If something is wrong, here is exactly what happens

The principle

You should not be out of pocket for a mistake we made. You also cannot be refunded for a decision somebody else made. Everything below follows from those two sentences.

The short version

What comes back depends on how far your order has got: everything before work starts, 50% while work is in progress, and nothing for a correct translation once it is delivered.

Full refund

• You cancel before our translator starts work.
• We cannot deliver your order.
• Our mistake is still wrong after 2 corrections.

50% back

• You cancel after our translator has started work and before we deliver. The rest pays for the work already done.

No refund

• A correct translation has been delivered.
• An office or school declines your document for a reason that is not in our translation.

Before work starts

Cancel any time, full refund. Between paying and our translator beginning work, you can cancel for any reason and we return the whole amount. Press Cancel for a full refund on your order progress page, or email us.

You see the price and a draft before you pay, so if your document turns out to be unusable you will not have spent anything.

After work starts, before delivery

Everything we make is made specifically for your order, so it cannot be reused for anyone else. If you cancel after work has started and before we deliver, we return 50% and the rest pays for the work already done.

If we made a mistake

We correct it free, and we do it first. Tell us within 14 days of delivery. Found something after that? Write to us anyway: we look at each one. That includes:

• a mistranslation, or a meaning that does not match the source;
• a wrong or missing name, date, number or address;
• a name spelled differently from the spelling you gave us;
• content left out of the translation that was in the source;
• a layout error that makes the document confusing to read against the original;
• a missing or incorrect certificate of accuracy.

We re-deliver the corrected version at no charge, with a note recording what changed and when. If a correction cannot put it right, we refund in full. You do not have to accept an endless series of corrections.

If an office or school declines your document

We cannot refund because a receiving office declined your submission. Acceptance is their decision, and it commonly turns on things that have nothing to do with the translation: the age of the original, which copy you sent, or what they happened to ask for that day.

What we do, at no charge:

• Check our own work against the reason they gave.
• If any part of it points to an error in our translation, that is a correction under the section above: free, and refundable if we cannot fix it.

Sworn translations

Our translation comes with a signed certificate of accuracy. It is not a sworn translation. If your office needs a sworn translation, or one made by a translator registered with their own authority, tell us before you order. We then say what we can and cannot provide, and you decide whether to go ahead. If you need a sworn translation and do not tell us at the start, we do not refund it.

Business text and copywriting

These are delivered to you and to nobody else, and nobody has to accept them. Errors are corrected free, as above: a mistranslation, a wrong name, figure, price or date, text left out. Tell us within 14 days of delivery.

A revision is not an error, and asking for one is not a complaint. Wanting it shorter, warmer, sharper or aimed at a different reader is a normal part of writing. Advanced business text and copywriting each include two rounds of revisions, and Standard business text includes none.

What we cannot refund is a result. We do not promise how a piece will perform: how many people read it, click it or buy from it depends on your product, your price, your audience and your market.

If we cannot complete your order

Full refund. If we accept an order and then find we cannot do it properly, for example the document is beyond what we can safely handle or we cannot produce it responsibly, we refund everything you paid.

Priority delivery

If you bought priority delivery ($8 on an official document) and we miss the date on your quote, we refund the priority fee. The translation is still delivered. If we cannot deliver on the day we gave you, you can have a full refund.

How refunds are paid

• Refunds go back the way you paid: a card payment is returned to the card.
• We start the refund within 3 business days of agreeing it. How quickly it then appears depends on your own bank, typically 3 to 5 days.
• We refund the full amount you paid. Prices are shown in US dollars and charged in yen, so the amount your card statement shows in your own currency depends on your card company's rate on the day.

Your files after a refund

A refund does not change our retention rules and does not entitle us to keep anything longer. Source files are deleted 17 days after delivery or cancellation, delivered files after 30 days, and the deletion is recorded.

How to ask

Email hello@polyfetti.com with your order number and what is wrong. A photograph of the office's response helps if there is one. We reply within 1 business day, and we tell you which of the paths above your case falls under and what happens next.