Cancellation & Refund Policy

This Cancellation & Refund Policy applies to bookings made through the AskBefore platform, including askbefore.eu and any related AskBefore booking interface, for STI testing and related services offered by independent clinics, laboratories, and other healthcare providers listed on the Platform ("testing providers" or "providers").

This policy applies only to bookings where payment is completed online through the Platform at the time of booking.

Where a booking is made through the Platform without online payment ("Book Online & Pay at Location"), no payment is processed through the Platform. In such cases, all payment, cancellation, no-show, late-arrival, fee, penalty, reimbursement, and similar terms are determined solely by the selected provider.

The Platform is available to users aged 18 and over. By placing a booking, the user confirms that they are at least 18 years old.

AskBefore operates as an online intermediary platform that enables users to find, compare, and book STI testing and related services offered by independent testing providers.

AskBefore does not provide medical, diagnostic, laboratory, testing, healthcare, counselling, or treatment services of any kind. The selected provider is solely responsible for providing the booked service.

The contract for the provision of the selected provider's service is concluded directly and exclusively between the user and the selected provider. AskBefore is not a party to that contract and does not become a party to it at any point.

AskBefore provides a separate booking facilitation service, consisting of finding, presenting, and processing the user's booking with the selected provider through the Platform ("Booking Service").

Testing providers listed on the Platform independently determine how their services are classified, provided, invoiced, taxed, documented, cancelled, and refunded under applicable law in their respective jurisdictions. Depending on the country, provider, and applicable legal, tax, and regulatory framework, the relevant service may be classified as a medical service, healthcare service, laboratory service, diagnostic service, preventive service, wellness service, or another type of service.

AskBefore does not make medical, clinical, diagnostic, or refund decisions on behalf of providers.

Where AskBefore receives a refund-related request or dispute communication from a user, AskBefore may forward that communication to the relevant provider for handling. However, the selected provider remains solely responsible for the outcome, including any decision to approve, decline, or partially approve a refund.

When handling such communications, AskBefore has access only to booking metadata, such as the order identifier, provider identifier, timestamp, and booking status. AskBefore does not access or process information about the specific STI test, medical service, laboratory service, or diagnostic service selected by the user for the purpose of deciding refunds.

For information on how personal data is handled in connection with bookings, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

A separate Notice of Right of Withdrawal is provided to users at the time of booking in relation to AskBefore's Booking Service.

Payments for online bookings made through the Platform are processed through the payment infrastructure of the selected provider.

AskBefore does not receive, hold, access, or settle user payments at any point in the transaction. AskBefore does not charge users any commission, markup, application fee, platform fee, or service fee on top of the provider's price.

Currently, online payments are facilitated exclusively via Stripe Connect Direct Charge. Under this model, funds are transferred directly to the selected provider's own connected Stripe account at the time of payment. AskBefore has no access to those funds and is not a party to the payment transaction between the user, the provider, and the payment processor.

All refunds are initiated and processed by the selected provider through the provider's own payment account or by the provider's payment processor. AskBefore cannot initiate, approve, decline, reverse, or process any payment or refund on behalf of a user or provider.

Under this payment model, AskBefore does not hold client funds and does not provide payment processing services to users.

If additional payment methods or payment models become available in the future for specific providers, regions, or services, this policy may be updated accordingly.

The selected provider is responsible for payment processing, refunds, chargebacks, disputes, invoices, receipts, accounting records, tax treatment, and all related obligations connected with the provider's service.

AskBefore is not responsible for the availability, performance, security, or decisions of the payment processor.

If the selected provider cancels the appointment, is unable to provide the booked service, or fails to provide the service for reasons attributable to the provider, the selected provider is responsible for determining and handling any applicable refund, reimbursement, rescheduling, or other remedy in accordance with the provider's policy and applicable law.

Examples of situations covered by this section include:

1. the provider cancels the appointment;
2. the provider is closed or unavailable at the scheduled time;
3. the provider cannot perform the booked service;
4. the provider made an error that prevents the service from being provided;
5. the service cannot be provided for reasons within the provider's control.

If the user does not attend the appointment, arrives too late for the service to be performed, or requests cancellation or a refund after payment for reasons not attributable to the provider, the selected provider is responsible for determining and handling any applicable refund, reimbursement, rescheduling, no-show consequence, late-arrival consequence, or other remedy in accordance with the provider's policy and applicable law.

Depending on the provider's own cancellation and refund policy and applicable law, the outcome may include a full refund, partial refund, no refund, rescheduling, deduction of reasonable costs connected with the booking, or another remedy.

The applicable outcome may depend on factors including:

1. the selected provider's own cancellation and refund policy;
2. the stage at which the service was when the cancellation, late arrival, or no-show occurred, for example appointment reserved, sample collection completed, analysis in progress, or results ready;
3. whether the provider had already prepared for the service or incurred costs;
4. whether appointment capacity had been reserved for the user;
5. whether the reserved appointment slot could reasonably have been reallocated;
6. payment processor rules and any non-recoverable processing fees;
7. mandatory consumer protection, healthcare, payment, or other applicable laws.

Users should note that the selected provider may apply its own cancellation and refund rules, which may affect whether a refund, reimbursement, rescheduling, or other remedy is available and on what terms.

If the user is a consumer and applicable law grants a statutory right of withdrawal, cancellation, or a similar consumer right, nothing in this policy limits any mandatory rights that cannot legally be excluded or restricted.

Under German law and equivalent laws in other EU member states, consumers may have a 14-day statutory right of withdrawal for certain distance contracts.

AskBefore provides a separate Notice of Right of Withdrawal / Widerrufsbelehrung for AskBefore's Booking Service at the time of booking.

That withdrawal notice applies only to AskBefore's Booking Service. It does not determine whether any withdrawal, cancellation, or refund right applies to the medical, laboratory, testing, diagnostic, healthcare, or related service provided by the selected provider.

Any withdrawal, cancellation, refund, or similar rights relating to the selected provider's service are governed by the selected provider's own terms and applicable law.

Where the user expressly requests immediate performance of AskBefore's Booking Service and AskBefore has completed the Booking Service, for example by confirming the booking or sending the booking request to the selected provider, the user may lose the right of withdrawal in respect of AskBefore's Booking Service.

AskBefore's Booking Service is generally fully performed once the booking has been transmitted to the selected provider.

Where the provider has started preparing for or performing the selected provider's service, reserved appointment capacity, incurred costs, or partly performed the service before the user requests cancellation or refund, the user may be required to pay for the part of the service already provided and/or reasonable costs already incurred, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Refunds are processed exclusively by the selected provider or by the provider's payment processor.

AskBefore does not process, initiate, approve, decline, or reverse refunds.

Refunds will normally be made to the same payment method used for the original payment, unless another method is required or permitted by applicable law, the selected provider, or the payment processor.

The time required for a refund to appear in the user's account may depend on the selected provider, payment processor, card issuer, bank, payment network, or payment method.

AskBefore does not control refund processing times.

If the user believes that a service was not provided or that a refund has not been handled correctly, the user should contact the selected provider directly using the contact details available on the Platform or in the booking confirmation.

The user may also contact AskBefore at support@askbefore.eu.

AskBefore may assist with communication between the user and the selected provider. However, the selected provider remains solely responsible for the service, payment, cancellation decision, and refund decision.

8.1 Cancellation Request Function

Where a user has booked a specific appointment date and time through the Platform, including where the user has paid online through the Platform or selected "Book Online & Pay at Location", AskBefore may provide a cancellation request function in the user's order history, where available.

This function allows the user to send a cancellation request relating to the booked appointment. AskBefore may forward the request to the selected provider or make it available to the provider through the Platform.

The availability of this function does not mean that AskBefore is responsible for cancelling the provider's service, approving any refund, waiving any no-show or late-cancellation consequence, or determining any other cancellation outcome. The selected provider remains responsible for reviewing and handling the request in accordance with the applicable provider policy and applicable law.

For online-paid bookings, the selected provider's Provider Cancellation & Refund Policy applies. For "Book Online & Pay at Location" bookings, the selected provider's Provider Booking & Cancellation Policy applies.

Where available, AskBefore may provide a cancellation request function in the user's order history. This function allows the user to send a request to cancel the relevant booking or paid order, including where no specific appointment date and time has been selected. AskBefore may forward the request to the selected provider or make it available to the provider through the Platform.

When assisting with such communications, AskBefore has access only to booking metadata, such as order ID, provider identifier, timestamp, and booking status. AskBefore does not access or process information about the specific STI test, medical service, laboratory service, diagnostic service, or healthcare service selected by the user for the purpose of deciding refunds.

If the selected provider is unreachable, has ceased operations or trading, has become insolvent, or has otherwise failed to process a refund that the user believes they are entitled to, the user may:

• contact their bank or card issuer to initiate a chargeback or payment dispute through the applicable payment network; or
• contact the relevant payment processor, if the payment processor provides a support route for the relevant payment.

AskBefore is not liable for the acts, omissions, insolvency, cessation of operations, refusal, delay, or failure of any selected provider to process a refund, nor for any failure by a payment processor, bank, card issuer, or payment network to process or reverse a transaction.

AskBefore applies the same general booking, cancellation, and refund framework to bookings made through the Platform, regardless of the user's country of residence or the provider's location.

This includes providers located outside the European Union.

Where a provider is located outside the European Union, that provider remains solely responsible for compliance with all laws applicable to it in its jurisdiction, including any obligations relating to cancellations, refunds, consumer rights, healthcare regulation, professional regulation, tax, invoicing, and data protection.

AskBefore does not assume liability for a provider's compliance with local law.

Where mandatory local laws applicable to the user provide stronger consumer protections than those described in this policy, those protections apply.

Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts, or limits any rights that cannot legally be excluded, restricted, or limited under applicable mandatory law.

This policy is governed by the laws of Germany.

Nothing in this section affects any mandatory consumer protection rights applicable to the user under the laws of their country of residence.