Refund Policy

What this policy covers

This policy applies to every service LeadLaya provides in connection with Upwork business development, including profile setup and optimization, proposal writing, bidding and proposal submission, and ongoing account management.

The principle behind it is simple: if the fault is ours, you get your money back; if the work was executed properly, it is not refundable. Two payments are refundable under this policy and no others — the advance payment, under § 02, and the full value of any bid we submitted incorrectly, under § 04.

Advance payment

The advance payment secures your slot and covers the work leading up to your first deliverable. It is fully refundable if you are not satisfied with that first deliverable.

• Submit your refund request within [3] business days of receiving the first deliverable, in writing, to your LeadLaya account manager and the billing email shown on your invoice.
• Tell us what did not meet the brief. You may ask for one revision first — requesting a revision does not waive your right to a refund, and the [3]-day window restarts when the revised deliverable is sent.
• The refund covers the advance payment only. It does not cover Upwork Connects, subscription fees, or any third-party costs already spent on your account.

Once you accept the first deliverable — in writing, by approving the work, or by allowing the [3]-day window to pass without objection — the advance payment becomes non-refundable and the engagement moves forward.

Profile optimization and Phase 2

When the contract moves into the second phase of bidding, profile optimization work begins immediately: rewriting your profile, positioning your service catalogue, restructuring your portfolio, and preparing your account for submission volume.

This work is delivered up front and cannot be returned or undone once it is live on your account. All payments for profile optimization and Phase 2 are non-refundable from the moment Phase 2 is initiated — including where you later pause, cancel, or stop responding.

Proposals sent with an error on our side

You set the criteria; we bid inside them. If a proposal goes out with a mistake that is ours, you do not pay for it. The full value of that bid is refunded — 100%, no partial credits. This covers, without limitation:

• An irrelevant job — outside the niche, service type, budget range, client location, or any other filter recorded in your brief.
• A cover letter that does not meet your criteria — wrong service framing, ignored requirements, or a generic template where a tailored letter was agreed.
• A wrong, broken, or mismatched portfolio link, or samples that do not relate to the job applied for.
• Wrong attachments, missing or incorrect screening answers, or a rate, duration, or milestone structure that contradicts your instructions.
• Any other execution error attributable to LeadLaya.

Report it within [7] days of the submission appearing in your proposal log, quoting the job title and submission date. An approved claim is returned as a cash refund or as replacement bids on your next cycle — your choice. We keep a full submission log, so these claims are settled from the record rather than from memory.

This clause covers proposals sent incorrectly. It does not cover proposals sent correctly that receive no reply.

What you are paying for

LeadLaya is paid for the professional effort that goes into your account, and that effort is delivered whether or not a given month produces a contract. Each cycle you are paying for:

That effort is the deliverable. It is fully refundable where we execute it badly, under § 04, and non-refundable where we execute it properly.

Results depend on the market, not on effort alone

Business development on Upwork is shaped by conditions no agency controls. Response rates move month to month with client demand, hiring budgets, seasonality, holiday periods, and how many freelancers are bidding in your niche at that moment. A well-written proposal in a saturated market can still go unanswered.

Outcomes also depend on factors that sit with your account rather than with our work: your profile's positioning and history, your Job Success Score, badges and past reviews, your rate against the market, your responsiveness to invitations and interviews, and how Upwork's own search, ranking, and matching systems choose to surface you. Upwork changes those systems, and its policies and pricing, without notice to anyone.

What we do commit to is full effort on every bid, and full accountability when we get one wrong.

No refunds during active service

Beyond the two cases above, work performed during an active engagement is not refundable. Once bidding is underway, the fees for that period are earned when the work is done.

We do not refund for: cancellation part-way through a paid cycle; unused proposals remaining at the end of a cycle; suspension or restriction of your Upwork account; changes you make to your profile, rates, or availability that affect results; opportunities lost because interviews or client messages were not answered in time; or delays caused by your own response times.

Connects and account access

Bidding runs on your Upwork Connects, and keeping them topped up is your responsibility. We will tell you before your balance runs out.

• If Connects are unavailable for more than 7 consecutive days, your account is treated as paused. We stop bidding until the balance is restored.
• Paused days are not credited, extended, or added to the end of your cycle, and the fees for that period are not refundable.
• If the pause continues beyond [30] days, LeadLaya may close the engagement. No refund is issued for the remaining balance of the cycle.

The same applies if we lose access to your Upwork account, or if required approvals, documents, or answers are not provided and work cannot continue.

How to request a refund

Send your request in writing to your LeadLaya account manager, copying the billing email shown on your invoice, and include:

• Your full name and the email registered with LeadLaya.
• Which clause you are claiming under — § 02 (advance payment) or § 04 (proposal sent in error).
• The deliverable date, or the job title and submission date of the proposal in question.
• A short explanation of what did not meet the agreed brief.

We acknowledge every request within [2] business days and give a decision within [5] business days. Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method within [7–10] business days. Bank charges, currency conversion differences, and payment-processor fees are deducted where the processor does not return them to us.

Please raise any billing concern with us before contacting your bank or payment provider. Opening a chargeback while a request is under review suspends work on your account until it is resolved.

We may update this policy. The version published on this page when you make a payment is the version that governs that payment. Material changes are emailed to clients on an active engagement.