The Rudder Refunds

Legal

Refund Policy

10 September 2026Effective
10 September 2026Last updated

This policy applies to everything sold by The Rudder and Coach Lamar Pinson — The Protocol, Wise Counsel, The Crowned Retreat, books and written work, digital products, memberships, and every other program or service, however it is paid for.

01All sales are final

The Rudder does not offer refunds on any product, program, or service. No refunds. No partial refunds. No pro-rated refunds for time not used. This applies whether you paid in full, in instalments, or through a financing provider, and whether you complete the program or not.

Specifically, we do not refund for change of mind, lack of use, dissatisfaction, or personal circumstances. Those are the four reasons a refund is asked for, and none of them is a reason one is given.

The narrow exceptions are set out in sections 08, 10, 11 and 12. They exist because they should — not as a way back into a refund on a program you chose to leave.

02Why the policy is this way

This is not a product on a shelf. Every element of how it is sold makes a refund impossible to give without taking something from someone else.

  • A place is a place taken. Cohorts are capped and the size is the point. When you accept a place, a man on the waiting list does not get it. That cannot be handed back once the cohort begins.
  • Delivery is immediate. On signup you receive access to the platform, the program materials, the preparation work, and the group. The value transfers to you the moment you are let in.
  • Admission is by application. You are not sold to. You apply, you are assessed, and you are either the right man for the work or you are not. Places are committed against that decision.
  • Costs are committed up front. Materials are ordered, packages are shipped, venues are booked, and the calendar is built around the men who are in.

The plainer truth underneath all of that: this work only functions on commitment. A man who knows he can leave is not fully in, and a man who is not fully in does not get the result. The policy is part of the program.

03What you agree to at checkout

Before you pay, you are shown this policy and asked to accept it. By completing your purchase you acknowledge that you have read and understood it, and you expressly agree to forfeit any right to a refund, except where a refund is required under applicable consumer protection law. Your acceptance is recorded with the date and time.

If you are not willing to agree to that, do not complete the purchase. Ask your questions first — we would far rather answer them than take money from a man who is not sure.

04Payment plans and financing

  • Instalment plans. Choosing to pay in instalments does not change what you owe. The full amount is due under your agreement regardless of whether you continue to participate, and remaining instalments continue on schedule.
  • Financing providers. Where you pay through Affirm, Klarna, or Afterpay, you enter a separate agreement with that company. They pay us; you repay them on their terms. Their agreement, their interest, their credit reporting, and their collection process are between you and them.
  • Stopping payment. Failing to pay an instalment or defaulting with a financing provider does not cancel your agreement with us and does not entitle you to a refund of what has already been paid. Access may be suspended while an account is in arrears.

05Subscriptions and memberships

Where a product is sold on a recurring basis, you may cancel at any time and you keep access until the end of the billing period you have already paid for. Cancelling stops the next charge; it does not reverse the last one.

No refund is given for unused time, for a partial billing period, or for a cancellation you meant to make and forgot. Set your own reminder — we do not refund a renewal because it was not noticed.

06If you stop participating

You may stop at any time. You are an adult and nobody is holding you here. But stopping is not the same as being owed money.

  • No refund is given for sessions not attended, weeks not completed, or materials not used.
  • Missing calls, falling behind, or losing interest does not create a refund entitlement.
  • Removal from a program for breach of the participant agreement — including breaking the confidentiality of other men — ends your access without refund and does not end your payment obligation.

07Discretion, and its limits

Refunds are not given as a matter of course. In limited circumstances we may consider one at our sole and absolute discretion, on the specific facts in front of us. Where we do, that decision:

  • creates no obligation to consider or grant a refund in any other case;
  • sets no precedent and cannot be cited by anyone else, including you, on another purchase;
  • does not waive our right to refuse a refund in every other instance.

Where a refund is approved it may be partial or full, determined by us alone, and issued to the original payment method where that is practicable. Approval may be conditioned on your access ending and your program materials being returned or destroyed.

Do not read this section as an opening. It exists so that a genuine hardship can be met without unmaking the policy for everyone else.

08If we cancel

This is the one place the policy runs the other way, and it should.

If we cancel a cohort or retreat before it begins, or we are unable to deliver a program you have paid for, you choose: a full refund of what you have paid, or a credit toward the next available date. We will tell you as soon as we know, and the choice is yours rather than ours.

This does not extend to changes that do not go to the substance of the program — a session moved, a date shifted, a delivery detail adjusted. Those are managed with you, not refunded.

09Retreats

  • Deposits and payments are non-refundable and non-transferable to another person unless we agree in writing.
  • Travel is yours to arrange and yours to insure. We do not book, reimburse, or take responsibility for flights, visas, or accommodation outside what is expressly included. Take out travel insurance. If you cannot attend for any personal reason — illness, work, family, a visa refused — that is what the insurance is for.
  • If circumstances outside anyone’s control prevent a retreat from going ahead — a venue closure, a natural event, a government restriction — we will offer a credit toward a future retreat rather than a refund, less any costs already committed on your behalf that we cannot recover.

10Shipped materials

Some programs include a physical welcome package. If an item arrives damaged, faulty, or does not arrive at all, tell us within fourteen days of the delivery date and we will replace it or send the missing item at our cost.

That is a replacement, not a refund, and it does not affect the price of the program the package belongs to.

11Books and outside retailers

Where you buy a book or product through Amazon, a bookseller, or any other retailer, that retailer’s returns policy applies and you deal with them, not with us. Where you buy a digital product directly from us, this policy applies and the sale is final.

12Billing errors

If you are charged twice, charged the wrong amount, or charged for something you did not buy, write to us and we will correct it and return the difference. A genuine billing error is not a refund and this policy has never been intended to cover one.

Contact us before you contact your bank. We will resolve it faster than a dispute will.

13Chargebacks

Raising a chargeback for a purchase covered by this policy is a breach of your agreement with us. Where one is raised, we will respond to your card issuer with your acceptance record, your agreement, and evidence of the access and materials delivered to you.

While a dispute is open, access to programs, platforms, and groups may be suspended. Where a chargeback is decided against us on a purchase you agreed was final, the amount remains owed and may be referred for collection.

If you have a problem with something you have bought, bring it to us. Every case we have ever resolved was resolved by a conversation.

14Rights you keep

Nothing in this policy limits or excludes any right you hold under the consumer protection law of your state or country that cannot lawfully be excluded, and nothing here is intended to. Where such a law gives you a right this policy would otherwise limit, that law wins.

15How charges appear

Payments appear on your statement as THE RUDDER. If you see a charge you do not recognise, check the name before you dispute it — it is most often this one, under a name a man forgets he agreed to.

16Questions

Ask before you buy, not after. Write to contact@coachlamarpinson.com and put Billing in the subject line.