Legal
Refund policy.
Most agencies answer this with "all payments are non-refundable" and leave it there. The honest answer is that our phase structure is the refund policy — you stop after a phase rather than argue about one.
The structure that makes this mostly unnecessary
Work is sold in fixed-scope phases with defined exit criteria. You decide after each one whether the next happens.
An open-ended retainer creates the situation a refund policy exists to resolve: you have paid for months of unspecified work, you want to stop, and nobody agrees what was owed. We do not sell that way unless you specifically ask for it.
Instead an engagement runs as a sequence of phases. Each has a scope, a price and a definition of what "done" means. When a phase completes you get the output — the code, the evaluation harness, the documentation, the findings — and you own it whether or not you continue. There is no penalty for stopping, and you are not asked to buy the next phase to receive the last one.
That is why refund questions are rare here. Your exposure at any moment is one phase, not the whole engagement. The engagement models page sets out how phases are structured.
Scoping calls and diagnostics
The first conversation is free and always will be. A fair share of them end with us naming an off-the-shelf tool that solves your problem and taking no fee, which is a decision we would rather make before you pay than after.
A paid scoping diagnostic is a deliverable in its own right: an assessment of whether the thing is worth building, roughly what it would take, and where the risk sits. Once delivered it is not refundable, because the value was the honest answer — including when that answer is "do not build this".
Work already delivered
Not refundable, and yours to keep.
Where a phase has been completed and handed over, the fee for it is not refundable. You keep the output in full: repository, infrastructure definitions, evaluation harness and documentation, with no retained licence on our side and no obligation to continue with us.
Work paid for but not started or not finished
Refunded on a pro-rata basis, calculated on work actually performed.
If you have paid an advance for a phase that has not begun, we refund it. If a phase is stopped partway — by you, by us, or by circumstances — we refund the balance after accounting for work genuinely performed and any third-party costs already committed on your instruction, such as cloud infrastructure, licences or model API spend.
We will show you the calculation. If you disagree with it, say so and we will talk it through before anything is finalised.
If we are the reason it stopped
If we fail to deliver what a phase committed to, and cannot put it right within a reasonable period after you tell us, you get the fee for that phase back. This is not a goodwill gesture and you should not have to negotiate for it.
What this does not cover: a system that works as specified but does not produce the business outcome you hoped for. We are explicit before a project starts about what we can and cannot commit to, and we do not promise accuracy figures or search rankings in advance — see the disclaimer. A phase that met its stated exit criteria has been delivered.
Online payments
Same terms, and the refund goes back to the source within 5–7 working days of approval.
Where you pay online rather than by bank transfer, the terms above apply unchanged. An approved refund is processed to the original payment method — we cannot send it anywhere else, which is a limitation of the payment networks rather than a policy choice.
Once we initiate it, the money typically reaches you within 5 to 7 working days, and sometimes longer depending on your bank or card issuer. Payment gateway charges and any bank fees on the original transaction are not recoverable by us and are deducted from the refunded amount. Cross-border payments may also carry conversion differences that neither of us controls.
How to request one
Email hello@zenmagix.com with the invoice number, the payment date and what you would like us to do. Please raise it within 30 days of the payment, and sooner if you already know the engagement is stopping — the calculation is simpler while everyone still remembers the work.
We will acknowledge within 2 working days and give you a decision with the reasoning within 7. If we are refusing, you get the reason in writing and the clause it rests on.
Which document wins
Your signed engagement agreement or statement of work governs the commercial relationship. Where it addresses refunds, cancellation or termination, those terms apply and this page does not override them. This page describes our standard position and is what applies where the agreement is silent.
Disputes are governed by the laws of India, subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Related: Terms and conditions, Privacy policy, Disclaimer.