‌Effective Date: October 9, 2026‌

Welcome to the official return and refund policy of Gürteltier Handyzubehör GmbH, the operator of www.gurteltier.com. This policy applies to all purchases of phone cases, Type-C accessories, and other mobile essentials made through our e-commerce platform, and is designed to create a fair, transparent framework for all post-purchase interactions between our brand and our global community of over 120,000 happy customers. Our core principle guiding all post-order processes is clear: ‌we do not process standalone, no-return-only refunds for any completed order under standard circumstances‌. This rule is implemented to uphold equal fairness for both our customers and our small business operations, which are built on delivering premium, carefully curated mobile gear with a 97.6% client satisfaction rating.

All terms outlined in this policy are drafted in full compliance with the EU Consumer Rights Directive and corresponding German consumer protection regulations, to ensure every process adheres to legal requirements while protecting the integrity of our product inventory, which includes more than 230 distinct phone case and Type-C accessory SKUs. By placing an order on www.gurteltier.com, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to all terms laid out in this Refund and Returns Policy.

1. Core Ground Rule: No Standalone “Refund Only” Requests

We explicitly emphasize that no pure “refund only” requests that do not include the physical return of the delivered product will be approved, with zero exceptions for standard orders. This rule applies to all scenarios including but not limited to: you believing the product does not match your personal preference, you no longer needing the purchased mobile accessory, you mistakenly placing a duplicate order, or you claiming the product has minor cosmetic differences from the preview image on our product page.

We do not issue any partial or full monetary compensation without the corresponding product being shipped back to our warehouse for inspection. This policy is established based on long-term operational feedback: standalone no-return-only refund requests create unnecessary unfair cost burdens for our brand, undermine our ability to continue providing competitively priced high-quality mobile gear, and create unequal experiences for our broader customer base. Any submission of a no-return-only refund request will be immediately notified to you that it does not meet our policy requirements, and our customer support team will guide you through the formal product return process instead.

2. Eligibility for Returns and Subsequent Refund Processing

You are only qualified to initiate a valid return request and apply for a corresponding refund when your submitted request meets all of the following eligibility criteria:

• Your request is submitted within 30 calendar days from the date you sign for receipt of your purchased product. Return requests submitted after this 30-day window will not be accepted, unless you can provide valid proof that the product you received has a hidden manufacturing defect that cannot be identified at the time of delivery.
• The product you plan to return is in its original, unused condition: no visible scuffs, scratches, signs of installation or use, and all original factory packaging, free accessories (such as the installation guide included with your phone case, or extra small cable ties for Type-C chargers) are fully intact and included in the return parcel. Products that have been installed on your device, stained with personal marks, or damaged due to improper use will not be eligible for return.
• If the reason for your return is that the product you received has confirmed manufacturing defects, significant delivery damage that happened in transit, or we shipped the completely wrong item that does not match your order, you need to provide 2 to 3 clear, unedited photos showing the problem to our customer support team for verification before shipping the product back. Once our team confirms the issue is valid, we will cover all the cost of the return shipping for you.
• If you are returning the product for personal reasons such as changing your mind about the style of the phone case you ordered, you will be responsible for covering the full cost of the return shipping fee to send the item back to our warehouse located at Kleine Friedensstraße 24, 15328 Küstriner Vorland, Germany.

3. Step-by-Step Return Process

To submit a valid return request, you need to follow these steps strictly:

1. First, send an email to our customer support team at fernld@gurteltier.com, with the order number for your purchase, your full name, the date you received the product, and a clear description of your reason for return. If your return is related to product damage or defects, attach the required photos of the issue in the same email.
2. Our team will review your request within 3 working days, and send you a formal approval confirmation along with our official warehouse return shipping address and a unique return identification number. Please do not send any products back to our address without first getting this approval number, as this will cause significant delays in processing your return, and we may be unable to match the returned product to your original order.
3. Pack the product and all its original accessories securely in a sturdy shipping box, clearly write the unique return identification number we provided you on the outside of the parcel, and ship the parcel to our designated warehouse address. Keep the shipping tracking number for your records, and send a copy of this tracking number to our support team once you have dispatched the return.
4. Once our warehouse team receives and inspects your returned product, confirms it meets all our return eligibility requirements, we will send you a notification of successful inspection. We will process your corresponding refund within 14 working days. The refund will be sent back to the exact original payment method you used to place your initial order, and the processing time for the fund to arrive in your account will be subject to the rules of your payment service provider.

4. Special Exceptions

The only extremely limited scenario where we may process a refund without requiring you to return the product is when the product you received has a severe manufacturing defect that makes it completely unsafe to use, and returning the product would create a tangible safety or sanitation risk for our logistics and warehouse staff. Even in this scenario, we will require you to provide comprehensive photo and video proof of the unsafe defect, and our operations team will conduct multi-layer verification before we can approve this no-return exception. This exception will never be applied for any non-safety related scenarios.

If you have any questions about this Refund and Returns Policy, you can contact our team at any time via email at fernld@gurteltier.com, or call our customer service line at +49 33479 239 during our working hours. Our team is ready to help guide you through every step of the legitimate return process to make your post-purchase experience smooth and reliable.