Refund & Cancellation Policy

1.1 Who This Policy Applies To

This Refund Policy applies to all individual and business customers who have purchased services directly from HostiMatic at hostimatic.com. Customers who have purchased HostiMatic services through a reseller, affiliate, or third-party marketplace must contact that intermediary for refund enquiries, as HostiMatic does not process refunds on behalf of third-party sellers.

1.2 Definitions

• "Refund Window" — The calendar-day period beginning from the date of payment confirmation during which a money-back guarantee is available.
• "First-Time Purchase" — The first payment made for a specific service category under your account. Renewal payments are not first-time purchases and are not eligible for money-back guarantees unless explicitly stated.
• "Service Activation" — The point at which your service is provisioned and accessible, regardless of whether you have logged in or begun using it.
• "Promotional / Discounted Order" — Any order placed using a coupon code, promotional pricing, or at a discounted rate below the standard published price.

1.3 General Principles

• Money-back guarantees apply to first-time purchases only within each service category. Renewal invoices are not covered by money-back guarantees.
• Refunds are issued to the original payment method used at the time of purchase.
• All refund requests must be submitted via the HostiMatic support ticket system from your registered account email address.
• HostiMatic processes approved refunds within 7 business days of approval. Actual receipt of funds depends on your payment provider's processing timelines.
• Accounts terminated due to violation of the Acceptable Use Policy or Terms and Conditions are not eligible for any refund.

2.1 Eligibility

• The 30-day money-back window begins on the date of payment confirmation, not the date the account was first used.
• Applies to first-time Shared Hosting purchases under a given account. Customers who have previously held a Shared Hosting account, cancelled, and re-subscribed are not eligible for a second money-back guarantee.
• Applies to monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual billing cycles alike. For annual plans, only the hosting fee is refunded — not domain registration costs bundled with the plan.
• The account must be in good standing at the time of the request (no AUP violations, no fraudulent activity).

2.2 What Is Refunded

2.3 Promotional Plans

Shared Hosting plans purchased at a promotional or discounted rate are still covered by the 30-day money-back guarantee. However, the refund amount will be calculated based on the actual amount paid, not the standard listed price. Coupon codes and discounts are not re-issued once a refund is processed.

3.1 Eligibility

• The 14-day window begins on the date of payment confirmation.
• Available for first-time BDIX Hosting purchases only. Previous BDIX account holders requesting a refund after re-subscribing are not eligible.
• Applies to all BDIX plan tiers, including Budget BDIX and standard BDIX Hosting.
• The account must not have been suspended or flagged for AUP violations at the time of the request.

3.2 What Is Refunded

3.3 BDIX Performance Disputes

If your refund request is based on unsatisfactory BDIX network performance, our technical team will review the claim against our network monitoring data. Refunds on performance grounds will be considered only where HostiMatic's network data confirms that our peering connectivity failed to meet the stated service levels during the period in question. Third-party speed test results alone are not sufficient grounds for a refund.

4.1 Eligibility

• The 7-day window begins on the date of payment confirmation and server provisioning.
• Available for first-time VPS purchases per account. Upgrading between VPS plans does not restart or reset the refund window.
• Applies to both Linux VPS and Windows VPS plans, managed and unmanaged.
• The server must not have been used to send spam, host prohibited content, or violate the AUP at any point during the period.

4.2 What Is Refunded

4.3 After the 7-Day Window

After 7 days, VPS services are strictly non-refundable. HostiMatic does not provide pro-rated refunds for early cancellation after the guarantee window. Your service will remain active until the end of the current billing cycle upon cancellation.

5.1 Why Dedicated Servers Are Non-Refundable

When you order a Dedicated Server, physical hardware is reserved exclusively for your use. Costs including hardware allocation, colocation, network port reservation, IPMI configuration, and initial OS provisioning are incurred immediately upon order confirmation. These costs cannot be recovered once provisioning begins, regardless of whether you have actively used the server.

5.2 Exceptions — Provisioning Failure

A full refund will be issued in the following circumstances:

• HostiMatic is unable to provision your dedicated server within 5 business days of payment confirmation due to hardware unavailability, and you choose not to wait for an alternative.
• The server delivered does not match the hardware specifications stated at the time of order (e.g., different CPU, less RAM, smaller storage) and no equivalent or superior alternative is available.
• HostiMatic permanently withdraws the specific server configuration you ordered before provisioning is complete.

5.3 Early Cancellation

If you cancel a Dedicated Server subscription after activation, the service will remain active until the end of the current billing period. No refund or credit will be issued for the unused portion of a billing cycle. HostiMatic does not offer pro-rated refunds on dedicated server plans.

5.4 SLA-Based Credits

If HostiMatic fails to meet the Dedicated Server uptime SLA (99.99%), you may be eligible for service credits as described in Section 12 of this policy. SLA credits are account credits applied to future invoices and are not cash refunds.

6.1 Refund Eligibility

• Business Email plans become non-refundable immediately upon account activation and mailbox creation.
• If payment is made but HostiMatic is unable to provision the mailboxes within 24 hours due to a technical issue on our end, a full refund will be issued upon request.
• Renewal payments are non-refundable under all circumstances.
• Upgrading the number of mailboxes or storage quota mid-cycle is non-refundable.

6.2 Pre-Activation Window

If you have paid for a Business Email plan but have not yet completed the setup process and your mailboxes have not been activated, you may request a cancellation and full refund within 24 hours of payment by contacting support immediately. Once the account setup wizard is completed and mailboxes are created, this window closes.

7.1 Why Domains Are Non-Refundable

Domain registrations are processed immediately upon payment and submitted to the relevant registry (e.g., Verisign for .com, BTCL for .com.bd). The registration fee is paid directly to the registry on your behalf and cannot be recovered by HostiMatic once the domain is registered. This applies universally — no registrar in the world offers refunds on completed domain registrations.

7.2 All Domain Transactions Are Final

• New registrations — Non-refundable immediately upon registration completion.
• Renewals — Non-refundable. Auto-renewal charges cannot be reversed once processed.
• Transfers (incoming) — Transfer fees are non-refundable once the transfer is initiated.
• Premium domains — Non-refundable. Premium domain pricing is determined by the registry and cannot be reversed.
• .bd and .com.bd domains — Non-refundable. Governed by BTCL registry policies.

7.3 Accidental Registration

If you accidentally registered the wrong domain name, HostiMatic will make commercially reasonable efforts to assist you. However, we are unable to guarantee a refund as the registration fee has been submitted to the registry. We recommend verifying all domain names carefully before completing checkout. Some registries offer a limited grace period for deletion — contact support immediately if you believe you have made an error, as time is critical in such cases.

7.4 Free Domains on Hosting Plans

If your hosting plan includes a free domain for the first year and you request a refund on the hosting plan within the money-back window, the market value of the free domain (at current standard pricing) will be deducted from your refund amount. The domain will remain registered in your name and transferred to your control.

If you are uncertain whether an add-on is refundable before purchasing, please contact our sales team at [email protected] for clarification prior to completing your order.

Even where a service would otherwise qualify for a refund, no refund will be issued in any of the following circumstances:

9.1 Policy Violations

• The account has been suspended or terminated due to a violation of HostiMatic's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), including but not limited to hosting malware, sending spam, or engaging in fraudulent activity.
• The account was used to host illegal content, distribute copyrighted material without authorization, or conduct any activity that resulted in legal action or law enforcement involvement.
• The account was suspended due to non-payment of a prior invoice.

9.2 Fraudulent or Abusive Requests

• Refund requests made in conjunction with, or following, a chargeback or payment dispute filed with the customer's bank or payment provider.
• Repeated refund requests across multiple accounts that appear to be part of a pattern of abuse of the money-back guarantee.
• Accounts where the customer has provided false identity or payment information during registration.

9.3 Outside the Refund Window

• Requests submitted after the applicable money-back window has expired will not be approved under any circumstances, including claims of unawareness of the policy.
• Renewal charges are non-refundable. It is the customer's responsibility to manage auto-renewal settings in the client area and to submit cancellation requests before the renewal date.

9.4 Service Downtime and Performance

• Downtime or performance issues caused by factors outside HostiMatic's direct control, including BTRC or BDIX infrastructure outages, upstream network failures, force majeure events, or third-party service disruptions.
• Performance issues arising from the customer's own website code, outdated software, or excessive resource consumption.
• Scheduled maintenance windows communicated in advance per the Terms and Conditions.

9.5 Circumstance Changes

• Change of mind after the refund window has passed.
• Business closure, project cancellation, or budget changes on the customer's side.
• Switching to a competitor's service.
• Failure to use the service during the billing period.

11.1 Refund Methods

Refunds are issued to the original payment method used at the time of purchase. We do not issue refunds to a different payment method, bank account, or third-party wallet unless the original payment method is no longer valid, in which case an alternative must be verified by our billing team.

11.2 Account Credit Option

Instead of a cash refund, you may choose to receive your refund as an HostiMatic account credit. Account credits are added to your client area wallet and can be applied toward any future HostiMatic invoice, including renewals or new services. Account credit refunds are processed immediately upon approval and are the fastest refund option available.

11.3 Currency

Refunds are issued in the same currency as the original payment. If you paid in BDT, you will receive your refund in BDT. If you paid in USD, you will receive your refund in USD. HostiMatic is not responsible for any currency conversion losses incurred by your bank or payment provider.

11.4 Partial Refunds

In certain cases, HostiMatic may issue a partial refund rather than a full refund — for example, where a bundled domain must be deducted from a hosting refund, or where only a portion of a service is eligible for refund. The exact amount will be communicated clearly in the ticket response before processing.

HostiMatic offers uptime guarantees across all services. Where we fail to meet those guarantees, eligible customers may claim service credits. SLA credits are not cash refunds — they are account credits applied to future invoices.

12.1 How to Claim an SLA Credit

• SLA credit requests must be submitted via the billing support ticket system within 30 days of the qualifying outage.
• Your request must include the date and time of the outage, the affected service, and a description of the impact experienced.
• HostiMatic will verify the claim against our internal network monitoring and incident records. Credits are not issued based on external monitoring tools alone.
• Credits are applied to your account within 7 business days of approval and visible in your client area wallet.

12.2 SLA Credit Exclusions

• Outages caused by customer actions, misconfigurations, or software installed by the customer.
• Scheduled maintenance communicated at least 24 hours in advance.
• Force majeure events including natural disasters, national power grid failures, or government-directed network disruptions.
• BDIX or upstream internet exchange outages outside HostiMatic's direct network infrastructure.
• Accounts that were overdue or suspended at any point during the claimed outage period.

13.1 What Is a Chargeback?

A chargeback occurs when you contact your bank, card issuer, or mobile payment provider to reverse a payment made to HostiMatic without first requesting a refund through our support system. While this is a legitimate right in cases of genuine unauthorized transactions, filing a chargeback for a service you authorized and received is considered fraudulent by payment networks and HostiMatic's payment partners.

13.2 Consequences of a Chargeback

• Your HostiMatic account will be immediately suspended upon receipt of a chargeback notification.
• All hosted services — including websites, emails, and databases — will become inaccessible during the suspension.
• A BDT 1,500 / USD 15 chargeback processing fee will be added to your account balance in addition to the disputed amount.
• HostiMatic will submit evidence to the payment network demonstrating the legitimacy of the charge, which may result in the chargeback being reversed in our favor.
• Accounts that initiate chargebacks may be permanently terminated and flagged to prevent future account creation.

13.3 Unauthorized Transaction Claims

If you believe a charge from HostiMatic on your payment statement is genuinely unauthorized (e.g., you did not make the purchase and suspect your payment credentials were compromised), please contact [email protected] immediately. We will investigate the transaction and, if confirmed as unauthorized, issue a full refund and assist with securing your account without the need for a chargeback.

13.4 Resolving a Chargeback

If you have already filed a chargeback and wish to resolve the matter with HostiMatic directly, contact our billing team at [email protected]. If the chargeback is withdrawn and the disputed amount plus any applicable fees are cleared, your account may be reinstated at HostiMatic's discretion.

For any refund request, billing enquiry, or payment dispute, please use the channels below. Always submit refund requests via the support ticket system from your registered account email for fastest processing.

C1.1 Cancellation Types

C1.2 Withdrawing a Cancellation Request

If you change your mind after submitting a cancellation request, you may withdraw it at any time before the cancellation takes effect by opening a support ticket in the Billing & Accounts department. Once an Immediate cancellation has been actioned and the service deprovisioned, it cannot be reversed without placing a new order.

To avoid being charged for the next billing cycle, your cancellation request must be submitted before the renewal invoice is generated and paid. HostiMatic sends renewal reminder emails at 30, 15, and 7 days before each due date — use these as your prompt to act.

C2.1 Dedicated Server — Extended Notice Requirement

Dedicated Servers require a minimum of 7 days' notice before renewal due to the operational effort involved in hardware decommissioning, secure data wiping, and infrastructure reallocation. Cancellation requests submitted with less than 7 days' notice before a Dedicated Server renewal may result in the renewal invoice being processed. HostiMatic will make commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the charge where possible, but cannot guarantee it in all cases.

C3.1 Default Auto-Renewal Behaviour

All HostiMatic services have auto-renewal enabled by default. This ensures service continuity and prevents unintentional website or email downtime due to a missed renewal payment. When auto-renewal is active, HostiMatic will attempt to charge your default payment method on file on the invoice due date.

C3.2 How to Disable Auto-Renewal

• Log in to the Client Area → Services → My Services.
• Click on the service you wish to manage.
• Under the "Billing" or "Service Details" tab, toggle Auto-Renew to Off.
• A confirmation email will be sent acknowledging the change.
• The service will remain active until the current paid period expires and will then suspend, followed by termination as per the grace period policy.

C3.3 Renewal Reminder Schedule

• 30 days before renewal: First renewal reminder sent to your registered email.
• 15 days before renewal: Second reminder with invoice details.
• 7 days before renewal: Final reminder. This is your last opportunity to cancel before the charge.
• Due date: Invoice generated and auto-renewal charge attempted (if enabled).
• 7 days overdue: Service suspended for non-payment.
• 30 days overdue: Service permanently terminated and data deleted.

C3.4 Failed Auto-Renewal Payments

If an auto-renewal charge fails (e.g., expired card, insufficient bKash balance), HostiMatic will retry the payment after 3 days. If the second attempt also fails, the renewal invoice will remain open and the service will continue until the overdue suspension threshold is reached. You will receive payment failure notifications by email prompting you to update your payment method.

C4.1 Service Access After Cancellation

C4.2 Website & DNS After Cancellation

• Once your hosting service is terminated, your website and all associated files will be taken offline.
• If your domain is registered with HostiMatic and pointed to our nameservers, DNS will cease resolving correctly after hosting termination. You will need to update your domain's nameservers if you move to another provider.
• Domains registered with HostiMatic are not automatically cancelled when hosting is cancelled — they continue independently until their registration expiry date.

C4.3 Email After Cancellation

• All email accounts hosted on the cancelled service will stop receiving mail immediately upon service deprovisioning.
• Stored emails will remain accessible for the 7-day grace period only — after which all mailbox data is permanently deleted.
• We strongly recommend exporting all important emails to a local email client (e.g., Thunderbird) before requesting cancellation.
• If you have Business Email as a standalone service, it must be cancelled separately from any associated hosting plan.

C4.4 Account Reactivation

If you change your mind after cancellation but within the 7-day grace period, you may request service reactivation by opening a billing support ticket. Reactivation is subject to availability and may require a new order to be placed. HostiMatic cannot guarantee reactivation with the same server configuration, IP addresses, or data after cancellation has been processed.

C4.5 Account Balance & Credits on Cancellation

• Any unused account credit (HostiMatic wallet balance) at the time of account closure will be refunded to your original payment method upon written request to [email protected], provided the balance exceeds BDT 500 / USD 5 (below this threshold, credits are forfeited).
• Promotional credits, referral bonuses, and voucher credits are non-refundable and expire upon account closure.
• Outstanding invoices must be settled before an account closure refund of wallet credit will be processed.

HostiMatic reserves the right to suspend or terminate any service at our discretion in the circumstances outlined below. We will always attempt to notify you in advance except where immediate action is required to protect our infrastructure, other customers, or comply with legal obligations.

C5.1 Suspension (Service Temporarily Disabled)

• Non-payment: Services are suspended after 7 days past the invoice due date. Your data remains intact during suspension and the service can be restored upon payment.
• AUP violation under investigation: Where suspicious activity is detected, HostiMatic may suspend the account while the investigation is conducted. Notice will be provided via email unless doing so would compromise the investigation.
• Security threat: If your account is actively being used to attack other systems or send spam, it will be suspended without prior notice to limit damage. You will be notified immediately after.
• Resource abuse: Accounts causing disproportionate server load may be suspended pending migration to a more appropriate plan.

C5.2 Termination (Permanent Cancellation by HostiMatic)

• Continued non-payment: Services unpaid for more than 30 days after the due date will be permanently terminated and all data deleted.
• Confirmed AUP violation: Accounts confirmed to be hosting illegal content, malware, phishing pages, or engaging in network abuse will be permanently terminated.
• Legal obligation: HostiMatic may terminate a service pursuant to a valid court order, BTRC directive, or other legal process.
• Fraudulent account: Accounts registered using false identity information or fraudulent payment methods will be terminated.
• Repeated policy violations: Accounts that repeatedly violate policies after reinstatement may be permanently terminated without further notice.

C5.3 Refunds on HostiMatic-Initiated Termination

C5.4 Service Discontinuation by HostiMatic

In the unlikely event that HostiMatic decides to permanently discontinue a service offering, we will provide customers with a minimum of 60 days' written notice via email. A pro-rated refund for the unused portion of any prepaid billing period will be issued automatically to your account credit wallet, with the option to request a cash refund to your original payment method.

C6.1 Domains Are Independent of Hosting

Domain name registrations are entirely separate from hosting services. Cancelling your hosting plan, VPS, or any other service does not automatically cancel your domain registration. Your domain will continue to be registered in your name and billed independently until it expires or you explicitly cancel it.

C6.2 Cancelling a Domain Registration

• To cancel a domain, disable auto-renewal via Domains → My Domains → Manage → Auto-Renew Off in the client area.
• The domain will remain registered until its current expiry date and then expire without renewal.
• Do not cancel a domain you intend to keep — once a domain expires, recovering it during the redemption period incurs additional fees (typically BDT 5,000–15,000 / USD 50–150 depending on the registry).
• Domain cancellations are non-refundable as detailed in Section 7 of Part 1.

C6.3 Transferring Your Domain Away

If you wish to move your domain to another registrar when cancelling HostiMatic services, you may initiate an outbound domain transfer at any time. To do so:

• Ensure your domain is unlocked (Domain Lock must be Off) — manageable via the client area.
• Obtain your domain's EPP/Authorization Code from the client area under Domain Management.
• Provide this code to your new registrar to initiate the transfer.
• Domain transfers typically take 5–7 days to complete. Your domain remains active during the transfer process.
• Do not let your hosting expire during an active transfer — DNS disruption may cause your website to go offline mid-transfer.

C6.4 .bd and .com.bd Domain Transfers

Bangladesh country-code domains (.bd, .com.bd, .net.bd, .org.bd) are governed by BTCL registry rules, which have specific transfer procedures and timelines distinct from international domains. Please contact HostiMatic support for guidance on .bd domain transfers before initiating the process with a new registrar.

C6.5 Nameserver Updates After Cancellation

If your domain is currently pointed to HostiMatic nameservers (ns1.hostimatic.com / ns2.hostimatic.com) and you cancel your hosting, your website and email will stop resolving as soon as the hosting service is deprovisioned. Before cancelling hosting, update your domain's nameservers to point to your new provider to avoid downtime.