Refund policy

 Return Policy

 Published: January 22, 2024 (PST)

TLDR: 

• Return/Refund process must be started within 14 days of package delivery date
• International refunds require an unboxing video
• Depending on the return/refund reason, customers may be responsible for return shipping costs, and we may only be able to offer store credit.
• We do not support exchanges. We can support returns or refunds and you would need to make another purchase for the correct item you need.
• If tracking states a package was delivered and you didn’t receive it (possible package theft), that issue is between you and the courier service (e.g., USPS).
• Gift cards cannot be returned

MeowCafe strives to provide a boutique experience for our customers. We want customers to feel confident that they will receive the products they ordered in excellent condition or that they will be fairly compensated if MeowCafe is responsible for a mistake. However, please understand that as a small business, we do not have the logistics resources of giant e-commerce companies who can offer free return shipping for arbitrary reasons (e.g., item no longer wanted).

RETURNS / REFUNDS

Returns/Refunds must be started within 14 days of package delivery, and they can be made for various reasons. We have divided the rest of our return policy into sections based on the party responsible for the return/refund reason and a few example reasons. Depending on the party responsible, the options and costs for returns/refunds will vary.

MeowCafe is Responsible

If MeowCafe is responsible for the return/refund reason, we will cover the cost of return shipping or we may refund your order without a need for a return. For validated returns/refunds of this type, your original payment method will be refunded. The process should not incur any cost to the customer, and we will strive to provide quick and professional customer service.

Examples of return reasons that are the responsibility of MeowCafe include:

• Manufacturer defects (e.g., cracks, significant spotting on pages)
• Please note that B-Grade products are expected to have specific minor defects and cannot be returned based on the expected defect.
• Packaging was in good condition, but item arrived broken or broke as a result of normal use within 14 days of package arrival
• Items or essential parts are missing from the package
• Ordered item was not in the package or wrong variation was sent (e.g., wrong color)

International Orders

In order to claim that MeowCafe is responsible for a return/refund reason with an international (Non-US) order, the buyer must provide evidence of the issue in the form of an unboxing video. We put this policy in place due to the higher shipping costs associated with international orders. We plan to label our packaging with reminders to international customers about this policy.

Easily Repairable Issues

For easily repairable issues, we ask that you please attempt to resolve the issue with our instructions before requesting a full return. Some issues are trivial to fix and both parties may save time that way while reducing the environmental impact caused by shipping. If you cannot resolve the issue, we can still help you with your return. Here are a few examples of easily repairable issues:

• Binder ring is slightly misaligned: You can usually adjust steel binder rings by pushing them back into alignment with your hands or with a pair of pliers. Steel is amenable to slight bending. If you use pliers, be sure to wrap something soft (like a cloth or paper towel) around the ring to prevent the pliers from scratching the metal. 
• Sliding cards into the page is difficult: Binder pages perform best at room temperature. If the pages are cold (e.g., from sitting on a porch in winter) please allow a few hours for the page to reach room temperature and try again. You should also use the sleeve sizes recommended in our product listings.

Courier (e.g., USPS) is Responsible

If the courier is responsible for the return reason, MeowCafe will not provide return/refund options. You will need to settle the matter with the courier. MeowCafe uses tracking services on each shipment. If the tracking confirms the package was delivered, but you never received the goods, you will need to contact the courier. 

Examples of return reasons where the courier is responsible include:

• Tracking says the package was delivered but the package was never received by the customer. Here are some tips to consider if this happens to you or if you want to mitigate this risk.
• Contact the courier (e.g., USPS) to ask if the tracking might be inaccurate or what you should do next
• Check with your neighbors to see if they received your package by accident
• Install a security camera facing the area you expect to receive packages. The camera could help you determine if the courier never delivered the package or if a thief has taken the package.
• Item arrived late due to courier issues (e.g., severe weather delays)
• Packaging was severely damaged by courier during shipping or as a result of delivery placement (e.g., box is torn open, box left in rain, box was damaged by shoving it into a mailbox, etc.).

Why are we doing this? MeowCafe needs to rely on package tracking to protect itself from situations where a buyer orders products and falsely claims to have never received them in order to obtain the products while also requesting refunds.

Customer is Responsible

We do accept returns of items that are in re-sellable condition and in their original packaging, and we don’t charge a restocking fee. However, if the customer is responsible for the return reason, the customer is also responsible for the cost of shipping the return items back to us. For returns or refunds of this type, we will only provide store credit rather than refunding the original payment method. 

In order to receive store credit for the returned product, it must reach our business in re-sellable condition. If the item was damaged during transit due to improper packaging, we may not issue the store credit.

Examples of return reasons that the customer is responsible for include:

• Item matches the listing specifications, but the customer ordered the wrong size or wrong variation to match their binder, sleeves, inclusions, etc.
• Item no longer wanted
• Ordered by mistake

If the customer is responsible for the return reason, we do not allow returns of the following items:

• Items on sale
• Free items included as part of promotions (e.g., spend $X and get a free Y)
• B-Grade Products

Local drop off: If you happen to live near our warehouse in San Jose, California, you are welcome to bring us the items yourself instead of shipping them with a courier. We’d love to hear your feedback about our products and/or help you make your next purchase. You’ll need to contact us ahead of time to make sure someone will be present at the warehouse when you arrive.

EXCHANGES

We generally do not directly offer exchanges due to shipping costs. Customers are welcome to perform returns / refunds (as described above) and then make a new order.

We may be able to coordinate exchanges for local customers if they schedule a visit to our warehouse in San Jose, California. Contact us for more details.

CANCELLATIONS

We manage our own fulfillment center, so it’s not a big deal if you need to make a quick cancellation before we ship the order. We won’t charge you a restocking fee. However, once we’ve paid for your shipping label or 24 hours have passed after your order, we can’t cancel the order.

EXCESSIVE RETURNS

We reserve the right to stop doing business with customers who seem to be exploiting our return process (e.g., buying and returning products over and over).