Refund and Cancellation Policy
This Refund and Cancellation Policy explains how trials, paid
subscriptions, refunds, and disputes work for the AXIS Business Operating
System ("AXIS") provided by Layer Zero Studios ("Layer Zero", "we",
"us").
This policy supplements our Trial Terms and forms part
of our Terms of Service. In the event of a conflict,
this policy prevails over the corresponding sections of the Terms of
Service in respect of refunds and cancellation only.
Lawyer review required before publication.
Primary-source references:
- SA Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 — thedtic.gov.za PDF, s16 (cooling-off on direct marketing) and s44 (electronic transactions cooling-off, read with the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 s44)
- EU Consumer Rights Directive — Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 9 (14-day right of withdrawal)
- UK Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 — legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134
1. Scope
This policy covers:
- Cancelling a free trial
- Cancelling a paid subscription
- Requesting a refund on a paid charge
- The interaction between our refund commitments, statutory cooling-off
rights, and Polar's role as Merchant of Record
It does not cover service credits for SLA breaches — those are governed
by Terms of Service §9 and processed automatically against the next
invoice.
2. Trial cancellation
The free trial is governed by our Trial Terms. To
recap:
- The trial is free and requires no payment card.
- You may cancel at any time during the trial — there is nothing to
pay and no fee to leave.
- Cancel by clicking Dashboard → Account → Delete my account, or by
emailing billing@layerzerostudios.com
from the address on the account.
On cancellation, your data is deleted per Privacy Policy §7 and
DPA §10.
3. Paid subscription cancellation
3.1 How to cancel
You may cancel a paid subscription at any time through:
- Dashboard → Billing → Cancel subscription (self-serve), or
- An email to
billing@layerzerostudios.com from
the billing-contact address on file.
There is no minimum term and no cancellation fee.
3.2 What happens on cancellation
- Monthly plan. Your subscription remains active until the end of the
current paid billing period. AXIS will not bill you again. Cancellation
does not generate a pro-rata refund of the unused portion of the
current month, except where statutory cooling-off rights apply (see §4).
- Annual plan. The subscription remains active until the end of the
current annual term. Within the first 14 days of a fresh annual
charge, you may request a pro-rata refund of the unused portion (see
§4.2). After 14 days, pro-rata refunds on annual cancellations are
considered case-by-case and are not guaranteed.
3.3 What happens to your data
Per DPA §10, on termination Layer Zero will delete or return all
Customer Data within 30 days, with the carve-outs described there
(forensic-export operational metadata; tax-relevant records).
4. Refunds
4.1 14-day money-back guarantee (first paid period)
We extend a 14-day money-back guarantee to **all customers, in all
geographies, on the first paid month or first annual term** of any
subscription. This is a deliberate choice to keep the policy simple — the
EU and UK 14-day cooling-off rules apply to consumers anyway, and we do
not think B2B customers should be treated worse than B2C ones for the
purpose of an early refund.
Within those 14 days, write to
billing@layerzerostudios.com with
your account email and the order ID. We refund the full amount paid for
that first period to the original payment method.
4.2 After the first 14 days
- Monthly plan. No refund of the current month's fee. You may cancel
to prevent future renewals (§3.1).
- Annual plan. A pro-rata refund of the unused months of the current
annual term may be granted at our discretion, taking into account the
reason for cancellation, AXIS-side service issues if any, and the
customer's usage profile. We aim to be reasonable; we do not commit to
always refunding.
4.3 Founder-tier customers
Customers on the Founder tier (early-supporter cohort) are subject to
the same baseline as above, plus any additional commitments set out in
our Founder Promise addendum. The Founder Promise document is being
finalised separately; until it is published, the baseline in this policy
governs Founder-tier refunds.
4.4 Disputes — please contact us before a chargeback
If you are unhappy with a charge, please write to
billing@layerzerostudios.com before
filing a chargeback through your card issuer or through Polar. Most
disputes are misunderstandings (a forgotten subscription, a duplicate
charge, a tier mismatch) that we can resolve within one business day.
A chargeback filed without prior contact may result in **suspension or
termination of the account** for the duration of the chargeback
investigation, and we reserve the right to refuse re-subscription where a
chargeback was filed in bad faith.
5. Refund mechanics
5.1 Card payments (via Polar)
Card refunds are issued to the original payment method through Polar,
our Merchant of Record. Funds typically appear on your statement within
7-10 business days, subject to your bank's clearing timetable. We
have no control over the bank-side delay.
5.2 Bitcoin payments (forthcoming)
When BTC billing is enabled, refunds will be issued in **BTC at the
exchange rate at the time of refund**, not the time of the original
payment. This is to manage exchange-rate volatility on our side. The
amount refunded will equal the original USD invoice amount minus on-chain
network fees, converted at the prevailing rate. Full mechanics will be
set out in the Bitcoin Payment Terms when that rail goes live.
5.3 Other payment methods
Layer Zero does not currently accept any other payment method. If we add
one, this section is updated before the rail is enabled.
6. What is not refundable
The following are not refundable under this policy:
- Usage-based overages that have already been incurred (when
metered-overage billing launches)
- Setup or onboarding fees on custom or enterprise tiers (when those
exist)
- Subscriptions terminated by Layer Zero for breach of the
Terms of Service, or applicable law — these
forfeit the unused portion of the term per Terms of Service §13
- Third-party pass-through costs that we have already incurred on
your behalf and cannot recover (e.g. SMS / postage / verified-domain
fees from Brevo, third-party API fees passed through at cost)
7. Statutory rights
7.1 South Africa — Consumer Protection Act + ECT Act
- CPA s16 gives consumers a 5-business-day cooling-off period on
transactions concluded as a result of direct marketing. AXIS is
not sold via direct marketing in the regulated sense, but where it is,
this right applies and is in addition to the 14-day money-back
guarantee in §4.1.
- ECT Act s44 gives consumers a 7-day cooling-off period on
electronic distance-selling transactions, subject to the exclusions in
s42(2). Our 14-day money-back commitment in §4.1 is broader and
applies in lieu where it is more favourable to you.
7.2 EU + UK — 14-day right of withdrawal
Consumers in the EU and UK have a 14-day right of withdrawal on
distance-selling contracts under **Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU
Art. 9 and the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013**. Our 14-day
money-back commitment in §4.1 satisfies this right and extends it to all
geographies and to B2B customers.
7.3 Statutory rights are not waived
Nothing in this policy waives or limits any **non-waivable consumer
right** in your jurisdiction. Where a statutory right is broader than
this policy, the statutory right governs.
8. Contact
- Refund or cancellation requests: billing@layerzerostudios.com
- Disputed charges (before chargeback): billing@layerzerostudios.com
- Legal escalation: legal@layerzerostudios.com
- General: hello@layerzerostudios.com
We aim to acknowledge refund and cancellation emails within **one
business day and resolve them within 5 business days**.