CoNZealand Membership Refunds

!Update! – The deadline for requesting a partial or full membership due to the change to an online convention has passed.

Please Note: We are still processing all requests received before the cutoff date to completion.

 

Due to COVID-19, CoNZealand has changed to a virtual convention instead of an in-person convention. As this represents a major change in both costs and member opportunities, we have revised our membership rates and are offering existing members partial refunds of the excess if they have paid more than the new rates. Although our memberships were sold on a “no refunds” basis, we are also accepting requests for refunds from Attending Membership to Supporting Membership status, or in some cases full refunds of Attending Membership fees, on a case-by-case basis.

Arranging to make significant numbers of refunds is not something we expected to do and creating a process for this is taking some time. You will be able to request a refund via our website from 1 May 2020.

The deadline for requesting a partial or full membership refund is 11:59 PM, Tuesday, 23 June 2020 (NZT). We will have released specifications for our Virtual Worldcon platform before then, so you will be able to make an informed decision. We have already received some refund requests by email, and are considering and processing those requests manually, but this will take some time to deal with.

If you have already contacted us via email, telepathy or carrier pigeon about your need for a refund, then you do not need to fill this form out again. Refunds received prior to the request deadline will still be processed.

Please read through the information below before completing the Refund Form at the bottom of this page.

 

 

Donating Your Refund

We ask that you consider not requesting a refund, which will allow us to use those funds in providing the best possible Virtual Worldcon we can. Some members have already contacted us to ask whether they can donate a refund to a suitable charitable recipient. Our refund request process will include donating the money towards our Aotearoa Inclusion Initiative, and other relevant fannish and SF-related causes.

 

Note about Refund Payment Process and Charges

If you paid for your membership via credit card there was a charge from our payment provider but CoNZealand will ignore that in deciding your refund amount. We will calculate refunds based on our published membership rates, not on what we received after fees. CoNZealand will make a refund via our payment provider to your credit card, in New Zealand $.

Exchange rate fluctuations and credit card exchange rates may mean that this does not match the amount originally charged to you in your local currency. That is unfortunately the way the banking/credit card system works.

If you paid by other means or purchased a membership from another member and request a refund, we will contact you to work out a payment method by which we can send money and which you can receive. We are limited in our options to New Zealand bank transfer, US bank transfer or check, or PayPal.

We will pay any fees involved in sending a payment, but as with credit card fees, any fees required for receiving payments will have to be borne by you.

 

Refund Availability for Membership Types

Adult Attending Membership

• Adult Attending Members will receive, if they apply for it, the difference between the amount they have paid and the new Attending Membership rate ($300). They can opt to receive that money or to donate it to CoNZealand or to a relevant good cause.
• Adult Attending Members may request to receive a refund of more than this. All such requests will be considered on a case by case basis.
  • Adult Attending Members who nominated for the Hugo Awards, or who want to vote for the Hugo Awards or vote in the site selection process for the 2020 Worldcon can at most be refunded the difference between their payment and the cost of a Supporting Membership, subject to approval. They would then become a Supporting Member.
  • Adult Attending Members who have not used or do not want to use any of those rights can request a refund of their full membership fee, subject to approval.

Partially Completed Instalment Plan for Adult Attending Membership

• • If you have already paid at least $300 (the new Attending Membership Fee) on an instalment plan, then your Membership will be automatically changed to Attending Membership. If you have paid more than $300, you can request a refund of the excess (see Adult Attending Membership details above).
  • If you have paid less than $300, the instalment plan will be converted to the new target of $300. Payment arrangements should be adjusted to match this.

Young Adult Attending Membership

• Young Adult Attending Members will receive, if they apply for it, the difference ($100) between the amount they paid ($250) and the new Young Adult Attending Membership rate ($150). They can opt to receive that money or to donate it to CoNZealand or to a relevant good cause.
• Young Adult Attending Members may request to receive a refund of more than this. All such requests will be considered on a case by case basis.
• Young Adult Attending Members who nominated for the Hugo Awards, or who want to vote for the Hugo Awards or vote in the site selection for the 2020 Worldcon will receive, if they apply for it, a refund of $175. They would then become a Supporting Member.
• Young Adult Attending Members who have not used any of those rights will receive, if they apply for it, a refund of their full membership fee of $250.

Partially Completed Instalment Plan for Young Adult Attending Membership

• • If you have already paid at least $150 (the new Young Adult Attending Membership Fee) on an instalment plan, then your Membership will be automatically changed to Young Adult Attending Membership. If you have paid more than $150, you can request a refund of the excess (see Young Adult Attending Membership details above).
  • If you have paid less than $150, the instalment plan will be converted to the new target of $150. Payment arrangements should be adjusted to match this.

Unwaged Attending Membership

• Unwaged Attending Members will receive, if they apply for it, the difference ($75) between the amount they paid ($225) and the new Attending Membership rate ($150). They can opt to receive that money or to donate it to CoNZealand or to a relevant good cause.
• Unwaged Attending Members may request to receive a refund of more than this. All such requests will be considered on a case by case basis.
• Unwaged Attending Members who nominated for the Hugo Awards, or who want to vote for the Hugo Awards or vote in the site selection for the 2020 Worldcon will receive, if they apply for it, a refund of $150. They would then become a Supporting Member.
• Unwaged Attending Members who have not used any of those rights will receive, if they apply for it, a refund of their full membership fee of $225.

Partially Completed Instalment Plan for Unwaged Attending Membership

• • If you have already paid at least $150 (the new Unwaged Attending Membership Fee) on an instalment plan, then your Membership will be automatically changed to Unwaged Attending Membership. If you have paid more than $150, you can request a refund of the excess (see Unwaged Attending Membership details above).
  • If you have paid less than $150, the instalment plan will be converted to the new target of $150. Payment arrangements should be adjusted to match this.

Child Attending Membership

It should be noted that the age range for Child Attending Memberships have been changed.

• If they were born between 2005 and 2010, Child Attending Members will receive, if they apply for it, the difference ($30) between the amount they paid ($105) and the new Child Membership rate ($75), and will remain Child Members. They can opt to receive that money or to donate it to CoNZealand or to a relevant good cause.
• Child Attending Members will receive, if they apply for it, a full refund of $105.
• If they were born in or after 2010, they may instead request to become “Kid-in-tow Attending Members”, which has no charge.

 

Refund Form

Please submit once only. Multiple submissions slow the refund process for all. A summary of your submission will be sent to you on completion. If you do not receive the summary please check your spam folder and/or applied filters before contacting Registration or Information. If you are requesting a full refund of your membership, please state clearly the reason(s) why in the comments section of the form.