Your next trip starts here.
Your cart is empty. Choose a destination to get started.
Browse destinationsThe routes and the exact wording
Unactivated plans, from the Terms of Service, last updated 15 July 2026:
“Refunds for Non-Activated Data Plans. If the eSIM (i) has not been installed or (ii) has been installed on your device but the Data Plan is not activated, you may request a full refund, provided that no Extra(s) included with the Data Plan have been used, reserved or shared, in whole or in part.”
Note the Extras condition. Saily’s help centre version of this rule omits it entirely, so a customer reading only the help centre would not know that using a bundled extra kills the refund.
Activated plans:
“For non-subscription-based Data Plans refund may be granted if: (i) The non-subscription-based Data Plan has been activated… but the data remains generally unused (more than 99% of the Data Plan balance left); and (ii) Any complimentary Extras provided with the Data Plan (if any) have not been activated or used, and (iii) the refund request is submitted within the period…”
The windows:
“(i) Refund requests for non-subscription-based Services must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the purchase date.”
“(ii) Refund requests for Subscription-based Services must be submitted within 14 calendar days of purchase or recurring payment date.”
The asymmetry nobody points out
A one-off traveller is held to a stricter standard than a subscriber. Compare:
| One-off plan | Ultra subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| Usage allowed for a full refund | 1% | 5% |
| Usage allowed for a partial refund | not offered on this basis | up to 10% |
| Window | 30 days | 14 days |
So the holidaymaker buying a single plan gets a 1% tolerance, and the monthly subscriber gets five times that for a full refund and ten times for a partial one. That is counter-intuitive and it is worth knowing before you assume you are covered.
The trap: troubleshooting can cost you the refund
This is the practical consequence of a 1% threshold and it is why we wrote the Saily troubleshooting guide around it.
If your eSIM half works, and you spend twenty minutes loading pages to test it, you can cross the threshold while trying to establish whether there is a problem at all.
What to do instead. Before you start testing, turn background data off. Saily publishes an article on exactly this, and it is refund-relevant even though it is filed under data management. Then do the settings checks, which consume nothing, before you do any load testing.
The clause that destroys everything
Worth knowing before you tidy up your accounts or your phone:
“Deleted Account: If you delete your account after purchasing a Data Plan or a Phone Number Functionality product and subsequently request a refund, no refund will be granted.”
Do not delete your Saily account while you have an unresolved plan. There is no route back.
Also:
“Please note: each Data Plan and each Phone Number Functionality product has its own validity period, and once it expires, no refunds will be provided.”
And a sensible one that catches people who improvise a fix:
“Unrelated Charges: Refunds or compensation will not be granted for charges incurred from alternate phones, alternate SIM cards, alternate providers, third party roaming services, hotel phones…”
So if your Saily eSIM fails and you buy a local SIM to get through the trip, that local SIM is your cost, not theirs.
How to actually request it
The Auto-Refund Center at saily.com/auto-refund-center/ is the primary route:
“If you wish to receive a refund, the fastest and most direct way to begin is to submit a refund request through our website.”
You log in, pick the order, choose a reason, and it produces a refund summary. Orders show as Available or Not available.
The nine published reasons: wrong plan, no longer travelling, no longer in the country, bought it too early, device does not support eSIM, lost device, charged twice, transfer issue, and needing a phone number.
No evidence is requested. No screenshots, no documentation. The tool works from your account data. That is genuinely better than competitors who ask for device screenshots.
If the tool says the order is not available, the fallback is a support ticket through their web request form.
Decision and payment timing
“Saily’s decision regarding refund will be made within 5 working days of the submission of your eligible request. In case of the approved request, the refund will be processed within a reasonable time frame but no later than 30 calendar days.”
Five working days for a decision is fast and clearly stated, which is better than most.
The payout is vaguer. The tool supports three methods, your original payment method, Saily credits, or a split, but the method is presented as a system-determined “Refund method breakdown” rather than something you pick. Saily publishes no fixed number of days for a card refund, only the 30 calendar day backstop.
Where Saily does better than us
Their self-service tool is better than our process, which is an email to a person in Brisbane. They give a stated decision deadline and we do not publish one. And they ask for no evidence, where we would probably ask you what happened.
What their policy does not control
Saily’s terms are shaped around EU-style withdrawal rights and make no reference to Australian Consumer Law.
If you bought as an Australian consumer, your consumer guarantees are not limited by a 30 day window, by a 99% usage threshold, or by anything in their terms. A term that tries to exclude them is void. That does not make enforcement against a foreign company easy, and we are not going to pretend it does. What Australian Consumer Law says about a travel eSIM that doesn’t work sets out both halves.
One practical note, since Saily prices in US dollars: a card chargeback has its own deadline, commonly 45 to 120 days from the transaction, and it does not pause while a seller’s process runs.
Questions people actually ask
What is Saily’s 99% rule?
For an activated one-off plan, Saily will only consider a refund if more than 99% of the data is unused. On a 5GB plan that is about 51MB.
Can troubleshooting cost me my refund?
Yes. Testing a half-working eSIM can consume more than 1% of the plan. Turn background data off before you start, and do settings checks before load testing.
How long do I have?
30 calendar days from purchase for a one-off plan. 14 calendar days for a subscription.
Why do subscribers get a better deal than me?
Because the thresholds differ. Subscriptions allow 5% usage for a full refund and up to 10% for a partial one. One-off plans allow 1%.
Do I need to send screenshots?
No. The Auto-Refund Center asks for no evidence and works from your account data.
How fast is it?
A decision within 5 working days, and processing no later than 30 calendar days. Saily does not publish a specific card refund timeframe.
Can I delete my Saily account after buying?
Not if you might want a refund. Deleting the account voids the right entirely, with no exceptions stated.
They charged me in US dollars. Does that change anything?
Not for your consumer rights. It does mean any conversion fee is yours, and it makes the chargeback deadline worth watching.
Sources
All Saily wording retrieved 17 August 2026 from their Terms of Service (last updated 15 July 2026), their support centre refund article, and the published interface strings of their Auto-Refund Center.
Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.
