Refund policy

Last updated: October 7, 2026

At The Lives We Keep, every personalized book is created from someone’s memories, stories, and photographs. We want you to understand when you can cancel, how refunds are calculated, and what happens if there is a problem with your order.

For cancellation, return, or refund requests, contact hello@theliveswekeep.com.

This policy applies alongside our Terms of Service and Shipping Policy. Nothing in it limits rights you have under applicable consumer protection laws.

1. Canceling before personalized work begins

You may cancel for a full refund before personalized work on your order begins.

Personalized work includes drafting, editing, transcription of your submitted recordings, book design, and production undertaken specifically for your project.

An automated order confirmation, account creation, or sending you an initial questionnaire does not, by itself, mean personalized work has begun.

To cancel, email hello@theliveswekeep.com with your name, order number if available, and a clear statement that you wish to cancel. Your request takes effect when we receive it; you do not need to wait for our acknowledgment.

2. Canceling after work begins but before printing

You may still request cancellation after personalized work begins and before your book enters printing.

We will stop avoidable further work and refund your payment, less:

A reasonable amount for personalized work actually completed before we received your cancellation request.
Unavoidable third-party costs already committed specifically to your project that cannot reasonably be recovered.

We will explain any deductions in writing, including the work completed and relevant costs. Deductions will not duplicate one another or exceed the amount you paid.

We do not charge a separate cancellation penalty, and we do not deduct the value of work that has not been performed.

These deductions do not apply where the law entitles you to a greater refund, including qualifying cancellations for shipment delays or our failure to fulfill the agreement.

3. Canceling after printing begins

Once printing begins, personalized books are generally not eligible for change-of-mind cancellation, return, or exchange.

This includes additional copies printed specifically for your order.

We will separately assess any unperformed services or optional extras that have not entered production or incurred unavoidable costs. The non-refundable status of a printed book does not automatically make every other part of your order non-refundable.

This restriction does not apply to damaged or defective books, incorrect orders, material differences from the approved proof, or other situations in which a remedy is required by law.

4. Reviewing and approving your book

You will have an opportunity to review your book before printing. We will not treat silence as approval.

Please check names, dates, spelling, captions, photographs, cover details, and layout carefully.

If you identify an issue before approval, contact us so it can be addressed through the revisions included in your package. Correcting our failure to follow agreed instructions is not a paid upgrade.

If the printed book accurately reproduces the approved proof, a later preference change or an error in information you supplied does not ordinarily qualify for a free reprint or refund. We can discuss a correction and provide a quote for a revised edition.

Approval does not waive your rights concerning our errors, manufacturing defects, or failures to provide the agreed product or service.

5. Damaged, defective, or incorrect books

Arrives damaged.
Has missing, duplicated, incorrectly bound, or materially misprinted pages.
Differs materially from the approved proof or agreed specifications.
Is the wrong book, format, or quantity.

Please include your order number, a description of the issue, and photographs where reasonably possible. Photographs help us assess the problem but are not an absolute condition for exercising your legal rights.

We will investigate and provide the appropriate remedy under applicable law, which may include correction, replacement, a price reduction, or a refund. Where the law gives you a choice of remedy, we will respect that choice.

You will not pay reasonable return or replacement shipping costs where the problem is our responsibility.

Please report issues promptly. We do not impose a short reporting deadline that removes statutory rights.

Ordinary wear, accidental damage after delivery, or damage caused by improper storage is not a manufacturing defect. Minor differences between screen colors and printed colors do not automatically indicate a defect, but a material departure from the agreed product remains our responsibility.

6. Problems with the service or digital deliverables

If the drafting, editing, design, or digital content supplied does not meet the agreed description, email us and explain the problem.

We will assess it and provide an appropriate remedy. Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, this may involve correcting the work, supplying a functioning file, completing missing services, reducing the price, or issuing a refund.

Digital delivery or proof approval does not automatically remove your rights concerning defective or nonconforming content.

For a change-of-mind cancellation involving completed personalized digital work, the principles in Sections 1 and 2 apply, subject to any statutory withdrawal rights.

7. Delayed or undelivered orders

If we cannot ship within the applicable promised timeframe, we will provide the required notice, explain your options, and obtain any legally necessary consent to a delay.

Where cancellation and a refund are required under US shipment-delay rules, we will refund all amounts required for the unshipped merchandise. We will not apply a personalization deduction or cancellation penalty to that refund.

If a parcel is lost or has not arrived as agreed, contact us. We will investigate with the carrier and arrange an appropriate replacement or refund.

A tracking status showing “delivered” does not automatically resolve a disputed delivery. You do not need to purchase shipping protection to receive remedies for which we are responsible.

Further details appear in our Shipping Policy.

8. Returns of non-personalized products

For separately purchased physical products that are not personalized, you may request a change-of-mind return within 14 calendar days after delivery.

Send the item back within 14 calendar days after notifying us. For this voluntary return, the item must be unused and complete. Please package it securely to prevent damage in transit.

You are responsible for direct return postage for a change-of-mind return. We do not charge a restocking fee or retrospectively deduct the cost of the free standard shipping provided with your order.

These voluntary conditions do not restrict statutory rights, including any right to inspect goods or return defective items.

9. Gift purchases and additional copies

If you purchase a project as a gift and the recipient does not wish to participate, the cancellation rules above apply according to the work already completed.

Refunds are normally issued to the original purchaser’s payment method. We cannot ordinarily refund a gift recipient to a different payment method.

Additional personalized copies follow the same cancellation and defect rules as the original book. Their eligibility for a change-of-mind refund depends on whether production of those copies has begun.

10. How to request a return or refund

Email hello@theliveswekeep.com and include:

The name and email address used for the order.
Your order number, if available.
Whether you are requesting cancellation, a return, a replacement, or a refund.
A description of any problem and supporting photographs where reasonably available.

You do not need to give a reason when exercising a statutory change-of-mind withdrawal right.

We will confirm the next steps without undue delay. If a physical return is needed, we will provide the correct return address and shipping instructions.

Please request instructions before mailing a book to our business address, as the appropriate return location may differ. This request does not make prior authorization a condition for exercising a statutory right or extend a legal return deadline.

Where a return is our responsibility, we will provide a prepaid shipping method or arrange reimbursement of reasonable postage. If we confirm that no return is needed, you will not be required to send the item back.

11. Refund amounts and timing

Refunds are based on the amount actually paid for the refunded goods or services, including applicable taxes. Discounts are reflected in the refund calculation.

Refunds are made to the original payment method unless another lawful method is expressly agreed. We will not require you to accept store credit instead of a monetary refund to which you are entitled.

We will confirm voluntary cancellations and refund calculations without undue delay and initiate the refund within 14 calendar days after confirmation.

For an eligible goods return, we may wait until we receive the item or evidence that it has been sent back, where permitted by law.

Statutory refund deadlines take priority. For qualifying US shipment-delay cancellations, the deadline is generally seven working days for payment methods accepted through our checkout.

Your bank or payment provider may take additional time to display the refund. If we have confirmed processing but you cannot locate it, contact us so we can help trace it.

12. Additional statutory withdrawal rights

Where European withdrawal rules apply, qualifying service contracts generally have a 14-day withdrawal period from contract formation, and qualifying goods generally have a 14-day period from receipt.

Goods made to your specifications or clearly personalized are generally exempt from statutory change-of-mind withdrawal. This exception does not automatically remove rights for separately supplied services or digital content.

If you expressly request that a service start during the withdrawal period, a lawful withdrawal may require proportionate payment for the service supplied. No such charge applies where the legal conditions have not been met.

The withdrawal right for a fully performed service is lost only where the required prior express consent and acknowledgment have been obtained. For digital content supplied without a physical medium, loss of the right requires the prescribed express consent, acknowledgment, and contract confirmation. Accepting general terms alone is not a substitute.

To withdraw, send a clear statement to our email or postal address before the deadline. For qualifying goods, return them within 14 days after notifying us. Direct return postage is your responsibility only where you were properly informed and the law permits it.

Where a statutory withdrawal refund is due, we will make it within 14 days after receiving notice, subject to any lawful right to await returned goods or proof of return. Any refundable delivery payment is included as required by law.

Mandatory rights under applicable US state law or the law of another jurisdiction also remain unaffected.

13. Contact

The Lives We Keep
Avenue Albert 1er 59
5070 Fosses-La-Ville
Belgium

Email: hello@theliveswekeep.com