Refund and Cancellation Policy
Last updated: August 2026
This policy explains how cancellation and refunds work at Sphin Media: how to cancel an order, a project, or a retainer, what you can recover at each stage of the work, and how a refund is worked out when you are paying by instalments.
1. What this policy covers
This policy applies to purchases made from Sphin Media, the studio brand operated by Assur Media, a UAE Free Zone Company registered under the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park Free Zone Authority, Registration No. 9978. Assur Media is the contracting party, and all commercial and legal correspondence is issued under Assur Media.
It covers two kinds of purchase, each with its own refund stages and cancellation terms.
Standalone Projects. A Standalone Project is any purchase that is not a retainer. This includes Launch packages and individual projects such as a Brand Build, a Website Build, or a Short-Form Video Pack. This applies in any service tier: Entry, Professional, or Premium.
Retainers. Retainers are the Growth and Complete monthly engagements. They are never Standalone Projects.
Standalone Projects are paid in full at order, or at contract signing on the consultation path, unless you use the payment plan described below. Retainers are billed monthly in advance, with a minimum three-month term.
The refund stages below describe how much of your payment is refundable at each point in the work. The cancellation terms describe how you can cancel, and what happens when you do. The stages are written as clear, named stages because what you can recover depends on how far the work has progressed.
This does not remove any right you have as a consumer that cannot be removed by agreement. Where the law of your market gives you a statutory right that applies and cannot be waived, for example a return, withdrawal, or cancellation right, that right applies in addition to this page.
2. The confirmation phase: cancel before any work begins
Every direct order goes through a confirmation phase before any work begins. Within one Business Day of your order, a Sphin Media strategist reviews the brief and confirms the scope with you. A Business Day is any day other than a Friday, a Saturday, or a public holiday in the United Arab Emirates. You can proceed as ordered, adjust the scope, or cancel. Sphin Media may also decline to proceed, in which case you receive a refund of all amounts you have paid.
3. The payment plan
Where the payment plan is offered at checkout, you can pay for a Standalone Project with a deposit at order followed by weekly instalments. The deposit and the number of instalments are set by the value of your order.
| Order value | Deposit at order | Then | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below USD 1,500 | Paid in full | Not available | |
| USD 1,500 to 2,499 | 50 per cent | 2 payments of 25 per cent | Weekly |
| USD 2,500 to 4,999 | 40 per cent | 3 payments of 20 per cent | Weekly |
| USD 5,000 and above | 30 per cent | 4 payments of 17.5 per cent | Weekly |
The following rules apply to the payment plan.
It is available on Standalone Projects only. It is not available on retainers, not available on the 15 per cent advertising management fee, and not available on advertising spend.
Advertising spend is excluded from the order value used to test eligibility.
Eligibility is tested on the published price before any discount and before tax.
The payment schedule runs from the date of your order.
It is available on card payment only, where offered at checkout. Orders paid by other means are paid in full at order.
Additional revision rounds are billed separately and immediately. They do not join the payment schedule and do not retrospectively qualify an order for a payment plan.
4. Missed payments
If a scheduled payment is not received, work on your project pauses on the day the payment was due. You then have five Business Days to bring the payment up to date. If the payment is still outstanding after that period, we may cancel the order, and the refund stage current at that moment applies, using the stages in section 6. No ownership of, and no licence in, any draft, deliverable, or working file passes to you until the full price has been received in cleared funds.
5. How to cancel
You can cancel an order or a project at any time before it closes (see section 9). Cancel in writing to support@sphinmedia.com, or use your existing project channel. Your cancellation is recorded when it reaches us, so please send it in writing rather than only by telephone. Your cancellation takes effect when we receive it: work stops, and your refund is set by the stage the work has reached at that point, using the stages in sections 6 and 7.
For a retainer, month one follows the stages in section 7, and cancelling the retainer itself is covered in section 8.
Either side may also end an engagement where there is a material breach that is not remedied. Where an engagement ends, fees already earned are payable, and any refund due follows the stages in this policy.
Cancelling an order or a project is not the same as ending the Master Services Agreement. Where you have signed a Master Services Agreement, ending the agreement itself follows its terms, including written notice of not less than 30 days.
6. Refund stages for Standalone Projects
This applies to Launch packages and individual projects. Amounts you have paid, whether in full at order or as a deposit and instalments under the payment plan, are held against the stages below.
| Stage | When it applies | Refundable |
|---|---|---|
| Order placed or contract signed | Payment or deposit taken | 100% |
| Scope mutually confirmed | Both sides confirm the scope and work begins | 80% |
| Milestone 1 approved | You approve the first deliverable milestone | 50% |
| Final draft delivered | We deliver the final draft. This stage is keyed to delivery, not to your approval | 20% |
| Final approval | You approve and accept the final deliverable, or it is treated as accepted (see section 9) | 0% |
The closer the work is to finished, the less is refundable. The final-draft stage is keyed to the moment we deliver the final draft, so that refund rights are not extended by delaying approval.
How a refund works if you are on a payment plan. Where you are on a payment plan, the refund stage is applied to the full price of your order, and then netted against what you have actually paid. The percentage that is not refundable at your current stage is the amount we have earned.
Example one. Your project is USD 2,000 and you paid a 50 per cent deposit of USD 1,000. You cancel at the 80 per cent stage, so we have earned 20 per cent, which is USD 400. You paid USD 1,000, so we refund USD 600.
Example two. Your project is USD 1,500 and you paid a 50 per cent deposit of USD 750. You cancel at the 20 per cent stage, so we have earned 80 per cent, which is USD 1,200. You paid USD 750, so USD 450 remains payable and we will invoice you for it.
7. Refund stages for retainers (month one)
This applies to the first month of a Growth or Complete retainer. Retainers are signed after a consultation, so the scope is confirmed before month one is charged; that is why these stages begin at 80%. Month one is charged when the contract is signed, and held against the stages below. From month two onward, the retainer is billed monthly in advance and the minimum three-month term applies. If you are a consumer with a statutory right that cannot be waived, section 1 applies to this term as well.
| Stage | When it applies | Refundable (month one) |
|---|---|---|
| Contract signed | Month one charged | 80% |
| Strategy approved | The initial strategy and first drafts are approved | 50% |
| Month one delivered | The month-one deliverables are delivered in full | 20% |
| Month one complete | The end of month one | 0%. The minimum three-month term applies |
8. Cancelling a retainer after month one
The retainer has a minimum term of three months, running from the date both sides confirm the scope. Within that term, the retainer ends early only where there is a material breach that is not remedied, or on the lawful-use grounds in section 10. Months already billed are not refunded, and month one follows the stages in section 7. If you are a consumer with a statutory right that cannot be waived, section 1 applies to this term as well.
After the minimum term, either side may end the retainer on not less than 30 days' written notice. The retainer ends at the end of the last billed month, and monthly fees already billed are not refunded.
As an alternative to cancelling, a client in good standing can request a voluntary pause after the minimum term. The conditions, including the notice required and the maximum pause length, are set out in the Retainer Agreement.
Billing, late payment, and their consequences for a retainer are also set out in the Retainer Agreement.
9. How a project closes
A project closes, and reaches the 0% stage, when you approve and accept the final deliverable.
If we deliver the final draft, tell you that the three Business Day acceptance period has started, and do not hear from you within that period, the final draft is treated as accepted. A Business Day is any day other than a Friday, a Saturday, or a public holiday in the United Arab Emirates. At that point the project is considered closed and complete. This keeps projects from staying open indefinitely, and it is explained again in the Master Services Agreement and the Statement of Work.
10. Drafts, ownership, and protection against misuse
Approved drafts. A Milestone 1 deliverable is a draft, not a finished product. Where your engagement was paid in full at the point you asked for the refund, you may keep the approved Milestone 1 draft and still receive the 50 per cent refund available at that stage. In every other case, including any order that is part way through a payment plan, no ownership of, and no licence in, any draft, deliverable, source file, or working file passes to you until the full price has been received in cleared funds. The reason is straightforward: a concession meant for a client who has already paid for the work should not become a way of obtaining the work without paying for it. Ownership of deliverables is covered in the Usage Rights and Licensing Schedule.
Lawful use and fraud. Engaging Sphin Media is on the basis that you are acting lawfully and that any business you operate is legitimate and lawfully conducted, as set out in the Master Services Agreement. Where Sphin Media reasonably suspects, on a stated basis, that an engagement involves fraud or unlawful activity, it may end the engagement immediately, as set out in the Master Services Agreement. Where there is credible, substantiated evidence of fraud or unlawful activity connected to the engagement, Sphin Media may decline a refund that would otherwise be due.
Protection against misuse. Separately, Sphin Media may decline a refund where there is an objective, stated basis to conclude that the refund right is being used in bad faith or misused. This is a safeguard against abuse, not a general right to withhold refunds. It does not affect the refund available during the confirmation phase, and it does not remove any consumer right described in section 1 that cannot be waived.
11. How refunds are processed
Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method within 14 days of approval.
The non-refundable payment-gateway processing fee is absorbed by Sphin Media and is not deducted from refunds, so the stated stage percentages are what you receive.
13. How to reach us
| Purpose | Address |
|---|---|
| General enquiries | contact@sphinmedia.com |
| Pricing, packages, and new projects | sales@sphinmedia.com |
| Something is not working: payments, files, or access | support@sphinmedia.com |
| Cancelling an order, or requesting a refund | support@sphinmedia.com |
| Invoices, receipts, and billing details | admin@sphinmedia.com |
| Progress on work in hand | designers@assurmedia.com |
| Legal, privacy, data protection, and formal notices | legal@assurmedia.com |
All commercial and legal correspondence is issued under, and should be addressed to, Assur Media.
14. If something goes wrong
This policy is governed by the law of the United Arab Emirates. If something goes wrong, please contact us first at legal@assurmedia.com and we will try to resolve it with you directly. If we cannot, the courts of the United Arab Emirates have jurisdiction. Nothing here removes a right you have to bring a claim in your own country where the law of that country gives you that right and it cannot be waived.
Last updated: July 2026
Sphin Media is the studio brand operated by Assur Media, a UAE Free Zone Company (Registration No. 9978). All commercial and legal correspondence is issued under Assur Media.