Refund & Cancellation Policy

This policy covers two different kinds of payment made through Zyba, which are treated differently: (1) money a guest pays a venue through Zyba (for a meal, a room, an experience), and (2) a venue’s subscription to Zyba. Amounts are in Zambian Kwacha (ZMW). Payment is mobile-money first, with card also supported.

When you pay through Zyba

Where you pay through Zyba, Zyba is the seller of record — Zyba buys the meal, room, activity or goods from the venue and sells them to you. Two separate agreements are formed: the booking, between you and Zyba, covers the price, cancellation and refunds, and refunds under it are Zyba’s decision and follow this policy — contact Zyba, not the venue. The service itself — the room, the vehicle, the meal, house rules, damage and any deposit taken when you arrive — is a separate agreement between you and the venue, and those terms are shown to you before you pay.

What we generally apply:

• Orders: a full refund before your order is prepared; at our discretion once it is being made; no refund once it has been served or collected.
• Bookings & reservations: the cancellation window shown to you at the time of booking applies. It is displayed before you pay and recorded with your booking.

Some listings on Zyba are discovery only — you pay the venue directly and Zyba never handles the money. This policy does not apply to those; the venue’s own terms do.

How a refund reaches you

• Card: refunded to the card you paid with, through the payment gateway, typically within a few business days (subject to your bank).
• Mobile money: mobile money cannot be “reversed” like a card, so a refund is sent as a new transfer to the number that paid. It can take longer, and — because a mobile-money transfer carries its own fee and the statutory transfer levy — the amount returned may be net of that refund-side fee. Keep the phone number you paid from handy.

Partial refunds (for example, one item removed from a bill) are supported. The original transaction fee charged when you paid is not returned.

Card disputes (chargebacks)

If you paid by card, you retain any dispute rights your bank or card network provides, independent of this policy. We ask that you contact Zyba first — most issues are resolved faster that way.

For venues

You control refunds for your guests from your dashboard. When you issue a refund, Zyba’s commission on that payment is returned to you in proportion to the amount refunded — we don’t keep a cut of money you give back. Note that the underlying payment-provider fee and mobile-money levy paid when the guest first paid are not recoverable, and a mobile-money refund incurs a fresh transfer fee/levy; these are a cost of the refunded sale.

Zyba is the seller of record on the booking, so a card chargeback or a payment that reverses or fails to clear after the guest paid is Zyba’s to carry, not deducted from your payout after the fact — see Terms of Service for how the reserve and set-off mechanism works. You are still responsible for a refund you owe because a booking wasn’t honoured, and for setting and honouring a clear refund/cancellation policy with your guests for the service you deliver.

Zyba subscriptions

Subscription fees for the current billing cycle are non-refundable. Because we bill by invoice and a payment prompt — never a silent auto-charge — you cancel simply by not paying the next invoice; there is nothing to “unsubscribe” from and no stored card to stop. For annual plans, any refund of unused months is at Zyba’s discretion.

Contact

Guests: please contact the venue you paid. Venues, or anyone who can’t reach a venue: get in touch.