Refund policy

Last updated: 2026-10-21

The short version

If GenLock or Shutter is not right for you, email support@arcenginetools.com within 14 days and we refund you in full. You do not have to give a reason, you will not be talked out of it, and there is no form to fill in.

BaseCut works differently. You try it free for 14 days before you pay anything, so its charges are not refunded. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing at all.

GenLock and Shutter (one-time purchases)

14 days from the moment your payment clears. Full refund, any reason or no reason. This includes the GenLock + Shutter bundle.

When we refund you:

• Stripe returns the money to the card you paid with. It usually shows up in 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank.
• Your license key stops working and its seats are released.
• We ask that you delete your copy of the plugin.

GenLock has no separate trial build. This refund window is its trial - buy it, use it properly on real work, and if it does not earn its place, tell us. Shutter has a free demo you can download before you buy; it watermarks its output until you activate the license key that comes with your purchase.

BaseCut (subscription)

BaseCut is a monthly or annual subscription measured in credits, one per minute of source footage you point it at. Because it costs us real money every time it builds a cut, you try it before you pay instead of asking for your money back after.

14 days free, on any plan. When you subscribe to BaseCut for the first time, your card is taken at checkout and nothing is charged for 14 days. The first charge is on day 15. Cancel from your account page before then and you pay nothing. During the trial you can use up to 150 credits of footage.

The free trial is for first-time BaseCut customers, one per email address. If your address has had BaseCut before, in any form, including an earlier trial, your subscription is billed from the day you start.

After the trial, BaseCut charges are not refunded. That covers the first charge, every renewal, monthly and annual plans, and top-up packs (All 3 is the one exception, below). Cancelling stops the next renewal; you keep BaseCut until the end of the period you have already paid for.

Top-up packs. A top-up pack is 300 credits for $18, bought only when you want it. Top-ups are opt-in, never billed automatically, and not refunded. Top-up credits are used after your plan's monthly credits, oldest first, and last 12 months from purchase.

The All 3 bundle. All 3 is a BaseCut Pro annual subscription with GenLock and Shutter included. It has no free trial: the first year is charged at checkout. Like GenLock and Shutter, All 3 can be refunded in full within 14 days of that charge, no questions; a refund cancels the subscription and switches off BaseCut, GenLock and Shutter. GenLock and Shutter are yours to keep once that first year is paid out; if the subscription ends before then, they end with it.

Cancelling

Cancel whenever you like, from your account page, in one click. Your plan, your card and your invoices are on the same page.

• There is no cancellation fee and no notice period.
• Cancelling during the free trial means you are never charged.
• You keep BaseCut until the end of the period you have already paid for. Cancelling on day 2 of a month does not switch it off on day 2.
• Your remaining credits stay usable for that period. They do not carry past it.
• Your cuts, subclips and sequences are in your own Premiere project on your own Mac. Nothing of yours is held hostage by the subscription.

If you come back later, the same account picks up where it left off.

What happens to credits you have already used

Nothing. We never bill you for credits after a refund, and we never claw them back. When we refund All 3, it is a real refund, not a refund minus a usage charge.

How to ask

Email support@arcenginetools.com from the address you paid with - or any address, with the order number or license key.

• We reply within 1 business day and process the refund within 2.
• You do not need a reason. If you have one, we would like to hear it, because refund feedback is the most useful mail we get. That is a request, not a condition.

A few edge cases, stated plainly

Past the window. For GenLock and Shutter, we may still refund if there is a clear defect or you could not get the plugin working. Ask.

Chargebacks. If you file a chargeback with your bank before emailing us, we cannot refund you directly any more - the bank takes control of the money and we have to respond to them instead. It is slower for you and it costs us a fee whichever way it goes. Please email first.

Refunds go back to the card you paid with. Stripe cannot send a refund anywhere else. If that card is closed, your bank normally forwards the credit to its replacement.

Volume and studio orders follow whatever we agreed in writing, which supersedes this page.

Who you are actually paying. Stripe is the merchant of record for Arc Engine Tools. Your receipt comes from Stripe, Stripe handles the tax, and Stripe processes the refund. We decide whether to refund; Stripe moves the money.