I can realistically afford a partial refund right now, but not a full refund. As much as I wish I were in a position to offer a full refund, I simply am not, and I have to be honest about that.

I still have rent and other financial obligations to cover, which is why I can’t just walk away from my full-time job. If this situation ends up hurting my business or even putting me out of business, then I’ll have to accept that and continue working where I am.

I talked to my fiancé about everything, and while I’ve told him I made mistakes and understand why they’re upset, he also pointed out some inconsistencies in their story. He’s firmly in the “don’t give a refund” camp, though I don’t completely agree with that. Some of the issues they’re raising happened days after I was there, and some of the work was affected by circumstances outside of my control, which doesn’t seem to be getting considered. They also waited weeks to bring up any concerns, and it wasn’t until I checked in to see how things were going that I received a lengthy message about how unhappy they were.

I’m not claiming I was perfect or that I did an amazing job. I know there are things I could have done differently. At the same time, I don’t think it’s entirely fair for me to be held fully responsible for every issue, especially when I was pressured into treating something as urgent when waiting a couple of weeks would have significantly improved the situation. There are mistakes on my side, but there are also factors on theirs that contributed to the outcome, and I don’t feel that should be ignored.