Refund Policy

SigmaThesis wants you to be confident in your purchase. Our refund policy is built on three principles: fair to honest users, protective against abuse, and compliant with EU consumer law.

Payments are processed by Paddle, our Merchant of Record. Paddle also operates its own buyer protection program — you can request a refund either from us or directly from Paddle.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, you have a statutory right to withdraw within 14 calendar days of your purchase under the EU Consumer Rights Directive (Directive 2011/83/EU).

This right applies to both new Pro subscriptions and credit pack purchases, with one important exception: once you have used the digital service (consumed AI credits, generated theses, etc.), and you provided express consent to start service immediately, the cooling-off period may end early for the consumed portion. You retain the right to a pro-rated refund for unused credits at our discretion.

Within 14 days of first subscribing: full refund, provided you have not consumed more than 10% of your monthly credit allotment (i.e., fewer than 10 AI credits used in your first billing period).

After the cooling-off period: subscriptions are non-refundable for partial months. You can cancel anytime from your account settings; you retain Pro access until the end of the current billing period, after which billing stops.

Renewal charges: if you forgot to cancel and were charged for a renewal you did not intend, contact us within 7 days of the charge for a full refund — provided you have not used AI features in the new period.

Unused credit packs: full refund within 14 days of purchase if no credits from the pack have been consumed.

Partially used credit packs: refunds may be issued at our discretion on a pro-rated basis. Credits are a digital good; once consumed, the corresponding portion of the purchase cannot be refunded.

If the Service is materially broken — AI calls fail repeatedly, data feeds are unavailable, your account is locked through no fault of your own — and we cannot resolve the issue within a reasonable time, you are entitled to a full or partial refund regardless of the cooling-off period. We take service quality seriously; tell us if something is broken and we will make it right.

We may decline a refund request in the following cases:

• Substantial use of the service in the period being refunded (e.g., generated 50+ AI theses on a Pro subscription)
• Account terminated for violation of our Terms of Service (e.g., scraping, abuse)
• Refund request more than 90 days after the original charge
• Pattern of repeat refunds suggesting abuse of the policy

These exceptions do not override mandatory EU consumer rights where applicable.

Two ways to request a refund:

1. Contact us directly: email support@sigmathesis.com with the subject "Refund request". Include:

• The email address on your SigmaThesis account
• The Paddle order ID (from your purchase confirmation email)
• Reason for the refund (optional, but helps us improve)

2. Through Paddle directly: Paddle offers a customer help portal where you can request refunds without contacting us first.

We respond to refund requests within 3 business days. If approved, refunds are processed by Paddle and typically appear on your card or bank statement within 5–10 business days.

If you have a billing concern, please contact us before initiating a chargeback with your bank. Chargebacks are expensive for everyone — including for honest users, since they raise costs across the platform. We process legitimate refunds quickly and fairly; opening a chargeback without first asking us forces an investigation that can lock your account temporarily.

Fraudulent chargebacks (e.g., claiming you didn't authorize a purchase you actually made) may result in permanent account termination and being added to industry fraud-prevention databases.

Refunds are issued in the same currency as the original purchase, to the same payment method. If your bank applied an FX conversion when you paid, the refunded amount in your local currency may differ slightly from the original due to exchange-rate fluctuations. We refund the original transaction amount in the original currency.

We may update this Refund Policy from time to time. Changes apply only to purchases made after the update; existing customers retain the policy that was in effect at the time of their purchase. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision.

Questions about refunds? Email us at support@sigmathesis.com. For other contact options, see the contact page.