Refund Policy
LEGAL BASIS
This policy is based on:
- The Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2023 (Luật Bảo vệ quyền lợi người tiêu dùng 2023), including Article 16 on standard transaction terms and Article 23 on liability for damages;
- Commercial Law 2005 (Articles 40–48 on the quality of goods and services and the parties' obligations);
- the E-Commerce Law 2025 (Luật Thương mại điện tử 2025, Law No. 122/2025/QH15, effective 1 July 2026) on the responsibilities of organizations and individuals in e-commerce and on consumer protection on digital platforms;
- Civil Code 2015 (Articles 351–360 on liability for breach of obligations);
- Tax Administration Law 2025 (Luật số 108/2025/QH15);
- Decree 254/2026/NĐ-CP and Circular 91/2026/TT-BTC on e-invoices and electronic records (applicable when an adjusting invoice is issued for a refund);
- Decision No. 4567/QD-VBPL dated 01/06/2026 issuing the company's Legal Compliance Framework.
This policy forms an integral part of Terms of Service and applies alongside Payment policy. Terms not defined in this Policy have the meaning given in the Terms of Service.
PART I – GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND SCOPE
Article 1. Refund commitment
1.1. HiTechCloud is committed to handling refund requests fairly, transparently and in accordance with the law. This policy sets out in full which cases qualify for a refund, which do not, the process followed and the applicable deadlines.
1.2. HiTechCloud respects consumer rights under the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2023 (Luật Bảo vệ quyền lợi người tiêu dùng 2023), including the right to be given accurate information, the right to claim compensation, and the right to complain and bring legal action as provided by law.
Article 2. Scope of application
2.1. This policy applies to all services provided by HiTechCloud, except those expressly listed as non-refundable in Article 5.
2.2. This policy applies to individual and business Customers who purchase services directly at hitechcloud.vn and photuesoftware.com.
PART II – REFUND ELIGIBILITY
Article 3. Cases eligible for a full (100%) refund
3.1. Customers receive a 100% refund in the following cases:
- Case 1 – the service is not activated within 24 hours: The Customer has paid but the service has not been activated within 24 working hours because of a HiTechCloud technical fault. Claim window: within 72 hours of the scheduled activation time.
- Case 2 – 7-day trial guarantee (new hosting services): The Customer is signing up for a Shared Hosting or WordPress Hosting plan for the first time; the request is made within the first 7 days; and no more than 20% of the resources have been used. Not applicable to domains, SSL, Cloud AI services or VPS/Cloud Server.
- Case 3 – Prolonged serious service failure: The Service is continuously unavailable for ≥ 72 hours for reasons other than a force majeure event and HiTechCloud is unable to remedy it, counted from the time the Customer reports the incident. The specific level of compensation follows the commitment set out in the SLA Appendix.
- Case 4 – Duplicate payment: The system billed the same transaction twice; bank transaction evidence is required.
- Case 5 – HiTechCloud unilaterally terminates the service: HiTechCloud discontinues a service for business reasons (not because of a breach by the Customer), in accordance with Article 26 of the Terms of Service; refunded pro rata for the unused period.
Article 4. Pro-rated refunds
4.1. Pro-rated refunds apply in the following cases: (a) service plan upgrade — the unused fee from the previous plan is credited to the account; (b) service plan downgrade (where permitted) — the fee difference is calculated based on the days remaining in the billing cycle; (c) early termination by mutual agreement of both parties under special conditions.
4.2. Formula: Refund = (term fee × unused days) ÷ total days in the term, less any non-recoverable costs (domain fees and third-party registration fees already incurred).
Article 5. Cases NOT eligible for a refund
5.1. No refund is given in the following cases:
(a) Domains already registered or renewed (per ICANN and VNNIC rules);
(b) The SSL certificate has already been issued by the certificate authority (CA);
(c) Cloud AI/MaaS services where API calls have been consumed (charged on actual usage);
(d) Renewal fees where the renewal succeeded and the service is operating normally;
(e) The service is terminated because the Customer breached Article 7 of the Terms of Service (prohibited conduct);
(f) Special or promotional plans explicitly marked “non-refundable”;
(g) Initial setup/installation fees already incurred;
(h) The service is more than 30 days past the payment date (except in the special cases in Article 3).
5.2. A refusal to refund under Article 5 does not limit consumer rights under mandatory provisions of law; where the law affords consumers greater protection, the law prevails.
PART III – REFUND REQUEST PROCESS
Article 6. Request submission process
6.1. Steps:
- Step 1: Sign in to the management portal at hitechcloud.vn or send an email to hoadon@photuesoftware.com with the subject line “YÊU CẦU HOÀN TIỀN – [Số hóa đơn]”.
- Step 2: Provide: account name, invoice number, service type, the amount claimed, the specific reason and supporting evidence (if any).
- Step 3: HiTechCloud acknowledges receipt of the request within 1 working day.
- Step 4: Reviewed and decided within 5 business days.
- Step 5: Notify the outcome and issue the refund within 7–15 working days.
6.2. When issuing a refund, HiTechCloud issues an adjustment/cancellation invoice under Decree 254/2026/NĐ-CP (Nghị định 254/2026/NĐ-CP) and Circular 91/2026/TT-BTC (Thông tư 91/2026/TT-BTC) on electronic invoices and records. Refund records are retained in accordance with the Accounting Law 2015 (Luật Kế toán 2015) and the Law on Tax Administration 2025 (Luật Quản lý thuế 2025).
Article 7. Refund methods
7.1. Refund via the original payment method:
- Domestic bank cards: refunded to the original account within 5–10 working days;
- E-wallets (MoMo, VNPay, ZaloPay): refunded to the original wallet within 3–5 working days;
- Bank transfer: refunded to the account the Customer provides within 5–7 working days;
- Account credit: applied immediately and usable against your next service.
7.2. HiTechCloud does not issue refunds in cash or by any method other than the original payment method, unless the original method is unavailable.
Article 8. Refund dispute resolution
8.1. If the Customer disagrees with a refund decision, they may, in order:
(a) Submit a level-2 complaint per Complaint and dispute resolution process within 15 days;
(b) Contact a consumer protection organization (for example the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association / VINASTAS) for advice and mediation support;
(c) Complaints to National Competition Commission (Ministry of Industry and Trade) — the state authority for consumer protection, or through the online complaint intake and resolution system of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
(d) Request mediation or arbitration, or bring an action before the Court, under the Dispute Resolution section of the Terms of Service and applicable law.
This Policy takes effect on 01/07/2026 and replaces all previous versions. The Policy is drafted in Vietnamese; the Vietnamese version prevails.
