What does "pro-rated refunds" mean ?

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain what "pro-rated refunds" means ? Thank you.

[Pete]

Can someone explain what "pro-rated refunds" means ? Thank you.
A pro-rated refund is a partial refund that takes into account what fraction of a guaranteed amount of use was successful and what part you did not receive. Here are 2 examples:
-- You buy a radio for $30 and it has a 1-year guarantee. It stops working after 8 months. Since you didn't get the last 1/3 of guaranteed use, a pro-rated refund would be $10.
-- You buy a tire for $80 that is guaranteed for 80,000 km of service. Its tread wears out after driving 60,000 km. You did not receive the last 20,000 km of guaranteed service, which is 1/4 of the guarantee. Thus the pro-rated refund would be 1/4 of $80, or $20.

Note that some guarantees offer a full refund, and others offer a pro-rated refund. You have to read the "fine print" to know how the guarantee works.