If a creator's delivery window passes with nothing sent, the follower hasn't lost the payment by default: the creator can still decline and refund the request directly, and if the creator goes silent instead, the charge can typically be disputed with the card issuer as goods or services not received. Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.
If you do not deliver a Paid Question, Personalized Video, or custom request by the deadline, Brillay closes the request, the follower keeps their money, and the follower can place a new order if they still want the work. A separate change-of-mind scenario is covered in do you have to refund a follower who changes their mind. Followers pay by card as guests before you start, using an email and name; these are one-time purchases with no membership.
What counts as a missed delivery deadline?
A delivery deadline is missed once the delivery time the creator committed to at checkout passes with nothing delivered. On Brillay, that delivery time is set by the creator per offer and runs from 1 hour to a maximum of 5 days for a Personalized Video or a custom request (how it works). Each delivery is a one-time transaction, with nothing to publish on a schedule and no subscription for either side to maintain.
For Paid Questions, you set the price and a reply time the follower sees before paying. If the creator declines or misses the delivery deadline, the request closes and the follower keeps their money.
What should a follower do first when a deadline passes?
If you miss the deadline, Brillay closes the request, and the follower keeps their money. The order thread is not a pre-delivery chat or negotiation channel, which helps prevent scope creep before the creator sends the one promised delivery.
You need to deliver by the time the follower sees at checkout. After that, Brillay closes the request instead of extending it. That means the work stays within its agreed scope, and there is no need for the follower to ask for their money back when a request is not delivered in time; Stripe’s broader card-dispute timelines are about completed charges, not this Brillay flow (Stripe, How disputes work).
Can a creator keep the payment if nothing is delivered?
If the deadline passes without a delivery, Brillay closes the request and the follower keeps their money, with nothing owed back on either side. For Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, and Custom Requests, followers pay upfront and creators deliver later, and a declined order closes the same way.
For a request that is not delivered in time, you do not need to approve anything. Brillay closes it, and the follower keeps their money. Whether the order is a $5 Paid Question, a $25 portfolio review through Custom Requests, or a $50 Personalized Video, the follower pays upfront and the creator delivers inside the window that was on the listing before checkout.
What happens if the creator declines instead of delivering?
Declining before delivery is the cleanest outcome for both sides because the request closes and the follower keeps their money. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.
Refund timing for a completed charge is controlled by the payment system and the follower's bank rather than by the creator, and Stripe describes refund timing in its own documentation (Stripe, Refunds). A completed charge that turns into a dispute is different from a Brillay request that was not delivered in time, and Stripe lists separate dispute pricing for businesses (Stripe, Pricing).
| If this happens | What a follower can do | Typical timing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline passes with nothing delivered | Brillay closes the late order, and the follower keeps their money. | Automatic after the deadline | Brillay payment flow |
| Creator declines before delivery | The request closes and the follower keeps their money | Immediate when declined | Brillay payment flow |
| Creator delivers within the deadline | The order is complete once the delivery arrives | At delivery | Brillay payment flow |
| A separate issue concerns a completed card payment | Use the card issuer's process for that payment | Issuer-controlled timing | Stripe, How disputes work |
| A written billing-error letter goes to the card issuer | Follow the issuer's written billing-error process | Issuer-controlled timing | FTC, Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges |
Can a follower dispute the charge if the creator goes silent?
For a Brillay request that misses its delivery deadline, the payment outcome is clear: Brillay closes the request and the follower keeps their money. Card-network categories such as product-not-received belong to the card issuer's own dispute process, which is separate from a Brillay order that closes because it was not delivered in time (Stripe, Dispute reason code categories).
Either way the creator is the faster route: declining and refunding takes them a moment, while an issuer's dispute process moves on the issuer's own timetable. Followers pay upfront, and you deliver later. If you decline or miss the delivery time you set, the request closes and they keep their money.
How long does a follower have to dispute a missed delivery?
On Brillay, the practical outcome is direct: a missed delivery deadline closes the request and the follower keeps their money, resolving the matter outside a dispute window. Once Brillay closes the late request, the follower can place a new order if they still want the work or choose a creator whose delivery time better fits their date.
"Card networks typically allow cardholders to initiate disputes within 120 days of the original payment, but their rules allow more time in some situations.. when a customer pays for a future event or service (like a vacation reservation, professional services appointment, or event ticket), the dispute window starts on the event date, not the payment date." — Stripe, How disputes work
A follower in the United States who has a separate completed billing error can still follow the issuer's written process, but that is not the normal next step for a Brillay request that was not delivered in time. Brillay's missed-deadline mechanism is simpler: no delivery by the deadline means the request closes instead of dragging on.
"Within 30 days of getting your complaint, the issuer must acknowledge it in writing, unless the problem has been resolved." — U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
This protects creators too: when work misses its delivery deadline, Brillay closes the request, the follower keeps their money, and the creator finishes with nothing owed back. Creators can receive payouts in 41 countries through their own Stripe-connected payout setup for completed paid orders.
Is a late Paid Question reply handled differently?
A late Paid Question follows the same payment rule as Personalized Videos and Custom Work: if you miss the deadline, the request closes and the follower keeps their money. What differs is the format — a Paid Question is text in, with a written reply back, all within a text-only format.
That narrower format means there is no half-finished video file or partially delivered asset to argue over. The written reply must appear privately before the deadline; otherwise, the request expires and the follower keeps their money.
How can a follower avoid this before paying?
Compare the creator's stated delivery time against the date the Personalized Video or service is actually needed, because that stated window is shown before checkout and can run to the 5-day maximum Brillay allows. Buying a birthday video with only one day of buffer leaves almost no room for a normal delay, and a custom request should be ordered with a clear, small scope because one delivery closes the order without revision rounds.
Building in buffer also gives followers a clear payment outcome, since a late Brillay order closes with their money still theirs. For how creators choose a realistic window in the first place, how fast should creators deliver personalized videos covers that decision from the creator's side.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions followers ask most after a delivery time closes: whether they are charged automatically, what Brillay's delivery cap is, whether fees apply when money is given back, how a missed deadline differs from a change of mind, and what to do when the work cannot arrive through the closed order.
Will I be charged if the creator misses the deadline?
You paid by card upfront when you ordered, so the practical question is how that money comes back: if the creator misses the delivery window, Brillay closes the request and you keep your money, so there is no refund to chase and no dispute to file. A refund request only comes up after something has been delivered, and the creator handles it as the seller.
What's the actual delivery cap for a Personalized Video or Service?
Creators set their own delivery time, and Brillay caps it at up to 5 days for Personalized Videos and Custom Requests. A Paid Question uses a separate creator-set reply time, also capped at up to 5 days.
Do I still get charged the platform fee if I'm refunded?
No. The platform fee is the creator's side of a paid order, not something added to what you paid (pricing), while Stripe's separate processing fee is not returned.
Is a missed deadline the same as a follower just changing their mind?
No. A missed deadline means the follower already agreed to the delivery time and is still waiting on a promised delivery. A follower who wants out before any promised window has passed is a different situation, covered in do you have to refund a follower who changes their mind.
What if the creator delivers late but the work itself is fine?
Late work has nowhere to arrive: once the window passes, the request closes, the follower keeps their money, and they can place a new order if they still want the work. If the follower no longer needs it — a birthday video after the birthday, for example — the closed order still leaves the follower's money with them, while How to handle refunds for Custom Requests covers completed-order trade-offs in more depth.
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