Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. How escrow relates to refunds

When an organization books talent on Standby, the organization funds the booking up front and Standby holds that payment in escrow via Stripe. The money is not released to the talent until after the event finishes. Because the funds are held rather than immediately paid out, a refund before completion is usually straightforward: the escrowed amount is returned to the organization's original payment method, minus any fees noted below.

2. Organization cancels before the event

Talent turn down other work once they accept a booking, so cancellation terms depend on how much notice you give relative to the event start time:

• More than 7 days before the event: full refund of the booking amount. The 8% platform fee is refunded as well.
• 3 to 7 days before the event: 50% refund. The remaining 50% is released to the talent as a cancellation fee for holding the date and turning down other work.
• Less than 3 days (72 hours) before the event: no refund. The talent has committed to the date and is paid in full. The 8% platform fee is non-refundable at this stage.

These tiers are defaults. If a booking's written terms specify a different cancellation schedule that both parties agreed to, those terms control. Talent and organizations are always free to agree to a full or partial refund between themselves; if they do, tell us through the booking and we will process it.

3. Talent cancels, no-shows, or fails to deliver

If the talent cancels, does not show up, or does not deliver the role that was booked, the organization is protected. Because the payment is still held in escrow, we refund the organization from escrow; no funds are released to a talent who did not perform.

Where there is still time before or during the event, Standby will help source a replacement of comparable skill so the broadcast can go ahead. If a suitable replacement is booked, the escrowed funds are directed to the replacement talent and any difference is refunded to or collected from the organization as appropriate. If no replacement can be found, the organization is made whole with a full refund of the booking amount, including the platform fee.

4. How to request a refund

Request a refund through the affected booking on the Platform, or through our contact page. Include the booking details and a short explanation of what happened. We aim to acknowledge refund requests within 2 business days and to process approved refunds within 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank and card issuer.

Straightforward cancellations that fall clearly within the tiers above are handled directly. If the two sides disagree about what happened, for example the organization says the talent didn't deliver and the talent says they did, that becomes a contested case and is handled under our Dispute Policy, where both sides submit evidence and Standby makes the final call on how the escrowed funds are allocated.

5. Chargebacks are separate

Card-network chargebacks are handled by your bank and are separate from this policy. We ask that you use the refund and dispute process above rather than filing a chargeback, since it is faster and keeps the escrowed funds available for a fair outcome. The rules on chargebacks, including that fraudulent chargebacks are grounds for removal, are covered in our Terms of Service.

6. Contact

Questions about a refund, a cancellation, or this policy can be raised through your booking on the Platform or via our contact page.