Overview
This article provides answers to commonly asked refund and credit questions.
General refund and account credit topics
Are all payment methods refundable?
-
No. DreamHost does not offer automatic refunds for the following payment methods:
- PayPal
- Check (written checks or electronic checks)
- Money Order
- Gift Certificate
If you select PayPal to process a refund, a 3% transaction fee will be applied. This fee is only applied if the payment was not originally processed via PayPal.
-
If you close your Web Hosting plan within 30 days of opening the account and made a manual payment toward the plan with one of these methods, then contact support for further assistance with your refund.
If your account is closed after the 30-day refund period has passed, no refunds are issued. See the Terms of Service page for further details.
How do I request a refund?
Contact support if you wish to request a refund or if you have any questions. Any billing exception requests must be made via a support ticket as the billing team is not available via Live Chat.
What is the process for receiving a refund?
The process varies depending on the type of hosting plan, product, or service. See this article for a full description of refund and account credit policies.
When will I receive a refund?
-
Refunds are only issued after an account is closed, the credit is confirmed to be refundable, and the last payment method is confirmed to be active. When these conditions are met, the refund is then processed and can take up to 30 days to complete (depending on the type of payment method). For example, credit card refunds typically take 5–7 business days to reflect back to the customer's credit card account; if the refund is processed via a manual check, it may take up to 30 days for the check to be mailed out.
Any other credit will remain on the account after closure.
When will my cancelled payment be refunded?
-
In cases when an account is not approved, DreamHost will not accept the funds and will void the transaction. Since no funds are ever deposited, a refund is not necessary, and the outdated payment authorization will fall off the bank account. This may take up to 10 days.
Please contact the issuing financial institution of the bank card used if you have any further questions or concerns.
What account credits are refundable?
-
Refundable account credits are generally only issued under DreamHost's 30-day guarantee or within 30 days of purchasing or renewing a yearly service plan.
Credits created from account suspensions or early-ending credits from service up/downgrades are not refundable.
What's the difference between a refund and an account credit?
-
A credit is typically provided when an account remains active. The credit must remain on the account, which may be refunded when the account is closed.
See this section for more information.
Account closure topics
If I close my account with unused account credit, how will I be refunded?
-
A refund is automatically processed to the original credit card after you close the account in the panel.
Payments made via check/money order cannot be refunded once cleared.
How do I reactivate my account?
-
You must contact support to reactivate a closed account in order to add hosting products and services again.
See this article to learn more about suspended or disabled accounts.
How do I verify the status of my account?
-
See the following articles to learn more about how to check your account's status:
You can also contact support if you have any further questions about the status of your account.
Hosting plan topics
If I cancel a hosting plan, will I receive a refund automatically?
No. However, if you decide to cancel a service plan while keeping the account active, DreamHost may provide a prorated credit for any remaining time on the canceled hosting plan, which you can apply to other DreamHost services. Please see this article for more information about specific hosting plan refund policies.
What happens if I change from a yearly to a monthly plan?
If you change your billing plan from yearly to monthly, you will receive an account credit for the remaining unused balance.
What if I paid for a 2-year or 3-year plan and I want a refund?
If it's within the 30-day guarantee period, DreamHost will provide a full refund on paid hosting fees. After the 30 days have elapsed, hosting fees are no longer refundable.
Domain registration topics
Are domain registrations refundable?
-
No. Registrations are yours for the full term you originally purchased them for, which is usually 1–3 years.
If your registration includes a free domain with your Web Hosting plan and you canceled the plan in the first year, you are then required to pay for the free registration. See this article for further details.
Can I use my domain registration elsewhere?
Yes. If you would like to point your domain to a different web host, log in to the DreamHost panel and point your DNS settings to the new host.
Are domain registration renewals or transfers refundable?
-
No. Once a domain is transferred, auto-renewed, or manually renewed, your credit card is charged, and the domain is renewed for one more year.
At this point, the domain registry updates its information to show that you are the owner for an additional year. Since the registry cannot reverse the renewal, a refund is not possible.