Refund rules
Certificate Management Service resources are refundable within a limited period after purchase, and the refundable amount depends on whether the resource has been used. This topic describes the refund rules and request procedures for the following digital certificate resources and services: SSL Certificates, HTTPS Acceleration Gateway, private certificate authorities (PCA), the auto-managed service, the message notification service, the public domain name monitoring service, the certificate application repository service, cloud service deployment services, and expert services.
General refund rules
The following rules apply to refund requests for all resources and services:
Refund period: Submit your request within 7 calendar days after the order is paid. Requests submitted after this period are not accepted. If the resource you purchased requires a prerequisite action before it can be refunded, the completion time of that action must also fall within the 7 calendar days. For example, an SSL Certificate must be revoked first, and an HTTPS Acceleration Gateway instance or a private certificate authority (PCA) instance must be reset first. Allow enough time for the review instead of submitting the request on the seventh day.
Promotional orders: Products purchased through a specific promotion are subject to the refund terms of that promotion.
Refund amount: Only the actual cash payment is refunded. Amounts deducted by vouchers or coupons are not refundable. The refundable proportion depends on whether the resource has been used. An unused resource is refunded in full, and a resource that has generated usage (such as HTTPS Acceleration Gateway) is refunded based on the remaining usage. For details, see the refund section of the corresponding product or service later in this topic.
Refund method: By default, the refund is returned to the original payment method used for the purchase. If the refund cannot be returned to the original payment method (for example, the bank card has been canceled), the refund is credited to your Alibaba Cloud account balance. For more information, see refund arrival rules.
Arrival time: After you submit a refund request, the refund is usually returned to the original payment method within 2 business days. The actual arrival time depends on the payment method. For more information, see refund arrival rules.
Invoice impact: After a refund succeeds, the system automatically deducts your available invoicing quota. Do not apply for an invoice for a refunded order. A negative quota may affect subsequent financial operations such as withdrawals. For more information, see invoice quota management.
SSL Certificate refunds
Refund conditions
SSL Certificates are issued by certificate authorities (CAs). After the refund period expires, the CA has already incurred the issuance cost, so a refund is no longer available.
To request a refund for an SSL Certificate, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Revocation deadline: If the certificate has been issued, the completion time of the revocation review must also fall within 7 calendar days after the order is paid. Otherwise, the refund is not supported. For more information about revocation rules, see certificate revocation rules.
Certificate type restrictions: If you use the Combine Certificates feature to request a Multiple Domains certificate, the certificate is not refundable.
Test certificate refunds: The Individual Test Certificate (Free) does not support self-service refunds. If you do not submit a certificate request within 3 months after the purchase, the system automatically issues a zero-amount refund and returns the purchasable quota of that certificate for the current year.
Related service refund restrictions: The auto-managed service associated with the certificate must be refunded together with the certificate. It cannot be refunded separately.
Request a refund
Certificates with no request submitted
If the certificate instance status is Pending Application (that is, no certificate request has been submitted), you can request a full refund:
Go to the Refund Management page.
Find the target order and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Certificates with a request submitted
If you have already submitted a certificate request (the certificate instance status is Verifying or Validation Failed), cancel the certificate application before you submit a refund request. Otherwise, the system prompts that the refund is unavailable.
Go to the management page that matches the certificate: SSL Certificate Management V2.0 for certificates purchased in V2.0, or SSL Certificate Management (V1.0 - Discontinued) for existing V1.0 certificates.
Find the target certificate and click Cancel Application in the Actions column.
Go to the Refund Management page.
Find the target order and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Issued certificates
For an issued certificate instance, revoke the certificate before you submit a refund request. Otherwise, the system prompts that the refund is unavailable.
Go to the management page that matches the certificate: SSL Certificate Management V2.0 for certificates purchased in V2.0, or SSL Certificate Management (V1.0 - Discontinued) for existing V1.0 certificates.
Find the target certificate and click Revoke in the Actions column.
Go to the Refund Management page.
Find the target order and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
HTTPS Acceleration Gateway refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for HTTPS Acceleration Gateway, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Resource plan restrictions: Gateway Resource Compute Quota (GRCQ) expansion resource plans are not refundable.
Request a refund
Unused
For an instance to which no domain name has been added (that is, the instance is unused after the purchase), you can request a full refund:
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Used
For an instance to which a domain name has been added (that is, the instance is in use), you can still request a refund within 7 calendar days after the order is paid. The refundable amount depends on whether the Gateway Resource Compute Quota (GRCQ) has been consumed:
No GRCQ consumed (including website requests and outbound traffic)
A full refund is issued in this case. Before you request the refund, reset the instance by performing the following steps.
WarningResetting removes the domain names and related configurations that have been added to the instance, and the removal cannot be undone. Make sure that your service traffic has been redirected before you perform the reset.
Go to the HTTPS Acceleration Gateway page. On the Domain Name Management tab, find the target instance and click Reset in the Actions column.
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
GRCQ consumed (including website requests and outbound traffic)
Request a refund for the remaining balance manually. You can consult after-sales technical support for assistance.
Refund amount: Refund amount = Actual amount paid for the order - Fee for the consumed GRCQs. The fee for the consumed GRCQs is prorated by the consumed proportion: Actual amount paid for the order × Number of consumed GRCQs ÷ Total number of GRCQs included in the order.
Refund example:
You purchase a one-month HTTPS Acceleration Gateway instance. The order includes 300 GRCQs, and the actual amount paid is CNY 9.9.
If 60 GRCQs have been consumed when you request the refund, the refundable amount is 9.9 - (9.9 x 60) / 300 = CNY 7.92.
Private certificate authority (PCA) refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for a private certificate authority (PCA), in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
CA usage status: If the root CA or the intermediate CA has been enabled, perform a reset before you request a refund. For details, see the Used tab in the following procedure.
Request a refund
Unused
If neither the root CA nor the intermediate CA has been enabled (that is, the service is unused after the purchase), you can request a full refund:
Go to the Private Certificate Management page and select the region where the target PCA resource resides.
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the Status of the root CA or the intermediate CA changes to Refunded.
Used
If the root CA or the intermediate CA has already been enabled, you can perform a reset within 7 calendar days after the purchase. After the reset succeeds, the fee of the order can be refunded.
Resetting a CA deletes all data of that CA.
Go to the Private Certificate Management page and select the region where the target PCA resource resides.
On the Private CAs or Compliant CA tab, find the CA that you want to reset. In the Actions column, click the
icon and then click Reset in the pop-up menu.In the pop-up dialog box, confirm the reset information, select Confirm that the reset operation deletes all data., and then click OK.
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click OK. After the refund succeeds, the Status of the root CA or the intermediate CA changes to Refunded.
Auto-managed service refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for the auto-managed service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Hosting status: If you have used the auto-managed service (auto management has been enabled for a certificate), cancel the auto management of that certificate before you request a refund.
Services purchased with a certificate: The auto-managed service that is purchased together with a 2-year or 3-year certificate in SSL Certificate Management V1.0 cannot be refunded separately. It must be refunded together with that certificate order. For more information, see SSL Certificate refunds.
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Message notification service refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for the message notification service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Service usage status: The service has not been used, that is, no message notification has been configured.
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Public domain name monitoring service refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for the public domain name monitoring service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Service usage status: The service has not been used, that is, no domain name monitoring has been configured.
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Certificate application repository service refunds
Refund conditions
To request a refund for the certificate application repository service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Service usage status: The service has not been used, that is, no certificate application repository API calls have been consumed.
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Cloud service deployment service refunds
The rules in this section apply to all cloud service deployment services purchased on the Deployment to Cloud Services, Multi-cloud Deployment, and Deployment to Cloud Servers pages.
Refund conditions
To request a refund for a cloud service deployment service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Resource usage status: The resource (deployment quota) has not been used, that is, no deployment task has been created (including Deployment to Cloud Services, Multi-cloud Deployment, and Deployment to Cloud Servers).
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.
Expert service refunds
This section applies to refunds for expert services. The refundable services include the SSL Certificate Assistance Application, Deployment, Deployment (SM Certificate), and Assistance Application + Deployment.
Refund conditions
To request a refund for an expert service, in addition to the general refund rules, you must meet the following conditions:
Service usage status: The service has not been used, that is, you have not scanned the service QR code and started the DingTalk support group.
Request a refund
Go to the Refund Management page, find the target order, and click Refund in the Actions column.
In the Refund Application dialog box, click Refund. After the refund succeeds, the order status changes to Refund successfully.