Refunds

All student groups sell memberships and products to their members, staff, and the public. Those individuals have rights which include the right to a refund in some cases. As well as this, there may be times when a refund will need to be offered to those individuals which include:  

  • Within 14 days of purchase if requested 

  • Sometimes, if an activity, event, or trip you have paid for has been cancelled 

  • If the advertised product changes from when it was originally purchased. 

Any purchase made by a member or non-member is subject to the terms of use outlined on our website. 

There are a few different types of refund processes that a CSP can take to action refunds. Below outlines information about the type of refund, the process, and the request form you need to complete to take them.  

To process any refunds you will need to provide the product name, product code and the full price. Once you have submitted a refund request below, it will take the Union 5 working days to process it, and then it will take up to 10 working days for it to show in the individuals bank account. 

Types of Refund

  • Mass Refunds (All purchases)

    A mass refund is where you can refund all ticketholders for the trip/tour/event/activity/product in question.  
     
    As a committee, if you know an event has been cancelled or your members are owed a refund, you can request a Mass Refund (all purchases) to speed up the process of getting the refunds actions.  

    The benefits of offering a mass refund are: 

    • Less enquiries from members requesting refunds 
    • Less administration for your CSP 
    • Less effort for your members and therefore a better 'customer' experience 
    • Speedier Refunds 
       

    To action the refund, you just need to submit a request using the button below. You will need to provide at least the product name, code and price for us to action this.  

    Request A Mass Refund Here

  • Mass Refunds (Partial Amounts)

    Events can be non-refundable or only partially refundable because part of the supply chain also being non-refundable. This means you may want to issue all purchases only a partial refund for a certain amount. You can do this by requesting a mass refund (partial amount) but as above you will need the product name, product code and the full price and the amount you wish to partial refund each person. 

    Request A Mass Refund (Partial Amounts) Here

  • Mass Refunds (Select Individuals Only)

    We know our systems sometimes allow overselling or sometimes you allow lots of purchasers the ability to cancel because you have limited space. You can provide the Union with a list of specific individuals who you want to refund out. You can attach this list as a spreadsheet to your refund request.

    The benefits of using this option is that you can reach out to your members if an event is cancelled and ask if they would like to donate their refund so it counts as a donation towards your CSP income.  And then only process the refunds for individuals who would like their funds back. 

    Request A Mass Refund (Select Individuals) Here

  • Individual Refunds

    There are many reasons an individual may want a refund for a product, such as injury and inability to attend anymore, change of their plans, bought too many tickets, etc. Below walks you through the refund process for these refunds. 

    Step 1:  

    A Student who wants a refund should email the President or Treasurer of the club asking for a refund with an explanation of why they need one. Including the following information:  

    • Your Name 
    • Order Number 
    • Product Name  
    • Product Price 


    Step 2: 
    If approved, the President/Treasurer will complete a refund request form.

    Request An Individual Refund Here

    If declined, the President/Treasurer will reply to the student explaining why their request has been declined. A student can appeal this decision to the DPCS. If an appeal is upheld, the Union will action the refund and notify the CSP.  

    Step 3:

    The Union Activities team will complete the refund request within 5 working days via e activities. The money will be refunded to the card the student initially used to make the product payment and will take up to 5 working days to clear into the account from the day the refund was processed. 

     


Making Events Non-Refundable 

In some cases, you may want to make your event ticket non-refundable, e.g. a race entry, etc, usually when your club has organised something that has a non-refundable cost in, e.g. ground hire, that could be cancelled, e.g. by bad weather. 

To do this, state on the shop product description "In the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as bad weather, causing the cancellation of this event, this shop product is non-refundable. This statement supersedes the Imperial College Union Terms of Use.".  

Note: If the event is cancelled and the customer has a screenshot showing the shop product without this statement, they will be entitled to a full refund. 

CSP’s Not responding to Refund Requests  

It is the responsibility of CSP’s selling products on eActivities to review and respond to all refund requests submitted to them. 

All CSP’s must review and respond within 10 working days of receiving a refund request. If CSP’s do not respond, the student activities team will seize the refund approval. CSP’s that neglect their obligation to respond to individuals requesting a refund may result in further action being taken in line with the culture and behaviour strike policy. 

Please note: if you are an individual who has not received a response within 10 working days, please submit a refund request form and attach evidence of your initial contact with the relevant CSP.