Returns, Refunds & Cancellations

Last updated: not yet in effect (draft of October 19, 2026)

The short version

• Nothing is cut until you approve it. You see and approve a design proof first. If the proof is not right, we change it — that is what the proof is for.
• Before you approve the proof you can cancel for a full refund, for any reason or none. After you approve it, you can still cancel for a full refund for as long as work has not started — with one exception: custom design work that we quoted you separately, that you agreed to, and that we have already done. It is set out under “Cancelling” below.
• Once you have approved the proof and work has begun, a change of mind is not returnable. The piece is cut, tooled and painted for you alone and cannot be sold to anyone else.
• If it is faulty, damaged, wrong, or not what you approved, that is ours to put right — and you choose between repair, remake or refund. Nothing on this page takes that away.

Before anything is cut: your design approval

Submitting a commission request on this website is not a purchase. We talk first, you get a final estimate, and you decide. When you accept the estimate and pay, the next thing that happens is a design proof — a drawing of your actual piece, with your artwork where you placed it, your lettering, your measurements and your colors.

We do not cut, tool, paint or engrave any leather until you have approved that proof in writing. If the proof is wrong, say so and we correct it; that costs you nothing and there is no limit on getting it right. Your approval of the proof, and your separate authorization to begin production, are two distinct steps, and the second one is the one that commits materials and labor.

Cancelling

Before you approve the proof: tell us and we refund everything you have paid, in full, to the method you paid with. You do not have to give a reason.

After you approve the proof, but before work starts: still a full refund. Approving a drawing is not the moment you lose your money; starting the work is.

The one exception: design work you asked for, agreed to, and that we have already done. Some pieces need custom design work beyond anything this website can price — redrawing a crest by hand from your photograph, laying out an inscription, working up a layout that does not exist yet. When yours does, we tell you what the work is, in our own words, and we quote you a price for it. Nothing starts until you accept that quote. If you then cancel, the design work you accepted and that we have actually done is not refunded: you asked for it, you agreed the price before it began, the time is spent, and there is nothing to send back or to use for anybody else.

Everything else before production starts is refunded in full, exactly as above — the leather, the hardware, the making. The deduction is limited to the design work we have actually recorded as done; it can never exceed what you have paid us; and you get the same written, itemised account of it, naming the work and the price you agreed to, before anything is deducted. If we quoted design work and had not started it, there is nothing to deduct. If we spent more time on it than you agreed to, that is ours and not yours — going beyond the quote you accepted takes a new quote and your agreement to it, and we cannot charge you for it after the fact. Talking the design over with you is not billable work and is never deducted.

Agreeing a design quote is not the same as approving your piece for production. They are two separate agreements, and we ask you for them separately: the first says we may spend the design time you agreed to pay for, and the second, which comes after you have seen the finished design and the final price, says we may cut leather. Neither of them is the moment you lose your money for anything else.

None of this narrows the section headed “If something is wrong”. If the piece is faulty, is not what you approved, is the wrong item, arrives damaged or never arrives, that is ours to put right and you choose between a repair, a remake or a refund. This policy adds to your legal rights; it does not replace them.

After work has started: we refund what you have paid less what has actually been spent on your piece — leather bought and cut for it, and hours already worked on it. Not hours set aside for it. We send you a written, itemised account of exactly what that is before anything is deducted, the deduction can never exceed what you paid, and if you disagree with the itemisation we will talk about it rather than simply keep the money.

Refund timing. We process any refund you are owed within 30 days of the cancellation, and sooner where we can. Where you paid by card, the refund goes back through the card, and we send the credit to your card issuer within seven business days of the refund being due.

Owner decision 1 of 3: whether to set a fixed cancellation cut-off (for example “within 24 hours of approving the proof, full refund, no questions”) instead of the actual-cost basis above. A fixed cut-off is simpler to administer and easier to state at the payment step, which the card networks want for an advance payment. The actual-cost basis is fairer to a customer who cancels early and worse for you on one who cancels late.

Change of mind after work has started

A commissioned piece is made to your measurements, with your artwork, in your colors. Once you have approved the proof and we have begun, we cannot accept a return or give a refund because you no longer want it, because it was a gift that did not land, or because you have changed your mind about the design you approved. There is no second buyer for a belt with somebody else’s name tooled into it.

This paragraph is about change of mind, and only about change of mind. It does not apply to any of the situations in the section headed “If something is wrong”, and it does not affect your legal rights.

If something is wrong

All of the following are our responsibility to put right, and in each case you choose between a repair, a remake, or a refund — not us. We pay the postage both ways where something has to come back, and you do not pay again for a remake.

• It is faulty. A defect in the materials or in the workmanship — stitching that fails, a buckle that does not hold, finish that lifts, hardware that breaks in normal use.
• It is not what you approved. The artwork, lettering, color, width, length or layout does not match the proof you signed off. The approved proof is the standard, and we hold ourselves to it.
• It is the wrong item. You received something other than what you ordered.
• It arrived damaged. Damage in transit is ours to resolve with the carrier, not yours.
• It never arrived. If the parcel does not reach you, you get a replacement or a full refund, and there is nothing to send back.

Refunds go back to the payment method you used. We do not issue store credit in place of a refund you are owed.

Owner decision 2 of 3: how long after delivery a fault may be reported, and whether to call it a warranty. This is a real choice and not a formality: a written promise to repair, replace or refund a product that fails to meet a stated specification is a written warranty under the federal Magnuson-Moss Act (15 U.S.C. § 2301(6)(B)), and a written warranty has to state its duration and brings disclosure rules with it. Stating no period is not the neutral option it looks like — it is an open-ended promise. Pick a period you can honor for the life of the business.

Delivery dates

When you approve your estimate we give you an expected completion and shipping date, in writing, as a specific number of days or weeks. That date is part of what you are agreeing to when you pay.

If we cannot meet it, we will write to you before it passes, tell you the new date as a specific number of days or weeks, and tell you that you can cancel and have a full and prompt refund instead. You can reach us for that at the email address and telephone number at the foot of this page, at no cost to you, and we send the refund within one week of your asking.

A short first delay, and a long one, are not the same thing.

• A first delay of 30 days or less, to a date we name: if we do not hear back from you, we take that as your agreement to the new date. You can still cancel for a full refund at any time before we ship.
• A longer delay, a delay we cannot put a date on, or any second or later delay: we need your actual agreement — in writing, by email, or by telephone. If you do not give it, we refund everything you have paid, promptly, without your having to ask.

And we may cancel too. If we cannot fill your order in reasonable time we will say so rather than let it drift, and refund everything you have paid, promptly.

A refund for a missed date is never reduced by anything in the cancellation section above. A date we failed to keep is our problem, not a cancellation by you.

If we have not given you a shipping date at all, the law gives you one: we must ship within 30 days of your order, or do the above.

A gift date a month or less away has to be confirmed before it can be promised, and depending on the work already in the shop it may need a rush fee. Nothing is ever charged without a quote you agree to first.

What hand-made leather does

Leather is skin. Grain, depth of color, and the exact way a dye takes vary from hide to hide and from piece to piece, and hand-cut edges and hand-tooled lines carry the maker’s hand. Those variations are what a hand-made piece is, and they are not defects.

Screen colors are not exact. The preview on this website is a drawing, not a photograph of your finished piece; no screen can promise the color of dyed leather. The color you see on the approved proof is the color we are working to, and if it matters especially to you, say so and we will talk about it before you approve.

None of this narrows the section headed “If something is wrong”. If the piece does not match the proof you approved — color included, whether or not you raised it beforehand — or if it is faulty, “that is just leather” is not an answer we get to give.

Owner decision 3 of 3: whether to state a dimensional tolerance for hand-cut work (for example a stated fraction of an inch on finished length), and what it is. There is no tolerance stated anywhere on the site today, and the geometry engine computes finished length to three decimal places from the customer’s own measurement — so if a belt comes out slightly off the number on the screen, there is currently no written answer to “is that a defect”.

Rights this page does not take away

This policy adds to your legal rights; it does not replace them, and nothing here is a waiver of them.

• We do not disclaim or exclude any implied warranty, and we do not sell “as is”.
• Whatever rights the law of your state gives you as a buyer, you keep — and where it gives you more than this page does, it governs and this page does not.
• You keep the right to dispute a charge with your card issuer or with PayPal. We ask that you contact us first so we can fix the problem, but we do not and cannot require you to give that right up.
• You are entitled to a written copy of the terms you agreed to, and of the proof you approved, at any time, by asking us for it.
• Nothing on this page is a term you have to accept to use the website. It applies to a commission you place.

How to tell us

Email commissions@gbcleather.com or call +1 707-477-9695. Include your commission reference if you have it, and — for anything faulty or damaged — a photograph, which usually saves a round trip. We answer every one of these personally, and it costs you nothing to ask.

Who you are dealing with

GB Custom Leather Craft, 1119 Palau Rd, Coronado CA 92118, United States. Email commissions@gbcleather.com, telephone +1 707-477-9695. Our privacy policy is here.

You are shown this page, and this name and address, before you are asked to pay anything.