email protected]