A refund and a return are two different things, and confusing them is the most common reason a return takes longer than it should. A return is the physical act of sending a piece back, while a refund is the money coming back to you, and this page explains, step by step, how those two parts fit together on whodecideswarrr.com, the official store name for this shop. It is this shop’s own policy, not the official policy of Who Decides War LLC, and it is written for the clothing this shop actually sells — hoodies, jeans, shirts, jackets and the rest of the range — rather than as a generic legal page. If you received the wrong item, a damaged item, or a faulty item, this is the page to follow, and if you simply need a different size of the same piece, the exchange route explained near the end is usually faster. Please do not send anything back before contacting the shop and receiving confirmation, because an unconfirmed return can be delayed, refused, or lost in transit without a reference to match it to your order.
The first decision in any return is not about packing a parcel, but about naming what you actually want at the end of the process, because a refund and a replacement lead to different steps. A refund means you do not want the piece at all, and the money you paid for that item comes back to you once the return has been received and checked, while a replacement means you still want the piece, but the one that arrived was damaged, faulty, or the wrong product altogether. An exchange sits in between those two outcomes, because it means you like the piece but need a different size or variant of it, and it is handled under its own rules rather than as a refund. Keeping those three outcomes apart at the start matters, because the shop will ask which outcome you are seeking, and a request that starts on the wrong route has to be redirected, which adds time even when everyone is acting in good faith.
A practical example makes the distinction clear: if you ordered a jacket from the Who Decides War Jacket collection and it arrived with a torn seam, that is a refund-or-replacement case, because the fault was not yours and the piece is not in the condition you paid for. If the same jacket arrived in perfect condition but in a size that feels too tight, that is an exchange case, because the piece itself is fine and only the fit is wrong. If you ordered a shirt from the Who Decides War Shirt collection and changed your mind about the colour after wearing it out, that is neither a fault case nor a simple size swap, and it may not qualify at all, which is why the condition section below matters so much. Naming your case honestly at the first message — fault, wrong item, size swap, or change of mind — is the fastest way to get the right answer, because it lets the shop check the right rule immediately instead of asking for the same details twice.
Start by asking one question: is there something wrong with the piece itself, or is the piece fine and only the fit or choice wrong? If the piece is damaged, faulty, or not the product, colour, or size you ordered, you are in refund-or-replacement territory, and you should gather photographs and your order details before contacting the shop, as the damaged-item section below explains. If the piece is in perfect condition but the size is wrong, you are in exchange territory, and the Exchange Policy explains how a swap works, including the availability check that has to happen before anything is sent back. If neither of those descriptions fits, and you simply no longer want a piece you have worn or used, be prepared for the shop to explain that it may not qualify, because a return policy that accepted every used piece would leave the next customer buying a piece that is no longer new.
Contacting the shop first is not a formality, because it is how your return gets a reference, an address, and a set of packing instructions that match your exact case. A parcel that arrives without a reference can sit unidentified while the shop tries to match it to an order, and a parcel sent to the wrong address, or packed in a way that damages a piece further in transit, can weaken a claim that would otherwise have been straightforward. When you contact the shop, you will be told where to send the item, how to pack it, and what to include, and that confirmation becomes the record both sides can point to if the parcel is delayed. The habit to build is simple: message first, wait for confirmation, then post, and keep the tracking details from the moment you post, because those details prove the item was sent and when.
Starting a return well is mostly about giving the shop complete information in the first message, rather than sending a short message and then answering a chain of follow-up questions over several days. Your first message should include your order number, the exact item concerned, including its product name, size, and colour, and a short, plain description of the problem, so the shop does not have to guess which item in a multi-item order you mean. Where the problem is visible — a tear, a stain that was present on arrival, a wrong colour, or a missing part — include clear photographs with that first message, because a photograph lets the shop assess a fault while the evidence is fresh, instead of waiting until the item has travelled back. A return that starts with order number, item details, photographs, and a clear description can move to confirmation in a single exchange, while a return that starts with only “I want to return this” will almost always need several more messages before it can be confirmed.
Once the shop has your details, it will confirm whether the return can proceed, and that confirmation will explain where to send the item, how to pack it, and that there is no extra return shipping fee beyond the $19 already paid, so you are not left wondering about a hidden charge at the post office. Packing matters more than customers often expect, because a piece that travels back loosely, without its original packaging or tags, can arrive in worse condition than it left in, and the inspection section below explains why that matters. Keep your order number and the return confirmation together, and keep the return tracking details from the moment you post, because together they let the shop match the parcel to your order the moment it arrives, instead of searching through unrelated deliveries. A return that is easy to match is a return that is easy to inspect, and a return that is easy to inspect is a return that can move to a decision without delay.
A complete first message has four parts, and each part answers a question the shop will otherwise have to ask you. First, your order number, which identifies the purchase and the delivery it came with, and which should be copied exactly rather than typed from memory, because a single wrong digit can point to a different order. Second, the exact item, including product name, size, and colour, which matters most when an order contained more than one piece, such as a hoodie and a pair of jeans, and only one of them is being returned. Third, a short description of the problem in your own words, such as “the seam on the left cuff is torn” or “I ordered black and received brown”, rather than a general statement like “it is not right”, because a specific description can be checked against the photographs. Fourth, photographs where the issue is visible, taken in good light, showing both the problem up close and the piece as a whole, so the shop can see the fault in context and not just as an isolated mark.
Pack the item as close as possible to the condition it arrived in, which means folding it neatly, placing it in its original packaging where that packaging was provided, and keeping the tags attached, unless the reason for the return is damage or a fault that was present on arrival. Use a parcel bag or box that protects the piece in transit, rather than a thin envelope that can tear, because a piece that is damaged further on its way back can blur the line between damage on arrival and damage in return transit. Include a note inside the parcel with your order number and the return confirmation reference, so that even if the outside label is damaged, the parcel can still be matched to your return. Finally, send the parcel by a method that gives you tracking, and keep that tracking number until the refund or replacement is confirmed, because a tracked return protects you if the parcel is delayed, and it protects the shop from having to guess whether a return is still on its way.
A returned item is inspected on arrival, and that inspection is what decides whether a refund, replacement, or credit is offered, so the condition in which you return it matters directly and is worth understanding in detail. The inspection is not a search for a reason to refuse you; it is a comparison between what you described, what your photographs showed, and what actually arrives, carried out so that a genuine fault can be confirmed fairly and a piece that is still new can be offered to the next customer in good faith. An item that arrives back unworn, unwashed, undamaged, with its tags attached and in its original packaging will pass that comparison smoothly, because it matches the condition it was sold in. An item that arrives back worn, washed, altered, stained, or damaged after delivery, or without its tags, raises a different question, because the shop has to decide whether the problem it is being asked to refund was present on arrival or happened after delivery, and that question cannot always be answered in the customer’s favour without evidence.
The inspection also protects you, because it is the point at which a claim about damage on arrival can be fairly compared with the photographs you sent before returning the item. For example, if you photographed a torn seam on arrival and the same tear is present when the item is inspected, the inspection confirms your account and the return can move forward without argument. If, on the other hand, a piece arrives back with a new stain that was not in the original photographs, the inspection has to record that difference, and the shop will explain the result rather than silently keeping the item. That explanation is part of a fair process, because a customer who understands why a return was refused can decide whether to provide further evidence or accept the decision, while a customer who hears nothing is left to guess. The practical lesson is to keep a piece in returnable condition from the moment you open it, to photograph any fault before you wear or wash it, and to return it in the same careful condition, so the inspection has nothing to dispute.
A returnable item, in general terms, is one that is unworn, unwashed, and undamaged, with its tags attached and in its original packaging where packaging was provided, and that checklist applies whether the piece is a hoodie, a pair of jeans, a shirt, or a jacket. Trying a piece on at home, over clean clothing, without removing the tags until you are sure about the fit, is the simplest way to keep that checklist intact, because it lets you judge fit and colour without turning a new piece into a worn one. Washing a piece, altering it, removing its tags, or wearing it out before deciding to return it will each break part of that checklist, and the more parts that are broken, the harder it becomes for the inspection to confirm that the piece is still in the condition it was sold in. The exception is a fault that was present on arrival, such as a tear, a manufacturing fault, or a wrong item, where the fault itself is the reason for the return and the piece should be photographed and returned as it arrived, without being worn or washed first.
If a returned item fails inspection, the shop will explain the result, rather than keeping the item without explanation, and that explanation will point to the specific condition issue that was found, such as wear, washing, alteration, damage after delivery, or missing tags or packaging. In some cases the item may be returned to you, and in some cases the shop may offer a different outcome, such as an exchange or a partial resolution, depending on the nature of the problem and what the inspection actually found. A failed inspection does not mean you cannot ask a further question, and if you have additional evidence, such as photographs taken on arrival that were not included in the first message, you should share it promptly, because new evidence can change an inspection outcome if it clearly shows the fault was present on arrival. What a failed inspection does mean is that the return cannot simply proceed as if the condition checklist had been met, and understanding that distinction before you send a piece back will save you the disappointment of a parcel travelling both ways for no outcome.
Damaged, wrong, or faulty items are treated differently from a change of mind, because the fault was not yours, and this section gives that case its own clear route, with photographs at its centre. If your parcel arrives damaged, or contains the wrong colour, size, or product, contact the shop promptly, with photographs of the item and its packaging and the details of your order, so the problem can be assessed while the evidence is fresh and before the piece is worn, washed, or altered. Prompt reporting matters because a fault photographed on arrival is far easier to confirm than a fault described days later, after the piece has been handled, tried on, or stored, and because the shop needs to decide quickly whether a replacement is available or a refund is the right outcome. Do not wait until you have decided what outcome you want before reporting the fault, because reporting the fault and choosing the outcome are two separate steps, and the first step should happen as soon as you notice the problem.
A concrete example shows why photographs matter so much: suppose you ordered jeans from the Who Decides War Jeans collection and the parcel contains a different wash, or a pair with a torn pocket seam, and you photograph the label, the wash, and the tear in good light, next to the packaging it arrived in. Those three photographs together tell a complete story — what was ordered, what arrived, and what is wrong with it — and they let the shop confirm the fault without waiting for the parcel to travel back. A second example is a hoodie from the Who Decides War Hoodie collection that arrives with a print fault, where a close photograph of the print and a wider photograph of the whole hoodie together show whether the fault is a single mark or a wider manufacturing issue. In both cases, the photographs do not replace the return itself, but they decide whether the return is approved quickly, and they protect you if the parcel is delayed, because the fault is already on record before the piece leaves your hands.
The most helpful photographs are taken in good, natural light, with the piece laid flat or held so the fault is clearly visible, and they include both a close view of the fault and a wider view of the whole piece. For a tear, photograph the tear itself, the seam or area around it, and the label or tag that identifies the product, so the shop can match the fault to the exact item you ordered. For a wrong item, photograph the item you received next to its label, and include the packaging it arrived in, because the packaging often confirms which product was packed, even when the item itself looks similar to the one you ordered. For a colour problem, photograph the piece in natural light rather than under a coloured lamp, because artificial light can make a correct colour look wrong, and a photograph taken in daylight gives the shop a fair basis for comparison with the product listing.
Report a damaged or wrong item as soon as possible after delivery, with photographs, so it can be assessed while the evidence is fresh, and do not wear, wash, or alter the piece before reporting it, because each of those steps can blur the line between damage on arrival and damage after delivery. The exact reporting deadline for this shop has not been given a specific day-count in this version, and no day-count is promised here, so the practical rule is to report immediately, rather than waiting to see whether a deadline might still be open. If you are unsure whether a mark is a fault or part of the design — which matters for distressed denim and hand-finished pieces, where intentional distressing can look like damage to an unfamiliar eye — photograph it and ask the shop before returning it, because the shop can often tell from a photograph whether a finish is intentional. Where a damaged or wrong item is confirmed, the shop will offer a replacement where available, a refund, or a credit, rather than leaving you with a piece you did not order or cannot wear, and that offer will be explained in the return confirmation for your case.
How a refund is paid, and how long it takes, are the two questions customers ask most after a return is approved, and both deserve a careful answer that does not promise a figure the shop has not confirmed. A refund, when approved, is issued after the returned item is received and inspected, because the inspection is the step that confirms the item matches the claim, and issuing a refund before inspection would mean paying out before that confirmation exists. Once the shop has issued the refund, the time for it to appear in your account can then depend on your bank or card provider, even after the shop has issued it, so a refund that has been issued but has not yet appeared is not necessarily a refund that has been delayed by the shop. If a refund has been issued but has not appeared after your bank’s usual processing time, contact the shop with your order number so the refund reference can be checked, because a reference lets the shop and your bank trace the same payment, rather than each side searching from a different description.
The exact refund timing in days, and whether the original $19 shipping charge is refunded on an approved return, are not promised as specific figures in this version, and both will be confirmed in your individual return confirmation, so you are not left relying on a general statement for a specific case. That approach is deliberate: a damaged-item return and a change-of-mind return may be treated differently on shipping, and a general page that promised one rule for both would mislead one of those customers. What this page does promise is the process — inspection first, decision explained, refund issued after approval, and a reference you can check with your bank — and that process is the same whether the refund is for a hoodie, a pair of jeans, or a jacket. If you need to know the shipping-refund position before you decide whether to return a piece, ask the shop in your first return message, and the answer you receive in writing will be the answer that applies to your return.
A refund that has been issued by the shop still has to pass through the payment system before it reaches your account, and that second leg of the journey is controlled by your bank or card provider, not by the shop. Some banks show a pending refund within a day or two, while others take longer to display it, and a refund can therefore be issued and yet invisible for a short period, which is why patience after the shop’s confirmation is sometimes needed before raising a second query. Keep the refund reference or confirmation the shop gives you, because that reference is the fastest way for a bank to locate the payment, and a query that includes a reference is answered far faster than one that only says a refund is missing. If the refund still has not appeared after your bank’s usual processing time, contact the shop with your order number and the refund reference, and the shop can confirm the date and method of issue, so you and your bank are working from the same facts.
A refund is not always the best outcome, and in some cases a replacement or a credit may suit you better, especially when you still want the piece but the one that arrived was damaged or wrong. A replacement means the shop sends the same product again, where it is available, and it is the natural outcome when the fault was a one-off, such as a torn seam on an otherwise perfect jacket, and the size and style you wanted are still in stock. A credit means the value of the returned item is held for a future order on this shop, which can suit a customer who wants to choose a different piece from the Shop range, rather than receiving the same product again. Which outcome is offered depends on availability and on the nature of the fault, and the shop will explain the options in your return confirmation, so you can choose the outcome that fits you, rather than being pushed into a refund you did not want or a replacement you no longer need.
Not every return can lead to a refund, and listing the limits here is fairer than discovering them after a parcel is already on its way back, because a wasted return parcel helps no one. Items that are worn, washed, altered, damaged after delivery, or returned outside the applicable window or without confirmation may not qualify, and the same applies to items missing tags or original packaging where that packaging was part of the product. Customised or personalised items, if the shop ever offers them, cannot be refunded for a different design, because they were made to a specific request, and a change of mind about a personalised piece cannot be undone by returning it. If you are unsure whether your item qualifies, ask before returning it, and compare the item with the range on the Shop page to confirm exactly which product and variant you received, because a clear identification at the start prevents a return being refused for a reason that could have been checked in advance.
Sale items, by contrast, are not excluded from refunds on this shop: sale items are available for return and refund on the same terms as regular items, which is an important distinction from shops that treat a sale price as a final-sale price. That means a shirt bought on sale from the Who Decides War Shirt collection and a jacket bought at full price from the Who Decides War Jacket collection are judged by the same condition, inspection, and photograph rules, and neither is refused simply because it was discounted. There is also no restocking fee, and no extra return shipping fee beyond the $19 already paid, so a sale-item return does not carry a hidden charge that erases the saving that made the sale attractive in the first place. The only limits that apply to a sale item are the same limits that apply to any item — condition, confirmation, and the applicable return window — and those limits are explained in the sections above, not hidden in a separate sale rule.
A sale item is eligible for return and refund on the same terms as a regular item, which means the condition checklist, the inspection process, and the photograph rules for a damaged or wrong item all apply in exactly the same way. For example, a pair of jeans bought on sale that arrives with a manufacturing fault is treated as a fault case, with photographs and inspection, just as a full-price pair would be, and a sale hoodie that is unworn, tagged, and returned with confirmation is treated as a returnable piece, just as a full-price hoodie would be. The price you paid does not change the condition in which an item must be returned, and it does not change the need to contact the shop before sending it back, because those rules protect the next customer regardless of what the first customer paid. If a sale item is worn, washed, or altered after delivery, it may not qualify for the same reason a full-price item would not qualify, and that symmetry is the point: the sale price is a discount on the piece, not a discount on the return rules.
Items that may not qualify include pieces that have been worn, washed, altered, or damaged after delivery, pieces returned without confirmation or outside the applicable window, and pieces missing tags or original packaging where that packaging was part of the product. A piece that was ordered in the wrong size but is otherwise perfect is not a refund case in the first place, because it is an exchange case, and sending it back as a refund request will simply redirect it to the exchange process, which is why the final section below draws that line clearly. A piece that was damaged by the customer after delivery, such as a stain from wear or a tear from alteration, is also unlikely to qualify, because the inspection cannot fairly attribute that damage to the shop. If you are in doubt about any of these limits, the fastest check is to photograph the piece as it is, contact the shop with your order number, and ask before posting, because a question asked before posting costs nothing, while a parcel posted in error costs time in both directions.
Returns and exchanges are often confused, and a confused request is the slowest kind, so this final section draws the line once, in plain terms, with the shop’s own routes side by side. Choose a return and refund when the item is damaged, wrong, faulty, or you do not want a replacement of the same product, and choose an exchange when you like the piece but need a different size or variant of it, because the outcome you want — money back, or the same piece in a different size — decides which process the shop should follow. An exchange is handled under the Exchange Policy, even though the physical step of sending a piece back looks similar, because the outcome is a replacement, not money back, and the exchange process includes an availability check that a refund process does not need. If you start on the wrong route, the shop will redirect you to the right one rather than refusing you outright, provided you are within the applicable window and the item is in returnable condition, so a mistaken first message is not a disaster, as long as it is corrected before the parcel is posted.
The shipping side of that choice is also worth understanding, because it connects this page to the Shipping Policy that explains the $19 flat charge and the 14 to 19 day delivery window. Shipping for this shop is $19 flat for every destination, with no extra destination surcharge, and there is no extra return or exchange shipping fee and no restocking fee beyond that $19 already paid, so the cost of choosing the wrong route is time, not a second delivery bill. A customer who needs a different size of a hoodie, for example, can therefore choose the exchange route with confidence that the swap itself will not add a new fee, while a customer who needs a refund for a damaged pair of jeans can choose the return route knowing the same fee rule applies. For common questions on either route, the FAQ page is a useful first check before contacting the shop, and browsing the Shop range, including the hoodie, jeans, shirt, and jacket collections linked in this page, can help you confirm exactly which replacement, if any, you actually want before you start either process.
Before you send anything back, run through a short checklist that covers the decision, the condition, and the confirmation, because a return that passes all three checks is unlikely to be delayed. First, the decision: have you chosen refund, replacement, credit, or exchange, and does that choice match the problem, whether it is a fault, a wrong item, a size issue, or a change of mind? Second, the condition: is the piece unworn, unwashed, undamaged, tagged, and in its original packaging, unless the fault itself was present on arrival, and have you photographed any fault before wearing or washing the piece? Third, the confirmation: have you contacted the shop with your order number, item details, and photographs, and received a return confirmation that tells you where to send the item and that there is no extra return fee beyond the $19 already paid? If you can answer yes to all three, you are ready to post, and if you cannot, the missing answer is the step to complete before posting, rather than a detail to sort out after the parcel is already in transit.
If you started on the wrong route — for example, you asked for a refund when you really need a different size, or you asked for an exchange when the piece is actually damaged — tell the shop as soon as you realise, before the parcel is posted if possible, because a route can be changed far more easily before posting than after. The shop will redirect you to the right policy, explain whether an availability check or an inspection is needed, and confirm the new outcome in writing, so you are not left guessing whether the original request still stands. A wrong-route request does not cancel your right to a correct outcome, provided you are within the applicable window and the item is in returnable condition, and it does not add a fee, because there is no extra return or exchange fee beyond the $19 already paid. The only cost of a wrong route is time, and that cost is smallest when the correction happens early, which is why this page repeats the same advice in every section: contact the shop first, confirm the route, then post.
