The complete position on replacements, refunds and money already paid. Written so you can find your own situation in about a minute rather than read the whole page.
Effective 1 May 2026Last updated 25 August 2026Version 1.0
Before anyone starts$0
Nothing is payable during intake, screening, shortlisting or interviews, so there is nothing to refund.
Replacement window10 days
Ten business days from the start date to tell us a placement is not the right fit.
Refund trigger30 days
If we cannot present a suitable replacement within 30 business days, the placement fee is refunded in full.
Find your situation
Four questions, then a straight answer.
This gives you the same answer we would give on the phone, including when the answer is no. It is a guide to the policy below, not a decision on your specific claim.
Question 1 of 4
Which kind of engagement is it?
The two models are treated differently, because in one case you have paid a single fee and in the other you are paying month by month.
How long since their agreed start date?
The replacement window runs for ten business days from the start date, not from the day you signed or the day you noticed a problem.
Is the role still materially the same?
A replacement means finding someone for the brief we screened against. If the brief itself has changed, that is a different search rather than a claim.
Are invoices for work already performed settled?
The professional is paid for the days they actually worked whatever happens next. That part is not affected by a replacement or a refund.
Both columns matter equally. A guarantee that only lists what it covers is not a guarantee, it is an advertisement.
✓
Covered
The replacement search itselfSourcing, all six screening stages and a fresh shortlist, at no additional search or placement fee.
Capability that does not match the briefThe work is below the standard the assessment evidence indicated.
Communication that does not workResponsiveness, clarity or reliability falling short of what was agreed.
Fit with how your team operatesWorking style or collaboration that is not workable, told to us specifically.
Failure to start or immediate departureThe professional does not begin, or leaves within the window.
The placement fee, if we cannot replaceRefunded in full where no suitable replacement is presented within 30 business days.
✕
Not covered
Payment for work actually performedThe professional is paid for the days they worked. That is never refunded, and we would not ask them to return it.
Anything after the window closesPast ten business days from the start date, a departure is a new search rather than a claim.
A role that has materially changedIf the brief moved after approval, we are screening against something we were never given.
Consequential lossesLost revenue, missed deadlines, client penalties or internal time. The limits are set out in the Terms.
Your own change of mindBudget cuts, a hiring freeze or a reorganisation are legitimate reasons to end an engagement, but they are not a claim.
Outcomes we do not controlVerification records that someone passed screening. It has never been a guarantee of performance.
Three outcomes
Every claim ends in one of three places.
There is no fourth outcome and no discretionary category. Which one applies depends on the answers in the checker above.
OUTCOME 01
Replacement
The default and by far the most common result. We rerun the search against the same approved brief and put a fresh shortlist in front of you, with all six screening stages completed again.
Your specific reasons are written into the rubric for the replacement search, which is the whole reason we ask for detail rather than a general complaint.
You payNo additional search or placement fee
OUTCOME 02
Refund
If we cannot present a suitable replacement within 30 business days of a valid request, the placement fee for the original placement is refunded in full for a direct hire.
For an ongoing engagement there is no lump sum to return. The markup simply stops accruing from the professional's last working day, and nothing further is payable.
You receiveThe full placement fee back
OUTCOME 03
Declined
Outside the window, on a materially changed brief, or where the reason falls outside what the guarantee covers, we will say so plainly rather than leave the request open.
Declined does not mean we stop helping. It means the work becomes a new search on normal terms, and we will tell you honestly whether it is one we can fill well.
You getA clear answer and a reason
Making a claim
One email starts it. Here is what happens next.
There is no form, no portal and no ticket number. Send an email inside the window and the clock starts on our side.
Day 0
You write to us
Email john@vetmark.io inside the ten business day window, saying specifically what is not working. The date of your email is the date of the claim.
Within 2 business days
We confirm in writing
You get a written acknowledgement stating whether the claim is accepted, what outcome applies, and the date the 30 business day replacement period ends.
Days 3 to 30
The replacement search
We rerun sourcing and all six screening stages against the same brief, with your reasons folded into the rubric, and send a fresh shortlist.
By day 30
Replacement or refund
Either you have a suitable replacement, or the placement fee is refunded in full. There is no third option and no extension without your agreement.
What to put in the email
Five lines is enough. The one that matters is the third, because a vague reason cannot be screened against and turns a replacement into a guess.
The professional's name and their agreed start date.
Which engagement it is: ongoing or direct hire.
What specifically is not working. "The audits are thorough but the client facing writing needs heavy editing" is useful. "Not quite right" is not.
Whether the brief has changed since you approved it, and how.
What you want: a replacement, or a conversation about whether this role is still one we should be filling.
Anything we should screen harder for next time. This goes straight into the rubric.
Processing
When a refund is due, how it reaches you.
Refunds are rare by design, because almost nothing is payable until someone starts. When one is due, these are the mechanics.
MethodOriginal route
Refunds are issued to the account the original payment came from. We do not issue credit notes in place of a refund unless you ask for one.
Timing10 days
Within ten business days of the refund being agreed in writing. Your bank may take longer to post it.
CurrencyUSD
Refunded in United States dollars at the amount invoiced. Currency conversion and bank charges on your side are outside our control.
AmountFee only
The placement fee, not amounts paid for work performed. Taxes charged on the fee are refunded with it where applicable.
Worked examples
Six situations, and the actual answer in each.
Including the ones where the answer is no. A policy page that only shows the happy cases is not telling you anything you can rely on.
Situation
Day six. The SEO specialist's technical work is strong but every client facing document needs heavy rewriting before it can go out.
Answer
Replacement, at no additional fee. Inside the window, same brief, and the reason is specific enough to screen against. Written communication weighting goes up in the replacement rubric.
Situation
Day nine. The professional is performing well, but your largest client has paused and the budget for the role is gone.
Answer
Not a claim, but not a problem either. For an ongoing engagement you end it on the notice in your agreement and the markup stops. There is no exit fee. A direct hire placement fee is not refundable for a change on your side.
Situation
Day four. The person accepted the offer and then never started.
Answer
Replacement, and the clock restarts. A placement that never began is covered. If a direct hire fee was already invoiced and no replacement is presented within 30 business days, it is refunded in full.
Situation
Day fourteen. The paid media specialist is not working out and you would like a replacement.
Answer
Outside the window, so it is a new search. We will still help, on normal terms. Fourteen business days is beyond ten, and we do not stretch the window quietly because the alternative is a guarantee nobody can rely on.
Situation
Day eight. You hired a mid level content writer, then decided the role really needs someone senior who can own strategy.
Answer
A new search rather than a replacement. The brief has materially changed, so we would be screening against something we were never given. Talk to us early. The commercial terms are usually workable when the conversation happens on day eight rather than day thirty.
Situation
Day seven. The fit is wrong and you want a replacement, but last month's invoice for work performed is three weeks overdue.
Answer
The claim is valid and paused, not refused. Settle the invoice for the days actually worked and the replacement search begins. The window is measured from your original email, so raising it now protects your position.
Refund questions
The details underneath.
Questions that decide whether this policy is worth anything in practice.
Because a fit problem is visible almost immediately and a capability problem shows up in the first week or two of real work. A longer window sounds more generous but shifts the risk in a way that eventually gets priced back into the fee. We would rather run a short window we honour without argument than a long one hedged with conditions.
A replacement first. A refund becomes due if we cannot present a suitable replacement within 30 business days of a valid request, and for a direct hire that refund is the full placement fee. For an ongoing engagement there is no lump sum to return, because you have only ever paid for months already worked. The markup stops from the last working day.
Because a person did that work and has been paid for it. Reversing it would mean asking a professional to return earnings for days they turned up and delivered, which we will not do. Our own margin on those days is a fair thing to discuss if a claim is upheld, and we will discuss it. The professional's pay is not.
One per engagement unless we agree otherwise in writing. A replacement carries its own ten business day window from the new start date, so you are not left unprotected on the second placement. If a second replacement is genuinely needed, that is a signal the brief or our screening is wrong, and that conversation is more useful than another search.
A shift in seniority, scope, tool stack, required hours of overlap or budget band large enough that the original search brief would no longer produce the same shortlist. Adding one small responsibility is not a material change. Moving from a mid level executional role to someone who owns channel strategy is. If it is borderline, we will tell you which way we read it and why.
Yes, if you can say what specifically did not work. Working style and communication are legitimate grounds and they are named in the covered list. What we cannot act on is an unexplained "not quite right", because that gives the replacement search nothing to aim at and the second placement is then just as likely to miss.
They are paid in full for the work they did. A claim is not a penalty against them and is not treated as one. Feedback is used to improve the screening rubric, and where the same issue appears repeatedly it affects whether that person stays on the network. Nobody has money clawed back because a placement did not fit.
No, because professionals are never charged anything. There is no application fee, no assessment fee, no membership and no subscription. If anyone ever asks a professional to pay a fee in VetMark's name, it did not come from us. Email john@vetmark.io and tell us.
Say so in writing and we will set out our reasoning in writing, including which part of this policy we are relying on. Most disagreements are about the window date or whether the brief changed, and both are usually settled by looking at the approved search brief. If it is still unresolved, the dispute process in the Terms and Policies page applies, starting with a conversation rather than a filing.
No. Your agreed markup percentage or placement fee percentage stays exactly as it was. The replacement professional's own rate may differ from the original if their experience differs, and that changes the amount the percentage applies to, but never the percentage itself.
At any point, at no cost. Nothing is payable until the professional you chose actually begins work, so a cancelled search is simply a search that ends. There is no kill fee, no retainer to forfeit and nothing to reclaim.
Your signed engagement agreement. This page explains the standard position in plain language and is written to match it, but a specific written agreement between us takes precedence. The full contractual wording sits in clause 9 of the Terms and Policies page.
Raise it early
A claim on day six is easier than a conversation on day thirty.
If something is not working, tell us while the window is open. Even when the answer turns out to be no, you will get it quickly and with a reason attached.
