Refund Policy

This policy applies to Vumelo subscription payments processed through Paystack in ZAR. It sits alongside our Terms and our Cancellation Policy. If anything here conflicts with a right you have under South African law, the law wins.

Section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA) lets a consumer cancel an online agreement for services within 7 days after the agreement is made, without giving a reason and without a penalty.

Section 42(2)(d) of ECTA says that right does not apply to services that began, with the consumer’s consent, before the end of those 7 days. A Vumelo subscription works that way: your paid features start as soon as your payment succeeds, and you agree to that immediate start at checkout. Because of this, the 7-day cooling-off does not apply to Vumelo subscriptions.

This does not take away any other right you have under the Consumer Protection Act or ECTA.

Before you pay for anything, each person gets one free trial of all the tools, for the length shown on our website when you sign up (at present 14 days), so you can decide whether Vumelo is right for you before any money changes hands. Once you subscribe, the charge for the billing period you are in is not refunded when you cancel; your access continues to the end of that period and you are not billed again (see our Cancellation Policy).

Annual plans. If the Consumer Protection Act applies to you (for example, you are an individual or a small business) and you cancel an annual plan early, its section 14 applies: you may cancel on 20 business days’ notice, we may keep only the reasonable cancellation penalty that section allows, and we refund the rest of what you paid in advance for the unused part of the year. Your paid access ends when the notice period ends. Email getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za to arrange it.

Mistakes. A duplicate charge or a proven billing error is always refunded in full. If we charged you twice for the same period, or charged you an amount you did not agree to, tell us and we will put it right. Refunding a duplicate charge or the extra amount does not change your access: you keep the period you paid for.

When the charge for the period you are in is refunded in full, the paid access it bought ends and your paid features pause. Your data is kept, never wiped.

A refund of a duplicate charge, of part of a charge, or of a payment for an earlier period does not change your access. (When you cancel an annual plan early under section 3, your access ends when the notice period ends.)

If you ask your bank or card issuer to reverse a payment to us (a chargeback), we may pause your paid features. Your data is kept, never wiped.

When we refund the payment for the period you are in, in full, we also stop your card subscription, so you are not charged again. A partial refund, a refund of a duplicate charge or of an earlier payment, and a chargeback do not stop it. It stays set up, so Paystack can charge your card again on the renewal date. To stop that, cancel renewal under Account, Plan & billing, or email getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za.

If you think a charge is wrong, please contact us first: we can usually fix it faster than a chargeback.

Email getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za from the email address on your account. Tell us which charge you mean (the date and amount help), and the reason. We will reply and tell you whether a refund is due under this policy or the law.

Where a refund is due, we send it back to the original payment method you used through Paystack. We cannot pay a refund to a different card or account. We process refunds that are due within 30 days of agreeing them; how long the money then takes to appear depends on your bank or card provider.

Cancelling stops future billing. It does not, on its own, refund the period you have already paid for. You keep access until the end of the paid period, and then billing stops. See our Cancellation Policy for how to cancel. A refund of the current period only happens if this policy or the law says so.

Refund and billing questions: getinfo@mystudenthouse.co.za. Post: 3 Raglan Street, Oakdale, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa.