Legal

Refund & Cancellation Policy

Last updated: 21 August 2026

Template notice. This document was drafted to give TalkLingoo a real, specific Refund & Cancellation Policy rather than a placeholder — it accurately describes how the product actually works (escrow, the 2-hour cancellation cutoff, M-Pesa/Paystack/Whop payment channels, etc.). It is a starting point, not a substitute for review by a lawyer licensed where TalkLingoo operates and where its users are located, especially for consumer-protection and payments-regulation requirements in Kenya and any other country served.

1. How payment holding works

When you book and pay for a lesson, your payment isn't sent to the teacher right away — it's held by TalkLingoo in escrow. It's released to the teacher 24 hours after the scheduled lesson time, as long as you haven't cancelled the booking or opened a dispute about it. This window exists specifically so that refunds and cancellations described below are always possible before money actually changes hands.

2. Cancelling before the lesson

When you cancel	What happens
More than 2 hours before the scheduled lesson	You can cancel yourself from "My Lessons." A refund is automatically queued.
Less than 2 hours before the scheduled lesson	Self-service cancellation is turned off this close to the lesson. Contact talklingoo@gmail.com and we'll review it case by case.
After the lesson's scheduled time has passed	The booking can no longer be cancelled — if something went wrong with the lesson itself, open a dispute instead (Section 4).

3. How refunds are actually sent, by payment method

Card (via Paystack): Refunds are triggered automatically through Paystack the moment your cancellation or approved dispute is processed. Paystack's own timelines apply for the money to reappear in your account — typically several business days, depending on your card issuer.
M-Pesa: Safaricom does not currently offer an automated refund API for TalkLingoo's payment volume, so M-Pesa refunds are queued and sent manually by our team, usually within a few business days. You don't need to do anything — we'll send it to the same M-Pesa number the payment came from.
Whop: Refunds are processed back through Whop's checkout to your original payment method.

4. Disputing a lesson that already happened

If a lesson didn't happen as booked — the teacher didn't show up, there was a serious connection or quality problem on the teacher's side, or something else went wrong — you can open a dispute from that booking in "My Lessons" any time after its scheduled time has passed. Describe what happened; this pauses the payment's release to the teacher while our team reviews it. We'll resolve it one of two ways:

In your favor: a refund is queued using the method above for your original payment channel.
In the teacher's favor: the payment is released to the teacher as normal, on the next scheduled release.

We aim to resolve disputes promptly and will only rule in the teacher's favor when the evidence supports that the lesson was delivered as booked.

5. No-shows

If your teacher doesn't join the lesson within a reasonable grace period, open a dispute — this is exactly the scenario the dispute process in Section 4 exists for, and you should expect a refund. If you, the learner, don't show up for a lesson you didn't cancel in time, the booking proceeds to normal payment release, the same as if the lesson had happened.

6. What's never refunded automatically

TalkLingoo's service fee is not itemized separately for refund purposes — a refund covers the full amount you paid for that booking, and a rejected dispute means no refund is issued for that lesson.

7. Questions about a specific refund

Refund and cancellation status for any booking is visible in "My Lessons." For anything not covered here, email talklingoo@gmail.com with your booking reference.