Cancellation Policy

• 72 hours or more before the session: full refund.
• Between 48 and 72 hours before the session: 50% refund.
• Less than 48 hours before the session: the booking is non-refundable.

The stylist has reserved that time for you; the closer to the session you cancel, the less of it they can rebook.

These tiers apply to the session itself. Pieces reserved for you follow Section 1A. Shipping you paid for that was never used is refunded in full whenever you cancel, regardless of the tier above. A fee for a session add-on follows the same tier as the session.

This section applies to pieces reserved for you, whether with a session or as a rental booked on its own.

• Until the earlier of (a) the piece shipping to you and (b) 72 hours before the session or rental date: you may cancel for a full refund of the pieces, their Encore service fee, and any pickup or return fee.
• After that point: those amounts are non-refundable. Your stylist has held the pieces for your date and is paid for them as if the rental went ahead.
• Once a piece has shipped, the booking can no longer be cancelled online, because the piece is already on its way to you. Contact us and we will help.

A piece counts as shipped when the carrier first scans it or, if your stylist ships it with their own label, when they add its tracking number. A prepaid Encore label that has been created but not yet scanned does not count: it is voided when you cancel and its cost is refunded. For pieces handed over in person, only the 72-hour point applies. If your stylist cancels or declines, Section 3 applies and everything is refunded in full.

If you are not present, or do not provide access to the session space, within 20 minutes of the scheduled start, the booking is treated the same as a cancellation made less than 48 hours before the session, and the session is non-refundable. As with any cancellation inside 72 hours, any pieces reserved, and any stylist pickup or return fee, are non-refundable under Section 1A. Encore generates any prepaid shipping label only when a piece is actually being shipped, so where nothing shipped, no postage was charged and there is nothing to withhold. If you know you’ll be late, message your stylist; a late start within the session window is at the stylist’s discretion.

You always receive a full refund, regardless of timing, if the stylist declines your request, cancels a confirmed booking, or does not arrive within 20 minutes of the scheduled start. A pattern of stylist cancellations or no-shows is reviewed under our marketplace standards.

A reschedule requested 48 hours or more before the session moves your booking to a new time without charge, subject to the stylist’s availability. A reschedule requested less than 48 hours before the session is treated as a cancellation under Section 1 unless the stylist agrees otherwise. One booking, one courtesy reschedule; further changes are at the stylist’s discretion.

If your booking request had not yet been accepted, the payment authorization is simply released; nothing was charged, so there is nothing to refund. If the booking was confirmed, refunds are issued to your original payment method; depending on your bank, they typically appear within 5 to 10 business days. Partial refunds under Section 1 are calculated on the total you paid for the session (your stylist’s rate plus the Encore service fee), and the Encore service fee is refunded in the same proportion as the rate. Amounts for anything provided separately from the session are handled as described in Sections 1 and 1A.

For documented emergencies (a medical situation, a family emergency, severe weather that makes the session unsafe), contact us and we will work with you and the stylist in good faith. Any accommodation is a goodwill decision made case by case; it is not an admission of fault and does not change this policy for other bookings.

This policy covers cancellations, not service quality. If something went wrong during a session, report it through the platform and we will review it under the Terms of Service. A goodwill refund for a service issue is a business decision and is not an admission of fault or liability.

After a session, your stylist’s payout is released automatically about 48 hours after the scheduled end of the session. If within that window you report that a session was not delivered, that the stylist did not show, or that a material policy violation or fraud occurred, we hold the payout and review what happened before any funds are released. Dissatisfaction with the styling alone does not delay or reduce your stylist’s payout; any goodwill remedy for a service issue is funded by Encore and is not offset against your stylist. This is separate from the pre-session cancellation tiers.

Reach us through our contact page or at hello@encorestylist.com.