The Ledger
Returns
Draft — pending review by Illinois counsel. Not yet in force.
In short
Physical goods may be returned within 30 days of delivery. A downloaded file cannot be returned — and that difference is stated here rather than discovered later.
Physical goods
- Return window
- 30 days from the date of delivery.
- Condition
- The item must be unused and complete, with any accessories, manuals, and seals intact. Original packaging should be kept where that is practical. An item that has been used is not returnable unless it is faulty.
- Return postage
- Monark Commerce pays return postage where an item is faulty, was mis-described, or was sent in error. Where an item is returned for any other reason, the customer pays return postage.
- Restocking fee
- None. Monark Commerce does not intend to charge one. If that ever changes, it will be published here before it applies to any order.
- Refund method
- To the original payment method. Refunds are not issued as credit, vouchers, or store balance unless the customer asks for that instead.
- Refund timing
- To be confirmed — the interval between a return being received and a refund being issued depends on the payment processor, which is not yet appointed. It will be stated here before the first order is accepted.
- Lost or damaged in transit
- An order that does not arrive, or arrives damaged, is replaced or refunded. The customer is not asked to pursue the carrier.
Digital products and software
This is different, and deliberately so.
A downloaded file cannot be returned. Once a digital product or software licence has been delivered — that is, once the download has been issued or the licence key made available — it is not returnable and not refundable, because delivery is complete and the file cannot be given back.
Three things follow from that, and all three work in the customer's favour:
- Everything that determines whether a digital product is right — what it is, what format it comes in, what it requires to run, and what the licence permits — is published on the product before purchase, not after.
- If a file is faulty, corrupt, incomplete, or materially different from what was described, it is replaced. If it cannot be made to work, it is refunded in full. "Non-refundable" does not mean "sold as seen".
- If a purchase was never delivered — no download, no licence — there is nothing to return, and it is refunded.
Where a subscription is billed monthly, it can be cancelled at any time from the account, without email and without an exit conversation. Cancelling stops the next charge; it does not refund the month already in progress.
This section states the position plainly on purpose. Ambiguity about whether a downloaded file can be returned is the single most common cause of a disputed charge, and it is easier for everyone if the answer is written down in advance.
Starting a return, and your statutory rights
To start a return, write to admin@monarkcommerce.com with the order reference and what is wrong. A return address and instructions are sent by reply. Nothing needs to be sent back before that reply arrives.
Nothing in these terms removes or limits any right a customer has under Illinois or United States consumer law. Where this policy and the law disagree, the law applies.