Lesson Cancellation, Rescheduling & Refund Policy

1. Principles of Fair Booking

Synchronous language learning requires time commitment from both learners and educators. Our cancellation and refund policy is engineered to protect students' financial investments while fairly compensating tutors for their scheduled time.

All bookings are protected by Sharon Online's 24-Hour Escrow Clearing Engine: tutor compensation is held in secure escrow until a lesson is confirmed delivered without unresolved disputes.

2. Student Cancellations and Rescheduling

1. Advance Notice (> 24 Hours Before Lesson Start):

• A student may cancel or reschedule a confirmed booking at zero penalty.
• If paid via lesson credit, the credit is immediately returned to the student's active wallet balance with full validity.
• If paid via instant single-checkout, the funds are credited back as a reusable lesson ticket or refunded to the original payment method upon request.

2. Late Notice (< 24 Hours Before Lesson Start):

• Cancellations made less than 24 hours prior to class start are categorized as Late Cancellations.
• Because the tutor reserved the discrete 25-minute timeslot and cannot easily re-book it on short notice, the student forfeits the lesson credit or payment.
• The lesson fee is disbursed to the tutor in accordance with platform payout schedules.

3. Student No-Show (T+10 Minutes):

• If a student fails to enter the classroom within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time, the lesson is designated as a Student No-Show.
• The lesson is marked completed, the credit is consumed, and the tutor is compensated in full.

3. Tutor Cancellations and Rescheduling

We hold our educators to strict professional attendance standards:

• Tutor Cancellation (> 24 Hours): The student receives an immediate 100% credit refund and an automated priority notification to choose an alternative tutor.
• Late Tutor Cancellation (< 24 Hours) or Tutor No-Show:

1. The student is immediately refunded their lesson credit.

2. The student receives one Complimentary Goodwill Bonus Credit added to their account.

3. The tutor receives an automatic platform SLA strike. Tutors accumulating 3 strikes within a rolling 90-day window are automatically suspended pending administrative review.

4. Eskom Load Shedding & Power Outage Shield

Because our educators reside in South Africa, our platform features the Eskom Load Shedding Shield:

• All verified tutors are required to maintain a battery inverter/UPS backup and secondary LTE cellular failover.
• If an unscheduled electrical grid failure or severe weather disrupts a tutor's connection during a class:

1. The student receives an immediate full credit refund.

2. The occurrence is audited against municipal Eskom grid schedules. If verified as an involuntary infrastructure outage, the tutor's account is protected from SLA strikes.

5. Credit Pack Purchases and Monetary Refunds

1. Unused Credit Packs: If you purchase a lesson pack and change your mind, you may request a full monetary refund to your original payment method within 7 calendar days of purchase, provided that zero credits from the pack have been consumed.

2. Partially Used Packs: Once any credit from a pack has been used, monetary refunds are not available; however, remaining credits remain valid for the full 30-day lifecycle.

3. Disputes: If you experienced technical disruptions or substandard teaching, submit a dispute within 24 hours of class completion via support@sharonesl.com for prompt human mediation.