Refund & Payment Policy

1. Try Before You Pay

Every exam on Merit Loom has free sample problems available without signing in, plus a Base Set of practice questions unlocked after creating a free account. We strongly encourage you to explore these before subscribing — they give you a clear sense of question style, difficulty, and platform UX.

Once you've decided a paid plan is right for you, you can subscribe to a specific exam, language (for FIDE), and CEFR level.

2. Accepted Payment Methods

All payments are processed securely through Paddle, our merchant of record. Paddle handles checkout, billing, tax collection, and remittance on our behalf.

We accept major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and a range of local payment methods where supported by Paddle, including UPI in India, iDEAL, Bancontact, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal in eligible regions. Available methods are shown automatically at checkout based on your country.

3. Currency, Taxes and Pricing

Prices are displayed in your local currency where possible, and otherwise in USD or EUR. The exact amount you will be charged — including any applicable VAT, GST, or sales tax — is shown on the pricing page and again in the Paddle checkout before you confirm payment.

Tax rates are determined by your billing country and applied automatically by Paddle. Where a tax invoice is required, Paddle will issue one to the email address on your account after payment.

4. Subscriptions and Billing Cycle

Paid plans are billed monthly and auto-renew on the same calendar day each month using your saved payment method. Each plan grants access to one exam at one CEFR level (and one language for FIDE). To cover multiple exams, languages, or levels, separate subscriptions are required.

You will receive an email receipt from Paddle for every successful charge. If a renewal payment fails, Paddle will retry automatically and notify you; access may be paused until a successful charge is made.

5. Cancellations

You can cancel any active subscription at any time from your dashboard. Cancellation stops all future renewals — you will not be charged again for that plan.

Cancellation does not trigger a refund. You keep full access to the cancelled plan until the end of the current paid billing period, after which access ends automatically. You can resubscribe anytime from the pricing page.

6. Refund Policy

All purchases on Merit Loom are final. We do not offer refunds, partial refunds, or pro-rated credits for unused time on a paid period, for plans you no longer wish to use, or for changes of mind after purchase.

This policy exists because all paid content is unlocked immediately upon successful payment and is fully accessible for the duration of your billing period. Cancelling at any time prevents future charges.

Mandatory statutory refund rights under applicable consumer protection law (for example, certain rights for EU/UK consumers on digital content) are not affected by this policy.

7. Failed, Duplicate or Unauthorized Charges

If you notice a duplicate charge, a charge for a plan you did not knowingly purchase, or a charge that appears unauthorized, contact us within 30 days of the transaction date. Include the email on your account and the Paddle order or transaction ID from your receipt.

We will investigate and, where the charge is confirmed as a duplicate or unauthorized, work with Paddle to issue a corrective refund through your original payment method.

8. Discounts and Promo Codes

From time to time we may offer discount codes (such as the early-bird voucher). Discount codes are applied during checkout in the Paddle modal and the discounted total is displayed before you pay.

Unless explicitly stated, voucher discounts apply to a single checkout payment only — not to future recurring renewals of the same subscription. Discount codes cannot be applied retroactively to past purchases.

9. Disputes and Chargebacks

We ask that you contact us first before initiating a chargeback through your bank or card issuer. In most cases we can resolve billing concerns directly and far more quickly than a formal chargeback process.

Filing a chargeback without first contacting us may result in your account being suspended pending review. If a chargeback is filed and resolved in our favour, we reserve the right to refuse future service.

10. Contact for Billing Issues

For any billing, payment, or subscription question, please reach out via our contact page using the "Billing Inquiry" category, or email billing@meritloom.com. Including your account email and the Paddle order ID helps us respond faster — typically within 3 business days.