Refund and Cancellation Policy

1.Scope

This policy covers every payment taken by the Society: annual membership subscriptions, certification examination fees, paid CPD courses, event tickets and merchandise. It is published so that you always know your position before you pay, as required of us by our payment provider and by consumer law.

2.Membership subscriptions

1. 2.114-day cooling-off: a new member may cancel within 14 days of the first payment and receive a full refund, provided no certification examination has been sat and no CPD certificate has been issued in that period.
2. 2.2Declined applications: refunded in full within 10 business days of the decision. Membership is never conferred by payment alone.
3. 2.3Withdrawn applications: refunded in full if withdrawn before an executive decision is recorded.
4. 2.4After the cooling-off period, annual subscriptions are non-refundable in part or in whole. Cancelling stops the next renewal; access and benefits continue to the end of the paid year.
5. 2.5Upgrades are charged pro rata and are non-refundable. Downgrades take effect at the next renewal and do not generate a partial refund.
6. 2.6Duplicate charges caused by a technical fault are refunded in full as soon as identified, without the member needing to ask.

3.Certification examination fees

1. 3.1The $35 fee is refundable in full until the attempt is started.
2. 3.2Once the first question is displayed the attempt is consumed and the fee is not refundable, whatever the outcome.
3. 3.3Where a technical fault attributable to the Society prevents an attempt from being completed, we void the attempt and either restore the attempt at no cost or refund the fee, at the candidate's choice.
4. 3.4Attempts voided for breach of the Examination Integrity Policy are not refunded.

4.Events, CPD and merchandise

1. 4.1Paid event tickets are refundable up to 7 days before the event, and always in full if the Society cancels or reschedules.
2. 4.2Paid CPD courses are refundable until the first slide of the course is opened.
3. 4.3Merchandise is produced on demand by our print partner; faulty or misprinted items are replaced or refunded on photographic evidence within 30 days of delivery. Correctly produced personalized items cannot be returned for change of mind.

5.How to cancel or claim a refund

1. 5.1Cancel a subscription yourself at any hour in the member portal under Membership, or through the billing portal link shown there.
2. 5.2Request a refund by emailing billing@americancomputersociety.com from your registered address, quoting your ACS membership number.
3. 5.3Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method within 5 to 10 business days; the timing of the credit appearing depends on your card issuer.

6.Disputed charges

Please contact us before raising a chargeback — almost every dispute is resolved faster directly. Charges appear on your statement under the descriptor shown at checkout. Where a chargeback is raised, we supply the payment provider with the application record, the audit trail of the transaction and this policy as evidence, and we may suspend membership benefits until the dispute is closed.