Refund policy.

1. Introduction

This Refund Policy explains when and how you may be entitled to a refund for the services provided by Servana Pty Ltd (“Servana”, “we”, “us”, “our”). It forms part of our Terms of Service and should be read together with our Cancellation Policy.

We want you to be satisfied with what you buy from us. This policy sets out, in plain language, how refunds work for our professional GRC services (such as ISO/IEC 27001, 27701 and 42001 certification readiness and POPIA compliance work). It also explains your statutory rights, which this policy adds to and never takes away.

2. Your statutory rights come first

Nothing in this policy limits or replaces the rights you have under South African law, including the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (“CPA”) and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (“ECTA”). Where this policy is more generous than the law, we honour this policy. Where the law gives you a stronger right, that right applies. If you are a consumer under the CPA, your statutory rights — including rights relating to defective or substandard goods and services — remain fully available to you.

3. Definitions

In this policy:

• “Service” or “Engagement” means professional services delivered under a proposal, order form or statement of work, such as a certification readiness or POPIA compliance project.
• “Business day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or official public holiday in South Africa.
• “Deposit” means an upfront amount payable to secure a booking or reserve delivery capacity for an Engagement.

4. Cooling-off period for online purchases (ECTA)

If you are a consumer and you buy a Service from us as an electronic transaction over the Website, section 44 of ECTA may give you the right to cancel without reason and without penalty within seven (7) business days after the date you received the goods or concluded the agreement, and to receive a refund of amounts paid.

This cooling-off right has limits set by ECTA. Importantly, it does not apply where the supply of digital content or services has begun with your consent before the end of the cooling-off period. For this reason:

• if you ask us to begin a Service (for example, to schedule or start work) within the cooling-off window, and we begin, the cooling-off right falls away for the work performed.

Where the cooling-off right applies, we will refund you within 30 days of cancellation. You may be responsible for the direct cost of returning anything supplied to you, where relevant.

5. Professional services and engagements

Because Services are scheduled, resourced and often begun before completion, refunds are handled according to how far the Engagement has progressed. Unless your proposal says otherwise:

• Before work begins — if you cancel an Engagement in line with the Cancellation Policy before any work or scheduling costs are incurred, we will refund amounts paid, less any non-refundable deposit clearly identified as such in your proposal.
• After work begins — if you cancel after the Engagement has started, we will refund amounts paid for work not yet performed, and we are entitled to charge for work already performed and for reasonable, unavoidable costs already committed (for example, specialist tooling or subcontractor time).
• On completion — once deliverables (such as a report or set of documents) have been delivered, the fees for that work are earned and are not refundable, except where the CPA entitles you to a remedy for a service that was not performed with reasonable care and skill.

Deposits are used to reserve capacity and cover early planning. A deposit is non-refundable to the extent stated in your proposal, but we will always credit it against fees actually earned.

6. Rescheduling instead of refunding

For Services, we will often prefer to reschedule rather than cancel. If you need to move a booked date, please tell us as early as possible. Where you reschedule within the notice period in the Cancellation Policy, we will move your booking without charge. Late rescheduling may attract a reasonable fee to cover capacity we reserved and cannot re-fill, which we will apply against, not in addition to, any future work.

7. Faulty, defective or substandard work (CPA)

If a Service was not performed with reasonable care and skill, you have rights under section 54 of the CPA. In those cases you may be entitled, at your election where the law provides, to have the work put right, redone, or refunded. Please tell us promptly and give us a fair opportunity to investigate and, where appropriate, remedy the issue. A refund under this clause reflects the value of the part of the Service that was not properly performed or not delivered.

8. What is generally non-refundable

Except where the law or your specific agreement provides otherwise, the following are generally non-refundable:

• fees for Services already performed and deliverables already provided;
• non-refundable deposits clearly identified as such in your proposal, to the extent of costs already committed;
• third-party fees, licences, or pass-through costs we have already paid on your behalf; and
• charges arising from your breach of the Terms of Service or unlawful use of a Service.

9. How refunds are calculated

Where a refund is due, we calculate it fairly and transparently. As a general approach:

• for Engagements, we refund amounts paid that exceed the value of work performed and reasonable committed costs at the date of cancellation; and
• we set off any amounts you owe us before paying a refund.

We will provide a short written breakdown of how any refund was calculated on request.

10. How to request a refund

To request a refund:

• email us at [email protected], or use the contact page;
• include your name, the invoice number, the Engagement concerned, and the reason for your request; and
• where relevant, describe the fault or issue so we can investigate.

We aim to acknowledge refund requests within 2 business days and to decide on them within 15 business days of receiving the information we need.

11. How and when refunds are paid

Approved refunds are paid to the original payment method wherever possible, or by electronic funds transfer to a South African bank account you nominate where the original method is unavailable. Once approved, we aim to process refunds within 10 business days. The time it then takes for funds to reflect depends on your bank or card provider and is outside our control. Refunds are made in South African Rand (ZAR); we are not responsible for exchange-rate differences or fees charged by your bank for cross-currency transactions.

12. Chargebacks and payment disputes

If you believe you have been incorrectly charged, please contact us first so we can put it right quickly — this is almost always faster than a bank dispute. Initiating a chargeback without first contacting us, for a charge that is valid under these policies, may result in suspension of your Engagement while the dispute is investigated. We reserve our rights to recover amounts properly owed to us, together with reasonable costs.

13. Taxes and fees

Servana is not VAT-registered, so no VAT is charged on our fees or added to any refund. Bank charges, currency-conversion costs, and third-party payment-processor fees are not refundable except where the law requires or where the charge arose from our error.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Refund Policy from time to time. The current version is always available on this page, with the “last updated” date shown at the top. The policy in force at the time of your purchase applies to that purchase. Your continued use of our Services after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact us

For any question about refunds, contact us at [email protected], or reach us through the contact page and a person will reply.