Refund and Purchase Policy
This Refund and Purchase Policy (Policy) explains purchases, credits, digital access, refunds and billing disputes on Zikaya. It is between Zikaya Ltd (Zikaya, we, us) and each person who buys, unlocks or pays for anything on Zikaya (you). It forms part of the Terms of Service. An Order is a purchase, unlock, Premium plan payment or top-up shown in your account. Nothing in this Policy excludes or limits a cancellation, refund, consumer or payment right that applicable law gives you and that cannot be excluded or limited (your mandatory rights).
1. Know what you are acquiring
Zikaya lists digital educational resources created by independent contributors. A listing may offer a cash price, Premium Credit (PC) price and/or Community Credit (CC) unlock. Only options actually enabled on the listing apply. The listing shows the description, format, any available preview, version and access cost; check them before you confirm. Listing information comes from the creator, and to the extent permitted by law Zikaya does not guarantee that a document is accurate, complete, current or suitable for your purpose. Your acquisition licenses that version only, for personal educational use, not ownership or resale rights.
Payment providers. Payment, billing or creator-payout functionality may be provided through Stripe, PayPal, M-Pesa or other supported providers, depending on availability, country, currency and the payment method actually offered. A provider is not promised merely by being named here; any provider-specific terms and disclosures will appear in the relevant flow, and those providers' own terms may also apply to you.
2. Access and finality of digital sales
When payment or an eligible credit debit is confirmed and the agreed document version is made accessible to your account, digital delivery has occurred, whether or not you download the file. After delivery, purchases are final. Refunds are at Zikaya's discretion, except where section 3 of this Policy or the law requires a remedy. Except as section 3 provides, a document that you have opened, viewed beyond its preview or downloaded is generally non-refundable. We do not refund because you changed your mind, did not use the document, no longer need it, prefer another resource, or did not obtain a particular academic result, where the delivered file materially matches the listing.
Immediate supply of digital content. Where consumer law gives you a right to withdraw from or cancel a purchase of digital content within a set period, by completing your purchase you ask us to supply it immediately and, where the law allows, you acknowledge that you lose that right once access or a download starts. The same applies to Premium Credits made available to your account when a Premium plan or top-up is paid.
This section does not exclude your mandatory rights, including remedies for misrepresentation.
3. When a refund or correction may be available
You may ask us to review an Order where: (a) you were charged twice or in error for the same thing; (b) you paid but the document was never made accessible to your account; (c) the file is corrupted, unreadable or materially unusable in the advertised supported format; (d) the document is materially different from its description or preview; or (e) the law requires a remedy for another reason.
Where our investigation confirms a problem under (a) to (e), and it was not caused by your device, software, connection, account settings or actions, we will provide a remedy. We choose the remedy, which may be a technical fix, corrected access, replacement with the same promised version, restoration of credits, or a refund. Where the law requires a refund in money, or requires your agreement before we offer credits instead, we will act accordingly. Any other request is decided at our discretion. Minor formatting differences, differences of opinion about quality, teaching approach or usefulness, and content you could reasonably have assessed from the listing or preview are not material differences.
4. Requesting review
From your account. In My Library, under Orders, choose Problem with this order? next to the Order. This opens a refund review request, where you choose the reason that fits best and describe the problem. Only completed Orders can be reviewed, and each Order can have one open request at a time.
By email. You may instead email [email protected] with the registered account email, Order reference, document link and a concise description, with screenshots or error details if useful.
A request is a review, not an automatic refund. Our finance team reviews each request and approves or declines it, and we email you when it has been reviewed. If we decline, we tell you why in a short note. For efficient resolution, we request contact within 7 calendar days of discovering a problem; that is an administrative preference and not a deadline that removes mandatory rights or bars a genuine defect claim. Do not send full card details or passwords. We aim to respond within 2–3 business days, although response times may vary. We may ask you for diagnostics, files or other evidence, and review the listing, entitlement and payment records; if you do not provide what we reasonably ask for, we may close the request. Our decision on a request is final, subject to your mandatory rights and your rights with your payment provider.
5. Cash refunds
Where we approve a refund of an Order paid in money, we refund it, at our choice and where the law allows, to the original payment method or as Premium Credits to your account. Where the law requires a refund in money, or requires your agreement before we refund in Premium Credits, we refund to the original payment method when technically possible, subject to lawful alternatives and provider rules. Card refunds are processed through the card payment provider; M-Pesa refunds are sent manually by our finance team. Processing and bank posting times vary, and no refund completion time is guaranteed. A refund does not exceed the amount paid for the Order. Taxes, shipping (not ordinarily applicable to digital files), payment-provider charges and any currency-conversion differences are handled according to applicable law and the original transaction, and to the extent permitted by law we do not reimburse provider charges or currency differences. An approved refund ends the related document entitlement, and you must delete any copies you downloaded.
6. Purchases using Premium Credits
Where an eligible PC-funded document purchase is reversed, we restore the quantity of PC used for it to your account rather than convert PC to cash. Restored PC are added as a new credit balance and follow the terms shown in your account; Zikaya may set or extend their validity at its discretion, subject to applicable law. A cash refund for purchased credits or a subscription is different from restoring credits spent on a document and is addressed in sections 8 and 9.
7. Community Credit unlocks
CC are earned noncash rewards with no cash value. Where we confirm a technical error, mistaken debit or failure to provide the agreed Community document, we may restore the affected CC. CC unlocks do not generate cash payments to creators and do not produce cash refunds. Abuse-related reversals of incorrectly earned CC are separate from buyer transaction corrections.
8. Recurring subscriptions and cancellation
The proposed Premium plans are Monthly $14.99 / 140 PC; Quarterly $29.99 / 280 PC; and Annual $59.99 / 550 PC. When activated, each is a recurring automatically renewing plan. Checkout will state the full price, interval, renewal and cancellation terms and obtain any consent required by law. You may cancel future renewal through the online billing section; cancellation prevents subsequent renewal charges but does not refund a correctly billed current period. Premium plan payments are non-refundable except as stated in this Policy or required by law. A plan payment whose Premium Credits have been partly used is not refundable except where the law requires. If we refund a plan payment, the Premium Credits granted for that period are withdrawn. This section does not affect mandatory cooling-off, renewal-error, unauthorized-charge, notice or other consumer remedies. Confirmed subscription PC expire at the conclusion of the paid subscription term for which they were granted, as disclosed at checkout and subject to law. Documents already acquired remain accessible, subject to this Policy, the Terms of Service and standard lawful exceptions.
9. Top-ups, promotions and unused credits
Separately purchased PC top-ups do not expire just because a subscription ends and remain associated with an eligible active account, subject to lawful restrictions. Top-up packages, dollar amounts, bonuses and any fixed PC-to-dollar conversion are not finalized by this Policy; only actual checkout offers are binding. Promotional credits can carry clearly stated special rules. Premium Credits are non-refundable and cannot be withdrawn as money, except as stated in this Policy or required by law. A top-up whose Premium Credits have been partly used is not refundable except where the law requires; if we refund a top-up, the Premium Credits it granted are withdrawn. Subscription PC and top-up PC are tracked separately, as shown in your account, and top-up PC do not lapse under the shorter subscription term.
10. Removal of a document
We may disable a document for copyright, privacy, safety, fraud or other legal reasons, including where it was previously purchased. A rights-based takedown is not itself a finding that any buyer is entitled to a cash refund. Contact support for review; we decide any access remedy based on the actual cause, the transaction and applicable law, subject to your mandatory rights. Prior entitlement and payment records may be retained for audit and dispute purposes even where delivery stops.
11. Chargebacks and payment disputes
Please contact support first so we can attempt to resolve an issue. You keep any legal right to dispute an unauthorized or incorrect charge with your payment provider, and using that right in good faith does not by itself breach this Policy. We may present transaction, access and download records during provider investigations. While a payment is disputed or reversed, we may suspend access to the related documents, hold related creator earnings and limit purchases on your account. If a dispute is decided in our favor, or you dispute a charge for an Order you received as described or after we have already refunded it, any amount reversed is a debt you owe Zikaya, together with provider dispute fees where the law allows.
12. Effect of a refund
Valid reversals may result in cash reimbursement, restoration of eligible credits, suspension or revocation of the associated document entitlement, withdrawal of Premium Credits granted by a refunded plan payment or top-up, reversal of creator earnings and corresponding ledger records. Adjustments are recorded as new entries; earlier records are not changed. Each request is decided on its own facts, and no particular outcome is guaranteed beyond your mandatory rights.
13. Misuse of refunds and chargebacks
We may refuse a refund, limit refunds, purchases or downloads, suspend or close your account, and recover amounts you owe where we reasonably believe you have misused refunds or payment disputes, for example by making repeated, false or exaggerated claims, keeping or sharing copies of refunded documents, or disputing charges you authorized. To the extent permitted by law, we may recover any amount you owe us under this Policy by deducting it from your Premium Credits or creator earnings, or by asking you to repay it. Where the law requires, we will give you notice and reasons for these actions.
14. Our records
Our payment, entitlement, access, download and credit records determine whether and when an Order was paid, delivered, accessed or downloaded, and the amounts involved, unless they contain an obvious error. If you believe a record is wrong, tell support and we will review it.
15. Liability
The disclaimers and limits of liability in the Terms of Service apply to purchases and refunds. To the extent permitted by law, the remedies in this Policy are your only remedies for a problem with an Order, and Zikaya is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from an Order, including lost time, lost study opportunities or academic results. Nothing in this Policy limits liability for fraud or wilful misconduct, or any liability or right that cannot be limited by law.
16. Changes and precedence
We may change this Policy. Changes apply only to Orders made after they take effect, and we will give notice of material changes as the Terms of Service describe. If this Policy and the Terms of Service conflict about purchases, credits or refunds, this Policy applies; terms shown at checkout for a specific Order apply to that Order. The governing-law and disputes provisions of the Terms of Service apply to this Policy.
17. Contact
General purchase, subscription or refund inquiries: [email protected] Formal copyright notices: Copyright Policy reporting procedure