Policies & agreements

Overview

These Fees, Payments, and Cancellation Supplemental Terms form part of the Terms and apply to payments, credits, refunds, cancellations, and payouts on the Platform.

A. Lesson Payment and Student Amounts

Before checkout, the Platform shows a payment summary or receipt with the lesson amount, any Booking protection fee, any applicable credits, and the total amount due.

Card details are collected directly by Stripe through Stripe payment elements. iNSTAiNSTRU stores payment tokens and limited card metadata, not full card numbers or CVC values.

For scheduled lessons, the Platform may authorize the Student's payment method about 24 hours before the lesson starts and capture payment about 24 hours after the lesson ends, unless a cancellation, dispute, payment failure, or other Platform rule changes the payment state.

1. Lesson-related amounts

The Student is responsible for paying the following amounts shown at checkout:

• the lesson price at the Instructor's rate, subject to Platform minimums, maximums, and format rules;
• any Booking protection fee charged by iNSTAiNSTRU;
• taxes or similar charges if shown and applicable;
• tips or gratuities if the tip feature is available; and
• any amount that remains due after credits or refunds are applied.

2. iNSTAiNSTRU fees

iNSTAiNSTRU may charge a Booking protection fee for use of the Platform.

iNSTAiNSTRU charges Instructors a service fee on lesson payments, which is deducted from Instructor payouts and shown in the Instructor dashboard and payout records.

Instructors have no authority to modify iNSTAiNSTRU fees.

3. Bookings involving minors

Lessons for students under 18 may only be booked by a parent or legal guardian, or an adult authorized by them. When a lesson is booked for a student under 18, the adult booking confirms at checkout that an adult over 18 will be present in the room where the lesson takes place (or within direct sight for an outdoor, pool, open-area, or public location), or in the room with the student for an online lesson. This confirmation is recorded as part of the booking. If no adult is present, the Instructor will end the lesson and the lesson is charged in full.

B. Amounts Owed by Instructors

Instructors are responsible for returning erroneous payments, resolving negative balances, and repaying amounts reversed because of refunds, disputes, chargebacks, fraud, or policy violations.

C. Payment Service Provider (PSP)

Payments are processed by Stripe. Students may be required to provide payment information through Stripe, and Instructors must complete Stripe Connect onboarding to receive payouts.

Stripe may conduct know-your-customer, sanctions, fraud, identity, tax, and payout checks. Stripe's terms govern Stripe services.

D. Fraud and Payment Holds

Transactions may be declined, paused, canceled, refunded, reversed, or held while iNSTAiNSTRU or Stripe reviews fraud, account, compliance, transfer-readiness, or payment-risk signals.

E. Taxes

Users are responsible for taxes that apply to their use of the Platform, lessons, income, or business activity. iNSTAiNSTRU may collect, report, or provide tax information where required by law or by Stripe.

Tax reporting for Instructors

Where required by law, Stripe files IRS Form 1099-K for Instructors as the payment settlement entity, generally by January 31 for the prior calendar year, using the delivery method configured in Stripe. Thresholds are set by law and may change. iNSTAiNSTRU does not issue Form W-2 or Form 1099-NEC to Instructors and does not withhold taxes from Instructor payouts. Instructors are responsible for their own taxes and for keeping accurate taxpayer information in Stripe. iNSTAiNSTRU does not provide tax advice.

Form 1099-K reports the gross amount of payment transactions processed for you, as the IRS requires, without adjustment for fees, refunds, or credits. This gross amount may be higher than your payouts because iNSTAiNSTRU service fees are deducted before payout, and because refunds, credits, or other adjustments can further reduce the amounts paid to you. The iNSTAiNSTRU service fees deducted from your payments may be a deductible business expense. Your fee and payout totals are available in your Stripe Express dashboard and payout records.

Consult a tax professional about your specific situation.

F. Cancellation Policy

Students may cancel a lesson through the Platform. The current cancellation tiers are:

24 hours or more before the scheduled start: full refund to the original payment method, except amounts that are non-refundable by law or payment-network rule.

12 hours or more but less than 24 hours before the scheduled start: 100% of the lesson price as lesson credit. The Booking protection fee is non-refundable.

Less than 12 hours before the scheduled start: 50% of the lesson price as lesson credit. The Booking protection fee is non-refundable.

If the Instructor cancels, the Student receives a full refund, including the Booking protection fee.

Rescheduling a lesson does not restart the cancellation window. If you reschedule a lesson that is less than 24 hours away, cancelling the rescheduled lesson results in lesson credit rather than a refund to your original payment method.

Instructor no-show. If the Instructor does not appear for a lesson and does not cancel, the Student receives a full refund, including the Booking protection fee. Report a no-show to support@instainstru.com.

Cancellations by iNSTAiNSTRU. If iNSTAiNSTRU cancels a lesson, including because an Instructor's account is suspended or deactivated, or for a safety or fraud reason, the Student receives a full refund, including the Booking protection fee. Where iNSTAiNSTRU cancels a lesson, the Instructor is not paid for that lesson.

Lessons ended because no adult is present. If a lesson involving a student under 18 is ended because no adult over 18 is present, the lesson is charged in full and is not refunded, and the Instructor is paid.

Repeated cancellations or no-shows may result in account restriction or deactivation under Section 6 of the Terms.

Unsuitable Instructor locations. If a Student arrives at an Instructor's location and reasonably determines the location is unsafe or unsuitable for the lesson, the Student may end the booking and receive a full refund, including the Booking protection fee. Report the location to support@instainstru.com.

Safety-based cancellations. A Student or Instructor who ends a lesson because of a safety concern will not be penalized. Report the concern to support@instainstru.com, and we will determine how the booking is handled.

Refunds are issued to the original payment method and typically appear within five to ten business days, depending on your bank.

Late arrival. If an Instructor arrives more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start, the Student may end the booking and receive a full refund, including the Booking protection fee, or continue with the remaining time. For an online lesson, an Instructor who has not joined the session within 15 minutes of the scheduled start is treated as arriving late under this section. Instructors are expected to notify the Student through the Platform if they will be late. If a Student arrives late, the lesson still ends at its scheduled time and is charged in full. If an Instructor ends a lesson early without the Student's agreement, the Student receives a credit proportional to the time not delivered.

Circumstances outside anyone's control. If a lesson cannot take place because of severe weather, a transit disruption, a public emergency, or a similar circumstance outside either party's control, either party may cancel without penalty. The party cancelling must do so through the Platform as soon as they are aware, and iNSTAiNSTRU may determine whether a cancellation qualifies under this section. The Student receives a full refund, including the Booking protection fee, and the Instructor is not paid for that lesson.

Payment disputes. If you believe a charge is incorrect, contact support@instainstru.com within 60 days of the charge so we can review it; most issues are resolved faster this way than through a bank dispute. Filing a dispute with your bank does not change the cancellation terms above, and iNSTAiNSTRU may respond to the dispute with records of the booking, the cancellation policy shown at checkout, and the lesson outcome. Accounts with repeated disputes may be restricted under Section 6 of the Terms.

Where more than one provision in this section applies to the same booking, the provision most favorable to the Student applies, except that a lesson ended because no adult over 18 is present is charged in full under that subsection.

Credits. Platform credits issued under this policy do not expire, are non-transferable, and are not redeemable for cash except where required by law. Available credits are applied at checkout unless you choose not to use them. Credits are calculated on the lesson price; the Booking protection fee is not credited. If a credit exceeds your booking total, the remaining balance stays in your account. Credits are tied to your account and are forfeited if your account is closed, except where required by law. Where this policy provides a refund, the amount is returned to your original payment method and includes the Booking protection fee. Where it provides a credit, the amount is added to your account balance and covers the lesson price only. Referral and other promotional credits are governed by their own program terms and may have stated expiration periods; this paragraph covers credits issued for canceled lessons.

G. Tips

If the tip feature is available, tips are paid to the Instructor, and iNSTAiNSTRU covers payment processing on tips.

H. Instructor Travel

Instructor travel to lessons is not a service provided by INSTAINSTRU LLC. Instructors travel to lessons using their own means, at their own expense, subject to the Instructor Participation Agreement. Lesson prices do not include a separate travel or mileage charge, and Instructors must not charge Students separately for travel.