If you are starting a new business, or you are a seasoned trader, you must meet certain legal requirements and standard business requirements. Besides financial regulations, tax obligations and employment laws you must have the basics in place to meet compliance standards.
Netcash has taken some of the pain out of getting started by creating a series of draft legal templates to assist you in saving time, money and giving guidance through the setup process.
In our efforts to support local South African SMME’s, we have created draft templates for the following pages to live on your website:
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Privacy Policy including POPIA
- Returns Policy
- Shipping and Payment Information
- Trading Terms and Conditions
Why do I need to add a ‘Return Policy’ to my website
Return policies are the rules a retailer creates to manage how customers return and exchange unwanted merchandise they purchased. A ‘return policy’ tells customers what items can be returned and for what reasons, and the timeframe over which returns are accepted.
The purpose of a ‘Return and Refund Policy’ is to inform your customers or potential customers how you handle situations where a return wants to be made and a refund is requested.
A concise and clear ‘return policy’ gives consumers a feeling of security; that what they are buying is guaranteed to be what it is represented to be. If a retailer doesn’t give this guarantee, then consumers often become suspicious and avoid buying the product.
A ‘return policy’ may include the following sections:
Returns
Inform users how many days they have to return the product and in which conditions: unopened or unused in the same packaging, and so on.
Refunds
Inform users how will they receive the refund for the product: credit on their credit/debit card or on the same original method of payment they’ve used.
Shipping
Methods used by you to deliver the order to your customer, and collect for returns.
The template – Returns Policy
This template is intended to assist you to draft your own Returns Policy page. Netcash does not provide legal advice and it is up to you to ensure that all your legal agreements comply with South African law. We highly recommend that you consult an attorney. Netcash will not be responsible for any damage that you suffer or any third party suffers relating to this template.
It is up to you to replace the words in brackets which look like this [insert words here] with the right information. Do not publish this notice without replacing all the [words in brackets].
Please delete this notice once you are finished replacing all the [words in brackets].
1. Goods that cannot be returned
Not all of our goods are able to be returned for various reasons. Goods which are:
- Perishable (they go stale / expire in 3 weeks or less) which includes food and beverages
- Unsafe to return due to health concerns (such as underwear or medicine)
- Sold by auction
- Made to your specifications
- Clearly personalized for you,
- Audio, video or computer software which you have unsealed,
- Newspapers, magazines, periodicals and books
Cannot be returned. However you can still get a refund if the goods were defective in some way (see our section on ‘defective goods’ below).
[This list is based on section 42(2) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act no. 25 of 2002 and ignores section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act no. 68 of 2008 as we have assumed all sales will be online. Delete this section if you do not supply goods.]
2. Services that cannot be returned
Not all of our services can be returned. Services which are:
- Financial services (including investment-based)
- Starting before the 7-day period expires,
- Affected by changes in financial markets (like the exchange rate)
- Lottery or gaming services,
- For accommodation, transport and leisure where we agree to provide the service on a specific date or in a specific period.
[This list is based on section 42(2) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act no. 25 of 2002 and ignores section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act no. 68 of 2008 as we have assumed all sales will be online. Delete this section if you do not supply services.]
3. Unwanted products
At [company name] we allow you to return any goods or services not mentioned in the sections above even if they are not defective if:
- They were bought in the last [7 days], and
- They are still in their original packaging (for goods), and
- They are unused,
- They still have all the accessories or parts.
After the [7 day] period you can only get a refund if the goods or services were defective.
4. Goods that were damaged on delivery
Goods that are damaged on delivery are considered to be ‘defective goods’ and the same procedure for returning them applies. See how to do that below.
5. Defective goods or services
- Electric lights that do not turn on,
- Gardening hoses that break went bent,
- Disregarding your specific instructions to sell stocks (for a financial service)
- [replace with your own examples]
- Damage due to you using the goods incorrectly or contrary to what is set out in the instructions
- Damage due to electrical surges or corrosion from sea air, or water damage where the goods are not designed for this
- Damage as a result of unauthorized changes to the goods,
- Damage due to negligence or failure to care for the goods.
- Failure to comply with the instructions of the service provider,
- Failure to provide any information on time that is necessary in order for the service to be provided.
If you receive any goods which are defective then you can return them within 6 months of delivery of those goods or services to you. While we have a standard 6-month warranty on our goods and services in some cases the warranty can be longer and this is normally stated on the goods or services when you receive them.
[The Consumer Protection Act no. 68 of 2008 at section 56 requires a supplier to provide a warranty on goods that is no less than 6 months for defective goods]
- completing the service on time (unless there is an unavoidable delay in which case the cause of the delay must be communicated to you)
- the service to be of a reasonable quality compared to what someone would ordinarily expect,
- the return of your goods in the same condition as they were received (with the exception of fair wear and tear).
Services that do not live up these requirements are considered to be ‘defective’.
[The Consumer Protection Act no. 68 of 2008 at section 54 requires a supplier to provide a quality service]
7. Charges for returns
If the goods are not defective we can charge a reasonable fee for the delivery back to us. We will not charge a fee if the goods were defective.8. Refunds
You can decide if you want a replacement good or to be refunded. If you choose to be refunded then we will refund your purchase using the same method you used to buy the goods using the Netcash payment platform although all refunds must be processing into a bank account and cannot be made in cash.Get started
The templates are available in your Netcash merchant account and can be accessed by following these simple steps:
Step 1: Log into your Netcash account.
Step 2: Navigate to the Services > Shop > Shop Policies > Returns Policy
Step 5: Edit the template to align with your business ‘Return Policy’
Step 6: Consult an attorney before adding the ‘Return Policy’ information to your website
When you have edited the template and consulted with an attorney, you can add the ‘Return Policy’ information to your website footer:
Step 7: In the Netcash Shop Admin panel, navigate to Settings > Legal > Legal Settings > Legal Pages and Policies > Return Policy:
Step 8: Select Edit
Step 9: Paste your personalized ‘Return Policy’ in the space provided:
Step 10: Save
Your customers will feel more confident shopping on your website knowing where they stand with returns and refunds. You are 1 step closer to running a compliant business. You can focus on selling knowing that your customers trust you and feel safe shopping your brand.
For support contact us: shopsupport@netcash.co.za