PulseAbout cancellation
How to cancel, how long you can carry on using it, and our approach to refunds.
You can cancel a Pulse paid plan at any time. After you cancel, you carry on using it until the last day of the billing period you have already paid for. This article explains how to cancel, what happens afterwards, and our approach to refunds.
How to cancel
Cancellation is per workspace, and can only be done by an administrator of that workspace. It is done from the settings screen of the desktop app (macOS and Windows). The web version supports viewing and editing existing notes and has no billing screen.
Open the billing screen
Switch to the workspace you want to cancel and open Settings > Billing.
Open subscription management
Manage subscription — clicking it opens the payment provider's management screen.
Confirm the cancellation
Cancel subscription — choose it and follow the on-screen instructions to confirm.
- Settings > Billing no longer shows a next renewal date
- The subscription shows as due to be cancelled in the payment provider's management screen
- Where you subscribe on several workspaces, you have checked each of them
Where you cannot get into the account at all (because the email address used for the subscription no longer works, for example), contact tharada@the-unchain.com. We will act once we have confirmed you are the subscriber.
Workspace members can view the billing screen and upgrade, but cannot cancel an existing subscription, change plan or change the payment method. Where the administrator has left and there is nobody in the role, contact tharada@the-unchain.com. We are happy to discuss changing roles as well.
What happens after you cancel
Cancelling does not stop you using it there and then.
| When | State |
|---|---|
| Immediately after cancelling | Still on the paid plan, with automatic renewal stopped |
| Until the last day of the current billing period | You carry on using the paid features as before |
| After the last day of the billing period | It switches to the free plan automatically. No further charges arise |
Where a free trial ends without a subscription being taken out, it switches to the free plan in the same way.
Switching to the free plan does not delete your notes. What changes is which features are available — for instance, a limit on how far back the note history goes in the app. The differences between plans are covered in Plans and payment. To keep your past notes to hand before it switches, export them to CSV with Exporting notes in bulk.
Our approach to refunds
Refunds are considered separately for monthly and annual subscriptions. In both cases, after cancelling you can use it until the last day of the period you have paid for.
Monthly subscriptions
We do not refund the current month's charge on cancellation, because you can use the service until the last day of the period you have paid for. Nor is there a pro-rated refund.
Annual subscriptions
Annual billing is available on Enterprise subscriptions, paid a year in advance. Where you cancel partway through a term, automatic renewal stops from the point of cancellation and you carry on using it until the last day of the term.
Whether the unelapsed part of an annual subscription is refunded on mid-term cancellation is a matter UNCHAIN, Inc. needs to decide as a policy.
In contracts with consumers (people contracting as individuals rather than for a business), Article 9, item 1 of the Consumer Contract Act voids any part of a liquidated damages or penalty clause that exceeds “the average amount of loss”. Whether a blanket rule of no refund on mid-term cancellation of an annual prepayment stays within that “average loss” is arguable, and turns on the cost structure of the business and the timing of the cancellation. Avoid stating it definitively: set out the specifics (whether refunds are given, how they are calculated, how to apply) in this section only after UNCHAIN, Inc.'s legal adviser has reviewed it.
Note that the Consumer Contract Act does not apply to corporate customers or to customers contracting for business purposes, so the terms apply as written. Write the two cases separately.
Item 1 of that article voids, in a clause fixing the amount of damages on cancellation or providing for a penalty, any part exceeding “the average amount of loss” that would arise to a business on cancellation of contracts of the same kind. Any provision on mid-term cancellation of an annual subscription has to be designed within that constraint.
A clause making a consumer waive a right to cancel arising from the business's non-performance, or giving the business the power to decide whether a right to cancel exists, is void. Where UNCHAIN, Inc. fails to provide the service through its own fault, your right to cancel the contract or seek a refund is not limited by the terms.
Where the cause lies with UNCHAIN, Inc.
Where we are at fault and could not provide the service on an ongoing basis, we will consider a refund or other response individually, separately from the above. Contact tharada@the-unchain.com.
About cooling-off
Cooling-off does not apply to Pulse. A contract applied for online is “mail-order sales” under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, and mail-order sales have no cooling-off regime of the kind that applies to door-to-door sales.
The Act does provide an eight-day right of return for mail-order sales, but that regime applies to contracts of sale of goods or specified rights. A contract to use a service such as Pulse is a contract for the provision of services and falls outside it.
Paragraph 1 of that article provides that, for a contract of sale of goods or specified rights, an application may be withdrawn or the contract cancelled until eight days have passed from the day of delivery or transfer. It is limited to contracts of sale and does not apply to a contract for the provision of services such as the Pulse subscription.
Advertising for mail-order sales must display the consideration, when and how payment is made, when the service is provided, the terms of any application period, and matters relating to withdrawal or cancellation of an application, among other things. Cancellation terms fall under item 5 of that article, so Pulse sets them out both in this article and in the notation based on the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions.
For corporate customers
Where you subscribe to Pulse as a business or for business purposes, the mail-order sales provisions of the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and the Consumer Contract Act do not apply. Cancellation and refund terms are as set out in the terms of service or in an individually concluded contract.
Under paragraph 1, item 1 of that article, the mail-order sales provisions do not apply to contracts concluded as, or for the purposes of, a business. That covers corporate customers and sole traders contracting for business purposes.
Cancelling versus deleting your account
| What you want to do | What to do |
|---|---|
| Stop being charged, but keep your notes | The cancellation steps in this article. It switches to the free plan and your notes remain |
| Get rid of the whole workspace | Cancel, then follow the deletion steps in Workspaces. |
| Delete the account and all your notes | Deleting your account — those steps |
Deleting your account alone does not stop the subscription. Where you are on a paid plan, cancel first.
If something is not working
Q. I cancelled but I am still on the paid plan
A. After cancelling, you stay on the paid plan until the last day of the current billing period. Automatic renewal has stopped, and it switches to the free plan once that day passes. Check in Settings > Billing that no next renewal date is shown.
Q. I cancelled but I am still being charged
A. You may have subscriptions on more than one workspace. Pulse charges per workspace, so each one has to be cancelled. Switch between workspaces from your workspace name at the bottom left and check the state of Settings > Billing on each. If there is a charge you cannot account for, contact tharada@the-unchain.com.
Q. There is no Manage subscription button, and someone else's email address is shown
A. Billing for that workspace is managed by a different administrator. Ask the person at the address shown to cancel, or to have the billing administrator changed.
Q. I only want to reduce seats, not cancel
A. Removing members from the workspace reduces the seat count; you do not need to cancel. The difference is pro-rated and reflected in your next invoice. For the steps see Workspaces, and for how it appears on the invoice see Reading your invoice.
Q. Does cancelling delete my notes?
A. No. Your notes stay with the account after it switches to the free plan. There may be a limit on how far back the history goes in the app, so to keep everything to hand, export it to CSV with Exporting notes in bulk.