Refund and cancellation policy
How deposits, cancellations, rescheduling, and partial refunds work for DataCluster Advisory engagements.
Scope
This policy covers consulting engagements with DataCluster Advisory: supply chain resilience reviews, vendor planning workshops, and advisory retainers. It does not cover products, shipping, or software licences because we do not sell those.
Booking deposits
Reviews and workshops usually require a 40% deposit to reserve dates. Deposits are credited against the final invoice. Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance.
Full refunds
You may receive a full refund of fees paid (including deposit) if you cancel in writing more than fourteen days before the agreed start date for a review or workshop, and before we have begun substantive document review or interview scheduling.
Partial refunds
If you cancel between fourteen and five days before the start date, we retain 40% of the agreed fee to cover preparation already underway and release the remainder of any amount paid. Cancellations inside five days, or after interviews or on-site work have begun, are generally non-refundable for work already performed; unused future days may be credited at our discretion.
Non-refundable items
- Time already spent on document review, interviews, travel booked at your request, or findings drafting
- Third-party costs you approved in writing (for example venue hire for a workshop)
- Completed monthly retainer periods
Rescheduling
You may reschedule a workshop or review once without charge if you give at least seven days’ notice and we have capacity within sixty days. Further reschedules may incur a £150 administration fee.
No-shows
If key participants do not attend a scheduled workshop without notice, the session fee remains payable. We will offer one short remote catch-up (up to one hour) to salvage notes where practical.
Retainers
Monthly retainer fees are non-refundable once a month has begun. You may end a retainer with thirty days’ written notice after the three-month minimum. Prepaid months beyond the notice period are refunded.
Work already started
If a resilience review is cancelled mid-stream, we invoice for completed stages (scoping, evidence gathering, partial synthesis) at the rates in the scoping note and refund any unused prepaid balance.
Refund method and timing
Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method within fourteen working days of written approval. Contact hello@datacluster-core.digital or 070 1793 1588 to request a refund review, including your engagement reference and reason.