Refund & Dispute Policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to all payments made through the ShipGlobal platform at ship-global.store for freight and logistics services booked from Logistics Providers.

It does not apply to charges levied directly by a Logistics Provider outside the platform, to customs duties and taxes paid to a government authority, or to third-party cargo insurance premiums, which are governed by the insurer's policy.

2. How Escrow Protects You

When you pay for an order, the money does not go straight to the Logistics Provider. We hold it. This is the single most important protection on the platform, and it is why the refund rules below work the way they do.

The lifecycle of your money is as follows:

• Held — from the moment your payment succeeds, the funds sit in escrow. The Logistics Provider can see that payment is secured but cannot access it.
• Pending release — once you confirm that you have received the cargo, a 7-day holding period begins. This window exists so that you can still raise a problem after taking delivery.
• Released — at the end of the 7-day period, the funds are automatically transferred to the Logistics Provider, less our platform commission. Our system performs this check once a day.
• Disputed or frozen — if you raise a complaint, or if we identify a problem, the escrow is suspended. No automatic release happens while a dispute is open.
• Refunded — the funds are returned to your original payment method and the order is closed.

3. The Refund Window — The Rule That Matters Most

You are entitled to a full refund of the amount you paid at any time before the funds are released to the Logistics Provider. There is no restocking fee and no deduction — our platform commission is refunded to you as well, because we only earn it on completed shipments.

Once the funds have been released, we can no longer reverse the payment from the platform. In practice this gives you the entire transport period plus 7 days after you confirm delivery to identify a problem.

After release, you may still have a valid claim against the Logistics Provider under the contract of carriage — but it must be pursued with that provider directly, and we will assist you with documentation and contact details.

This is why we ask you not to confirm receipt until you have actually inspected the cargo. Confirming receipt starts the clock.

4. When You Are Entitled to a Refund

We will refund you in full, provided the funds have not yet been released, in each of the following situations:

• No Logistics Provider accepts your order within the time stated at checkout.
• The Logistics Provider cancels the order, or fails to collect the cargo by the agreed collection date and offers no acceptable alternative.
• The cargo is never delivered, or is confirmed lost in transit.
• The service delivered differs materially from what was quoted — for example a different transport mode, a materially different transit time, or a different destination.
• You cancel before the Logistics Provider has accepted the order.
• The Logistics Provider turns out not to hold a licence or permit required to perform the service.
• Duplicate or erroneous charges caused by a platform or payment processing fault.

5. Cancelling After Acceptance

Once a Logistics Provider has accepted your order, cancellation is still possible but may not be free of charge, because the provider may already have incurred costs — booking space, positioning a vehicle, or paying terminal fees.

Where cancellation costs have genuinely been incurred and are evidenced, they may be deducted from your refund. We will show you the evidence before making any deduction, and you may dispute it under section 9.

If the cargo has already been collected or has left the origin facility, cancellation is generally no longer possible and the order must run its course or be treated as a claim.

6. When a Refund Will Not Be Granted

To be fair to the Logistics Providers who did their job, refunds are not available in the following circumstances:

• The service was performed as described and the cargo was delivered in good order.
• Delay or additional cost caused by information you supplied being incomplete or incorrect — wrong weight, wrong dimensions, wrong commodity code, missing documents.
• Customs duties, import VAT, inspection fees or penalties imposed by a government authority.
• Delay caused by customs inspection, port congestion, weather, strike, or other events outside the Logistics Provider's control.
• Damage arising from inadequate packaging by you or your supplier.
• The consignee refused delivery or was unavailable, and return or storage costs arose as a result.
• The shipment contained prohibited or undeclared goods.
• You changed your mind after the cargo was collected.

7. How to Request a Refund

Open the order in your dashboard and submit a complaint, or email support@ship-global.store quoting your order number. Do not wait — a request made while funds are still in escrow is far simpler to resolve than one made after release.

Please include as much of the following as applies: the order number; a description of what went wrong and when; photographs of the cargo and packaging if there is damage; the delivery note, bill of lading or air waybill; and any correspondence with the Logistics Provider.

Submitting a complaint on an order automatically suspends the escrow, so the automatic release will not run while we are looking at it.

8. Our Response Times

We acknowledge every refund request within 3 business days.

Straightforward cases — an order that was never accepted, a cancellation before collection, a duplicate charge — are normally resolved within the same period.

Cases requiring evidence from the Logistics Provider, such as loss or damage claims, take longer because we must give the provider a fair opportunity to respond. We aim to reach a decision within 15 business days and will keep you updated if it takes longer.

9. Dispute Procedure

If you and the Logistics Provider disagree, the following steps apply. Funds remain frozen in escrow throughout.

• Step 1 — Raise it. Submit a complaint through the platform with your evidence. The escrow is suspended immediately.
• Step 2 — Provider responds. We notify the Logistics Provider, who has 5 business days to reply with their own evidence.
• Step 3 — Review. We examine the order record, tracking data, both parties' evidence and the applicable contract of carriage.
• Step 4 — Decision. We issue a written decision: release to the provider, full refund to you, or a partial split where both sides bear part of the loss. We explain the reasoning.
• Step 5 — Escalation. If you disagree with our decision, you may pursue the matter under the governing law and jurisdiction set out in our Terms of Service. Our decision on the escrow does not extinguish your legal rights against the Logistics Provider.

10. How Refunds Are Paid

Refunds are returned to the original payment method through Stripe. We cannot pay a refund to a different card or bank account — this is a fraud-prevention requirement, not a platform preference.

Once we process the refund, funds typically appear on your statement within 5–10 business days. The exact timing is controlled by your bank or card issuer, not by us.

Refunds are made in the original currency of the transaction. If your bank converted the currency at the time of payment, the amount you receive back may differ slightly due to exchange rate movement. That difference is a banking matter outside our control.

Every refund is recorded in our ledger against the original order and appears in your order history.

11. Loss and Damage Claims

Where cargo is lost or damaged, two separate things are in play: your refund from escrow, and your claim against the carrier.

If the funds are still in escrow, we can refund you directly and quickly — this is normally the fastest route to being made whole.

Where the loss exceeds what you paid for the freight, the balance must be recovered either from your cargo insurance or from the Logistics Provider under the applicable international convention. Convention liability limits are set out in section 10 of our Terms of Service and are frequently far lower than the commercial value of the goods, which is why we recommend insuring every shipment.

Notify us and the Logistics Provider of visible damage immediately on delivery and note it on the delivery receipt. Concealed damage should be reported within the period allowed by the applicable convention — for road transport under CMR this can be as short as 7 days. Late notice can defeat an otherwise valid claim.

12. Chargebacks

If you believe a charge is wrong, please contact us before initiating a chargeback with your bank. We can usually resolve the matter faster than the card scheme process, which typically takes several weeks.

Where a chargeback is raised on an order that is under dispute, the escrow remains frozen until both the chargeback and the dispute are concluded, to prevent the same amount being paid out twice.

We reserve the right to suspend accounts that raise chargebacks in bad faith on services that were properly performed.

13. Effect on Logistics Providers

Where an order is refunded before release, the Logistics Provider receives no payment for it and we earn no commission.

Where a dispute is decided against a Logistics Provider after funds have already been released, we may recover the amount from that provider's subsequent settlements, in accordance with their provider agreement.

Repeated upheld disputes affect a provider's standing on the platform and may lead to suspension or removal.

14. Consumer Rights and Contact

If you are a consumer resident in the European Union, this policy does not limit your mandatory statutory rights, including any applicable right of withdrawal. You may also use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform.

Refund and dispute enquiries: support@ship-global.store. Billing and payment enquiries: billing@ship-global.store. Legal enquiries: legal@ship-global.store.

Xian Feng International Logistics Limited, Room 725, 7/F, Liven House, 61-63 King Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. Company Registration No. 77224366.