Refund and cancellation policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to services supplied by K2026679039 (SOUTH AFRICA), registration number 2026/679039/07, trading as BlueBloom, and forms part of our terms and conditions. BlueBloom supplies AI education to teams, corporates, schools and individuals in South Africa; it does not sell physical goods. Product returns and exchanges are therefore not applicable. Corrections to a service or deliverable are handled under the acceptance and corrections section of the terms.

In this policy, a "business day" is Monday to Friday, excluding a South African public holiday. "Work starts" when BlueBloom first performs engagement-specific preparation or delivery, or incurs an approved non-cancellable cost—whichever occurs first. Merely accepting a booking or reserving future capacity does not, on its own, mean that work has started. Work may nevertheless start before the first workshop or customer-facing meeting.

2. How to make a request

Email a cancellation, rescheduling or refund request to info@bluebloom.co.za from the address used for the booking. Include the customer name, service, invoice or payment transaction reference, booked date and the reason for the request, if applicable. A reason helps us assess an ordinary contractual request but is not required where mandatory law gives the customer a no-reason cancellation right. A request takes effect when it reaches our email system; we acknowledge it within one business day.

Do not send a card number, CVV, PIN, one-time password or online banking password. We may ask for information reasonably needed to verify the payer and prevent a fraudulent or duplicate refund.

3. Statutory rights come first

Nothing in this policy limits a cancellation, cooling-off, quality or refund right that applicable law does not permit us to limit. In particular:

• Where ECTA section 44 applies to an electronic transaction with a natural-person consumer, that consumer may cancel a service without reason or penalty within seven days after the agreement is concluded and is entitled to a full refund within 30 days of cancellation. The statutory exception may apply only where the service actually begins with the consumer's consent before that period ends; making a booking alone is not that consent.
• Where the CPA cooling-off right for direct marketing applies instead, the consumer may cancel within the applicable five-business-day period and will receive the refund within the period required by that Act.
• Where CPA section 17 applies to an advance booking, any cancellation charge must be reasonable in the circumstances and no cancellation fee will be imposed where that section prohibits one because of the death or hospitalisation of the person for whose benefit the booking was made.

The statutory rules apply only where their legal requirements are met; describing them here does not convert a business transaction into a consumer transaction.

The official ECTA and Consumer Protection Act are available from the South African Government.

4. Cancellation before work starts

If the customer cancels after BlueBloom accepts the booking but before work starts, we refund the amount paid less a reasonable cancellation charge. The service-fee component of that charge will not exceed:

• 10 or more business days before the booked start: 10% of the service fee;
• 5 to 9 business days before the booked start: 50% of the service fee; or
• fewer than 5 business days before the booked start, or non-attendance: 100% of the service fee.

We add only approved, non-recoverable third-party costs and never retain more than the total paid or payable for the cancelled service. The percentages are maximums, not automatic penalties. We reduce the charge where a lower amount fairly reflects preparation performed, notice given, the nature of the reserved service, costs committed and our reasonable ability to fill the slot. Mandatory law overrides these maximums where it gives the customer a better result.

5. Cancellation after work starts

Once work starts, the customer must pay for work completed, reserved capacity already used and approved non-cancellable commitments. We refund any remaining unearned prepaid balance. For fixed-price work, earned fees are determined by completed milestones or, where a milestone does not fairly measure partially completed work, the reasonable proportion of the scope performed.

A customer delay, missing participant, unavailable system or failure to provide a dependency does not make completed preparation or reserved delivery capacity unearned. If the delay makes delivery impracticable, the rescheduling rules below apply.

6. Rescheduling

A customer may reschedule once without a service-fee cancellation charge by giving at least five business days' written notice. The replacement date must be agreed, remain subject to availability and fall within 60 calendar days after the original date. Approved non-recoverable third-party costs remain payable.

A request made with fewer than five business days' notice, non-attendance, a second rescheduling request, or failure to complete the service within that 60-day period is treated as a cancellation. We may waive or reduce a resulting charge where the circumstances and our ability to reuse the reserved capacity make that fair.

If BlueBloom needs to reschedule, the customer may accept the new date or cancel the affected service for a full refund of its unearned price, without a cancellation charge.

7. Training and courses

Preparation for tailored team, corporate, school or individual training can start before the session. Participant non-attendance does not create a refund right if BlueBloom is ready to deliver as booked, subject to the statutory rights and reasonable-charge limits above. The same cancellation and rescheduling rules apply to monthly online courses, subject to availability of a suitable replacement session and any mandatory rights.

8. Cancellation by BlueBloom

If BlueBloom cannot accept a booking or cancels before work starts for a reason not caused by the customer, we refund the affected service in full. If we cancel after work starts for our convenience, we refund the unearned prepaid balance after completed work and approved non-recoverable commitments. If we end or suspend work because of customer breach, non-payment, unlawful instructions or a prolonged failure to cooperate, the customer-cancellation calculation applies.

9. How refunds are paid

We assess the request against the agreement, this policy and applicable law and explain the outcome in writing. Once we have the information reasonably needed to assess it, we aim to communicate the decision within five business days. We initiate an approved refund within ten business days after approval, or sooner if applicable law requires. The customer's bank, card network or payment provider controls how long the credit takes to reflect after initiation.

For payments made through Paystack, refunds are initiated through Paystack to the original payment method where supported. EFT payments are refunded to the verified original payer. We do not pass a merchant refund-processing fee to the customer. If a refund to the original method fails or is unavailable, we arrange a lawful alternative with the original payer, may verify matching bank-account details, and send written proof after payment. We do not refund to an unrelated third party or pay more than the original transaction.

Refunds are based on the amount and currency of the original payment. BlueBloom does not add a refund fee. A customer must not seek both a direct refund and a chargeback for the same amount. If a duplicate recovery occurs, the customer must promptly cooperate in correcting it. This does not restrict a lawful card-dispute right.

10. Contact and complaints

Refund and cancellation requests go to info@bluebloom.co.za. You may also contact us on +27 78 394 7226. Our physical and legal-service address is 13 Buitenzorg Road, Somerset West, Cape Town, Western Cape, 7130, South Africa. Unresolved complaints follow the dispute process in the terms and conditions.