Cancellation and Refund Policy

This Policy applies to confirmed Qembara Bookings for activities, tours, workshops, meals, events and other Experiences supplied by Hosts through the Platform. It does not apply to a transaction arranged outside Qembara.

If documents conflict, mandatory law prevails. For transaction facts, the Booking Confirmation and confirmed Listing prevail; this Policy then governs cancellation and refund outcomes; the Standard Experience Contract Terms govern the Guest-Host contract; the Payment Terms govern payment mechanics. A Host cannot add a less favourable cancellation term after Booking confirmation unless the Guest expressly agrees and applicable law permits it.

All cancellation deadlines use the local date and time at the Experience location. The Platform must show the applicable deadline before payment and retain it in the Booking Confirmation.

Qembara uses two standard cancellation settings so Guests can compare Experiences easily and Hosts cannot create hidden or confusing rules. Flexible - 24 hours is the default. Advance Preparation - 72 hours may be used only for a Listing approved by Qembara where the Host demonstrates material advance preparation, committed non-recoverable third-party cost, constrained capacity, or another documented operational justification. The exact setting for a Booking is displayed before payment and preserved in the Booking Confirmation.

3.1 How Guest cancellation works

Open the Booking in the Platform or use the Qembara support route shown with the Booking.

Before the Guest confirms cancellation, Qembara shows the applicable policy, deadline, cancellation effective time and estimated refund by price component.

Cancellation becomes effective when Qembara records it and provides confirmation. If the self-service route is unavailable, a time-stamped support request received before the deadline preserves the Guest's position while Qembara verifies it.

Once Qembara determines that a monetary refund is due under this Policy, Qembara will issue that refund without requiring the Guest to wait for Qembara to recover any Host-funded amount. Recovery, offset or settlement between Qembara and the Host is a separate matter and does not reduce or delay the approved Guest refund. Bank or payment-provider settlement may take longer than Qembara's own processing.

3.2 Late cancellation exception requested from the Host

After the free-cancellation deadline, a Guest may ask the Host to approve an exception. The Host is not required to approve it unless this Policy or mandatory law already gives the Guest a remedy. Any approval must be recorded through Qembara, state the amount being refunded and cannot require the Guest to withdraw a genuine complaint or review.

A Host's discretionary refund of the Host Amount does not by itself determine the treatment of Qembara's Guest Service Fee, taxes, credits or third-party charges; those components follow section 9.

A requested change is not effective until the Host accepts it, any price difference is paid or refunded, and Qembara issues an updated Booking Confirmation. Before confirmation, Qembara will show any price change and any effect on cancellation rights.

A material change proposed by the Host - including a material change to date, time, location, Host, itinerary, duration, capacity or a key inclusion - requires the Guest's agreement. If the Guest declines, the Guest may cancel for a full refund.

A minor operational change is permitted only if it does not materially reduce value, safety, accessibility or the essential character of the Experience. Qembara will assess changes cumulatively: multiple changes that are individually minor are treated as a material change if their combined effect materially alters the confirmed Experience.

For a Guest-requested reschedule, the cancellation deadline is the earlier of (a) the deadline preserved from the original Booking and (b) the deadline calculated from the new start time. Rescheduling does not automatically reset or revive a free-cancellation right. A later deadline may be granted only through an authorised Qembara workflow and must be expressly recorded in the updated Booking Confirmation. For a Host-requested material reschedule, the Guest may decline the change for a full refund; if the Guest accepts it, the updated confirmation must state a prospective cancellation deadline that is no less favourable than the deadline disclosed when the Guest accepts the change.

If a price decreases after an accepted change, Qembara refunds the difference. If it increases, the Guest must expressly accept and pay the difference before the change becomes binding.

Where the Listing prices Participants separately and the remaining group still meets the confirmed minimum, a Guest may cancel one or more Participants. The applicable deadline is applied to the cancelled places and the Platform will show the revised Participant count and refund before confirmation.

Where a private or minimum-price Experience is priced for the group as a whole, removing Participants does not automatically reduce the Host Amount. Any changed group price must be clearly shown and accepted. Qembara will not impose an undisclosed minimum charge after Booking.

A Host must honour a confirmed Booking unless there is a valid reason under this Policy, a material Guest-caused safety disruption, applicable law or an event beyond reasonable control. A Host must not ask a Guest to cancel on the Host's behalf.

If the Host cancels, fails to appear, or no part of the Experience can be delivered for a Host-responsible reason, the Booking Guest is entitled to a full monetary refund equal to 100% of the monetary amounts actually charged through Qembara for that affected Experience. This includes the Host Amount, Qembara Guest Service Fee, taxes and paid Experience-specific extras or third-party charges included in the Qembara checkout. This full-refund rule does not apply where the cancellation results solely from a substantiated serious Guest breach, fraud, or material Guest-caused safety disruption and section 11 lawfully permits a reduced or zero refund. Qembara may offer a suitable alternative, another date or Qembara credit, but it will not substitute those for money without the Guest's agreement.

If a substitute Host or materially different delivery arrangement is proposed, the Guest may accept it. If the Guest declines it, or no suitable alternative is available, the applicable monetary refund remains available.

A Host who is more than 15 minutes late is treated as a potential Material Issue. Whether the Host remains contactable is relevant to the remedy but does not by itself prevent a Material Issue from arising. The remedy depends on waiting time, shortened duration, ability to complete the essential Experience, the quality and reliability of Host communications, and any reasonable alternative accepted by the Guest.

A Material Issue can override the ordinary Guest cancellation setting. Examples include a Host no-show; material Host lateness; an unsafe or unexpectedly unusable venue; missing essential equipment; a materially inaccurate meeting location; failure to deliver a key advertised element; an undisclosed material accessibility barrier contrary to a confirmed arrangement; or delivery materially different from the confirmed description.

The Booking Guest should report a Material Issue through Qembara Support as soon as reasonably possible and, where feasible, while the Experience is still taking place so the issue can be corrected and evidence preserved. A refund request should ordinarily be submitted within 72 hours after the Material Issue occurs. Qembara may accept later reporting where emergency, incapacity, lack of access or another reasonable circumstance made timely reporting impracticable.

The Guest should provide the Booking reference, what happened, relevant times, Platform communications and available photographs, receipts or other proportionate evidence. Qembara may request information from both Guest and Host and review Platform records.

A covered event is an unavoidable event outside the reasonable control of both parties that materially affects the Experience location and prevents or legally prohibits safe completion. It may include a natural disaster, government prohibition or material warning, mandatory evacuation, civil disruption, emergency closure, serious public-health event or location-wide transport or essential-utility shutdown.

The following are not automatically covered events: ordinary or foreseeable weather that does not prevent safe performance; Guest-only flight or transport disruption; insufficient Host staffing; overbooking; missing permits; poor scheduling; avoidable maintenance; or ordinary supplier failure.

If no part can be delivered, the default is a full monetary refund unless the Guest chooses rebooking or credit.

If a meaningful part was safely and lawfully delivered before interruption, a proportionate remedy reflects the value received and the remaining impact.

Host preparation costs, non-recoverable supplier costs or the internal allocation of refund funding between Qembara and the Host do not reduce a Guest refund where this Policy grants a full refund. The Host Terms and Payment Terms allocate the economic burden without changing the Guest-facing entitlement.

Host cancellation consequences may be waived for a properly evidenced event beyond the Host's control, but that waiver does not remove the Guest's refund entitlement.

Qembara calculates refunds component by component. A full refund under this Policy means 100% of the monetary amounts actually charged through Qembara for the affected Experience. A supplier, acquiring, payment-processing or other third-party cost that Qembara or a Host cannot recover does not reduce that Guest-facing full refund. Promotional value that was not charged as money is treated under the disclosed credit or promotion terms and does not replace money that must be refunded.

9.1 Partial-refund calculation

A partial refund must be reasonable, evidence-based and explainable. Qembara will consider the part not delivered, the seriousness and duration of the issue, the extent to which the essential purpose was achieved, whether the issue was corrected, and any refund already issued. Qembara will apply internal decision guidance to promote consistent outcomes, but that guidance does not replace the facts of the Booking, mandatory law or the full-refund rules in this Policy. Nominal, abandoned or materially unsafe performance will not be used to defeat an otherwise full-refund entitlement.

Refund = eligible Host Amount + eligible Guest Service Fee + eligible taxes + eligible extras + eligible third-party charges - amounts already refunded for those same components. For any outcome defined as a full refund, the result is 100% of the monetary amounts actually charged through Qembara for the affected Experience. Qembara will not double-count a refund, credit or Host payment for the same component.

9.2 Currency, rounding and exchange rates

Refunds are calculated in the Booking's transaction currency using the same component values recorded at checkout. Qembara will use consistent currency rounding. A card issuer or payment provider may apply its own exchange rate or fee when posting a refund; Qembara does not control that separate conversion unless Qembara is the party performing it.

A monetary refund is returned to the original payment method where reasonably possible. If that method cannot receive the refund, Qembara will offer another lawful method. Credit or rebooking is optional unless the Guest expressly chooses it after being told the monetary amount otherwise due.

The time for funds to appear after initiation depends on the payment method, bank and payment provider. Qembara will display the available estimate when the refund is initiated and will provide a reference or status where available. A processing delay does not convert a monetary refund into credit.

Guests and Participants must arrive at the confirmed local start time with the disclosed identification, clothing and equipment. The Host should use the Platform contact route where reasonably possible before treating a Guest as a no-show. Unless a different timing rule is prominently disclosed before checkout because the Experience is time-critical, the default Guest grace period is 15 minutes after the confirmed start time. The Host should make at least one reasonable contact attempt during that period where contact is available. A Listing-specific rule must be objectively justified by the Experience, shown before payment and preserved in the Booking Confirmation.

A Host may reasonably refuse admission or end participation for a material safety risk, intoxication or material impairment, threats or harassment, discrimination, deliberate property damage, refusal of reasonable safety instructions, an unauthorised Participant, or another serious breach. Refund entitlement depends on the cause, proportionality, evidence, this Policy and mandatory law. A Host cannot rely on an undisclosed, discriminatory or irrelevant requirement to deny a refund.

If a Guest voluntarily leaves early for reasons unrelated to a Material Issue, the unused time is not automatically refundable.

Qembara guarantees payment of a Guest refund once Qembara determines that the refund qualifies under this Policy, whether or not Qembara has first recovered the Host-funded portion. Recovery, withholding, offset or settlement with the Host is handled separately under the Host Terms and Payment Terms. Under those terms, the Host ordinarily funds the Host-side portion of refunds caused by Host cancellation, non-performance, a Host-responsible Material Issue, inaccurate Listing, breach, or acts of personnel or suppliers for whom the Host is responsible. Qembara bears the Qembara Guest Service Fee refund and discretionary goodwill it chooses to provide, unless a different Host/Qembara allocation is expressly agreed; that internal allocation does not reduce an approved Guest refund.

A Host cancellation ordinarily results in no Host payout for the cancelled Booking. Qembara may withhold, adjust, offset or recover Host-funded amounts as authorised by the Host Terms and Payment Terms. Waiving a Host penalty because the Host had a valid reason does not remove the Guest's refund entitlement and does not itself create a Host payout entitlement.

A Guest chargeback does not automatically establish Host fault. Chargebacks follow the Payment Terms, card-scheme rules, applicable law and the evidence of delivery and responsibility. A Guest must not seek duplicate recovery through both a Qembara refund and a payment dispute.

Qembara may cancel or restrict a Booking where reasonably necessary for safety, fraud prevention, sanctions, legal compliance, payment failure, a serious breach or inability to maintain a workable delivery plan. The refund outcome depends on the cause and mandatory law.

If Qembara cancels because of Qembara's own Platform, payment-processing or support failure and the Experience cannot proceed, the Guest receives the refund required by this Policy.

If cancellation is required solely because of the Guest's serious breach, fraud, prohibited conduct or material Guest-caused safety disruption, the Guest may receive no refund of the Host Amount to the extent lawful and proportionate.

If the reason is an event beyond reasonable control, section 8 applies.

If the cause is Host-responsible, section 6 or 7 applies.

For a same-day Host no-show, material Host lateness or immediate safety issue, use the urgent-support route displayed with the Booking. Qembara will prioritise the live report, attempt to contact the Host and communicate the available continuation, replacement or refund options.

For another refund dispute, provide the Booking reference, requested remedy and relevant evidence. Qembara may make an administrative determination for Platform refunds, credits, payouts and account action within the authority granted by the Host. It will provide a brief explanation of the outcome.

The Booking Guest or Host may request one administrative review where material evidence was overlooked, this Policy appears to have been applied inconsistently, or material new information exists. The review does not remove contractual, statutory or court rights.

Qembara will consider proportionate evidence from both sides, including Booking records, confirmed Listing content, Platform messages, attendance records, timestamps, photographs, receipts, safety records and other relevant information. Failure to provide requested evidence may allow Qembara to decide on the information available, but it is not automatically an admission.

Qembara may act urgently to protect safety or prevent ongoing harm. A refund decision must not be based on a protected characteristic, retaliation for a complaint or review, or an undisclosed rule. Fraudulent refund claims or fabricated evidence may lead to account action and do not create a refund right.

Nothing in this Policy limits a mandatory consumer right, remedy, cooling-off right, statutory refund or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. The applicable governing law and dispute route for the Experience contract are stated in the Booking Confirmation and Standard Experience Contract Terms, subject to any mandatory consumer forum or protection.

This Policy is not travel or cancellation insurance. Unless the confirmed Listing expressly says otherwise, Qembara does not reimburse consequential or external costs such as flights, hotels, visas, transport to the meeting point or lost earnings merely because an Experience is cancelled. This does not exclude compensation or liability that applicable law does not permit the parties to exclude.

The version accepted for a confirmed Booking remains the applicable version for that Booking unless a change is required by law or the affected parties expressly agree to a change that is lawful and does not remove a mandatory right. Qembara may update this Policy prospectively for future Bookings and will publish the effective date of the new version.

When contacting Qembara, include the Booking reference and do not send sensitive identity or payment documents by ordinary email unless Qembara has specifically provided a secure route.