SO YOU'D LIKE TO CANCEL...
**UPDATE**
As of August 2022, I finally have the option to PAUSE a subscription! It is limited to 30 or 60 days at this time but hey -- that's better than anything we've had up to this point! If you'd like a pause, please email me directly.
While I hate to see folks leave us, I recognize that life gets in the way sometimes.
I have strict cancellation policies and I'd like to outline them here, along with letting you know the easiest way to cancel your membership.
The minute you cancel, you will likely be REMOVED FROM EVERYTHING Beyond the Brushes related. Both the core lessons and the community will likely be removed from your account instantly. I do NOT go in and manually remove people who request to cancel. The company that built the website infrastructure has programmed that task to happen automatically in the background. It is 100% automated and out of my control. I cannot make exceptions when you're immediately removed. I'm sorry.
REFUND POLICIES
Your monthly subscription will automatically renew, however, the power of cancellation is always in your hands.
If you do not wish to continue your Beyond the Brushes monthly subscription, please make sure you cancel before it renews. The minute you cancel, you will likely be REMOVED FROM EVERYTHING Beyond the Brushes related. You can easily control the date you cancel so that you keep access for most of the month. Don't want to forget to cancel before your renewal? Set a calendar alert 2-3 days before your renewal date to remind you.
This is a subscription service BY THE MONTH. There is NO PRORATING OF ACCOUNTS FOR PARTIAL MONTHS. If you never signed in, there are still no refunds. If you fail to follow the cancellation instructions properly and you are charged again, there are still no refunds. Your failure to act or follow the cancellation instructions is not my responsibility.
Due to credit card processing fees, there are absolutely NO REFUNDS on monthly subscriptions. Period. There are fees to accept the charge and more fees to refund the charge. I shouldn't be expected to go into the red when cancellation is completely within your control at all times.
If you cancel the day after your card is charged at the beginning of the month and you're removed from all content, I cannot refund you for that month. As stated above, you can easily control the date you cancel so that you keep access most of the month.
Your semi-annual subscription will automatically renew, however, the power of cancellation is always in your hands.
If you do not wish to continue your Beyond the Brushes semi-annual subscription, please make sure you cancel before it renews. The minute you cancel, you will likely be REMOVED FROM EVERYTHING Beyond the Brushes related. You can easily control the date you cancel so that you keep access for the six months for which you've paid. Don't want to forget to cancel before your renewal? Set a calendar alert 2-3 days before your renewal date to remind you.
What happens if you didn't cancel before renewal and now you really want a refund on your semi-annual subscription...
Semi-annual subscriptions receive a discount off the monthly subscription for paying in advance. If you would like to request a refund after your semi-annual subscription renews, you must do so within 30 days of the semi-annual subscription charge. There are NO REFUNDS if your request is made more than 30 days after the charge. If you request a refund, you are obligated to pay for a single month subscription at the standard monthly rate ($39), plus all credit card processing fees ($15 -- these are the fees levied by the credit card company to accept and refund the charge), as well as a manual processing fee of $15 to cover the staff time required to manually refund the charge and manually remove you from all parts of Beyond the Brushes. This is a total of $69 cancellation fee.
There is NO PRORATING OF ACCOUNTS FOR PARTIAL YEARS. If you never signed in, there are still no refunds after 30 days. If you fail to follow the cancellation instructions properly and you are charged again, you are liable for the cancellation fee of $69. Your failure to act or follow the cancellation instructions is not my responsibility.
Your annual subscription will automatically renew, however, the power of cancellation is always in your hands.
If you do not wish to continue your Beyond the Brushes annual subscription, please make sure you cancel before it renews. The minute you cancel, you will likely be REMOVED FROM EVERYTHING Beyond the Brushes related. You can easily control the date you cancel so that you keep access for the year for which you've paid. Don't want to forget to cancel before your renewal? Set a calendar alert 2-3 days before your renewal date to remind you.
What happens if you didn't cancel before renewal and now you really want a refund on your annual subscription...
Annual subscriptions receive a discount off the monthly subscription for paying in advance. If you would like to request a refund after your annual subscription renews, you must do so within 30 days of the annual subscription charge. There are NO REFUNDS if your request is made more than 30 days after the charge. If you request a refund, you are obligated to pay for a single month subscription at the standard monthly rate ($39), plus all credit card processing fees ($25 -- these are the fees levied by the credit card company to accept and refund the charge), as well as a manual processing fee of $15 to cover the staff time required to manually refund the charge and manually remove you from all parts of Beyond the Brushes. This is a total of $79 cancellation fee.
There is NO PRORATING OF ACCOUNTS FOR PARTIAL YEARS. If you never signed in, there are still no refunds after 30 days. If you fail to follow the cancellation instructions properly and you are charged again, you are liable for the cancellation fee of $79. Your failure to act or follow the cancellation instructions is not my responsibility.
Chargeback Policy a.k.a. "disputing a credit card charge"
There is absolutely no acceptable reason to do this. Chargebacks are intended for disputing charges you didn't make (i.e. some thief used your credit card to book a cruise to Fiji 🛳🤦♀️). Chargebacks are not for subscriptions you "forgot" to cancel or because you failed to follow cancellation instructions properly.
Many people do not realize this...
I am considered a "merchant".
Merchants must pay a fee to dispute a chargeback.
This means I get to pay a fee just to prove I didn't charge the accuser fraudulently.
Merchants must take time to respond to the chargeback.
This means, instead of recording classes for members who love BTB, I get to spend multiple hours providing proof to the accuser's bank that I did not charge them fraudulently.
Merchants have their financial accounts partially frozen.
This means my account will be frozen for an amount *above* the original charge to cover all the potential fees should I lose the dispute.
Merchants can be charged additional fees.
This means, in the event that the accuser's bank decides I did charge them fraudulently (unlikely), not only would I lose the full subscription cost, I would be charged for accepting the subscription, I would be charged for refunding the subscription, I would be charged for defending the charge, and I would be charged for losing the defense (this fee can vary and is sometimes sizeable!). That's a lot of charges, y'all!
Merchant financial accounts can be partially frozen for months.
This means funds in excess of the accuser's original charge that are rightfully mine, funds that I use to keep the BTB "lights on", funds that I use to feed my kids, funds that I use to feed my chickens and piglets 😂... all these funds will be dishonestly withheld from me because the accuser filed a chargeback saying I defrauded them. The bank will keep my account frozen until the accuser's bank gets around to reviewing the proof that they were not fraudulently charged. It takes **months** y'all. They are going to hold these funds for **months** because of the fraud accusation.
So who's defrauding whom in this scenario???
Initiating a chargeback is NOT an acceptable thing to do because you "forgot" to cancel your subscription or failed to follow the cancellation instructions properly.
It might not be punishable by law, but anyone who does this is the one *really* committing fraud.
In plain speak, by initiating a chargeback, a fraudulent accusation has been made accusing me of being a thief. I am then forced to prove that I'm not a thief. I will be treated as guilty until I am able to prove myself innocent. 🙄
This is not ok!
What should you do instead?
Let's say you forgot to cancel your BTB subscription and you were charged. Please just follow the cancellation instructions on this page.
If you're a monthly subscriber, once you cancel, you're all set. You won't be charged again.
If you are a semi-annual or annual subscriber, if it has been less than 30 days since the charge, once your subscription is canceled, all you need to do is email me and request a refund. YES, there is a cancellation fee (it covers the fixed costs that I incur), but I will be happy to issue a refund less the fixed costs.
What happens when someone issues a chargeback?
Long story short, I have my account frozen for several hundred dollars and I get to spend many, many hours of time sending proof to the accuser's bank that they are lying about the charge being fraudulent.
In the end, it's highly unlikely I'll actually lose the dispute because my system tracks and provides all sorts of proof for these sorts of things.
That said -- the whole frozen account when I haven't done anything wrong absolutely fries me!
IT IS NOT OK TO DO THIS TO ANYONE. Please do not ever do this to a merchant unless the charge is legitimately fraudulent! (We all know credit card thieves are real and those charges SHOULD be disputed 100% of the time). If the charge was one you made and you simply dispute it with your credit card company rather than dealing directly with the merchant, you are potentially putting the merchant in a financial bind by doing so. This is never, ever ok!
Are there repercussions for issuing a chargeback for a BTB subscription payment?
Considering this is a simple issue that an email would fix 99.9999% of the time - YES, there are severe repercussions for issuing a chargeback for your BTB subscription...
Anyone who issues a chargeback for their Beyond the Brushes subscription will be *PERMANENTLY* banned from this platform.
Period.
End.
I'm not playing on this one. There's no coming back from it. Not ever. It's a pain in the neck to deal with and it's gonna burn a bridge with me forever if you put me in the position of having to prove to your bank that I'm not a thief.
I'm disappointed that I even have to have this kind of policy in place to be quite honest. I'm a lot of things, but a thief isn't one of them. My email box is always open and I do everything I can to work with people. This policy shouldn't even be necessary... but sadly, it is. 😢
Don't dispute your BTB subscription charge with your credit card company, ok?
Please and thank you 😊
Can I pause my subscription rather than cancel?
As of August 2022, I finally have the option to PAUSE a subscription! It is limited to 30 or 60 days at this time but hey -- that's better than anything we've had up to this point! If you'd like a pause, please email me directly.
If you choose to cancel a few things will happen:
- You will not be allowed back in until public enrollment (you might have to wait 6 MONTHS or more.)
- You will LOSE your current rate when you cancel. You will be reenrolled at the new, potentially higher rate.
Here's how to cancel:
1. Log in to your elevateyourart.com account.
2. Click on your Avatar in the top right of the page.
3. Select Settings from the dropdown.
4. Click Billing Info in the top right of the page.
5. Click the cancel button next to the Beyond the Brushes subscription.
6. Confirm and confirm again that you'd like to cancel.
7. When the screen refreshes, you should be shown your final date of access which may be the day of cancellation.
I hate to see you go, but at the same time, I totally understand how hectic life can be.
~Michelle
