Refund Policy

Effective date: 1 June 2026  ·  Version 1.0

Contents

1. Overview
2. Refund Terms per Tier
3. Manual Payment Refund Process
4. CPA Cooling-Off Period (SA Residents)
5. Discretionary Refunds
6. Non-Refundable Items
7. How to Request a Refund
8. Processing Time

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1. Overview

This Refund Policy forms part of the Toutouwai Terms and Conditions. It explains your rights and our obligations regarding refunds for subscription fees paid to Toutouwai.

Key points:

• All subscriptions are paid via credit card
• LLM Credits are not cash equivalents and are not refundable
• South African residents have additional rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) — see §4
• Refunds are processed back to the original payment method

2. Refund Terms per Tier

2.1 Nest — $1/month (BYOK)

Nest subscriptions are non-refundable except:

• Where required by applicable consumer law (see §4 — CPA cooling-off period for SA residents)
• In cases of Service failure (see §5 — discretionary refunds)

Nest provides agent infrastructure only at $1/month. The subscriber provides their own LLM API key. Toutouwai's cost of service delivery is incurred immediately upon provisioning the container.

2.2 Fledgling — $5/month ($4 OpenRouter credits included)

Fledgling subscriptions are non-refundable except:

• Where required by applicable consumer law (see §4 — CPA cooling-off period for SA residents)
• In cases of Service failure (see §5 — discretionary refunds)

The $4/month of LLM credits included with Fledgling have no cash value. If a refund is issued under the CPA cooling-off period, the refund amount is $5 (the full subscription fee). Credits used during the cooling-off period will be deducted from the refund at the actual cost rate.

2.3 Aerie — $20/month

Aerie subscriptions are non-refundable except:

• Where required by applicable consumer law (see §4 — CPA cooling-off period for SA residents)
• In cases of Service failure (see §5 — discretionary refunds)

The $19/month credit allocation has no cash value. Refunds under the CPA cooling-off period are for the full $20, less any credits used at actual cost.

3. Manual Payment Refund Process

Subscriptions paid by card:

1. You request a refund — see §7 for how to submit
2. We verify eligibility — we confirm the refund reason against this policy
3. We process the refund — the refund is paid back to the original payment method used
4. Confirmation — we send you a confirmation once the refund is complete

Required information: To process a refund, we need:

• Your full name (as it appears on the invoice)
• Invoice number
• Reason for refund

4. CPA Cooling-Off Period (SA Residents)

4.1 The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) s 17 provides a cooling-off period for electronic transactions.

4.2 If you are a South African resident and the transaction was concluded electronically, you may cancel the transaction within 7 days of the earlier of:

• The date of the transaction (i.e., the date payment was received), or
• The date the Service was made available to you

4.3 How to cancel within the cooling-off period:

• Notify us in writing at [email protected] within 7 days of the transaction
• State that you wish to cancel under CPA s 17

4.4 Refund within cooling-off period:

• You will receive a full refund of the subscription fee paid
• The refund will be processed within 15 business days (as required by the CPA)
• If credits were used during the cooling-off period, the cost of those credits may be deducted from the refund

4.5 Limitations:

• The cooling-off period applies once per subscriber — not per billing cycle
• After the 7-day period, the standard refund policy applies (see §2)

5. Discretionary Refunds

5.1 We may issue a discretionary refund (partial or full) in the following circumstances:

• Extended Service outage: The Service was unavailable for more than 24 continuous hours due to a cause within our control
• Billing error: You were charged an incorrect amount
• Duplicate payment: You accidentally paid the same invoice twice
• Toutouwai error: The Service was materially not as described for the duration of the billing period

5.2 What discretionary refunds do NOT cover:

• LLM output quality or accuracy (Toutouwai does not control model outputs — see Terms §10.4)
• LLM provider service outages (these are outside our control)
• Features that are explicitly marked as "coming soon" or "experimental"
• Usage below expected levels (there is no minimum usage commitment)

5.3 Amount: Partial refunds are calculated pro-rata based on the number of days the Service was materially affected. Maximum discretionary refund for any single billing period is 100% of that period's fee.

5.4 Goodwill: At our sole discretion, we may offer a goodwill refund or credit in circumstances not covered by this policy, particularly for long-standing subscribers.

6. Non-Refundable Items

The following are not refundable under any circumstances:

• LLM credits: Credits included with Fledgling and Aerie tiers are an allocation, not a cash equivalent. Unused credits have no monetary value and cannot be refunded.
• API key costs (Nest): Any costs incurred by Nest subscribers through their chosen LLM provider are not refundable by Toutouwai.
• Setup or onboarding fees: There are no setup fees at launch, but should these be introduced in future, they are non-refundable.
• Administrative costs: Bank transfer fees or currency conversion charges incurred during payment or refund processing are not refundable.

7. How to Request a Refund

To request a refund, contact us at [email protected] with the subject line "Refund Request — [Your Name]".

Include:

1. Your full name
2. Your email address (so we can identify your account)
3. Invoice number and date
4. Reason for refund
5. Which policy section you believe applies (§2, §4, or §5)

Response time: We will acknowledge receipt within 2 business days and provide a decision within 7 business days.

8. Processing Time

Scenario	Processing Time
CPA cooling-off refund (SA residents)	Within 15 business days (CPA s 17 requirement)
Discretionary refund	Within 10 business days of approval
Billing error correction	Within 5 business days of confirmation

Refunds are processed to the original payment method. International refunds may take longer due to cross-border banking timelines.