The important stuff
How refunds work
How to ask for a refund: email us at the email address on your invoice and tell us you want to cancel. The date and time we receive your email is your cancellation date and time. Refunds go out within 5 business days of that date, back to the card or account you paid with.
What you get back depends on where the project is when you cancel:
- Within 24 hours of paying your deposit: full deposit refund. We absorb the card fee, so you get every dollar back. Work starts when the 24 hours end.
- Want us to start sooner? Reply “Start now” by email. Work starts right away, and the 24-hour full-refund window ends.
- After kickoff, before the first draft: we keep a flat $500 kickoff fee and refund the rest.
- After the first draft is delivered: the deposit (and any Worth the Journey draft payment) is earned and non-refundable. You don’t owe anything that isn’t due yet, and we deliver the work done to date.
- After final approval: all sales are final.
In dollars: cancel within 24 hours of paying your deposit and you get back $1,000 on Worth the Stop, $2,500 on Worth the Detour or $5,000 on Worth the Journey. Cancel after kickoff but before the first draft and you get back $500, $2,000 or $4,500. After the first draft, we keep the deposit (and, for Worth the Journey, the draft payment) and deliver the work done to date.
Google AI Overview add-on ($1,500): if your business doesn’t appear in a Google AI Overview for at least one of your agreed target searches within 30 days of setup being finished, you get the $500 setup payment back in full within 5 business days. Cancel the add-on before setup starts and you also get the full $500 back within 5 business days. The other $1,000 is only due if it does appear.
Monthly SEO plans: months already delivered aren’t refundable. Cancel anytime with 30 days’ notice by email.
You should know exactly what happens to your money before you pay any of it. The rest of this page explains it in full. It applies to every website project, at every tier, and your signed project contract has the same terms.
How you pay
You pay at checkout or by invoice. Each invoice shows the amount, what it’s for, and a link to this policy. We never charge a card on file without telling you first, and nothing is charged automatically. Monthly SEO plans are invoiced at the end of each month for work already done.
Charges appear on your card statement as OC LIGHT MAGIC.
- Worth the Stop, $2,000: 50% ($1,000) at signing, and the other 50% ($1,000) when you approve the finished site in writing, before launch. There’s no second payment.
- Worth the Detour, $5,000: 50% ($2,500) at signing, and the other 50% ($2,500) when you approve the finished site in writing, before launch. There’s no second payment.
- Worth the Journey, $10,000: 50% ($5,000) at signing, 25% ($2,500) when you approve the day-3 draft, and the final 25% ($2,500) when you approve the finished site in writing, before launch.
Your site doesn’t go live until you’ve approved it in writing and the final payment is made.
Key moments
- The 24-hour window starts when you pay your deposit. We don’t start work during it, and if you cancel within it you get your whole deposit back.
- Kickoff is the moment work starts: when the 24-hour window ends, or when we receive your “Start now” email, whichever comes first. Replying “Start now” waives the rest of the window. We confirm by email when work has started.
- First draft is the draft we deliver around day 3. We send it as a link, and the date we send it is the delivery date.
- Final approval is your written approval of the finished site. We email you a preview link and you reply “Approved” from your email.
- Written means an email from the email address we have on file for you, sent to the email address on your invoice or as a reply to our delivery email.
If you cancel
Email us at the email address on your invoice, from the email address we have on file for you. The date and time we receive your message is the cancellation date and time.
Within 24 hours of paying your deposit: you get your full deposit back. Every dollar. We cover the card processing fee. If you replied “Start now,” this window has already ended.
After kickoff, before the first draft is delivered: we keep a flat $500 kickoff fee and refund the rest of your deposit.
On Worth the Stop, you’ve paid a $1,000 deposit, so you get $500 back. On Worth the Detour, you’ve paid $2,500 and get $2,000 back. On Worth the Journey, you’ve paid $5,000 and get $4,500 back.
After the first draft is delivered: your deposit has been earned and isn’t refundable. You don’t owe any payment that hasn’t come due yet, and we hand over the work done to date, such as the draft design and any copy written for you.
For Worth the Journey, if you’ve already approved the day-3 draft and paid the 25% draft payment, that payment isn’t refundable either. You won’t owe the final 25% unless you approve the finished site.
After final approval: all sales are final. The project is complete and payments made are not refundable.
SEO setup
SEO setup (Google Business Profile, page titles and descriptions, structured data, service pages and submitting your site to Google) is part of your package price. It’s covered by the same deposit, approval and cancellation rules above. There’s no separate refund for it.
Google AI Overview placement add-on
The add-on costs $1,500: $500 at signing for setup work, and $1,000 once your business appears in a Google AI Overview for at least one of up to 3 target searches we named in writing, proven with a screenshot and the search link.
If your business doesn’t appear within 30 days of the date we tell you setup is finished, we refund the $500 in full within 5 business days, and you don’t owe the $1,000.
If you cancel the add-on before setup starts, we refund the $500 in full within 5 business days. We tell you by email the day setup starts.
Once placement is proven, the $1,000 is earned, even if Google later stops showing your business. The stages above apply to the website project, not to this add-on.
Monthly SEO plans
A plan starts only when you ask for it by email. Each month is invoiced at the end of the month for work already done, with that month’s report attached. Months already delivered aren’t refundable. You can cancel anytime with 30 days’ notice by email; we invoice the work done during the notice period, and nothing after it. The 3 months of SEO Local Growth included with Worth the Journey are part of the project price and have no cash value if the project is canceled before launch.
If we cancel
If we cancel a project when you haven’t broken the agreement, we refund every payment you’ve made.
How refunds are paid
Refunds go back to the card or account you paid with. We send the refund within 5 business days of your cancellation date. Your bank may take another 5 to 10 business days to show it.
Records we keep
We keep your written approvals and the links to each draft we deliver. They’re the record of what was delivered and when. If a payment is ever disputed with your bank, we may share those records with the bank or our payment processor to answer the dispute.
Questions
Email us at the email address on your invoice, or reply to any email from us.
This policy is governed by California law. If anything here differs from your signed project contract, the contract controls. See also our Terms of Service.