Payments, Cancellations and Refunds

Summary

This summary is here to help you. It does not replace the full policy below.

• Each hotel's own cancellation policy decides how much you get back. You see it before you book and on your booking.
• If a hotel has not set a policy: free cancellation until 48 hours before check-in, then the hotel keeps 50%. A no-show is charged in full.
• Refunds are never sent automatically or by AI. A manager or owner at the hotel sends each one by hand, by the "Expected by" date on your booking (3 business days unless the hotel has set otherwise). If you paid with Stayantra and the hotel does not refund you on time while we still hold your payment, we refund you ourselves (section 4.7).
• Card refunds go back to the same card. Wallet refunds go to the eSewa, Khalti or Fonepay ID, or bank account, you give us.
• If the hotel cancels, or cannot provide the stay, or the stay is materially not as described, you get a full refund, including tax.
• Hotel subscription fees are billed in advance and are not refundable, except in the cases set out in section 11.
• Step-by-step instructions are at https://marketplace.stayantra.com/cancellation.

1. About this policy

1.1 This policy explains how payments, cancellations and refunds work for:

• guests who book a stay, event or other service at a hotel through Stayantra (the marketplace, Stayantra Go, a hotel website built on Stayantra, the Exubee concierge or an outside AI assistant); and
• hotels that pay Stayantra for a subscription.

1.2 It forms part of our Terms of Service for guests and our Hotel Agreement for hotels. Words defined there have the same meaning here.

1.3 The hotel provides your stay and your contract for the stay is with the hotel. The hotel's cancellation policy is part of that contract. Stayantra is the platform that shows the policy, records your cancellation, works out the refund under the policy, and, for the "Pay with Stayantra" route, holds your money as the hotel's payment-collection agent.

1.4 Nothing in this policy takes away any right you have under the consumer law of the country where you live.

2. How much you get back

2.1 The hotel's policy decides. Each hotel sets its own cancellation policy. It can include:

• a free-cancellation window: a number of hours before check-in. Cancel before the window closes and you get back everything you paid;
• a late-cancellation fee: a percentage of what you paid that the hotel keeps if you cancel after the window closes. You get back the rest;
• a no-show fee: a percentage the hotel keeps if you do not arrive and have not cancelled;
• non-refundable rates: a cheaper rate with no refund. You can still cancel it, which frees the room, but the payment stays with the hotel.

2.2 The default policy. If a hotel has not set its own policy, this applies:

2.3 Which policy applies is shown before you book and on your booking.

2.4 How the window is counted. The window is counted in hours before the hotel's check-in time on your arrival day, in the hotel's own time zone (for hotels in Nepal, Nepal time). For example, with a 48-hour window and a 2 pm check-in on 10 March, free cancellation ends at 2 pm hotel time on 8 March.

2.5 Refunds are worked out from what you have actually paid. If you chose to pay at the hotel and have paid nothing yet, there is nothing to refund.

2.6 Changing to a cheaper booking. If you change a booking to one that costs less and you have already paid more than the new price, the difference is refunded in the same way as a cancellation refund.

2.7 Rewards points. If you used Stayantra Rewards points or a voucher on a booking you cancel, the points or voucher are returned as set out in the Stayantra Rewards and Referral Terms.

3. How to cancel

3.1 Go to "Find my booking" on the marketplace, or open your booking in Stayantra Go or your account. Enter your booking reference and the email you booked with if asked, then choose Cancel booking. Once it is cancelled, the page shows what you will get back.

3.2 If you booked through a travel agent, contact the hotel to change or cancel. The agent holds your payment, so the hotel and the agent handle it.

3.3 If you booked a stay through a third-party site such as an online travel agency, that site's terms and cancellation process apply.

3.4 If a payment is still going through, wait a few minutes and try again. If you left the payment page without finishing, you can cancel once 30 minutes have passed.

3.5 You can also cancel by contacting the hotel directly. The hotel's policy applies in the same way.

4. Who sends your refund, and by when

4.1 Refunds are sent by people, never automatically. A manager or owner at the hotel decides and sends every refund by hand, except in the backstop case in section 4.7, where a person at Stayantra sends it. AI never issues refunds.

4.2 The "Expected by" date. The hotel's owner sets how many business days the hotel has to send a refund. Unless they change it, it is 3 business days. Saturday does not count as a business day. When you cancel, your booking shows the date as "Expected by". That date stays fixed, even if the hotel later changes its setting.

4.3 For each payment route:

4.4 Wallet payments. eSewa, Khalti and Fonepay do not tell us your account, so when you cancel we ask where to send the money. You can give an eSewa ID (mobile number or email), a Khalti or Fonepay mobile number, or a bank account. You can skip this and add it later on your booking page, at any time until the hotel sends the refund. Check the details carefully: a refund sent to details you gave us is treated as paid to you.

4.5 Checking your refund. Open "Find my booking" or your booking in Stayantra Go at any time. While a refund is owed, it shows the amount and the "Expected by" date. Once the hotel sends it, it shows how it was sent, the reference and the date. We also email you when it is sent.

4.6 If a refund is late. Contact the hotel first, as it sends the refund. If you cannot reach the hotel, or the refund has not arrived by the "Expected by" date, email us at info@stayantra.com with your booking reference and we will take it up with the hotel.

4.7 Our backstop for Pay with Stayantra. If you paid with "Pay with Stayantra" and the hotel does not send a refund it owes you by the "Expected by" date, and we still hold your payment as the hotel's payment-collection agent, we refund you from that money ourselves and deduct it from what we pay the hotel. If we no longer hold the money (for example because it has already been paid to the hotel), we pursue the hotel for you and help you, including with information for a chargeback with your card issuer or payment provider, or a complaint to the relevant authority. For "Pay the hotel directly" and "Pay at the hotel", we never hold your money, so we cannot refund it ourselves, but we will still take your case up with the hotel and help you in the same way.

5. How long a refund takes to reach you

Once the hotel has sent a refund, the time it takes to show in your account depends on your payment provider or bank, not on us or the hotel. Card refunds commonly take 5 to 10 business days to appear on your statement. Wallet and bank transfers are usually faster. If a refund marked as sent has not arrived after 10 business days, contact us with your booking reference.

6. Currency differences

6.1 Card payments on the marketplace are currently charged in US dollars, converted from the hotel's price using an exchange rate plus a disclosed spread (currently 2%), as shown before you paid.

6.2 A card refund is made in the currency you were charged, in proportion to the amount you paid. A full refund returns exactly the amount you were charged, including the spread.

6.3 If your card is in another currency, your bank converts the refund at its own rate on the day. Because exchange rates move, the amount you get back in your own currency may be more or less than you originally paid. We and the hotel are not responsible for that difference, or for fees your own bank charges.

7. When the stay goes wrong

7.1 Full refund if the stay cannot be provided or is not as described. If the hotel cannot provide the stay you booked, or what it provides is materially different from what was described when you booked, you are entitled to a full refund of what you paid, including tax. This is in addition to any other rights you have in law, including under Nepal's E-Commerce Act 2081 and Consumer Protection Act 2075 and the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015.

7.2 If the hotel cancels your booking, you get a full refund of everything you paid, whatever the hotel's cancellation policy says.

7.3 Relocation. If the hotel cannot accommodate you and offers you a comparable or better room at another hotel, you can accept it or refuse it. If you refuse, you get a full refund. If you accept, the hotel's offer should cover any difference in price.

7.4 Events beyond anyone's control. If a natural disaster, official order, closure of the hotel or a similar event beyond the hotel's control means the hotel cannot provide your stay, you get a full refund. If such an event stops you travelling but the hotel can still provide the stay, the hotel's cancellation policy applies, although many hotels will offer to change your dates. Any mandatory rights you have under the law of your country still apply.

7.5 Tell the hotel straight away. If something is wrong during your stay, tell the hotel at once so it can put it right. If it does not, or you are not satisfied, contact us through our complaints process.

8. No 14-day right to cancel

Online purchases often come with a 14-day period in which you can cancel for any reason. That period does not apply to hotel accommodation booked for specific dates, under the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (regulation 28(1)(b)) and the EU Consumer Rights Directive (Article 16(l)). Your right to cancel comes from the hotel's policy shown at booking.

9. Disputes and chargebacks

9.1 If you disagree with a refund, please contact the hotel and then us before you raise a dispute or chargeback with your bank or payment provider. Most problems are sorted out faster that way.

9.2 This does not affect your right to raise a chargeback or dispute with your bank or payment provider. If you do, we and the hotel will provide the booking records the provider asks for.

9.3 Our free complaints process is at Complaints.

10. Group bookings, events and table reservations

10.1 Groups and events. Group bookings and events are confirmed by the hotel, usually after a deposit. The hotel's quote sets the deposit amount, the payment schedule and the cancellation terms, including how much of the deposit is refundable and by when. Read the quote before you pay. Section 7 still applies if the hotel cannot provide what it confirmed.

10.2 Table reservations are requests until the restaurant confirms them. Where the restaurant takes a deposit, it tells you its terms when it confirms.

11. Hotel subscription fees

This section applies to hotels that subscribe to Stayantra. The full terms are in the Hotel Agreement.

11.1 Billing in advance. Subscription fees are invoiced before each billing period (monthly or annual). We do not debit cards automatically; you pay each invoice.

11.2 Non-refundable, except as set out here. Fees you have paid are not refundable, except:

• Service materially unavailable. If the service is materially unavailable for reasons within our control, you receive a credit for the affected part of the period, worked out pro rata, against your next invoice. If there is no next invoice because the agreement ends, we refund it.
• We end the agreement without cause. If we end your subscription without cause, we refund the unused part of any period you have paid for, pro rata.
• Other cases in the Hotel Agreement. If we remove a feature you pay for separately, if you end the agreement because you do not accept a material change to it, or if you end an affected service after objecting to a new sub-processor, we refund prepaid fees as the Hotel Agreement and the Data Processing Addendum set out.
• The law gives you a right. Nothing in this section removes a right to a refund that applicable law gives you.

11.3 Downgrades and cancellation. If you move to a cheaper plan or cancel, the change takes effect at the start of the next billing period. You keep the service you paid for until the end of the current period.

11.4 Stayantra Rewards point packs. Points a hotel buys for its wallet are covered by the Stayantra Rewards and Referral Terms and the Hotel Agreement.

11.5 Taxes. Prices exclude taxes unless stated. Where we refund or credit a fee, the tax charged on it is adjusted in the same way where the law allows.

12. Contact

• Bookings and refunds: info@stayantra.com
• Phone: [Pending: Customer phone number]
• Complaints and grievance officer: [Pending: Grievance officer name], info@stayantra.com, [Pending: Grievance officer postal address]