FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Detailed practical answers about how ACTS services work, including fees, payments, cancellations, refunds, project changes, third-party costs, responsibilities, and service boundaries.
Important: This FAQ explains ACTS working rules in plain language. Your project-specific Service Confirmation / Quotation controls the exact scope, fee, payment schedule, assumptions, and exclusions for your job, subject to mandatory law.
Starting a service
Does sending a website form create a service contract?
No. A website form, follow-up form, email, WhatsApp message, or other inquiry starts a review process only. ACTS may then issue a written Service Confirmation / Quotation if the request is suitable.
What is a Service Confirmation / Quotation?
It is the written project-specific document that confirms the agreed scope, ACTS fee, payment schedule, working timing, exclusions, assumptions, and other project details.
When does paid work start?
Paid work starts only after the exact Service Confirmation / Quotation is explicitly accepted in writing, the required payment is received, and the reasonably required starting information or documents are available. Payment alone, silence, an ambiguous reply, or an unattributed phone conversation is not treated as acceptance.
Can a project-specific Service Confirmation change a standard commercial detail?
Yes. If a Service Confirmation clearly changes a commercial detail for that particular job, the project-specific written detail controls for that point, subject to mandatory law.
What if my request needs more assessment before a wider service can be quoted?
ACTS may recommend a Starter Review first. It is a structured paid review used to clarify the request, identify important gaps or risks, and recommend the most suitable next step before wider sourcing or coordination work begins.
Fees and payments
What do ACTS fees cover?
ACTS fees cover ACTS services within the confirmed written scope. Supplier payments, freight, customs or broker charges, duties, taxes, testing, inspection, certification, insurance, storage, banking charges, local transport, and other third-party costs remain separate unless the Service Confirmation clearly says otherwise.
Who normally pays suppliers, freight companies, brokers, and other third parties?
The client normally pays the relevant third-party provider directly. ACTS does not normally advance those funds.
Can ACTS advance money or pay a third party for me?
Only if a separate written arrangement is specifically approved. It is not part of the normal ACTS service model.
Does ACTS add hidden markups to third-party costs?
No hidden markup should be added. If an ACTS administration fee is connected with arranging a third-party service, that ACTS fee should be disclosed in advance.
How does the Starter Review fee work?
Starter Review starts from 450 MAD and is paid upfront. If you continue with an eligible advanced ACTS service, the Starter Review amount is credited once toward the first eligible advanced ACTS service fee. It is not credited toward supplier, freight, customs, testing, banking, broker, or other third-party costs.
Can freight, duties, exchange rates, or other external costs change after a quote?
Yes. Third-party prices, exchange rates, freight charges, duties, taxes, and similar external costs can change. When a material-change threshold stated in the Service Confirmation is reached, ACTS should seek fresh client approval before proceeding.
Does having several product groups automatically multiply every ACTS service fee?
No. Fees are based on the confirmed project scope and complexity, not automatically multiplied just because several product groups are involved. If the number of product groups materially increases the work, ACTS may issue a revised scope and/or fee before continuing.
Scope, timing, and project changes
What happens if I change the product, quantity, destination, sourcing criteria, logistics requirements, or compliance requirements?
If an important part of the agreed scope changes, ACTS may pause the added work and issue a revised scope and/or fee before continuing.
Are working timelines guaranteed?
No. ACTS can use reasonable efforts to meet working targets stated in the Service Confirmation, but supplier response times, carrier schedules, customs or authority decisions, laboratory or certification timing, and other third-party events are outside ACTS control.
What if important information or documents are missing?
The client is responsible for providing accurate, complete, and timely information and documents. Missing or incorrect information can delay, limit, or prevent the work from moving forward.
Can ACTS continue with extra work that was not in the confirmed scope?
Not automatically. Material added work should be clarified and, where needed, covered by a revised written scope and/or fee before ACTS continues.
Who is responsible for approvals and decisions during the project?
The client remains responsible for required decisions, approvals, and payments, including final supplier selection, purchasing decisions, freight choices, broker instructions, and payment decisions.
Cancellation, refunds, pauses, and reactivation
Can I cancel an ACTS service?
Yes. The client may cancel by clear written notice.
What happens if I cancel before ACTS has materially started a fixed-fee service?
The ACTS fee is normally refundable, except for any approved non-recoverable amount already firmly committed, subject to mandatory law.
What happens if I cancel after work has materially started?
The amount fairly attributable to work already performed or firmly committed is earned, subject to mandatory law. Any remaining treatment depends on the confirmed service structure and documented commitments.
How does cancellation work for Full Import Support?
Completed or materially started milestones are earned. Future unpaid milestones are not due. Prepaid future work that has not started is normally refundable, subject to mandatory law and documented non-recoverable commitments.
What if I paid a third party and then cancel the project?
Any refund from a supplier, carrier, broker, inspector, laboratory, bank, or other third party remains subject to that third party’s own rules and refund terms.
Can I pause a project?
A case may normally pause for up to 30 days without a new ACTS fee. Longer inactivity may require a readiness review before the work restarts.
What happens if I stop responding for a long time?
After 60 days without meaningful client response, ACTS may administratively close or archive the case. A later restart may require updated checks or a new quotation.
Third parties, responsibilities, and ACTS boundaries
Does ACTS act as the importer of record?
No. Under the current ACTS service model, ACTS is not the importer of record, customs broker or declarant, carrier, freight forwarder, insurer, manufacturer, inspection body, certification authority, supplier guarantor, or legal, tax, or customs adviser.
Does ACTS buy goods in its own name or sign contracts for the client?
No. Under the current ACTS service model, ACTS does not buy goods in its own name, sign contracts in the client’s name, or physically transport, store, insure, or inspect goods.
Does ACTS handle customs clearance?
ACTS can help organize shipment information and coordinate the handoff to an appropriate customs broker or other specialist, but ACTS does not replace the customs broker, customs declarant, or customs authority.
Does ACTS inspect product quality itself?
Not as an independent inspection body. ACTS may help coordinate inspections or review available information, but independent inspection or testing remains the responsibility of the relevant specialist provider.
Who makes the final supplier and purchasing decisions?
The client does. ACTS can research, compare, organize information, and make recommendations within the agreed scope, but the client keeps final commercial decision control.
Guarantees and outcomes
Does ACTS guarantee that a supplier will perform correctly?
No. ACTS does not guarantee supplier reliability, supplier performance, or product quality.
Does ACTS guarantee customs classification, duties, taxes, or clearance?
No. ACTS does not guarantee an exact customs classification, exact duty or tax treatment, customs clearance, or authority decisions. Specialist or authority confirmation may be required.
Does ACTS guarantee regulatory approval, testing, inspection, or certification outcomes?
No. Regulatory, testing, inspection, certification, and authority outcomes depend on the relevant product, documents, specialists, laboratories, certification bodies, and authorities.
Does ACTS guarantee freight timing or a delivery date?
No. Carrier schedules, port operations, customs, inspections, weather, third parties, and other events can affect timing.
Does ACTS guarantee the final landed cost or commercial success of the project?
No. ACTS can organize estimates and cost information, but it does not guarantee the final landed cost, exchange-rate outcome, budget sufficiency, margin, or overall commercial success.
Privacy, digital tools, and human control
How does ACTS handle personal and business information?
ACTS handles personal and business information according to the applicable Privacy Notice and Moroccan data-protection requirements.
Does ACTS use AI or automation?
ACTS may use digital automation and AI-assisted tools to organize, classify, summarize, calculate, compare, research, and draft internal work.
Does AI make purchases, payments, refunds, or legal commitments for me?
No. External communications, purchases, payments, bookings, refunds, legal commitments, and other consequential actions remain subject to the applicable human and client approval process.
Does ACTS put every document into an AI system?
The working rule is minimum necessary use. Sensitive or unrelated information should not be placed into model context simply because it exists in the client file.
Complaints and practical follow-up
What should I do if I have a complaint or disagree with how a service was handled?
Contact ACTS in writing with the relevant project reference and a clear description of the issue. ACTS should review the Service Confirmation, acceptance evidence, payments, communications, approvals, and work performed and provide a written response or proposed resolution where appropriate.
How are refund disputes, legal threats, liability claims, or settlement proposals handled?
These matters require human review and approval rather than automatic handling.
What happens after I submit a new request?
ACTS reviews the information, identifies important gaps or risks, and recommends the most appropriate next step. If more detail is needed, ACTS may ask for follow-up information before confirming a paid scope or quotation.
What type of request is usually a good fit for ACTS?
ACTS is best suited to business-focused sourcing or import projects where the client wants structured coordination, clearer comparisons, better document visibility, and a defined next step.
Where can I ask a question that is not answered here?
Use the Contact page or email contact@atlasconnecttrade.com. For a new sourcing or import request, use the Start request form.
NEXT STEP
Still have a question before you move forward?
Tell ACTS what you are trying to do and where the uncertainty is. We can help clarify the most appropriate next step before paid work begins.