Refund & Subscription Policy

Last updated: 15 April 2026

This Refund & Subscription Policy (the "Policy") describes how billing, automatic renewal, cancellation, and refunds work for the Shkiper mobile app and web service (the "Service"), operated by Valentin Morev, individual entrepreneur registered in the Russian Federation ("we", "us", the "Operator"). The Policy forms part of our Terms of Service and the offer contract (оферта) that you accept when you purchase a paid subscription or a one-time product.

We aim to be transparent and fair. This Policy preserves all statutory consumer rights available to you under applicable law and adds a voluntary good-faith refund guarantee on top (see section 6). Nothing in this Policy limits any consumer rights that cannot be limited under the law of your country of residence.

1. Plans and pricing

At the time of this Policy, the following plans are available:

Free — basic access to a limited set of features. No payment, no auto-renewal.
Course Pass — RUB 1,490, one-time payment. Grants access to all materials of the selected course for 12 (twelve) months from the date of payment. Does not auto-renew.
Monthly — RUB 599 per month. Full access to all Service features. Renews automatically every month until cancelled.
Annual — RUB 2,990 per year. Full access to all Service features. Renews automatically every year until cancelled.

Prices include applicable taxes unless otherwise stated at checkout. We reserve the right to change prices with prior notice (see section 9).

2. Automatic renewal

Monthly and Annual subscriptions renew automatically. This means:

At the end of each paid period, the applicable fee at the then-current price will be charged automatically to your payment method (linked card, Apple ID, or Google account).
The billing attempt occurs on the last day of the current paid period. If funds are insufficient, retries may occur over the following days according to the rules of the payment platform.
You can cancel auto-renewal at any time before the next billing date; access remains active through the end of the current paid period.
For annual subscriptions, we send a renewal reminder no more than 45 (forty-five) days and no less than 15 (fifteen) days before the renewal date, as required by the laws of certain jurisdictions (e.g., California, USA).
We also notify you no less than 7 (seven) days before a free trial (if any) automatically converts to a paid subscription.

TODO / change effective 1 March 2026 (Russia): Russian law amendments effective 1 March 2026 require explicit affirmative consent for auto-renewal of subscriptions for users resident in the Russian Federation. By that date we will implement an additional consent step at web checkout and re-consent for existing subscribers; until then, you retain the right to cancel at any time without penalty.

Course Pass is a one-time purchase and does not auto-renew; after 12 months access to the course materials ends, and you may repurchase the course.

3. How to cancel

You may cancel your subscription at any time. The cancellation method depends on where the subscription was purchased:

Apple App Store: on your iOS device — Settings → your name → Subscriptions → select Shkiper → Cancel Subscription. Or on Mac: App Store → your name → Account Settings → Manage (Subscriptions).
Google Play: Google Play app → profile menu → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions → select Shkiper → Cancel subscription.
Website (subscriptions purchased on shkiper.app): log in at shkiper.app → Settings → Subscription → Cancel auto-renewal. Cancellation requires one click and no contact with support.
From inside the app: Settings → Subscription → link to the corresponding store or web account page.

Cancellation takes effect immediately: auto-renewal is turned off, while your paid access remains until the end of the current period. Afterwards the account automatically reverts to the Free plan; your data is not deleted.

4. Free trials

If we offer a free trial or promotional period, the terms are clearly displayed at checkout before you confirm payment. We explicitly disclose:

Pre-purchase disclosure includes:

The duration of the trial and the automatic conversion date.
The amount that will be charged after the trial and the recurring billing frequency.
Cancellation instructions before conversion, including a link to the subscription-management screen.

For trials longer than 31 days, we send a pre-conversion notice no more than 21 and no less than 3 days before the conversion date, in line with the California Automatic Renewal Law (ARL).

5. Your statutory rights

This Policy does not limit consumer rights granted by applicable law. Depending on your country of residence, the following rules apply:

5.1. European Union / EEA

Under Article 9 of Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, you have a right to withdraw from a distance contract within 14 (fourteen) calendar days of its conclusion, without giving any reason. To exercise this right, send a notice of withdrawal to hello@shkiper.app; we will refund you within 14 days of receipt using the same payment method.

Exception for digital content and services (Articles 16(a) and 16(m) of the Directive): if you have given prior express consent to the performance of the service / supply of digital content before the 14-day period expires and have acknowledged that you thereby lose the right of withdrawal, the right of withdrawal is lost with respect to services already performed.

TODO (web payments): by the time we launch direct web payments on shkiper.app, we will implement separate, explicit checkout consents — (a) consent to immediate performance of the service and (b) acknowledgement of the loss of the right of withdrawal under Art. 16(m). Until that mechanism is live, EU/EEA users retain the full 14-day withdrawal right regardless of actual usage of the Service.

5.2. United Kingdom

Rules mirror the EU regime and are governed by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You have the right to withdraw within 14 days of contract conclusion under the same waiver mechanics as in the EU.

From 2026 onwards, provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC) concerning subscription contracts come into force (renewal reminders, simple exit, cooling-off). We will align our processes as each provision takes effect.

5.3. Russian Federation

Under Article 32 of the Russian Consumer Protection Law (ЗоЗПП), you may withdraw from the contract at any time, subject to reimbursing the Operator for actual expenses incurred in performing the contract. For periodic subscriptions this means that the unused portion of the subscription is refundable pro rata for the remaining term, net of the Operator's documented actual expenses.

For the one-time Course Pass: if you have not started using the course, a full refund is granted; if you have already accessed the materials, the refund is reduced by the Operator's actual costs and the value of access actually provided.

Change effective 1 March 2026: automatic subscription renewal will require explicit affirmative user consent. By that date we will roll out the corresponding checkout UX and re-consent for existing subscribers. See section 2 for details.

5.4. United States (California and other states)

We comply with the California Automatic Renewal Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17602), as amended effective 1 July 2025, and similar laws of New York, Illinois, Virginia, and other states. Specifically: (a) we obtain express affirmative consent to auto-renewal prior to billing; (b) we send an acknowledgement of the subscription by email; (c) we provide a one-click online cancellation option for subscriptions signed up online; (d) we send a renewal notice 15–45 days before each annual auto-renewal and a pre-conversion notice 3–21 days before the end of a free trial longer than 31 days; (e) we notify price changes at least 7 days in advance.

If you believe your consumer rights have been breached, you may also contact the relevant authority: Rospotrebnadzor (Russia), national consumer-protection authorities of EU Member States, Citizens Advice / CMA (UK), the California Department of Consumer Affairs (US).

6. Voluntary good-faith refund (7 days)

In addition to your statutory rights, we offer a voluntary full refund guarantee within 7 (seven) calendar days of payment, provided that at the time of the request you have:

asked the Service's AI assistant fewer than 20 (twenty) questions;
taken no mock exam (zero mock exams);
submitted the request within 7 days of the charge.

The guarantee applies to web payments made directly on shkiper.app. Purchases via Apple App Store and Google Play are processed by Apple and Google under their own policies (see section 7); we do not object to such refunds and support the user where we can.

The voluntary guarantee does not replace or limit your statutory rights. Where applicable law grants a broader refund (e.g., 14-day EU/UK cooling-off or the Russian unused-portion rule), the rule more favourable to you prevails.

7. Refunds by purchase channel

Refund processing depends on where the payment was made, because the app stores act as the seller of record for in-app purchases.

7.1. Apple App Store

For purchases made through Apple, submit a refund request to Apple directly at reportaproblem.apple.com or via Settings → your name → Purchase History → Report a Problem. Apple decides whether to approve the refund.

Once Apple approves a refund, we revoke the corresponding entitlement in the Service upon notification from Apple. We cannot refund money for an Apple IAP purchase ourselves.

7.2. Google Play

For purchases made through Google Play, use the Google form at support.google.com/googleplay or contact Google Play support. Google decides whether to approve the refund.

After Google refunds the purchase, we revoke the corresponding entitlement. At our discretion, we may also initiate a voluntary refund through the Google Play Console if your case matches our voluntary guarantee (section 6) and Google has not processed the refund automatically.

7.3. Web payments (shkiper.app)

To request a refund for a web payment, email hello@shkiper.app with the subject "Refund" and include: your account email, the date and amount of the charge, and the basis (voluntary guarantee, statutory right, or other).

We review requests within 5 (five) business days. If approved, we refund using the original payment method; funds arrive within the period set by the relevant payment system (typically 5–14 days). The full list of payment processors and timings will be finalised after the web-payments rollout (TBD).

8. Factors we consider for refunds

When evaluating refund requests outside the 7-day voluntary guarantee, we consider:

The date of payment and the time elapsed since the charge.
Whether and to what extent the Service has been used (AI questions asked, mock exams taken, topics opened, materials downloaded).
The applicable law of your country of residence.
The Operator's actual expenses (payment-system fees, compute, and AI-API usage costs).

When cancelling an annual subscription under Art. 32 of the Russian Consumer Protection Law, the refund equals the amount paid, minus the value of the portion actually consumed (pro rata by days), minus the Operator's documented actual expenses.

9. Price changes

We will notify you of any price change to your active subscription at least 30 (thirty) calendar days before it takes effect, by email and in-app notification. The notice will contain the new price, the effective date, and instructions on how to cancel if you do not accept the new price.

If you do not cancel before the effective date, continued use of the Service at the new price will be deemed acceptance. Already-paid periods will not be recomputed.

10. What is not refundable

Refunds are not provided in the following cases (while preserving all rights granted by law):

Requests submitted outside the applicable window (14 days in EU/UK, 7 days under the voluntary guarantee, or other statutory deadlines).
Substantial use of the Service (e.g., more than 20 AI questions and/or more than one mock exam) where no other applicable basis exists.
Breach of the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), or account suspension for abuse.
Purchases made through Apple App Store or Google Play — decisions are made by the respective store under its own policies.

11. Disputes and escalation

If a refund is denied and you disagree, email us at hello@shkiper.app with the subject "Refund dispute" and include your order ID, support correspondence, and the reasons for your appeal. We review such appeals within 10 (ten) business days.

For users resident in the Russian Federation, Russian law applies; claims may be brought at the consumer's place of residence. For EU users, the law of the consumer's country of residence applies under Regulation Rome I. For UK users, the law of England and Wales applies. For US users, California law applies (San Francisco Superior Court). This Policy contains no mandatory arbitration clause and does not waive your right to judicial remedies.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The latest revision date is shown at the top of the document. Material changes are communicated by email and in-app notification at least 30 (thirty) calendar days before they take effect; changes that improve the user's position may take effect immediately. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.

See also the related documents: Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, End-User Licence Agreement.