Hi Brandon, we appreciate you asking this question here on G2 following your conversation with our team. I’m happy to provide more information for you. The Parkbench platform does have a non-refundable policy for any sponsor that signs up. We ensure that any interested sponsor understands this prior to any agreement being signed, both verbally and as written throughout the contract. Where we do offer refunds is when required by any province/state-required right of rescission period (commonly known as “Cooling Off Period”).
The reason why all payments made to Parkbench are non-refundable is that there is a significant cost in the creation of the site and the content that is aggregated to it (e.g. the events, news, and deals) as well as the maintenance of the platform, and the coaching and support that is available to all our clients Monday through Friday.
We know that our platform works for any personable, community-minded sponsor that follows our Local Leader system, including the interviews that a sponsor will be doing. It comes down to connection. If any sponsor is building and nurturing their network via the site’s features, social media, and interview process, they will get results. But, in the event that a sponsor is unable to get the agreed-upon ROI, we have the money-back guarantee in place to safeguard them which would be reviewed at the end of the sponsors’ term.
Now, I know that your primary concern was the customization of the site to your liking. As our team has advised, we have a layout to the Parkbench site that we know works for our clients and so we do not provide comprehensive layout changes. We provided a solution to what you were looking to do (adding tabs to the menu of the site for different initiatives you’re working with, in your community) and have offered to create 2 articles on your site so that you’re able to get started using the platform, knowing that the content you were looking for had been created, and that an action plan was in place.
If during a sponsor’s term, they decide that they would like to move in another marketing direction, for whatever reason, they are able to sell their site sponsorship to any other interested party. This is often if a sponsor has had a personal change in circumstances, such as retirement, change of career, or moving to another area. Based on how long they have been with the platform, they are often able to sell the site sponsorship for more than what was originally paid as the site has a better domain authority over time, the newsletter expands, and the site generates more traffic.
At this point in time, what I would strongly suggest is for you to utilize the coaching and support available to you to implement the Local Leader System for you to truly get an insight as to how this platform works, and the role that the interviews play in building your business. Any professional who signs up for a Parkbench.com sponsorship has a goal to build relationships and get more referrals from their database. This is one of the things that makes Parkbench truly different from a Wix or WordPress, individually created website. Parkbench sponsors want to be community leaders, our system (including but not limited to the site) is designed to do this.
I recommend connecting with Matthew, our Client Success Manager at matthew@parkbench.com to create a manageable action plan for what you can do with the platform, to suit your vision of a community website, within the confines of what Parkbench can and can’t do. In the event that you follow our system and do not get the return on your investment agreed within your contract, you would be eligible for a refund through the guarantee we have in place.