Refund Policy

Overview

The onboarding fee buys access to a whole category, so refunds on it are proportional. If a manufacturer in the category declines you, you get refunded that brand's share of the flat fee — for example, if the category has 6 brands and 1 declines you, you get 1/6 of the fee back. If every brand declines, you get the full fee back. The recurring category fee (billed every 4 weeks) and commission are never affected by a partial refund — they're billed only on the brands you're actually authorized to sell. If DAS declines your entire category application before anything is sent to a manufacturer, that's a full refund. Once commission is invoiced or paid on a completed sale, or a recurring category fee payment has been made, that's non-refundable. If you pay and never send back any paperwork within 60 days, the onboarding fee is non-refundable — that's on you.

1. Scope
This policy governs refunds of the one-time onboarding fee. It does not apply to product purchases, which are made directly between the dealer and the manufacturer and are governed by the manufacturer's own return and refund terms. It also does not apply to the $29 every-4-weeks category fee or to commission, which are addressed in Sections 6 and 7 below.

2. Proportional refund — a brand within the category declines
The onboarding fee covers access to every brand DAS has onboarded within a category at the time of purchase. If, for reasons unrelated to the dealer's own conduct, a manufacturer within that category declines the dealer's application, the dealer receives a refund equal to that brand's proportional share of the onboarding fee — calculated as the onboarding fee divided by the number of brands in the category at the time of purchase. For example, if a category had 6 brands at purchase and 1 declines the dealer, the dealer is refunded 1/6 of the onboarding fee. This applies per declining brand, so multiple declines are refunded cumulatively.

3. Full refund — every brand in the category declines
If every brand in the category declines the dealer's application, for reasons unrelated to the dealer's own conduct, the dealer receives a full refund of the onboarding fee. No questions asked.

4. Refund — DAS declines the category application before submission
If DAS declines to proceed with the dealer's category application entirely, before any paperwork has been forwarded to a manufacturer, the dealer receives a full refund of the onboarding fee. If DAS declines only a specific brand within an otherwise active category (see the Dealer Onboarding Policy), that brand is refunded proportionally under Section 2, the same as a manufacturer decline.

5. No refund — onboarding fails due to the dealer's own conduct
If a brand application is declined because the dealer misrepresented their business, provided false information, or otherwise caused the rejection, that brand's share of the onboarding fee is not refundable.

6. No refund — recurring category fee
The $29 category fee, billed every 4 weeks, is billed for the dealer's ongoing access to the category as a whole, and is unaffected by a partial refund under Section 2. It's billed for access already provided during that billing period and is non-refundable, including for any partial billing period.

7. No refund — commission already invoiced or paid
Any commission already invoiced or paid to DAS on completed sales, under the Fee & Commission Policy, is non-refundable regardless of any later dispute, termination, or refund of the onboarding fee itself. Commission is only ever owed on brands the dealer is actually authorized to sell, so a partial refund under Section 2 has no effect on commission owed on the brands that were approved.

8. No refund — abandoned applications
If a dealer purchases category access but does not return completed paperwork for a given brand within 60 days of purchase, that brand's application is treated as abandoned and its share of the onboarding fee is not refundable. Completing and returning the required paperwork is the dealer's responsibility.

9. Non-circumvention and non-resale survive refund
A refund, partial or full, of the onboarding fee does not release the dealer from obligations under the Non-Circumvention Policy, including the 5-year post-termination restriction, which survive regardless of refund status.

10. How refunds are issued
Approved refunds, partial or full, are issued to the original payment method within 30 business days of approval.

11. Per-category basis
Refunds are assessed per product category. A refund or denial on one category's onboarding fee does not affect the dealer's standing, fees, or refund eligibility on any other category.