Refund & Cancellation Policy

Last Updated: November 4, 2026

You are charged only when your match starts: until then, your entry fee is a hold on your PayPal account. Once your match starts, entry fees are non-refundable, except as set out below. This policy is part of the Terms of Service and Competition Terms.

1. Tournament never started: you are never charged

If a tournament has not started within 24 hours of its first entry, because not enough players joined, it is cancelled and every hold is released, automatically. You are never charged for a match that does not start. You may also leave a lobby until its final countdown starts; your hold is released and you are not charged. If you had already been charged (for example, the lobby reopened after other players’ charges were declined), your entry fee is refunded in full to the PayPal account that paid it, and PayPal emails you when the refund is issued.

2. No seat, or a declined charge: never charged

If you approve on PayPal but do not get a seat (for example, the tournament filled or your seat reservation expired while you were paying), or your charge is declined when the match starts, your hold is released and you are not charged. If a hold has not disappeared from your PayPal account within 3 business days, email support@thetournamentrunner.com with your Guest ID.

3. Charged twice: full refund of the extra charge

You can only hold one entry per tournament. If you are ever charged twice for the same entry, the extra charge is refunded to your PayPal account. Email support@thetournamentrunner.com with your Guest ID.

4. Server-Side Fault: free entry, not cash

If a fault on our own servers ends your match unfairly, you receive a free entry into the same type of tournament instead of a cash refund:

• It is sent to the Recovery Email you gave before paying.
• It is a single-use link, for you only, that expires 24 hours after it is sent.
• If you did not give a Recovery Email, there is no way to send it, and no other compensation is given (Active Forfeiture, Competition Terms section 6).

5. No refund

Entry fees are not refunded for:

• Losing a match.
• Problems on your side: lag, a weak connection, a disconnect, frame drops or a device failure.
• Leaving a match after it has started.
• A result voided, or a prize withheld, because of prohibited conduct.

6. Your legal rights

Nothing in this policy limits any right to a refund that you have under consumer protection law where you live.

7. How to ask

Email support@thetournamentrunner.com with your Guest ID (shown on the payment page) and the date of your payment. Please contact us before opening a PayPal dispute; most problems are resolved faster by email.