Stopping is a conversation, not a contract dispute

The first hour costs nothing and requires no prep. You leave it with a one-page diagnosis in plain words, and it is yours to keep whether or not you ever hire us. Nothing is charged, and no card is collected, before you have seen that diagnosis and agreed to a specific move.

• Everything is scoped before it is billed. Work is agreed in a written scope that names the deliverables, the cadence, and the price. You will not receive an invoice for work you did not agree to.
• Engagements are billed monthly, in advance of the month they cover. A real artifact ships every month of an active engagement.
• One-off deliverables are billed against the milestones named in the scope — typically a deposit to begin and the balance on delivery.
• Out-of-scope work is never assumed. If something falls outside the agreed scope, we tell you what it costs and wait for a yes before doing it.
• No auto-escalation. Prices do not rise mid-engagement, and nothing renews into a larger commitment on its own.

You can end an engagement at any time, for any reason, without penalty. Tell us in writing — an email to people@talkcircles.io is enough — or say it on a call and we will confirm it in writing.

Cancelling stops all future billing immediately. Work that was already delivered, and the month currently underway, remain payable — that is the only obligation cancellation leaves behind.

We refund in these situations, without argument:

• We haven’t started. If you cancel a billed month before any work on it has begun, that month is refunded in full.
• We billed it wrong. Duplicate charges, wrong amounts, or anything invoiced outside the agreed scope is refunded in full as soon as we find it — whether you spotted it or we did.
• We didn’t deliver. If a month of an active engagement passes with no shipped artifact and no agreed reason for the pause, that month is refundable on request.
• We ended it. If we conclude we are not the right team for the work and stop the engagement, any unearned portion of what you have paid is returned.

Where work on a billed month is genuinely underway, we refund the unearned balance rather than the whole month. We will show you the arithmetic. If you think it is wrong, tell us — we would rather settle it directly than have you fight your bank about it.

Delivered work is payable. Once an artifact has shipped and been handed over, that month has been earned, and a later change of direction does not undo it. The same is true of third-party costs we have already paid on your behalf — domains, licences, subscriptions, stock, print runs — which are passed through at cost and named in the scope before we buy them.

Disagreement about the direction of finished work is not a refund matter, but it is very much a conversation matter. Revisions inside an agreed scope are part of the work, not an extra.

Refunds are returned to the original payment method, and card refunds are issued within five business days of being agreed. How quickly the money appears after that is up to your bank — usually a few days, occasionally a full statement cycle.

If a charge on your statement looks wrong or unfamiliar, call (415) 595-8935 or email people@talkcircles.io first. Charges appear as TALK CIRCLES LLC, which is the legal entity behind Unstuck — that is the most common reason a charge looks unfamiliar.

We will resolve a genuine billing error faster than a dispute will, and we would rather fix it than fight it. A real person answers the same day.