Paid a deposit, cancelled, and got told the money is nonrefundable? That stamp on the receipt is common.

It does not always let the seller keep the cash. In the United States, whether they can keep it depends on the contract language, how clearly it was disclosed before you paid, and whether the amount looks like a penalty. A card dispute can matter too. A federal cooling-off right sometimes applies as well.

This is general information for consumers, not legal advice on your specific deal. Use the sample letter first. Then match every line to facts you can prove.

Sample letter requesting return of a nonrefundable deposit

Fill the brackets and send the letter in writing so you have a dated copy if the seller later claims you never asked. Email works for a first ask. Certified mail is the better paper trail if this may go further.

[Date]

[Seller name]
[Business address]

Re: Request to return the $[amount] deposit paid on [payment date]

Dear [Name or Accounts team],

I paid $[amount] on [date] toward [describe the booking, rental, service, or goods]. I cancelled on [cancel date] because [short factual reason]. I am requesting a full refund of that deposit to the original payment method.

Your paperwork called the deposit nonrefundable. I still request the refund because [keep only what is true: the term was not shown before I paid / I cancelled a covered in-home or temporary-location sale within three business days / you did not deliver the service / you cancelled or changed the deal / the kept amount is far above any actual loss from my cancellation].

Please refund $[amount] by [date 10 to 14 days from sending]. I have attached my receipt, the contract or checkout terms, and my cancellation notice.

If I do not receive the refund or a written explanation by that date, I will consider other options, including a payment dispute and a complaint to a consumer agency where one applies.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Phone]
[Email]
[Transaction ID or last four digits of the card]

Keep the sent copy. Keep the delivery receipt.

What this letter is doing

You're creating a dated record that you asked for the money back, stated the facts, and set a deadline. Thing is, documentation wins more of these than court does.

When a nonrefundable deposit may not stick

Calling a payment nonrefundable does not automatically make it enforceable. Courts often treat a kept deposit as liquidated damages, and if that number looks like a punishment rather than a reasonable estimate of the seller's actual loss, the clause can fail, especially in a consumer transaction where you never really bargained over the fine print.

For sales of goods, Uniform Commercial Code section 2-718 is the usual yardstick. It rejects unreasonable liquidated-damages terms. Services, events, and housing follow state contract and consumer-protection rules instead. Those rules are not identical.

Read the actual clause. Don't guess.

A term is weaker if it was buried in fine print, added after you already paid, or never written down in anything you actually received. Write down when you first saw the clause. The seller's position is also weaker if they cancelled, missed the date, or changed what you bought.

State law is a mixed bag here, with some states asking whether the amount is reasonable and others enforcing a clear no-refund sentence if it was disclosed. Look at the state named in the contract. This page can't chart every statute.

The FTC cooling-off rule is narrower than the rumor

Turns out a lot of people think every U.S. purchase has a three-day undo button. There isn't one.

The FTC Cooling-Off Rule can give you three business days to cancel certain sales at your home, workplace, dorm, or a temporary location like a hotel booth. The seller has to tell you.

Ordinary store, salon, and website bookings usually fall outside it. Real estate and several other categories sit on the FTC exclusion list. Check that list before you spend the window.

If the rule applies, 16 CFR 429.1 says you, the buyer, may cancel prior to midnight of the third business day after the transaction. Sign and date a cancellation notice. Mail it so the postmark is before midnight of that third business day. Use certified mail if you need proof of the date.

Write your own cancellation letter if they never handed you the form. Keep the same deadline.

After a valid cancel, the seller must refund your money within 10 business days and handle goods they left with you on the timeline in the rule. Keep your copy of the notice.

Spend your energy on the contract and the payment method for a normal appointment at the seller's regular shop. That's the path that still exists.

Send the letter, then work the payment rail

1. Pull the contract, receipt, emails, checkout screenshots, and the payment record.
2. If the sale was at your home or a temporary booth, read the FTC page before the three-business-day clock runs out.
3. Send the sample letter. State the amount, the dates, and how you paid.
4. If you paid by credit card, ask your issuer about a billing-error dispute that same week. Regulation Z billing-error rules cover certain credit-card errors. They do not turn buyer's remorse into an automatic win.
5. If the product is something the CFPB handles, submit a complaint. For a venue, salon, or contractor, contact your state attorney general or local consumer office instead.
6. For a modest amount, a written demand and then small claims court is a common last step. There will be a filing fee.

Debit cards and bank transfers follow the bank's process, not the credit-card script. Ask the bank which deadline applies to your deposit.

If the seller still keeps the money

Their policy email is not a ruling. Save it.

A card dispute is stronger when you did not get the service, the merchant misrepresented the terms, or the charge does not match what you authorized. A change-of-mind story is thin.

Put the contract, the cancel notice, and proof they retained the funds in the file.

To be honest, people skip the written demand and jump to court, then get told to ask in writing first. Put the demand in writing anyway.

State the dollar amount, the facts, a firm date, and that you will file in small claims if they do not pay. Attach the signed contract and the bank record. Attach the contract again if the first copy is messy. Dates and dollars beat adjectives.

Rentals, events, and earnest money are different fights

A security deposit is often a separate bucket from a labeled nonrefundable pet fee, and state law may require an itemized list of deductions after you move out. Ask for that list in writing and keep the email.

Earnest money follows the real-estate contract. Open contingencies can block the seller from keeping those funds, while walking away after you waived them is a different problem under the same document. Read the purchase agreement before you write.

Name it in the letter if the business cancelled or never started the work. The sample only works when the facts you insert are true.

Send the letter while the dates are still easy to prove, and use the FTC cancellation method first on any sale that might be covered. That postmark deadline does not wait.

Call the card issuer the same day you contact the seller. Do that whenever a card paid the deposit.