Refund Policy
Effective from: 10 August 2026. This Refund Policy complements the Terms and Conditions. Where the two conflict, the Terms prevail, save where this Policy grants more favourable rights to the Customer.
Independence and non-affiliation
Sitehotelminder is an independent third-party marketplace and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by SiteMinder Limited or its parent company. This policy does not entitle any refund from SiteMinder Limited or from any fee paid directly to SiteMinder Limited for a SiteMinder Account.
1. Scope
This Policy applies to every payment made to Sitehotelminder GmbH through the online marketplace at sitehotelminder.org, including monthly Subscription fees, one-off setup or migration fees, and any add-on service invoiced separately. Fees paid to third parties (SiteMinder Limited, online travel agencies, payment schemes) are outside the scope of this Policy and are governed by the terms of the relevant third party.
2. Right of withdrawal — EU consumer 14-day cooling-off period
Under German consumer protection law (UWG) and EU Directive 2011/83/EU, a Customer acting as a consumer has a period of fourteen (14) calendar days from the conclusion of the contract in which to withdraw, without giving reasons and without penalty. The right is exercised by any unambiguous statement sent to support@sitehotelminder.org, mentioning the Order reference. A model withdrawal form is available on request.
By way of exception, and pursuant to Article 16(m) of Directive 2011/83/EU, the right of withdrawal does not apply to a Module whose execution has begun with the Customer’s express prior consent and with an acknowledgment that the right of withdrawal is thereby lost. Activating a Module by supplying a SiteMinder API key inside the fourteen-day period constitutes such express consent and waiver in respect of the activated Module. The Customer remains eligible for the commercial guarantees set out below.
Where the right of withdrawal is validly exercised, Sitehotelminder refunds the amount paid in full within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of the withdrawal notice, using the same means of payment as the original transaction, unless the Customer expressly agrees otherwise.
3. Refunds on monthly Subscriptions
Monthly Subscriptions may be cancelled at any time from the Client Area, without notice and without giving reasons. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the then-current billing cycle. The last invoice already issued for that cycle is not refunded automatically because the service has been provided in full for the paid period.
Where the Customer requests early termination during the cycle for a legitimate reason (documented service unavailability, material breach by Sitehotelminder, statutory right of withdrawal), the fee for the current cycle is refunded on a pro-rata basis, calculated to the day of cancellation, and the refund is processed within fourteen (14) business days of validation.
4. Refunds on one-off setup or migration fees
One-off migration and setup fees are refundable in full where the Customer cancels within seven (7) calendar days of payment and migration work has not yet started. Once migration work has started, a pro-rata refund is offered corresponding to the portion of the scope not yet delivered, on presentation of the internal work log. No refund is due once the migration has been formally accepted by the Customer through the Client Area sign-off workflow.
5. Refund method and timing
All refunds are issued to the original means of payment used for the Order. Refunds are processed within fourteen (14) business days of validation. Where the original payment method is no longer available (expired card, closed bank account), the Customer supplies an alternative refund destination on request; Sitehotelminder may require identity verification before releasing the funds.
6. Non-refundable items
- Custom software development performed at the Customer’s request, once specifications have been signed off.
- Third-party fees prepaid on the Customer’s behalf, such as online travel agency (OTA) connection fees paid to OTA channels, OTA partners or similar, and any SiteMinder licence fees paid to SiteMinder Limited
- Training sessions actually delivered and attended.
- Certificates of compliance or audit reports actually issued.
- Any charge that arose from misuse of the service in breach of the Terms and Conditions.
7. Downtime credits
Sitehotelminder targets an uptime of 99.5% per calendar month, measured on the availability of the Client Area and of the Module API endpoints. Where actual uptime falls below 99.0% in a given calendar month, the Customer is entitled to a downtime credit equal to 10% of the monthly fee for the affected Module. Where uptime falls below 95%, the credit is 25%. Where uptime falls below 90%, the credit is 50%. Credits are applied automatically to the next invoice and are visible in the Client Area under «Billing history».
Downtime attributable to (i) scheduled maintenance announced at least seven days in advance; (ii) the SiteMinder API being itself unavailable; (iii) the Customer’s own network or SiteMinder Account; or (iv) force majeure as defined in the Terms, is excluded from the calculation.
8. How to request a refund
Send a written request to support@sitehotelminder.org containing:
- the Order reference (visible in the Client Area and on every invoice);
- the Module or line item concerned;
- a brief description of the reason for the request;
- your preferred means of contact for follow-up.
An acknowledgment is issued within one (1) business day. A decision is communicated within ten (10) business days. Where the request is granted, the refund is initiated within fourteen (14) business days.
9. Dispute resolution
Where the Customer disagrees with a refund decision, the parties commit to a good-faith negotiation window of thirty (30) calendar days before any judicial action is initiated. Consumers within the European Union may also use the European Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Any residual dispute falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Amtsgericht Berlin-Mitte (Basic Court of Berlin), without prejudice to any mandatory rule of the consumer’s country of residence.
10. Consumer protection under German law
Nothing in this Refund Policy limits any right that the Customer, acting as a consumer, is granted by the German Consumer Protection Act (UWG) or by any other mandatory provision of the law applicable to it. Where a provision of this Policy is less favourable than the applicable mandatory rule, the mandatory rule prevails.
11. Chargebacks
Where the Customer initiates a chargeback with its card issuer without first attempting to resolve the dispute with Sitehotelminder, the affected Subscription may be suspended pending the outcome of the chargeback procedure. Chargebacks found in favour of Sitehotelminder give rise to the recovery of any bank processing fee incurred.
12. Effect of a refund
A refund granted under this Policy terminates, in respect of the Module concerned, all licences, rights of use and access to the Client Area for that Module. The Customer’s obligation to pay any remaining accrued fee for a period prior to the refund is not extinguished by the grant of a refund on subsequent periods.
13. Amendments
This Refund Policy may be amended from time to time. The version applicable to an Order is the version in force on the date of that Order. Material changes are notified by email to the address on file at least thirty (30) days before they take effect.
14. Contact
Sitehotelminder GmbH
Musterstraße 42, 10115 Berlin, Deutschland
Director: Thomas Bergmann
Telephone: +49 30 4278 5934
Email: support@sitehotelminder.org · billing@sitehotelminder.org
HRB 234567 —
IBAN: DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00
Supervisory authority for personal data: Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit (BlnBDI), BlnBDI-BE-2024-08-15.
Effective from 3 August 2026. Next scheduled review: 3 February 2027.