Returns, Refunds & Cancellation Policy

1. Overview & Business Nature

CloudZA (Pty) Ltd (“CloudZA”) provides B2B professional IT consultancy, cloud architecture, managed infrastructure services, and technical support. Because our offerings consist of professional time, engineering expertise, specialised labour, and third-party cloud infrastructure resources, physical returns are not applicable.

This Policy outlines the terms governing refunds, cancellations, billing disputes, and cloud infrastructure usage charges across all CloudZA service tracks.

2. Non-Refundable Professional Services & Labour

Once professional services, technical implementation, cloud migrations, or consulting hours have been rendered by CloudZA engineering teams, fees associated with those delivered services are non-refundable.

• Fixed-Price Statements of Work (SOW): Milestone payments on fixed-price projects correspond to completed and accepted deliverables. Completed milestones are strictly non-refundable.
• Time & Materials / Consulting Retainers: Invoiced engineering hours or pre-purchased retainer blocks are non-refundable once the hours have been spent or allocated to the client’s support track. Unused monthly retainer hours do not roll over unless explicitly agreed upon in writing. Clients may request a partial roll-over of up to 20% of unused hours into the following month, subject to written approval by CloudZA.

3. Upstream Hyperscaler & Third-Party Infrastructure Fees

CloudZA acts as an implementation partner for enterprise cloud hyperscalers (including AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) and third-party software vendors.

• No Refunds on Consumption: All fees generated by your cloud infrastructure consumption, storage, database usage, or third-party license provisioning are non-refundable.
• Upstream Vendor Charges: CloudZA passes through cloud provider costs based on actual client account utilisation. Charges accrued due to client misconfiguration, unexpected traffic surges, or active workloads cannot be refunded or waived by CloudZA.

4. Service Cancellations & Notice Periods

What if I have a fixed-term contract?

For fixed-term contracts (e.g., 12-month managed service retainers), the agreement remains in effect for the full contract period as stipulated in the applicable Master Services Agreement (MSA), Statement of Work (SOW), or Service Level Agreement (SLA). Fixed-term contracts cannot be cancelled prior to the end of the agreed term unless:

• Mutual Written Agreement: Both parties agree in writing to terminate the contract early, including any applicable settlement terms.
• Material Breach: Either party is in material breach of the agreement and fails to remedy the breach within 30 calendar days of receiving written notice.
• Early Termination Fee: Where the MSA or SOW includes an early termination clause, the client may terminate early upon payment of an early termination fee equal to the remaining balance of the contract term, or as otherwise specified in the agreement.

Upon expiry of the fixed-term period, the contract will either renew on the terms specified in the agreement or convert to a month-to-month arrangement, as stipulated in the applicable MSA or SOW.

What if I need to cancel a month-to-month service?

For month-to-month or rolling managed service contracts, either party may cancel by providing written notice (via email to billing@cloudza.co.za or registered mail) with a minimum of 30 calendar days’ advance notice prior to the start of the next billing cycle, or as otherwise stipulated in the applicable MSA or SOW.

What about new contracts where work hasn’t started?

Clients may cancel within 14 calendar days of contract signature at no cost, provided no engineering work, resource provisioning, or third-party procurement has been initiated.

What if I need to cancel a project before it’s finished?

If a client requests the cancellation of an ongoing fixed-scope project prior to completion:

• The client remains responsible for payment of all work completed and billable hours logged up to the date of formal cancellation notice.
• Any unused deposit or pre-paid project balance (after deducting fees for completed deliverables and accrued engineering time) will be refunded to the client within 30 days of final account reconciliation.

What if a delivered milestone doesn’t meet the agreed specification?

If a client believes a delivered milestone does not conform to the agreed SOW specifications, this should be raised through the Billing Disputes & Issue Escalation process outlined in Section 5 within seven (7) calendar days of delivery.

5. Billing Disputes & Issue Escalation

We are committed to delivering high-quality engineering standards. If you believe an invoice contains a billing error or that delivered services did not conform to the agreed SOW specifications:

• Notice Window: You must notify CloudZA in writing (via email to billing@cloudza.co.za) within seven (7) calendar days of the invoice date, clearly detailing the specific discrepancy or technical concern.
• Acknowledgement: CloudZA will acknowledge receipt of your dispute within 2 business days.
• Good Faith Resolution: CloudZA will review the dispute, review system logs/deliverables, and engage with your team in good faith. We aim to resolve all disputes within 10 business days. If an error is verified on CloudZA’s part, a credit note will be issued against your account or applied to future invoices.
• Undisputed Portions: In the event of a partial invoice dispute, the client agrees to pay all undisputed portions of the invoice by the due date.
• Escalation Path: If a dispute cannot be resolved through the above process, either party may escalate to the CloudZA Client Services Manager. If the matter remains unresolved after 30 calendar days, both parties agree to pursue mediation through an independent mediator before initiating any legal proceedings.

6. Force Majeure & Third-Party Service Disruptions

CloudZA relies on upstream cloud hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and third-party vendors to deliver certain services. In the event of a service disruption caused by a third-party outage, force majeure event, or circumstances beyond CloudZA’s reasonable control:

• CloudZA will not be held liable for delays or service interruptions caused by upstream provider outages.
• Affected project timelines will be extended by a period equivalent to the duration of the disruption.
• CloudZA will notify affected clients promptly and provide regular status updates until the issue is resolved.
• Where applicable, CloudZA will assist clients in pursuing any credits or remedies available from the upstream provider.

7. Method of Approved Refunds & Credits

In the event that a refund or account credit is granted by CloudZA management:

• Approved monetary refunds will be processed via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly to the original client bank account within 14 to 30 business days.
• Where applicable, credits may be applied directly against upcoming billing cycles upon mutual agreement.

8. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

This policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any disputes arising from or in connection with this policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Western Cape, South Africa.

9. Policy Change History

10. Contact Information

For any questions regarding billing, cancellations, or account balances, please reach out to our Accounts & Support team: