What this policy covers
This policy explains the refund of tuition and subscription fees paid to LORA English Remote Academy (business registration 650-94-02234), which runs Tier One English. It applies to every paid program, to Mock Pass and the Mock Pass 7-day trial, and to refunds of payments we made in error.
Two laws set the amounts. The Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce gives you 7 days to withdraw from an online purchase. The Academy Act Enforcement Decree, Schedule 4, sets how tuition is returned once a course has started. We never reduce a refund below what those laws require, and where this policy and the law differ, the law applies.
Version 2.2 applies to requests made from 2026-11-20. It clarifies version 2.0, removes a clause about termination, changes the Mock Pass refund to a full refund within 7 days of a charge while no mock has been marked, and adds the Mock Pass 7-day trial and the close after a program ends. Because the Mock Pass change can be less favourable to you, it applies 30 days after posting. Payments made before 2026-08-07 keep the promise they were sold with: a full refund within 7 days of payment, even after the course started.
Before the course starts
Within 7 days of paying you can withdraw for any reason and receive everything back (Article 17 of the E-Commerce Act). The payment day is day 0 and the window runs to the end of day 7, Korean time, weekends and holidays included.
After those 7 days you still receive everything back if instruction has not begun (Academy Act Enforcement Decree, Schedule 4). Using the dashboard before the start, watching an orientation video or opening materials does not reduce this.
The start date on your billing page is the Monday the cohort begins. Instruction begins on the following day, so a request made on the start date itself is still a request made before the start.
How the two rules work together
- Within 7 days of payment, before the start: full refund, processed automatically the moment you confirm.
- After 7 days, before the start: full refund, confirmed by a person within 3 business days.
- Once instruction has begun: the schedule in the next section applies, whichever day you paid.
After the course starts
Once instruction has begun, the refund is a share of the tuition set by Schedule 4 of the Academy Act Enforcement Decree. The share depends on how much of the instruction period has passed, counted in calendar days from the start date to the day of your request, not on how much you used.
A program longer than one month is split into statutory months of 30 days from the start date. Months that have fully passed are not refunded, the month you cancel in follows the schedule below, and every month that has not begun is refunded in full.
We do not issue a certificate of completion for an enrollment you withdrew from, because the program you enrolled in was not completed. The enrollment certificate and payment confirmation remain available on the Billing page, showing the weeks you actually attended and the amount paid net of the refund.
Schedule 4 for the month you cancel in
| How much of the month has passed | Refund | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Instruction has not begun | 100% | Everything you paid. |
| Less than one third | 2/3 | Two thirds of that month's tuition, plus all later months. |
| Less than one half | 1/2 | Half of that month's tuition, plus all later months. |
| One half or more | 0 | Nothing for that month. Later months are refunded in full. |
Worked example: the 8-week program at ₩960,000
Two statutory months of ₩480,000 each over 56 days. Day 0 is the start date; day 1 is the first day of instruction.
| Day of request | Refund | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Up to day 0 | ₩960,000 | Before instruction begins: 100%. |
| Days 1 to 9 | ₩800,000 | Two thirds of month 1, plus all of month 2. |
| Days 10 to 14 | ₩720,000 | Half of month 1, plus all of month 2. |
| Days 15 to 30 | ₩480,000 | Nothing for month 1, all of month 2. |
| Days 31 to 38 | ₩320,000 | Two thirds of month 2. |
| Days 39 to 42 | ₩240,000 | Half of month 2. |
| Day 43 onward | ₩0 | Half of month 2 has passed and no month remains. |
The amount and its legal basis appear in the request dialog before you confirm, so you never have to work this out yourself. Under this schedule a student who finished every assignment and a student who never signed in receive the same amount on the same day.
The close after a program ends (Terms, After your program ends) is not a cancellation and does not change any refund. A paid 30-day extension, if we offer one, is a separate purchase with automatic AI marking only and no live classes.
Half programs, second halves and extensions
A first-month program, a second-half program (weeks 5 to 8) and an extension from a half to the full program follow the same law, measured from the start of the weeks you paid for. For a second-half buyer, instruction begins the day after the week-5 Monday, not on the cohort's original start date.
Full refunds before the start, whether by cooling-off or because instruction has not begun, work from your billing page for first-month and second-half plans. Once instruction has begun on those plans, and at any time for an enrollment that was extended from a half to the full program, the refund is handled by our team at support@tieroneenglish.com under the same schedule, and we tell you the amount before anything is processed.
Mock Pass
Mock Pass is a monthly subscription, sold when it is on sale. Until the end of the 7th day after a charge (Korean time), if no mock has been marked since that charge, you can cancel from the billing page for a full refund of that charge, processed at once.
Once a mock has been marked, or after that day, the charge is not refunded and the pass runs to the end of the paid month. A mock counts as marked when its first part is sent for marking or when the live speaking examiner connects; if marking fails on our side, the mock is given back and does not count. If we cannot deliver the pass through our own fault, or the law requires a refund, we refund regardless of this rule.
Cancelling without a refund is always available from the billing page: you keep access until the end of the paid month and no further charge is made.
Mock Pass 7-day trial
The 7-day trial is a one-time product, sold only while Mock Pass is on sale, and it does not renew. Until midnight Korean time at the end of the 7th day after the payment day, you can refund the full ₩9,900 at once from the billing page as long as no mock has been marked; the trial ends when it is refunded. While a mark is running, you can request the refund once it finishes.
Once a mock is marked, the service has begun and the trial is not refunded. A mock counts as marked when its first part is sent for marking or the live speaking examiner connects; if marking fails on our side, it is given back and does not count. Before buying, you can see what a mark contains through the free mark and the sample marks on the Mock Pass page. Mocks left when the trial ends lapse and are not refunded.
While Mock Pass is on sale, if you review the Mock Pass payment terms on its checkout before the trial ends and that payment completes within 24 hours after the trial ends, the ₩9,900 you paid for the trial comes off the first Mock Pass payment, and the trial ends then. The trial payment counts toward that first payment and is not refunded separately. That Mock Pass payment is refunded under the Mock Pass rule, for what was actually paid.
If we cannot provide marks through our own fault, or the law requires a refund, we refund regardless of this section.
How to request a refund
Refund requests are made from your account, so that the amount is calculated on your actual enrollment and payment.
- 1Open Billing from the account menu in the dashboard and choose Request refund on the enrollment.
- 2The dialog shows the refund amount, the legal basis and the course progress it was calculated on.
- 3Tell us why you are leaving, in at least 10 characters. The reason helps us improve the program and never changes the amount.
- 4Confirm. A cooling-off refund is processed at once; any other request is reviewed by a person within 3 business days to confirm the calculation, and we email you at each step.
A submitted request cannot be withdrawn. When the refund is processed your enrollment ends, your dashboard closes and your study history is no longer available, so please request any certificate you need first.
If you paid by bank transfer, the button is replaced by a note: write to support@tieroneenglish.com and we apply the same schedule by hand, counting the cooling-off from the day your transfer arrived.
If you have been charged twice or charged the wrong amount, tell us at support@tieroneenglish.com and we return the excess without a request form.
The 7-day trial is refunded at once from its card on the billing page, with no reason needed.
When and how the money comes back
Once a refund is approved we instruct Toss Payments within 3 business days (Article 18 of the E-Commerce Act). Card refunds appear on your statement once your card issuer posts them, usually within a few days; bank transfers arrive in the account the payment came from.
Refunds always go back to the payment method you used. We cannot send a refund to a different card, account or person. If the original card or account has been closed, write to support@tieroneenglish.com and we arrange the alternative with Toss Payments.
Business days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and Korean public holidays. Once Toss Payments has processed the return, the remaining time is on the issuer's side.
When there is nothing to refund
In these cases there is nothing to return. Where a request is still possible, the dialog shows ₩0 before you confirm.
- Half or more of the month you cancel in has passed and no later month remains.
- The enrollment has already been refunded.
- The enrollment was created without a payment, for example a placement by your teacher or a scholarship. Ask your teacher to withdraw you instead.
- Fees charged by your own bank or card issuer, such as currency conversion or chargeback fees. We never receive those and cannot return them.
- The 7-day trial's payment once a mock has been marked on it, or once the trial has ended.
We do not keep tuition as a penalty. If we end your contract for a breach of the Terms, your refund is still calculated under the schedule above as of the termination date.
If we cancel or cannot deliver
If a cohort is cancelled, cannot start on the announced date, or we stop a program you are enrolled in, we tell you at once and you choose between the next cohort and a full refund of everything you paid for the undelivered part.
If a paid service is unavailable for a significant time through our fault, we extend your access or refund the affected period, following the Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards. Where our fault caused you further loss, we compensate you under applicable law.
If you disagree with a decision
Write to support@tieroneenglish.com or call 070-8018-6673 and tell us which request you mean. We reply within 10 days with the calculation and its basis. Most disagreements are about the day count, and the dialog's progress line shows exactly which days were counted.
You can also take the matter to the bodies below at no cost. A dispute about academy tuition may be filed with the Seoul Gangnam Seocho Office of Education, which supervises registered academies.
Where you can take a dispute
Legal basis
- Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Article 17: the 7-day withdrawal right; Article 17(2)(5) limits it once provision of a service has begun, and Article 17(6) requires that limit to be disclosed at purchase, which the checkout page does.
- Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Article 18: refunds within 3 business days of withdrawal, to the original payment method.
- Academy Act Enforcement Decree, Schedule 4: full return before instruction begins, then two thirds, one half and nothing by share of the instruction period, month by month for courses over one month.
- Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards (Fair Trade Commission notice): compensation when a paid service is interrupted through the provider's fault.
- Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Article 13(6), and its Enforcement Decree, Article 20-2: separate consent within the 30 days before a recurring price rises or a free period turns into a paid subscription. The trial is not a recurring payment and never turns into Mock Pass by itself.
Changes to this policy and contact
Any change is posted here at least 7 days before it applies, with the reason. A change that reduces a refund is posted 30 days ahead and sent to you by email. A refund right that existed when you paid stays with that payment.
Earlier versions are available on request at legal@tieroneenglish.com. Questions about a specific refund go to support@tieroneenglish.com; questions about this policy go to legal@tieroneenglish.com.