Refunds & Withdrawal
DRAFT — pending review by qualified Spanish/EU counsel. Bracketed [PLACEHOLDERS] must be completed before this document is relied upon in production. The English version governs; other languages are provided for convenience only.
Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE] Last updated: [EFFECTIVE DATE]
Table of contents
- Who we are
- What this document covers
- Three different rights — please don't confuse them
- Your 14-day right of withdrawal
- The important digital rule (why the 14 days can change if you start immediately)
- How this applies to each SleepyCuddle purchase
- The free First Story
- How to exercise your right of withdrawal
- Cancelling a subscription
- Refunds — how and when
- Your statutory guarantee (if something is faulty or not as described)
- Prices, VAT and payment
- Contact and dispute resolution
- Annex A — Model withdrawal form
1. Who we are
SleepyCuddle is an AI family bedtime-storytelling service (mobile app and website) operated by a self-employed individual (autónomo) in Spain:
- Operator: [OPERATOR FULL NAME]
- NIF: [NIF]
- Business address: Av. de les Corts Valencianes 26, 46015 Valencia, Spain
- Contact e-mail: [CONTACT EMAIL]
- Website: sleepycuddle.com
Our service is sold only through our own website using our third-party payment processor's checkout, and is offered to consumers in the EU/EEA. It is not sold through any app store.
2. What this document covers
This document explains three things clearly:
- your right of withdrawal — the EU "cooling-off" right to change your mind within 14 days;
- how to cancel a subscription and what happens to your access and story time; and
- your statutory guarantee rights if the service is faulty or not as described.
These are separate rights and they work differently. Section 3 gives you the short version; the rest of the document gives the detail.
3. Three different rights — please don't confuse them
| Withdrawal | Cancellation | Statutory guarantee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Change your mind, no reason needed, within 14 days of purchase | Stop a subscription renewing | A remedy when the service is faulty or not as described |
| When it applies | New subscriptions and top-ups, within 14 days — but see Section 5 | Any time, for any active subscription | Any time the service does not conform to what we promised |
| What you get | A refund of what you paid — in full, or reduced in proportion to what you have already used (see Sections 5–6) | Access until the end of the paid period; no future charges | Bringing the service into conformity, a price reduction, or a refund, as appropriate |
| Where it comes from | CRD Art. 9–16 / TRLGDCU arts. 102–108 | Your contract with us | TRLGDCU (statutory conformity rights) |
The key point: the right of withdrawal (Section 4) can be affected if you ask us to start immediately, because SleepyCuddle supplies digital content and digital services (Section 5) — but starting immediately does not always mean losing every euro. Cancellation (Section 9) and the statutory guarantee (Section 11) always remain available.
4. Your 14-day right of withdrawal
As a consumer in the EU/EEA, you normally have 14 calendar days to withdraw from a distance contract without giving any reason and without penalty. This period runs from the day the contract is concluded (for a subscription or a top-up, the day you complete the purchase).
If you validly withdraw within this period, we refund the payments received from you — in full, or reduced in proportion to what you have already used where Sections 5–6 apply — without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days of being informed of your decision.
Because SleepyCuddle delivers digital content and digital services that can begin immediately, this right is shaped by the rule in Section 5. Please read it before you buy.
5. The important digital rule (why the 14 days can change if you start immediately)
SleepyCuddle involves two things the law treats slightly differently:
- a digital service — your subscription access to the SleepyCuddle platform for the period you paid for; and
- digital content — the specific items we produce for you: the generated story text and the rendered audio narrated in your cloned voice.
If, at checkout, you ask us to make the service and content available to you straight away (during the 14-day withdrawal period), the following applies. Before performance begins we will ask you to:
- give your prior express consent for us to start providing the service and supplying the digital content during the 14-day withdrawal period; and
- acknowledge that:
- for digital content (story text and rendered audio), you lose the right of withdrawal for each item as and once it is supplied to you; and
- for the subscription service, if you withdraw within the 14 days after having asked us to start immediately, you must pay for the part of the service already provided — so any refund is reduced in proportion to the story time you have already used — but you do not forfeit the rest.
In addition, we provide you written confirmation of your purchase — including this consent and acknowledgment — on a durable medium (by e-mail). This confirmation is a legal condition of the rule above, and we keep our own record of it as well.
In plain language:
- Story content you have already had made (text generated, audio rendered): once we have supplied it, that specific item is not refundable — you asked for it and received it.
- Your subscription for the month: if you change your mind within 14 days, you get your money back minus a fair amount for the story time you already used — not a total forfeiture just because you tried it once.
- Top-ups: you get your money back minus the value of the story time you already consumed; the unused balance is refunded (see Section 6).
What is never affected: your statutory guarantee rights (Section 11) are never affected by this rule.
6. How this applies to each SleepyCuddle purchase
| Purchase | Right of withdrawal | What happens if you withdraw within 14 days after asking us to start immediately |
|---|---|---|
| Free First Story (10 minutes, once, no card) | Not applicable — nothing is paid | N/A (see Section 7) |
| Subscription — €15.99/month (60 min) or €25.99/month (180 min) | Yes, 14 days | We refund the subscription price minus a proportionate amount for the story time already used in the period. Individual stories whose text was generated and/or audio was rendered are treated as supplied digital content and are not separately refundable. |
| Top-up — €7.99 per additional hour, valid 6 months | Yes, 14 days | We refund minus the value of the story time already consumed from that top-up; the unused balance is refunded. |
Definitions. "Generating a story" means producing the story text. "Rendering a story" means the point at which you approve a story's text and we produce the audio narrated in your voice. Each generated text and each rendered audio is an item of digital content that becomes non-refundable once supplied to you. "Story time already used" means the minutes of story playback/rendering you have consumed against your subscription or top-up allowance.
Even after part of a purchase becomes non-refundable, you can still cancel future renewals at any time (Section 9), and you keep your statutory guarantee (Section 11).
7. The free First Story
The First Story gives you 10 minutes of story time, once, with no card and no payment. Because you pay nothing and enter into no paid contract, there is no charge to refund and no withdrawal issue. You are free to stop using the service at any time and to delete your account at any time from the app, which permanently erases your voice recording and clone.
For how we handle your voice recording and clone as biometric data, and your data-protection rights (including withdrawing your consent), see our Privacy Policy.
8. How to exercise your right of withdrawal
If you wish to withdraw (see Sections 4–6), you can tell us in any clear statement of your decision. You may:
- e-mail us at [CONTACT EMAIL] with your name, order details and a statement that you are withdrawing; or
- use the model withdrawal form in Annex A (its use is optional).
The withdrawal is on time if you send your communication before the 14-day period ends. We will send you an acknowledgement of receipt on a durable medium (by e-mail) without undue delay.
9. Cancelling a subscription
Cancellation is different from withdrawal. You can cancel a subscription at any time — no reason needed — from the billing portal in your account (managed via our third-party payment processor).
When you cancel:
- your subscription does not renew and you are not charged again;
- your access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for;
- your monthly story time does not roll over — unused monthly minutes expire at the end of each monthly period and are not carried forward; and
- cancellation itself does not trigger a refund of the current period. A refund of the current period is due only where the law requires it — for example, a valid withdrawal under Sections 4–6 (which gives a proportionate refund for the unused part of the service), or a statutory guarantee remedy under Section 11.
Top-ups are a one-off purchase of extra story time valid for 6 months. Cancelling a subscription does not remove top-up story time you have already bought; it remains available until it expires.
10. Refunds — how and when
Where a refund is due (a valid withdrawal, or where the law otherwise requires it):
- we refund using the same means of payment you used, unless you expressly agree otherwise; you will not incur any fees for the refund;
- refunds are issued via our third-party payment processor;
- we process the refund without undue delay and within 14 days of being informed of your withdrawal or of agreeing a remedy; and
- the time it takes to appear on your statement depends on your bank or card issuer.
Where you asked us to start immediately, the refund may be reduced as described in Sections 5–6: a proportionate amount for subscription service already provided, the value of top-up story time already consumed, and the price of any digital-content items already supplied to you (generated story text and rendered audio).
11. Your statutory guarantee (if something is faulty or not as described)
Separately from — and in addition to — the withdrawal and cancellation rights above, you always have the statutory conformity rights granted by Spanish consumer law (TRLGDCU). These rights are free of charge, cannot be waived, and are not affected by anything in Sections 4–6.
Because SleepyCuddle is supplied on a continuous basis for the duration of your subscription, we owe conformity throughout the period during which the service is supplied to you (TRLGDCU provisions transposing Directive (EU) 2019/770 on digital content and digital services).
If the service is faulty, does not work as it should, or is not as described — for example, stories will not generate, audio will not play, or the service does not match what we promised — you are entitled to have it brought into conformity (put right), and, where appropriate, to a price reduction or a refund, in accordance with the law.
To claim, contact us at [CONTACT EMAIL] describing the problem. We will not ask you to give up these rights, and exercising them does not depend on the 14-day withdrawal window.
12. Prices, VAT and payment
- Free First Story: 10 minutes of story time, once, no card required.
- Subscriptions: €15.99/month for 60 minutes of story time per month; €25.99/month for 180 minutes per month. Monthly story time expires each month and does not roll over.
- Top-ups: €7.99 per additional hour of story time, valid 6 months.
Prices are shown inclusive of Spanish IVA (VAT) at 21%, which is calculated and applied at checkout by our third-party payment processor. Payments are processed by the same provider; we never store your full card number.
13. Contact and dispute resolution
Consumer contact / complaints: [OPERATOR FULL NAME] — SleepyCuddle Av. de les Corts Valencianes 26, 46015 Valencia, Spain E-mail: [CONTACT EMAIL]
We aim to resolve any complaint directly and quickly. If we cannot resolve it, you may:
- seek to submit the dispute to the Spanish consumer arbitration system (Sistema Arbitral de Consumo), through the competent Junta Arbitral de Consumo; and/or
- contact your local municipal consumer office (OMIC) or the competent regional consumer authority (Dirección General de Consumo) of your autonomous community.
Nothing in this document limits your right to bring a claim before the competent consumer authorities or courts.
This policy is governed by Spanish law, in particular the consolidated Spanish Consumer Protection Act (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007, "TRLGDCU"), which transposes the EU Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) — without prejudice to the mandatory consumer-protection rules of your country of residence in the EU/EEA.
Annex A — Model withdrawal form
(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract. Its use is optional.)
To: [OPERATOR FULL NAME] — SleepyCuddle, Av. de les Corts Valencianes 26, 46015 Valencia, Spain — [CONTACT EMAIL]
I/We () hereby give notice that I/We () withdraw from my/our (*) contract for the following service:
— Ordered on () / received on (): ____________________ — Name of consumer(s): ____________________ — Address of consumer(s): ____________________ — Order / account reference: ____________________ — Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper): ____________________ — Date: ____________________
(*) Delete as appropriate.
Please note: if you gave prior express consent to begin immediately and acknowledged the effect on your withdrawal right (Section 5), and performance has begun, any refund may be reduced by the value of the service already provided and by the price of any digital-content items (story text or rendered audio) already supplied to you. Your statutory guarantee rights (Section 11) remain unaffected.