Refund Policy

Our Degree Verification services are performed under an outsourcing agreement with the institutions that we serve. As such, we are acting as an extension of the Records/Registrar’s Office at each school. In this capacity, we must follow their specific refund policies for degree verification orders.

What Constitutes a Billable Transaction?

Because of the policies in effect at individual institutions and the actions of a particular student or alumnus, we may not always be able to provide the final results or status of a verification request. Such circumstances arise when a particular student/alumnus:

• Has an unresolved obligation to the institution, or
• Has exercised his or her rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) to prohibit the institution from releasing any records without explicit authorization.

The above results are in fact normal transactions and are not under any circumstances non-billable.

When the subject of a verification request has resolved the issue with the institution or has removed the privacy election, updated results will be forwarded automatically by Credentials. Otherwise, this “final negative” or “not found” is considered a billable transaction.

Pursuant to our Service Agreement, unless alternative arrangements for payment are made, a degree verification requestor will authorize Credentials to charge the credit card provided when initiating a transaction. The requestor agrees and acknowledges that all authorized charges will appear on the billing statement under the merchant name of “Verifications”. If a legitimate transaction charged to a requestor’s credit card is disputed at any time, that person accepts responsibility for the resulting penalties imposed on us by our merchant services provider.

User Errors, Billing Errors and Refunds

The following are NOT considered legitimate reasons for a refund:

• Entering incorrect or incomplete information
• Information shown on the degree verification report that was not expected

If the requestor believes that another error may have occurred in the handling of an order, please call our Customer Service Department at 847-716-3005 and talk to one of our representatives. He or she will provide the school specific policy from which the request was made. Generally speaking, most schools consider refund requests on a case-by-case basis.

Our Customer Service hours can be found here