Refund Policy

1. Overview

NovaStack Consulting ("Company," "we," "us," or "our") provides professional IT consulting, advisory, planning, and technology strategy services to businesses and organizations. Because our services are knowledge-based, time-based, and customized to each client’s requirements, refunds are handled differently from refunds for physical goods or standardized digital products.

This Refund Policy explains the conditions under which payments may or may not be refunded, how refund requests are reviewed, and what expectations apply once a project, consultation, or advisory engagement has been scheduled or initiated. By purchasing or using our services, you agree to this Refund Policy in full.

This policy applies to consultation bookings, advisory retainers, fixed-scope service engagements, discovery sessions, strategic planning services, and any other professional services offered by NovaStack Consulting, unless a separate written agreement signed by both parties states otherwise.

2. Nature of Our Services

Our work involves allocating professional expertise, analysis time, planning resources, technical review, documentation effort, and consultation availability specifically to each client engagement. Once an engagement begins, those resources are reserved and performed on a custom basis. As a result, payments made for our services are generally considered compensation for time, expertise, scheduling priority, and professional preparation rather than for a tangible item that can be returned.

Because of the custom and advisory nature of our services, full refunds are not automatically available after work has started, a session has been delivered, or internal preparation has already taken place. However, we review refund matters reasonably and in good faith, taking into account the scope completed, the timing of the request, and whether services have already been rendered or scheduled resources committed.

3. Consultation Session Payments

3.1 Scheduled Discovery or Strategy Calls

If you purchase or reserve a paid consultation, discovery session, technical review call, or strategic advisory meeting, you may request to reschedule the session if you notify us sufficiently in advance. Rescheduling is subject to availability and must be requested before the scheduled appointment time.

3.2 Refund Eligibility Before the Session

A full refund may be considered if a written cancellation request is submitted at least forty-eight (48) hours before the scheduled consultation time and no material pre-session preparation has been performed specifically for your matter. If extensive preparation has already been completed, we may issue a partial refund that reflects the unperformed portion of the service.

3.3 Late Cancellations and No-Shows

If you cancel fewer than forty-eight (48) hours before the session, arrive substantially late, fail to attend, or do not provide necessary information for the session to proceed, the payment is generally non-refundable. This is because time has been reserved exclusively for your appointment and that availability cannot typically be recovered on short notice.

4. Fixed-Scope Projects and Advisory Engagements

For fixed-scope consulting projects, implementation planning engagements, architecture reviews, assessments, strategic roadmaps, documentation work, or similar professional services, payments may be structured as deposits, milestone payments, or full upfront payments depending on the engagement terms.

• Deposits used to reserve project scheduling and onboarding resources are generally non-refundable.
• Amounts corresponding to work already completed, partially completed, or substantially underway are non-refundable.
• Milestone payments are non-refundable once the applicable milestone work has begun or been delivered.
• If an engagement is terminated before all work is completed, any refund, if approved, will usually be limited to amounts paid for work that has not yet been started.

Where project work has already commenced, any refund determination will be based on documented hours, resources allocated, deliverables prepared, discovery completed, meetings conducted, and internal analysis already performed for your engagement.

5. Retainers and Ongoing Service Arrangements

Some clients may engage NovaStack Consulting on an ongoing advisory, support, or retainer basis. Unless otherwise specified in a signed agreement, monthly or periodic retainer fees secure access to reserved consulting capacity, priority response allocation, and ongoing availability during the covered period.

Retainer fees are generally non-refundable once the applicable service period has started. If a client chooses not to use all of the time, access, or support availability included in the retained period, unused availability does not automatically create refund eligibility unless explicitly stated in a separate written agreement.

Cancellation of an ongoing retainer typically applies prospectively to future billing periods and does not automatically entitle the client to a refund for the current or prior periods.

6. Client Delays and Incomplete Information

Refunds will not be granted solely because a client delays the project, becomes unresponsive, changes internal priorities, fails to provide requested materials, fails to attend scheduled meetings, or otherwise prevents NovaStack Consulting from completing the work efficiently. Time reserved, planning already performed, and preparatory analysis remain billable once committed.

If a project is paused due to client-side delays, we may hold the project for a reasonable period. After an extended delay, the engagement may require rescoping, schedule adjustment, or reactivation fees depending on availability and the amount of onboarding or analysis that must be repeated.

7. Circumstances Where Refunds May Be Considered

Although refunds are generally limited, we may review and consider a full or partial refund in circumstances such as the following:

• Duplicate or accidental payment was made in error
• You canceled within the permitted timeframe and no meaningful work had yet been performed
• We are unable to deliver the agreed service due to our own scheduling or operational limitations
• A billing error occurred on our side
• A specific written service agreement expressly provides for a refund under defined conditions

Any approved refund is issued at our reasonable discretion unless otherwise required by law or contract. We may reduce a refund amount to reflect administrative time, preparation performed, third-party costs incurred, or consulting hours already consumed.

8. Non-Refundable Items and Charges

Unless prohibited by law or otherwise stated in a written agreement, the following are generally non-refundable:

• Completed consultations, advisory calls, workshops, or review sessions
• Deposits used to reserve project slots, onboarding windows, or consultant availability
• Work already performed, whether delivered in draft or final form
• Custom analysis, research, documentation, architecture recommendations, or strategic deliverables prepared for your engagement
• Third-party software, service, licensing, hosting, or vendor costs purchased or committed on your behalf
• Rush scheduling, expedited delivery, or priority allocation fees once scheduled

9. How to Request a Refund

If you believe you are entitled to a refund or would like your payment reviewed, you must submit a written request using one of our contact email addresses listed at the end of this policy. Your request should include enough detail for us to identify the engagement and review the circumstances fairly.

Please include the following information whenever possible:

• Your full name and company name
• Date of payment and amount paid
• Description of the service purchased
• Reason for the refund request
• Any relevant invoice number, proposal reference, or service agreement reference

We may request additional information if needed to verify the request and determine the stage of service completion.

10. Review Timeframe and Refund Method

Refund requests are typically reviewed within a reasonable business timeframe after we receive all necessary details. If a refund is approved, it will generally be issued using the original payment method whenever feasible. Processing times may vary depending on the payment provider, banking institution, or card issuer involved.

Where partial refunds are approved, the amount will reflect the portion of services not yet rendered, reduced by any non-recoverable costs, preparation time, administrative work, or resources already committed to the engagement.

11. Chargebacks and Payment Disputes

Before initiating a chargeback or payment dispute with your payment provider, we encourage you to contact us directly so we can review the matter and attempt to resolve it professionally. Filing a chargeback without first contacting us may delay resolution and may require us to provide supporting records such as signed proposals, email communications, scheduling confirmations, attendance records, or proof of work performed.

Where a payment dispute concerns services that were scheduled, delivered, partially delivered, or custom-prepared, we reserve the right to contest the dispute using the applicable engagement records and transaction documentation.

12. Exceptions Under Written Agreements

If you have entered into a separate master services agreement, statement of work, proposal, or other signed written contract with NovaStack Consulting, the refund, cancellation, payment, or termination provisions in that agreement may supersede this general Refund Policy to the extent of any direct conflict.

In such cases, the signed engagement documents will control the refund handling for the relevant services, while this Refund Policy will continue to apply to matters not specifically addressed in those documents.

13. Changes to This Refund Policy

NovaStack Consulting may revise or update this Refund Policy from time to time to reflect operational, legal, or service model changes. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of our website or purchase of our services after such updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy, except where otherwise required by law.