Refund Policy
Invariance, sole proprietorship (ditta individuale) of Philipp Gurndin, Via Max Valier 20 int. 012, 39100 Bolzano (BZ), Italy. contact@invariance.co, +39 350 0404 001, invariance.co This policy states when a payment made to Invariance is refunded and when it is not. It applies to all services and products supplied by Invariance. The provisions for business clients and the provisions for consumers are separate regimes. Only one of them applies to any given contract. Mandatory statutory rights that cannot be excluded by agreement remain unaffected.
Scope and who this applies to
A business client is a customer who concludes the contract in the course of its business or professional activity. A consumer is a natural person who concludes the contract outside such an activity (Codice del Consumo, D.Lgs. 206/2005). Bespoke software development, automation, internal systems, integration, maintenance and ongoing operation are supplied to business clients only. Standard products, such as the desktop dictation application typeout, are supplied as a download or licence and are available to consumers. The sections headed for business clients apply to business clients only. The sections headed for consumers apply to consumers only. The general provisions and the provisions on procedure, payment disputes and applicable law apply to both.
The principle: work performed is not refundable
Invariance supplies services that are performed to order and digital products that are delivered immediately. Work that has been performed cannot be returned. It is therefore not refundable. There is no goodwill refund, no trial period, no satisfaction guarantee and no refund for a change of mind. In particular, none of the following is a ground for a refund: a change in the client's plans or priorities, an internal reorganisation, the loss of funding, a change of personnel, the client's own failure to cooperate or to supply agreed material, information or access, or the client deciding after delivery that it no longer wants the result. Refunds are made in the cases set out below and in the cases required by mandatory law, and in no others.
Business clients: cancellation before work begins
The client may cancel a confirmed order in writing before work on that order has begun. In that case a deposit already paid is refunded, less third-party costs already committed for the client and less any preparatory work already carried out and invoiced. Work is deemed to have begun on the earlier of the agreed start date and the day on which the first task under the order is performed. Invariance states that date on request before cancellation.
Business clients: stopping a project in progress
The client may stop a project at any time by written notice. Work performed up to the effective date of the notice is invoiced, together with all third-party costs already committed. Any amount already paid that exceeds the value delivered is refunded. Invariance points out expressly that the law entitles it to more. Where performance is prevented or the project is discontinued for reasons on the client's side, Invariance retains under Italian law the claim to the full agreed fee, less only the expenses saved and less anything actually earned, or deliberately not earned, by employing the released capacity elsewhere. That entitlement is reserved and may be invoked, in particular where capacity was reserved for a fixed period and cannot be filled at short notice. The settlement described in the first two paragraphs is what Invariance applies in practice, as the more moderate outcome.
Business clients: deposits and third-party costs
A deposit secures a delivery slot. Once capacity has been reserved or work has been scheduled, the deposit is not refundable, because the reserved period cannot be resold at short notice. The deposit is consideration for that reserved capacity and is set off against the agreed fee. It is not a penalty. Third-party costs committed for the client, including licences, subscriptions, domains, certificates, infrastructure and API credits, are not refundable by Invariance. Where such a cost is in fact refunded to Invariance by the third party, the amount actually received is passed on to the client.
Business clients: retainers, support and hosting
Retainers, support agreements, maintenance and hosting are billed monthly in advance. They may be terminated in accordance with the agreed notice period. There is no pro rata refund for a month that has already begun. Capacity or hours included in a period and not used are not refunded and do not carry over into the following period. What is paid for is availability, not consumption.
Business clients: defects and failed delivery
The statutory warranty applies to defects present at handover. The client shall examine the delivery immediately and shall notify defects immediately and in writing, described in a reproducible manner. Defects not notified in this way are forfeited, and no refund may be based on them afterwards. The warranty period for deliveries to business clients is shortened by agreement to twelve months from handover. The primary remedy is improvement. Invariance is entitled to remedy a notified defect within a reasonable period. Only where improvement has failed twice, is refused, or is impossible or disproportionate may the client demand a reduction of the fee. Rescission of the affected part of the contract, with refund of the fee attributable to that part, is available only for a material defect that substantially impairs the agreed use. Defects that do not substantially impair use do not entitle the client to withhold payment. Set-off against claims of Invariance is excluded unless the counterclaim has been established by a court or is undisputed. The following are not defects: deviation from requirements that were never agreed in writing, faults caused by changes made by the client or by a third party, faults in third-party components or services, and faults caused by operation outside the agreed environment.
Consumers: right of withdrawal for digital products
Products such as typeout are digital content that is not supplied on a physical medium. At the point of purchase Invariance obtains the consumer's express consent to begin performance before the withdrawal period has expired, together with the consumer's acknowledgement that the right of withdrawal is thereby lost, and confirms this to the consumer on a durable medium. Where that consent has been given and download or activation has begun, the right of withdrawal lapses under the distance-contract provisions of the Codice del Consumo (artt. 45-67 D.Lgs. 206/2005). From that point there is no withdrawal and no refund. Where that consent was not given, or where delivery has not yet begun, the consumer retains the statutory right to withdraw within fourteen days without giving reasons. Withdrawal is declared to contact@invariance.co, and payments received are refunded. Once the product has been delivered on the basis of the consent described above, the purchase price is not refunded, irrespective of the extent to which the product is subsequently used.
Consumers: statutory warranty
The statutory warranty for digital content and digital services applies and is neither excluded nor shortened. It runs for two years from delivery; where digital content is supplied continuously, it applies for the duration of the supply. Where the product deviates from what is owed, the consumer is first entitled to have it brought into conformity, by improvement or by replacement, within a reasonable period and without significant inconvenience. Invariance chooses between improvement and replacement. A reduction of the price, or rescission of the contract with refund of the corresponding amount, may be demanded where bringing the product into conformity fails, is refused, is impossible or is disproportionate, or where the defect is so serious that immediate reduction or rescission is justified. A minor defect that does not impair the use of the product does not give a right to rescind the contract.
Consumers: system requirements and subscriptions
The system requirements of each product are published before purchase. Consumers are asked to check them before buying and, where a trial version is offered, to use it. No refund is given because the product does not run on hardware or on a version of an operating system that does not meet the published requirements, or because a required third-party service is unavailable to the customer, or because the customer's network or security configuration prevents operation. This is not a defect of the product. Subscriptions may be cancelled at any time with effect for the end of the current billing period, and remain usable until then. The fee for the current period is not refunded, and no refund is given for periods in which the product was not used.
How a refund is requested
A refund request is made in writing to contact@invariance.co. It must state the invoice number, the date of payment and a specific reason, and in the case of a defect a reproducible description of it. Invariance answers in writing within fourteen days of receipt. An approved refund is paid by bank transfer to the account from which the payment was made, within fourteen days of the approval. Refunds are not made in cash and not to a third-party account. Refunds are net of third-party costs already committed and, to the extent lawful, net of non-refundable transaction fees charged by payment providers. Where the payment provider returns its fee, that amount is passed on. This section does not create a right to a refund. It describes the procedure for the cases in which this policy or mandatory law provides one.
Payment disputes and chargebacks
The customer shall contact Invariance at contact@invariance.co before initiating a chargeback, a payment reversal or a dispute with a payment provider or card issuer, so that the matter can be examined. Most disputes are settled faster this way. A chargeback initiated without justification is a breach of contract. Invariance reserves the right to claim payment of the disputed amount and to recover the costs caused by it, including fees charged by the payment provider and costs of collection. While a chargeback or payment dispute is pending, Invariance may suspend the account, the licence and the affected services until the matter has been resolved. Access is restored once payment has been settled.
Applicable law, disputes and dispute resolution
Italian law applies (Codice Civile), excluding its conflict of law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For contracts with business clients, the exclusive place of jurisdiction is the court with subject matter jurisdiction in Bolzano, Italy (Foro di Bolzano). For consumers, the mandatory protective provisions of the law of the state of habitual residence and the statutory rules on jurisdiction remain unaffected. The choice of law does not deprive a consumer of that protection. The online dispute resolution platform of the European Commission at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr was discontinued in 2025. Complaints may be sent at any time to contact@invariance.co. Invariance is neither obliged nor willing to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board. If a provision of this policy is or becomes invalid, the remaining provisions remain unaffected. In place of an invalid provision, the statutory rule applies.