Refund policy

1. Who sets the refund terms

Refund terms for ticketed events are set by the event organizer, within limits voteMe enforces at the platform level. For paid votes and paid nominations, refunds are discretionary and handled case by case by the organizer.

voteMe does not unilaterally refund transactions on the organizer's behalf, except where required by law, in response to a successful chargeback, or to correct a platform-caused error.

2. Tickets

Each ticketed event publishes its refund terms on the purchase page. Every refund policy has three components:

• Refund window — how many hours before the event start a buyer can request a refund. If you request outside the window, the organizer may decline.
• Refund percentage — the fraction of the ticket price that is returnable. Some organizers refund 100%, some set a lower percentage to cover committed costs (for example 80% up to 48 hours before the event, then no refund).
• Organizer discretion — organizers may grant refunds outside their stated policy at their discretion.

How to request a ticket refund

1. Go to /my-tickets and enter your email.
2. Enter the one-time code we email you to open your ticket history.
3. Open the ticket, click Request refund, and supply a short reason.
4. The request enters the organizer's refund queue. You will receive an email when they approve or decline.

What happens on approval

Once approved, we issue the Paystack refund to the original payment method. Refund arrival time depends on Paystack and your bank or mobile money operator — MoMo typically reflects within one business day, card refunds within 5–10 business days. The ticket's QR is invalidated the instant the refund status flips, so it can no longer be scanned at the gate.

Our platform fee on the refunded amount is automatically reversed against the organizer's future settlements. You are not double-charged and the organizer is not charged a fee on money that did not stay with them.

3. Paid votes

Paid votes are generally non-refundable. Once a paid vote confirms, it is counted, included in the public tally, and part of the organizer's audit record.

Exceptions where we will work with the organizer to resolve:

• Duplicate charges caused by a Paystack retry or network issue.
• A vote cast because of an obvious platform error (for example a vote counted for the wrong contestant).
• Fraudulent use of a buyer's payment method, verified by Paystack's fraud team.

To report an issue, email info@voteme.live with your Paystack transaction reference.

4. Paid nominations

Paid nomination fees are non-refundable once the nomination has been submitted and received by the organizer. The exception is the same as for paid votes: duplicate charges, platform errors, or verified fraud will be refunded.

5. Platform fees on refunds

When a refund is issued:

• The voteMe platform fee on the refunded amount is reversed. The organizer is not charged for money they did not keep.
• Because Paystack processing fees are absorbed by the platform (not deducted from organizers), there is no Paystack fee line to reverse from your side. The refund you receive as a buyer is the full refundable amount as stated in the organizer's policy.
• Paystack charges a dispute fee on chargebacks (see section 6), which is separate and handled as described below.

6. Chargebacks

A chargeback happens when a buyer disputes a charge through their bank or card network. Chargebacks differ from refunds in three ways:

• The bank, not the organizer, decides the outcome.
• Paystack charges a dispute fee on every chargeback, regardless of outcome. This fee is not refundable.
• Repeated chargebacks against an account can cause Paystack to restrict or terminate the underlying merchant relationship.

We strongly prefer the refund path to chargebacks. If you are considering disputing a charge, please contact the organizer or email info@voteme.live first — in almost all cases the issue can be resolved faster through a refund request.

Where a chargeback is lodged fraudulently or in bad faith, or where it is part of a pattern of abuse, we may suspend the buyer's ability to use voteMe.

7. Platform-caused errors

If voteMe causes an incorrect charge (for example a duplicate Paystack initiation due to a bug on our side), we will refund the full amount to the buyer regardless of organizer policy. All associated processing fees remain our responsibility.

8. Taxes and statutory rights

Nothing in this policy limits statutory rights you may have under consumer-protection law in your country of residence. Where a mandatory law requires a refund that this policy does not otherwise provide, that law applies.

9. Contact

Refund questions that the organizer cannot resolve go to info@voteme.live. Include your Paystack transaction reference so we can look up the transaction quickly.