Effective date: August 21, 2026.
Clear checkout terms
Before payment, checkout must show the item or membership, price, currency, term, benefits or registration covered, and whether payment is one-time or automatically recurring. CYWater must not enable automatic renewal unless the checkout clearly discloses the amount, frequency, cancellation method and renewal timing and records the payer's affirmative consent.
Membership sales are final and non-refundable
All membership sales are final and non-refundable. Each successful Student or Professional payment purchases one full year beginning on the payment date; Lifetime membership does not expire. Membership is not prorated. CYWater does not refund or credit membership dues because of nonuse, an incorrect level selection, changed circumstances, cancellation during a term, or unused time.
Cancelling an automatic renewal, when renewal is offered, stops future charges but does not refund or shorten the current membership term. At initial launch, automatic renewal must remain disabled unless the Board separately approves recurring-billing terms and checkout records the member's affirmative consent.
Billing corrections and reversed membership payments
CYWater may correct a duplicate charge, technical processing error or unauthorized payment, and will comply with a payment-processor reversal, chargeback decision or right that cannot lawfully be waived. These are billing corrections or legally required remedies, not a general membership-refund entitlement.
If a membership payment is reversed or corrected in full, CYWater cancels only the membership level funded by that payment and stops its matching future renewal, if any. A separately purchased event registration, submission, partnership or other service remains a separate transaction governed by its own terms. If that separate purchase depended on active membership or a member-only rate, CYWater may apply the eligibility and price-adjustment rule disclosed for that purchase.
Event and program payments
Event registration fees, abstract or submission fees and other program payments are separate from membership dues. Before a paid event opens, it must publish its own cancellation deadline, refund schedule, processing fee, transfer or substitution rule, capacity rule and treatment of cancellation, postponement or format changes. If no event-specific refund terms are displayed before payment, paid registration must not open.
An approved event refund cancels only the matching registration, seat or program entitlement. It does not cancel or refund an individual membership. Non-refundable processing or submission fees must be clearly identified before payment. If CYWater cancels an event, CYWater will follow the cancellation remedy stated in that event's published terms.
How to request an event remedy, billing correction or renewal cancellation
Requests must be sent to billing@cywater.org from the account email and identify the relevant order or registration without including card numbers or other payment credentials. CYWater may request information needed to verify the payer and transaction. Any approved event refund or billing correction returns to the original payment method where possible. Stripe and the payer's financial institution control the time needed for funds to appear.
Disputes and required remedies
Duplicate charges, technical errors, suspected fraud, unauthorized payments, processor reversals and chargebacks are reviewed against the matching order and entitlement. Users should contact CYWater promptly so that the underlying record can be reviewed consistently. Partnership payments are governed by the approved MOU and invoice terms. Nothing in this policy limits rights that cannot lawfully be waived.