Booking & Cancellation Policy

1. Overview

This policy explains how booking a Fuse home works, what you pay and when, and what happens if your plans change. It applies to everyone booking a Fuse unit, in every city we operate in.

It sits alongside your tenancy agreement and our Platform Terms & Conditions. If anything here conflicts with your signed tenancy agreement, the tenancy agreement applies.

2. Who Can Book

Fuse is built for people moving to a city for a defined, temporary purpose. Our criteria exist to keep that community coherent, and we apply them consistently.

To book with us, you need to:

• Be moving to the city of your unit for a defined temporary purpose, such as:
  • University or college studies at a recognised institution (for example ELTE, Corvinus, Semmelweis, BME or Óbuda University in Budapest; University of Latvia, Riga Technical University or Stradiņš University in Riga)
  • An internship or traineeship
  • Early-career employment: a first job, a trainee or graduate programme, or a fixed-term contract
  • Volunteering with a recognised non-profit or non-governmental organisation
  • Erasmus, a fellowship, or a similar academic or professional exchange programme
  • Another temporary-stay purpose consistent with the Fuse community
• Be at least 18 years old on your contract start date
• Commit to a minimum stay of five months
• Provide valid proof of identity: a passport or national ID
• Provide a document showing the purpose and expected length of your stay, issued by a recognised institution. An enrolment confirmation, internship or traineeship agreement, employment contract or offer letter, volunteering agreement, or exchange or fellowship confirmation all work.

Our homes and community programming are designed around students and people early in their careers, and most of our residents are under 35 when they book. If you are older and your move fits the spirit of the criteria above, email support@fusestays.com and we will review your application individually.

If your situation does not fit neatly into any of the categories above but feels consistent with them, write to us anyway. Fuse decides whether to accept an application at its reasonable discretion, subject to applicable law.

3. How Booking Works

Step 1: Choose your unit and tell us about yourself

You pick the unit you want and submit your details through the Fuse booking platform. You also choose your contract length: 5, 6, 10 or 12 months.

The rent you see depends on the contract length you pick. The 12-month contract is our base rate, and shorter contracts carry a proportionally higher monthly rent.

Step 2: Verify your account

When you press Continue, we email you to verify your account. Your booking is now underway, but your unit is not reserved yet. It stays available to other applicants until you complete Step 5.

Step 3: Upload your documents within 48 hours

Within 48 hours of verifying your account, upload:

• Your proof of identity: passport or national ID
• Your document showing the purpose and expected length of your stay

We will send you a reminder before the deadline. If the deadline is genuinely difficult for you, tell us before it passes and we will extend it where we reasonably can.

If we hear nothing and the documents do not arrive, your booking simply lapses. You have not paid anything at this stage, so there is nothing to refund and nothing further to do.

Step 4: We review your documents

Our Reservations Team checks what you have sent, before you pay anything. If something is missing or unclear, we will tell you and give you a chance to send a corrected document.

If everything is in order, we confirm that your application is approved and invite you to complete your booking.

If we conclude that you do not meet the criteria in Section 2, we will tell you and your booking ends there. Nothing is charged.

Your unit is still not reserved while we review, so it can be taken by another applicant during this time. We work through applications as quickly as we can.

Step 5: Pay the membership fee

To reserve your unit, you pay a membership fee of €295. Your unit is held for you from the moment this payment goes through.

Your membership starts immediately and gives you:

• Access to all Fuse units across the network
• Access to the Fuse community
• Discounts with our partner events, clubs, cafés and restaurants in your city

Because your membership begins straight away, the fee is not refundable. Sections 4.7 and 6 set out the exceptions.

Once your payment is through, we generate your tenancy agreement and send it to you for signing.

Step 6: Sign your tenancy agreement

Contract dates follow a fixed pattern across all our cities:

• Start dates are the 1st or the 15th of the month
• End dates are the 15th or the last day of the month

You have 48 hours from receiving the signing request to sign digitally. As with Step 3, we will remind you before the deadline, and we will extend it where we reasonably can if you ask before it passes. If the agreement goes unsigned, we may cancel your booking.

Step 7: Pay your first month's rent and deposit

Once you have signed, we send you payment instructions for your first month's rent and your security deposit.

The deposit is:

• 1.5 times the base monthly rent for units in Riga
• 2 times the base monthly rent for units in Budapest

Both payments must reach us in full before your contract start date.

Your deposit is held in a separate account by the local Fuse entity that you contract with, and returned to you within 30 days of you handing back the unit. We deduct only for unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and cleaning where the unit is not left in acceptable condition. We will itemise anything we deduct.

Step 8: Check in

On the day your contract starts, we email you everything you need for arrival: how to get to the property, and how to collect your keys.

4. Changing or Cancelling Your Booking

4.1 Before you pay the membership fee

You can walk away at any point, at no cost. Your unit was never reserved, so there is nothing to cancel. The same applies if your booking lapses because your documents did not arrive within the 48 hours in Step 3.

4.2 After the membership fee, before you sign

If you cancel at this stage:

• The €295 membership fee is not refunded
• Nothing else is charged
• Your unit goes back on the market straight away

The same applies if your booking is cancelled automatically because your signature did not arrive in time, as described in Step 6.

4.3 Cooling-off period: 7 calendar days after signing

You can change your mind within 7 calendar days of signing your tenancy agreement. Email support@fusestays.com within that window and we will cancel it.

If you cancel in this period:

• Your security deposit is refunded in full
• Any rent you have already paid is refunded in full
• The €295 membership fee is not refunded, as your membership began when you paid it

This cooling-off right is in addition to any right of withdrawal you have by law.

4.4 After the cooling-off period, before your contract starts

If you cancel once the 7 days have passed but before your tenancy begins:

• Your first month's rent is refunded in full
• The €295 membership fee is not refunded
• Your security deposit is not refunded
• Your unit goes back on the market

If you would rather not lose the deposit, see Section 4.6. Finding someone to take over your contract works at this stage too.

4.5 Early termination after your contract has started

Once your tenancy has started, your agreement runs for the full fixed term. There is no right to end it early, and you remain liable for rent until your contract end date.

We know plans change. In most cases the simplest route is a tenancy takeover, see Section 4.6. If you find someone eligible to take over your contract, no early termination fee applies.

If a takeover is not possible, write to us at support@fusestays.com and we will look at what we can do. Any early release is at Fuse's discretion and only takes effect once we confirm it to you in writing.

Where we do agree to an early release:

• A minimum of 90 days' written notice applies
• An early termination fee equal to one month's rent is payable
• Rent remains due until the agreed release date
• Your security deposit is returned within 30 days of you handing back the unit, less any deductions as set out in Step 7

Nothing in this section affects any right to end your tenancy that applies to you by law.

4.6 Tenant replacement (tenancy takeover)

At any point after signing, you can propose someone to take over the rest of your contract. This is the normal way to leave early, and we will help where we can.

Your replacement needs to:

• Meet the same eligibility criteria in Section 2, applied to the remaining term of your contract rather than a fresh five months
• Provide proof of identity and a document showing the purpose and length of their stay
• Be approved by the Fuse Reservations Team
• Pay the membership fee and sign a new tenancy agreement

A takeover administration fee of €50 applies, payable by you.

Once your replacement has signed and paid, your rent liability ends on the handover date and your deposit is returned under the usual terms in Step 7.

4.7 If something serious gets in the way

Some things are outside anyone's control. Where one of the following happens and you send us supporting documentation within 7 calendar days of it, we will waive cancellation penalties:

• Visa denial: the official rejection letter from the embassy or consulate
• A serious medical condition that prevents you from occupying the unit: certified medical documentation

In these cases your security deposit and any rent you have paid are refunded in full. The €295 membership fee is not refunded in cash, but we convert it into a credit valid for 12 months, so if your plans come together later you can book with us without paying it again.

5. Refunds

We process approved refunds within 30 calendar days of confirming your cancellation, to the payment method you originally used. Delays caused by your own bank or payment provider are outside our control.

6. When Fuse Can Cancel

We may cancel a booking, or end a tenancy in accordance with your tenancy agreement and applicable local law, if:

• You do not meet the eligibility criteria in Section 2
• Documents you submitted turn out to be fraudulent or falsified
• Required payments are not made by the stated deadlines
• You breach the terms of your tenancy agreement

Ending a tenancy that has already started always follows the process required by the law of the city you are in. This policy does not override it.

If we cancel for a reason that is not your fault, for example because a unit becomes unavailable, you get a full refund of everything you have paid us, membership fee included.

7. Questions, Complaints and Contact

Email: support@fusestays.com. We reply within 2 business days, and usually faster on WhatsApp.

If something has gone wrong and you are not satisfied with our first answer, say so in your reply and we will escalate it internally.

Your contract is with the local Fuse entity for your city. The entity name, registered address and company number are set out in your tenancy agreement:

• Riga: SIA Fuse Hotel Latvia, VAT number LV40203565468, Strēlnieku iela 3-12, LV-1010 Rīga, Latvia
• Budapest: Fuse Living Kft., VAT number HU32628636, Ferenc krt. 1, 2. em. 13/a, 1094 Budapest, Hungary

This policy may change. The version in force when you book is the one that applies to your booking.