Consumer Protection Act: When can you demand a refund?

“A small business hired a hall for an event scheduled for 7pm on a Saturday night. The event was a choral concert and so sound engineers, lighting engineers and stage props were all lined up. At 6pm the owners of the hall cancelled because there was no electricity. The electricity remained off until about 10pm. Substantial costs have been incurred by the concert organisers. Given the circumstances, can the hall rental be claimed back from the owners by the organisers?” writes Lauren.

Maya replies: According to lawyer Nicky Campbell of the South African Law Centre, section 54 of the Consumer Protection Act entrenches the consumer’s right to demand “quality service.”

Quality service includes the consumer’s right to the timely performance and completion of services rendered by the supplier. Where the supplier cannot render the services, the consumer is entitled to the “timely notice of any unavoidable delay in the performance of the services” (section 54(1)(a)).

Campbell says “if a supplier fails to perform a service for whatever reason, the consumer may require the supplier to either remedy any defect in the quality of services performed or refund the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services, having regard to the extent of the failure (section 54(2)(a) & (b))”. In other words you would be within your rights to ask for a refund, although the owners could withhold a reasonable portion as they would also have incurred a loss.

If a venue is cancelled due to bad weather, Campbell says the supplier must provide the client with an alternative date. If the client declines to accept an alternative the supplier is entitled to charge a reasonable cancellation penalty.

Reasonable cancellation charges

When it comes to refunds, Campbell says section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act is also of relevance as it gives the consumer “the right to cancel any advance booking, reservation or order for any goods or services to be supplied.”

Where the consumer exercises this right, the supplier may impose a reasonable charge for cancellation of the order or reservation.

The question of what is considered a reasonable charge depends on the circumstances. Campbell says a charge is unreasonable if it exceeds a fair amount in the circumstances, having regard to:

(a) The nature of the goods or services that were reserved or booked;

(b) The length of notice of cancellation provided by the consumer;

(c) The reasonable potential for the supplier, acting diligently, to find an alternative consumer between the time of receiving the cancellation notice and the time of the cancelled reservation; and

(d) The general practice of the relevant industry.

The only instances where a supplier is prohibited from charging a cancellation penalty is where the consumer cancels the booking, reservation or order because of the death or hospitalization of the person for whom, or for whose benefit the booking, reservation or order was made (section 17(5)).

155 Comments

Please would you able to refer me to the correct people,
We met with a salesman from Aimx a trading company in December 2023, we signed a contract and paid R39000.00 to Aimx.
between what the saleman sold us and what Aimx is trying to give us in return for our money is totally different, and we have requested our money back to which they are refusing to refund us.
we need the law to take action as they are not compliant to the law.
please advise. Reply

I am currently trying to get the FSCA to investigate these practices but at this stage your best approach is the National Consumer Commission as they cover the Consumer Protection Act and false marketing. https://eservice.thencc.org.za/ Reply

Hi, I paid a 50% deposit to a retailer for a pre order item and had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances. The retailer agreed once I let them know that they will issue a refund for me, once I followed up with them a week later they then went back on what they said saying that I would now need to forfeit 35% of the refund amount if I want the refund. Are they in they wrong as they originally agreed to a refund and made no mention of any fees etc? Reply

The CPA does allow for costs incurred to be withheld – so they do need to give you a reason for why they are not making the full refund and demonstrate a loss Reply

HI I HAVE BOUGHT A DEFY TOPLOADER FROM HAVE HAD IT AROUND A WEEK AND HAVE HAD ENDLESS TROUBLE. WHEN I PHONED THE COMPANY I BOUGHT IT FROM AND TOLD THEM IT IS GIVING ME PROBLEMS THEY SENT OUT A TECHNICIAN EVEN THOUGH IT IS A NEW MACHINE. I WAS NOT HOME WHEN THE TECHNICIAN GAME ONLY MY DOMESTIC. THEY SAID THEY HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM AND WHEN I GOT HOME NOTICED THEY HAD BROKEN A PART AND JUST LEFT IT IN THE MACHINE. WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS? Reply

you can lodge a complaint with the consumer goods and services ombud https://www.cgso.org.za/cgso/ Reply

Hi Maya,
Sorry me again, I just want to mention that the MD of the hair clinic advised me, in his words, that “It is a legal requirement that any refund will be accompanied by a deed of settlement”. Is this true? Also bearing in mind that the said deed of settlement states that we are sworn to secrecy.
Kind regards,
Lisa Reply

Hi Maya I am a supplier, I have agreed to a refund. I’d like to know if the Lawyers Commission fee will still apply as I am not the consumer here, but I cannot seem to find anything that protects businesses anywhere online. Kindly assist and thank you! Reply

Hi I need advise.
So I am a Small business.
A client ordered branded items.
My supplier then messed up and then my client canceled.
I initially expressed i was not able to refund.
They then insisted and I gave the unbranded items back so they could brand themselves and offered a R5000 refund. I incurred so much cost on doing multiple samples and deliveries.
Client is insisting on a bigger refund.
I said R5000 is my max as I am on a deficit already. Please advise. Reply

The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud would be the appropriate place to get a decision. However, if you were not able to deliver a service then it would seem to me that you would need to do a full refund. If you were still able to deliver the service then that would be different. But the Ombud would be able to better understand the situation and look at both parties arguments. Reply

I have a client that paid upfront for a treatment because she wanted the promotion, we were running in May but could only come in June. She then canceled her appointment on short notice, saying she has too many complications and cannot come for the treatment. She wants a full refund. We lost income because we could have booked another client in the time slot she canceled and there are bank costs and admin costs involved. Can I over her store credit to buy products instead of giving her a refund? Reply

I think you certainly have justification to either hold back a portion of the funds to cover opportunity costs or offer her store credit. Reply

A client paid in full upfront for me to film their wedding, however on the day they disappeared shortly after we started and I could only cover a small portion of the day. Another team was also booked and present without our knowledge which severely affected our ability to produce a quality service. I stayed an hour overtime (no charge) and decided to pack up and leave due to their absence and being non-communicative. We haven’t spoken since. Are they entitled to a refund? What do I do? Reply

There is no hard and fast rule, hopefully you can discuss this with them and come to an amicable resolution. Reply

Hello.
I have paid to attend a course, R11 500.00
I need to change the date due to unforseen issues. The company says that if I want to change the date, I will forfeit the money and have to pay in full again. Is that legal? Reply

That sounds excessive – you should have the option to change the date. I would be suspicious of the company offering the course. Reply

I made a booking and paid in advance last week 9 Feb , to hire tables for a party on the 26th Feb. I have had to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances. There is no cancellation policy on the invoice. Am I entitled to a refund? Reply

You can request one and see what they say. They do have a right to be compensated for any losses – eg: the loss of a potential booking. The tricky part is figuring out what that loss represents. Reply

Hi I purchased a refurbished hair straightner from a local business. Its been 2 months and its not working. Can i get a refund. On the proof slip it says strictly no refunds. What are my rights. Reply

Two months would probably too long to dispute as you could not prove it was not working when you bought it. But you can ask the http://www.cgso.org.za/cgso/ Reply

Hi. I paid a guesthouse two months in advance but only stayed for one month. Will they freely refund me? So far the owner ignores my calls but I told her in advance that I will not stay another month. Thank you Reply

Hi my daughter was at an online school ,She received results and unfortunately we believed she failed. Only when I checked the portal I saw ,She was never graded .We paid in full for teachers ,Coaches you name it .Only for the school to retrench 197 teachers without our knowledge. The children received 15 minutes every other week one on one time .Online assignments was never received due to their messed up system . I made them aware of this issues ,They confidentially told me their systems is up to date .Now that this has happened and a whole lot of parents are facing the same thing .Schools closed but the finance department for new students is open .Am I withing my right to ask for my full refund as I did not sign up for what I received . Up until today my daughter was not graded at all. Please help Reply

I can only answer personally that I would definitely ask for a refund, but you can lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission and also the Department of Education. Reply

Good day, my optometrist made a mistake with the prescription of one of the lenses. She was supposed to send it back to the lab for correction. I then received a message stating that my specs are ready for collection but when I go to collect them, I notice that they haven’t been corrected. I visit the place twice for collection and the prescription is not correct. I then ask for a refund (11 days ago) the receptionist takes down my banking details. I still have not received my refund. She then messages me after 10 days and says I need to come speak with the optometrist. Is there anything that I can do if they refuse to refund my money for the incorrect lens? Please Advise,
Thanks,
Kind Regards Reply

Good day.I need dome advice My local gym closed down .I had paid fees upfront for a year .I was assured I will receive a refund. I completed the required documentationI completed paper work for a refund for the remainder of the fees .It’s been a full three months since I submitted my application.I have been emailing the company I have one email stating they are doing refunds in batches, but now my emails are being ignored. What is a reasonable time frame for refund? Should I be escalating my issue to consumer council? Reply

I would definitely raise this with the consumer council, but the reality is that they have probably run out of money!
If you paid by either debit card or credit card you could have recourse – or was it an EFT? Reply

Hi
We paid a deposit for a solar system which was supposed to be delivered early this week. Never pitched. After following up excuses were made about being hijacked, phone stolen etc. To date no proof could be provided of hijacking or the claim against insurance. Supplier not answering phone or messages. We advised that we would like our deposit to be paid back immediately as service/goods were not delivered as promised. If I understand the CPA correctly the deposit continues to belong to the consumer and seeing that service could not be rendered I could be refunded. Please advise me on what to do.
Kind regards Reply

I have bought product at Bradlows by credit and they were not in good condition. After they failed to fix or replace them, I cancel the contract and they were due to repay my money. Even today they haven’t Please advise Reply