Refund & Cancellation Policy

The Core plan

No mandatory upfront or joining fee, and no long-term contract. Cancel the Core plan at any time; it stays active through the period you have already paid for.

1:1 track hours are for the month they come with. If your student is on the 1:1 track, each billing month includes a set number of coaching hours. Book and use them before the next billing date; hours left over at that point do not roll into the next month and are not refunded. The portal shows how many are left and when the month ends, and we send one reminder while there is still time to book.

1:1 and sibling/pair sessions: 24 hours, 6 hours

Cancel a scheduled 1:1 or sibling/pair session at least 24 hours before it’s set to start, and it’s a clean cancellation: no fee, and the hour stays in your balance to reschedule.

Cancel inside 24 hours and a 50% fee applies: 50% of the session’s hours are deducted. Cancel inside 6 hours, or don’t show up without cancelling, and the session is charged in full, as if it had happened. These are defaults, not rigid rules; exceptions can be made at our discretion for genuine circumstances.

Joining late: a 10-minute window. A student has 10 minutes from the scheduled start to join a 1:1 or sibling/pair session. After that the coach is released and the session counts as a no-show. If something goes wrong on the day, email us while the session is still running rather than afterwards, and we will almost always sort it out.

Group cohort sessions

Group cohort sessions never deduct credits and never carry a fee. They run on a fixed weekly schedule, so if a student cannot make one, that week is simply missed: there is no make-up session, and the written notes in the portal are there to catch up from. The cancellation fees above apply only to 1:1 and sibling/pair sessions.

Purchased 1:1 hours: use it or lose it

Purchased 1:1 hour credits are valid through the end of the semester in which they're purchased and don't roll over automatically.

A complimentary credit, if we grant one, is good for 45 days from the day it lands on your balance and lapses after that if it hasn't been used. Hours you pay for are not affected by that clock.

Travel tournaments

Internal practice tournaments are included in the standard program at no extra cost. External and travel circuit tournament costs are never covered by Podium Debate, and aren't eligible for a refund through us. Those arrangements are between your family and the tournament host.

Questions or exceptions

If something about your situation doesn't fit the policy above, reach out directly. Exceptions are handled personally, not by a rigid automated system.