Returns & Refunds

01The made-to-order rule

Every order is printed with your artwork, encoded with your data, and often die-cut or finished to your specification. Once produced, it has no resale value to anyone else — which is why custom cards are not returnable for change of mind, over-ordering, or artwork you approved and later disliked.

This rule never overrides the warranty. If the cards do not match the approved proof, or arrive damaged, we make it right under this policy and section 09 of the Terms & Conditions.

02What we make right

• Manufacturing defect — delamination, peeling laminate, banding or misregistration beyond normal tolerance, a chip or antenna that does not read, a card that fails to encode as specified.
• Transit damage — cracked, bent or crushed cards, reported with carton photos inside the shipping window.
• Wrong item — wrong card type, wrong chip, wrong finish, or a printed side that differs from the approved proof.
• Wrong or missing data — names, photos, numbers or URLs that do not match the approved data file.
• Count short beyond the ±10% production tolerance stated in the Terms.

Normal variation is not a defect: colour drift between runs, minor edge marks inside the printable area, and dimensions inside the stated tolerances.

03Claim window and RMA

1. Email [email protected] within 15 days of delivery with the order number, what is wrong, the quantity affected, and photos — ideally of a full carton and two or three affected cards, with the chip side visible.
2. We review and issue an RMA number within one business day, or explain why the claim falls outside the warranty.
3. If we ask for samples, return them within 30 days in the original packaging, freight prepaid by you. If the defect is confirmed, we reimburse that freight.

Never ship a return without an RMA number — unmarked cartons arrive unidentified and cannot be credited.

04Inspection and remedy

We inspect within 5 business days of receiving the samples and confirm in writing what we found. Our remedy, at our option, is reprint, replacement, credit or refund of the affected quantity.

A reprint usually ships in 5–10 business days, and it goes to the front of the production queue where capacity allows. If only part of an order is affected, we replace that part rather than the whole run.

05Cancellations

• Before proof approval — cancel at no cost; any prepayment is refunded in full.
• After approval, before production — setup, plates and material already committed are retained, and the balance is refunded.
• After production starts — the job cannot be cancelled. You pay for completed quantity and non-cancellable materials, and we ship what is finished.
• Rush fees — not refundable once the expedite has been scheduled with the plant.

06What is non-refundable

• Cards produced correctly to a proof you approved, including typos and numbering errors in that proof.
• Errors in the data file you supplied — duplicate UIDs, wrong member list, characters a reader cannot parse.
• Custom die-cut shapes, metal, wood and hand-finished stock, which cannot be resold or reworked.
• Design, artwork preparation and proofing services once delivered.
• Freight, insurance, rush fees, and sales tax already remitted.
• Cards damaged after delivery through use, readers, cleaning agents or storage.

07Blank stock and sample packs

Unopened standard blank PVC cards, in original cartons and resalable condition, may be returned within 30 days of delivery. Large quantities may carry a restocking charge, quoted before the return is authorized.

Sample packs and one-off proof cards are not returnable and not refundable — they exist so you can test before committing to a run.

Nothing in this section applies to printed, encoded or custom-finished cards.

08Refund timing and method

Once a refund is approved it is processed within 5–10 business days. Card refunds are submitted to our processor and typically appear on your statement 3–5 business days later; check refunds are mailed within 10 business days. Refunds go back to the original payment method where possible.

Where a credit note is more practical, it is issued against your account and stays valid for 12 months. We will tell you which route we are taking before we close the claim.

09Chargebacks

If something is wrong, contact us first — a claim is resolved faster than a dispute. For a chargeback on conforming custom goods we respond to the card network with the approved proof, the tracking record and delivery confirmation, and we may recharge the dispute fee the processor passes to us.

10How to start a claim

Send one email with: order number, invoice number, quantity affected, a short description, and photos. If the issue is encoding, include the reader model and what the reader reports. That is usually enough for us to decide the remedy without a phone call.

OPENNODE INC · 236 Nix Loop SE, Fairmount, GA 30139 · United States