Refund & Cancellation Policy

Stively builds custom software - work that starts as soon as a project is confirmed and that, once built, has no resale value to anyone but the client it was built for. Because of that, our refund policy is milestone-based rather than a blanket "refund anytime" guarantee: what's refundable depends on how much of the agreed work has actually been done at the point you ask to cancel.

This policy applies to every paid engagement with Stively, whether it's a fixed-price package purchased at checkout or a custom-quoted, milestone-billed project.

For fixed-price offerings paid in full at checkout (for example, our Starter Website package):

• Before work begins. If you cancel before we've started any work on your project (typically within 24 hours of payment, before the discovery call has taken place), you are eligible for a full refund minus any payment gateway fees already deducted by Razorpay.
• After work begins. Once we've started work - design, development, content setup, or any other project activity - the payment becomes non-refundable, because it covers time and work already committed to your project specifically. You'll still receive the deliverable we're contracted to build; this clause covers cancellation, not non-delivery (see Non-delivery by Stively below).

For custom-quoted projects billed in stages (advance payment, then further milestones tied to project phases - see our Our Process page):

• Each milestone payment covers the phase of work it's tied to. Once we've started work on a milestone, the portion of that payment corresponding to completed work is non-refundable.
• If you cancel partway through a milestone, we'll calculate what's genuinely been completed against that milestone's scope and refund the unused portion, minus any third-party costs already incurred on your behalf (for example, a domain, hosting plan, or paid license purchased specifically for your project).
• Milestones already fully delivered and approved by you are not refundable once work on the next milestone has started, since that approval is what triggers the next phase of work.

The specific milestone breakdown and what each covers is set out in your project proposal - that document, together with this policy, governs refunds for your engagement.

Where a consultation, discovery call, or advance/booking fee is charged separately from project milestones, it is non-refundable once the session has taken place or the time has been reserved, since it compensates us for time set aside and preparation done on your behalf. If you need to reschedule a booked consultation, contact us as early as possible and we'll do our best to find a new time at no extra cost.

• Development, design, or other work already completed at the time of cancellation.
• Consultation time or discovery calls already delivered.
• Third-party costs already incurred on your behalf (domains, hosting, paid APIs, licenses, plugins) once purchased.
• Payment gateway fees deducted by Razorpay on the original transaction, which are outside our control.

You can request to cancel a project at any time by emailing team@stively.com. We'll confirm what's been completed, what's still in progress, and calculate any eligible refund per the rules above within a reasonable time. Any work completed up to the point of cancellation - code, designs, or documents - will be handed over to you, since you've paid for it.

We may pause or cancel a project if: payment isn't received by an agreed due date, you repeatedly fail to provide the content, feedback, or access we need to continue (after we've made reasonable attempts to reach you), or continuing the project would require us to do something unlawful or that violates these terms.

If we cancel a project without cause on our side - for reasons unrelated to the circumstances above - you'll receive a full refund of any milestone payment for work not yet delivered, and we'll hand over anything already completed.

Email team@stively.com with your order or project reference and the reason for your request. We aim to confirm eligibility within a few business days. Approved refunds are issued to the original Razorpay payment method and typically reflect in your account within 5-7 business days, depending on your bank or card issuer's own processing time - a timeline set by Razorpay and the banking network, not by us.

This policy works together with our Terms of Service (which governs payment structure generally) and our Delivery Policy (which governs timelines). Where there's a conflict between this policy and a specific written proposal you've agreed to, the proposal's terms take precedence for that project.

Questions about a refund or cancellation can be sent to team@stively.com.