Before Employer/Buyer cancels a Service/Project, we recommend them to communicate with the Seller in the WorkStream and express his concerns so that the Freelancer has an opportunity to address them. Most issues can be sorted out efficiently with simple communication and Freelancers on Zapphire.co care about keeping their clients happy. If the Buyer/Employer is not able to communicate with the Freelancer or communication with the Freelancer is not working and the Buyer/Employer feels that the Freelancer is not adhering to the Rules of engagement then the Buyer can also contact Zapphire.co Customer Support for assistance to get the Service/Project back on track.

1.1 Cancellation of a Service/Project

• After the Commencement of a Service/Project, the Buyer or Seller may request a cancellation: 

1. a) The requestor must notify the other party of the cancellation by placing a message in the WorkStream. Alternatively, if there are funds in the Safe Deposit Account and the Buyer/Employer believes that they are entitled for a refund (subject to Section 1.2), the Buyer/Employer can notify the Freelancer of the cancellation by requesting a refund using the “Request Refund” action on the WorkStream.
2. b) If the Buyer/Employer fails to notify the Seller/Freelancer in the WorkStream that he wishes to cancel the Project and the Project is subsequently completed, the Buyer/Employer must pay for the service delivered in accordance with these terms and conditions.

• Once notified of a cancellation: 

1. a) The Freelancer should stop working on the Service/Project immediately;
2. b) The parties should agree in the WorkStream what payment is necessary for any work completed (or time spent, if it is a per hour Custom Project). If the cause of the cancellation was not due to the circumstances defined in Section 1.2 the Seller/Employer is entitled to request payment at minimum equal to the value of the deposit funds held in the Safe Deposit Account.

1.2 Refund policy

• A Buyer is entitled to receive a refund of funds held in the Safe Deposit Account under the following circumstances: 

1. a) no response: the Seller/Freelancer has not responded in the WorkStream within 1 day of proposal acceptance by the Buyer/Employer;
2. b) non-delivery:
   • for Services, the Seller/Freelancer of the Service did not deliver the scope of work within the delivery timescale indicated in the Service or as agreed with the Buyer/Employer within the scope of Zapphire platform (WorkStream).
   • for fixed price or price per item Custom Projects, non-delivery means agreed scope of work was not delivered within the agreed timescale;
   • for per hour rate Custom Projects no time has been spent.

1. c) poor quality: with the exception of per hour rate Custom Projects, the deliverables provided by the Seller do not meet the terms defined after at least two revisions have been provided by the Seller/Freelancer in response to detailed feedback from the Buyer/Employer; or
2. d) the Seller/Freelancer lost a dispute.

• Buyer/Employer and Seller/Freelancer may mutually agree to a refund for reasons other than the previous clause however authorization of such refunds will be subject to a review by Zapphire team, as defined in Section 1.3
• Refunds are only applicable to funds held in the Safe Deposit Account. Funds should only be paid out of the Safe Deposit Account once the Buyer is satisfied that the Service/Project (or any agreed milestone deliverables) has been completed. By releasing funds from the Safe Deposit Account the Buyer accepts that this money is non-refundable.
• Buyers/Employers should NEVER file a dispute or reverse a payment through their Credit card company or Bank. Attempts to seek refunds in this way will lead to the Buyer's account being permanently suspended and may attract legal actions.
• In case of refund to PayPal the transaction fee charged by PayPal will not be returned as PayPal has stopped returning transaction fee effective from 11 Oct 2019.

1.3 Requesting a refund

• A Buyers/Employers can request a refund of the funds held in the Safe Deposit Account using the “Request Refund” action in the WorkStream by specifying a reason for their request: 

1. a) the Seller must either approve or reject the Refund Request. Rejected Refund Requests are raised automatically to Zapphire.co for Dispute assistance
2. b) if the Seller does not respond to a Refund Request within three (3) working days (a “non-actioned” Refund Request) then Zapphire.co may release the funds automatically back to the Buyer subject to the following clause.
3. c) poor quality: with the exception of per hour rate Custom Projects, the deliverables provided by the Seller do not meet the terms defined after at least two revisions have been provided by the Seller in response to detailed feedback from the Buyer; or
4. d) the Seller lost a Dispute.

• Zapphire.co will process approved (or non-actioned) refund requests back to the Buyer's Zapphire.co Wallet subject to a review of the refund reason and circumstances to ensure that both parties have complied with these terms and conditions, and that the purpose of the refund is not to avoid any of the parties' obligations under these terms and conditions. If Zapphire.co reasonably believes that the parties have not complied with these terms and conditions or are seeking to avoid any such obligations Zapphire.co shall not be obliged to make the refund.