1 Changing your mind: your 7-day cooling-off right

1.1 Because you buy online, section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA) gives you the right to cancel without giving a reason and without penalty within 7 days of receiving a box. This applies to every box you receive.

1.2 Before your box ships. If you change your mind after paying but before your box is dispatched, just tell us. We will refund you in full and there is nothing to send back.

1.3 Your subscription. Using your cooling-off right also cancels your subscription, so you won’t be charged again. If you want to keep your subscription and only return that month’s box, just say so.

1.4 A scent you don’t love isn’t a fault. But within the 7 days you don’t need a reason, so you can return the box.

2 How to return a box

2.1 Tell us within 7 days of receiving the box. Email subscriptions@poeticwax.co.za (or cancellations@poeticwax.co.za) with “Cooling-off” in the subject line, your name and your order number. You can also WhatsApp us on 081 554 3122. We will confirm by email.

2.2 Pack it up. Please return everything that came in the box, unused and in its original packaging where possible, so we can check it and re-use it. A cooling-off refund is a refund for the box, so we do need the box back — if something is missing we will tell you before we refund.

2.3 Send it back within 14 days of telling us, to: Poetic Studio (Pty) Ltd, 50 Avalon Road, Modderfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 1609. Use a courier or tracked service and keep proof of sending.

2.4 Or we collect it. Ask us and we will book our courier to collect from you. We deduct the collection cost of R120 from your refund. That is the only deduction.

3 Your cooling-off refund

3.1 We refund what you paid for that box, which includes the delivery to you, less only the return courier cost if we collected it (section 2.4).

3.2 We pay the refund within 30 days of the day you tell us you are cancelling, as ECTA requires. We aim to pay much sooner, usually within 10 business days. We will email you when it has been paid.

4 Faulty, unsafe or poor-quality items

4.1 Under section 55 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), everything we send must be safe, of good quality, free of defects, and able to do what it is meant to do. This includes lasting a reasonable time. If an item fails this test within six months of delivery, you may return it without penalty and at our cost. You then choose whether we replace it or refund you (section 56 of the CPA). This six-month right comes from the Act itself. We cannot shorten it, and neither can any term on our website.

4.2 Examples of faults: a cracked or leaking vessel; a missing wick, or a wick that won’t stay lit; a candle that burns with an unusually high or unstable flame even though you followed the burning instructions; a damaged gift item.

4.3 Not faults: a scent you don’t like; the normal look of a hand-poured soy candle, including frosting, bloom, small colour differences, a slightly uneven top or visible pour lines — clause 3.2 of the How It Works & Terms sets this out and you agree to it when you subscribe; a scent that seems weaker or stronger in your room than you expected; damage caused by burning the candle against the safety instructions, for example burning it longer than 4 hours at a time, not trimming the wick, burning it in a draught or burning it past the last 1 cm of wax; or ordinary wear from normal use.

4.4 Replacements. Each month’s scent is poured in a single batch. If we can’t replace a faulty candle with the same scent, you choose: a candle of the same or greater value, or a refund.

4.5 How. Email us photos of the fault and your order number. For glass or broken items, photos are usually enough and you won’t need to send anything back. If we do need the item, we arrange and pay for the courier.

4.6 Refund amount. We refund the price of the faulty item. If the candle is faulty and you choose a refund, we refund the full box price. We pay within 10 business days of agreeing the refund.

4.7 Unsafe goods. If you think anything we sent is unsafe, stop using it and contact us straight away.

4.8 How we deal with a claim. Please keep the item and its packaging until we have finished, and send us clear photographs. We may ask for the item back so we can look at it, and we pay the courier both ways. We will tell you our decision within 10 business days of receiving what we need. If the item is faulty you choose a replacement or a refund. If it is not, we will tell you why, in writing, and return it to you at our cost.

5 Damaged, wrong, missing or lost boxes

5.1 Please check your box when it arrives. If the outer box looks badly damaged, photograph it before opening. Note the damage with the courier if you can.

5.2 Send us photos of the outer box, the packaging and the damaged, wrong or missing item as soon as you can, ideally within 7 days. This helps us claim from the courier, but it doesn’t reduce your rights under the CPA if you tell us later.

5.3 We replace the item or refund you, at our cost.

5.4 Box not arrived? Tell us if your box hasn’t arrived by the 15th of the month. We will trace it with the courier. If it is lost, we send a replacement or refund you, whichever you prefer.

5.5 Wrong address. If a box can’t be delivered because the address or mobile number on your account was wrong or incomplete, we will contact you. Re-delivery costs R120. If you would rather not pay for re-delivery, you can cancel that box and we will refund you less the courier cost.

6 Event tickets

6.1 Member events are booked and paid for separately from your subscription. Founding members get up to 50% off the ticket price.

6.2 Cancel a ticket up to 14 days before the event and we refund you in full. After that we keep 50% of the ticket price, because the venue, the materials and the catering are already booked and paid for. Section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act allows a reasonable cancellation charge on an advance booking, and this is ours. You can send someone else in your place at any time at no charge — just tell us their name.

6.3 If we cancel or move an event, you choose: a full refund, or a place at the next one.

6.4 If the person the ticket was booked for dies or is hospitalised, we refund in full with no cancellation fee, as section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act requires.

6.5 The 7-day cooling-off right in section 44 of ECTA does not apply to event tickets. Section 42 of that Act takes leisure services booked for a specific date out of the cooling-off right, so section 6 of this policy is what applies to a ticket.

7 How refunds are paid

7.1 We refund to the card you paid with. If that isn’t possible, we refund by EFT into a bank account in your name that you give us in writing.

7.2 Please don’t dispute the payment with your bank as well. If you dispute a payment with your bank and it is reversed, the reversal is your refund. If we have already refunded you, we will ask you to pay back the double refund.

8 Skipping, pausing and cancelling are not refunds

8.1 Skips, pauses and cancellations stop future payments. They don’t refund payments already collected. For example, if you cancel after the 20th, that month’s payment on the 25th still goes ahead and you receive that box. You can still use your 7-day cooling-off right on that box once it arrives.

9 If you’re not happy with how we handled it

9.1 Contact us first at subscriptions@poeticwax.co.za or on 081 554 3122. We reply within two business days.

9.2 If we can’t resolve it, you can go to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO), free of charge: 0860 000 272, info@cgso.org.za, www.cgso.org.za. You may also approach the National Consumer Commission.

9.3 This policy doesn’t limit any of your rights under the CPA or ECTA.