Returns Policy

The short version

Something wrong with your order? Message us on WhatsApp at +92 370 5961921 within 7 days of delivery, with your order number and a photo. We will replace it or refund it. You will not need to argue with us about it.

Why coffee is a special case

Roasted coffee is a perishable food product. Once a pouch has been opened we have no way to verify how it has been stored or whether anything has been added to it, and we cannot lawfully or safely resell it to someone else. So an opened pouch cannot come back to us simply because you changed your mind - but it absolutely can come back if there is something wrong with the coffee itself.

Ground coffee is a final sale

Due to food safety and freshness standards, all sales of ground coffee are final and non-refundable.

We do not grind anything until you have bought it. Your coffee is then ground to the setting you chose, for your order, and it cannot be un-ground, cannot be sold to anyone else, and begins to lose its aroma immediately. That is why it is the part we do ourselves - and why it is the part we cannot take back.

This is about changing your mind, and nothing else. If ground coffee reaches you damaged, stale, wrong, missing or with a failed seal, everything in the next section applies to it exactly as it does to whole bean. A final sale is not a waiver.

If you would rather keep the option open, order whole bean. Sealed whole bean can still come back within 7 days if you change your mind, and grinding it yourself is the single biggest improvement most people can make at home anyway.

What we will always put right

In each of these cases we replace the item or refund it in full, including what you paid for shipping. The choice is yours.

• Damaged in transit. Crushed, torn or split pouches, or a parcel that arrived wet.
• Wrong item, roast, grind or weight. If we packed something other than what you ordered, that is our mistake.
• Missing item. Something on your invoice that was not in the box.
• Stale or faulty coffee. If the coffee is flat, sour or otherwise off, or reached you with less than four weeks left before the eight-week window from its roast date, tell us.
• Seal failure. A pouch whose seal or one-way valve failed before you opened it.

For damage, photograph the parcel before opening it and send us the photos within 48 hours of delivery. That is what the courier requires from us in order to accept a claim.

Changed your mind

Sealed, unopened whole bean pouches in their original condition can be returned within 7 days of delivery for a refund of the item price. Return shipping is at your cost in this case, and we cannot refund the original shipping charge.

Ground coffee is not included, sealed or not - see above. If you are not sure which you want, order whole bean or ask us first.

Please do not send anything back before messaging us. Returns that arrive unannounced are difficult for us to match to an order, and we cannot process what we cannot identify.

What we cannot take back

• Opened pouches, where the only reason is that you did not enjoy the coffee. Taste is personal, and origin and roast profile are described honestly on every product page - ask us before ordering and we will steer you.
• Ground coffee, on a change of mind - including a sealed pouch, and including a grind that turned out not to suit your brewer. Message us before you order if you are unsure and we will recommend one.
• Anything reported more than 7 days after delivery.
• Coffee that has passed the eight-week window from its roast date while in your keeping.
• Pouches stored open, in direct sun, or somewhere warm and humid. Coffee goes flat quickly in a Karachi summer if the pouch is not resealed.

How to start a return

1. Message us on WhatsApp at +92 370 5961921 or write to hello@steepcoffee.co.
2. Send your order number, what went wrong, and a photo of the pouch or parcel including the roast date stamp.
3. We will reply within 2 working days and tell you whether to send anything back. Often we will not need you to - for a crushed pouch, the photo is enough.
4. Where a return is needed, we will arrange the pickup or give you the address.

Refunds

Once we have approved a return, refunds are issued within 7 to 10 working days.

• Paid by card or online. Refunded to the same card or account. Your bank may take a further few working days to show it.
• Paid cash on delivery. We cannot reverse cash, so we refund by bank transfer, Easypaisa or JazzCash - whichever you prefer. We will ask you for those details at the time, and only then.

We will never ask for your card number, CVV, your bank login, an OTP or a PIN in order to process a refund. Nobody legitimate needs any of those to send you money. If someone contacts you claiming to be us and asks for one, it is a scam - please tell us.

Cancelling an order

Because we grind to order, you can cancel free of charge any time before your order is ground. In practice that means within a few hours of placing it. Message us on WhatsApp as soon as you can. Once the beans are ground to your setting we cannot put them back, and once the parcel is with the courier it must run its course.

That moment - the grinder - is also where a ground order stops being refundable on a change of mind. Before it, cancelling costs you nothing.

Your rights under Pakistani law

Nothing in this policy limits any right you have under the consumer protection law that applies where you live - consumer protection in Pakistan is legislated province by province, and your provincial law applies in addition to everything set out above. Where this policy is more generous than the law, this policy applies.

See also our Shipping Policy and Terms and Conditions.