Overview
This policy explains how cancellations and refunds work for hosting, email hosting, domain registration and related services that you buy from AfterWave Tech Solutions ("AfterWave", "we", "us"), including services you manage and pay for in the AfterWave Client Area. It forms part of our Terms & Conditions.
Nothing in this policy takes away any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA). If this policy and the law differ, the law applies.
Website design projects, digital marketing, tech repairs, data recovery and IT support contracts are covered by the sections on those services in our Terms & Conditions, in particular the deposit and refund rules in Section 3.
7-Day Cooling-Off Period
If you are a consumer (a person buying for their own use, as defined in the ECTA) and you buy from us online, you may cancel the agreement without giving a reason within 7 days of the date the agreement was concluded. To use this right, tell us in writing as set out in Section 6.
If you cancel within the cooling-off period, we will refund the hosting or email fees you paid, less the items below that we have already paid for or delivered at your request:
- domain registration, renewal and transfer fees, which we pay to the registry or registrar when we process them;
- once-off setup fees for work that has already been done; and
- third-party costs we have already incurred for you.
We will pay any refund due within 30 days of your cancellation.
Hosting & Email Plans
Monthly plans: You can cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the month you have already paid for, and you keep your service until then. We do not refund part-months.
Multi-month or annual prepayments: After the cooling-off period, fees for the current paid period are not refunded if you cancel early. Your service continues until the end of the period you paid for.
If we do not deliver: If we fail to provide a service you paid for, we will first try to fix the problem within a reasonable time. If we cannot, we will refund the fees for the part of the service that was not delivered. We do not guarantee 100% uptime (see Section 6 of the Terms & Conditions), so planned maintenance, third-party outages and short interruptions are not on their own grounds for a refund.
Design + Hosting bundles: The hosting part of a bundle follows this policy. The website design part follows the website design and deposit rules in Section 4 of the Terms & Conditions.
Domain Names
Registered domains are not refundable. Registry and registrar fees are paid when your domain is registered, renewed or transferred and cannot be recovered from them, so we cannot refund them once the domain has been processed (apart from the cooling-off rules above where they apply).
If we cannot register or transfer your domain: If a registration fails (for example, the domain was taken first) or a transfer is rejected, we will refund what you paid for it in full, or give you account credit if you prefer.
Renewals: We send renewal reminders, but renewing is your responsibility. If you do not want to renew, cancel before the renewal invoice is paid. A renewal that has been paid and processed with the registry cannot be refunded.
Free website design offer: A promotional free website design has no cash value and cannot be exchanged for credit. The domain registration and hosting you pay for remain subject to this policy.
Setup Fees & Once-Off Charges
Once-off setup fees cover work that is done when your service is set up. They are refunded only if we cancel the order before any setup work has begun, or if we cancel it because we cannot deliver the service.
How to Cancel
You can cancel in either of these ways:
- In the Client Area, open the service you want to cancel and choose the cancel option; or
- Email solutions@afterwavetechs.co.za from the email address on your account, giving your name, the service or domain, and the invoice number if you have one.
We will confirm your cancellation in writing. To avoid being invoiced for the next billing cycle, cancel before the next due date. If you cancel after a renewal invoice has been issued but before it has been paid, we will cancel that renewal invoice. Invoices for periods you have already used remain payable.
Cancelling a service does not automatically cancel your domain, and cancelling a domain does not cancel your hosting. Please tell us what you want cancelled. Download your website files, databases and email first: we may delete the hosting account and its data 30 days after the service ends.
How Refunds Are Paid
Approved refunds are paid in South African Rand (ZAR), normally to the same account or card you used to pay, within 30 days of the date we approve the refund or of your cooling-off cancellation. For EFT payments we pay into the bank account the payment came from. If you prefer, you may ask for the amount to be held as credit on your Client Area account instead.
We may ask you to confirm your identity and account details before we pay out a refund, so that it reaches the right person.
What Is Not Refundable
Except where the law says otherwise, we do not refund:
- domain registrations, renewals and transfers that have been processed;
- services suspended or terminated for breaching our acceptable use rules or for non-payment;
- unused time on a service you cancel after the cooling-off period;
- renewals that were paid and not cancelled before the due date;
- interruptions caused by third parties, events outside our control, or planned maintenance; and
- amounts reversed or disputed through a chargeback, which are treated as unpaid.
Disputes & Chargebacks
If you are unhappy with a charge or a service, please contact us first so that we can put it right. Please do not raise a chargeback with your bank before speaking to us, as a chargeback may cause your services to be suspended while it is resolved. If we cannot settle a complaint, you may take it to the National Consumer Commission or the relevant consumer or ombud body.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The version that applies to a purchase is the one published on this page when you placed your order. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.
Contact Us
To cancel a service, ask for a refund, or ask a question about this policy, contact us:
- Email: solutions@afterwavetechs.co.za
- Phone: 067 363 1448
- WhatsApp: 065 506 7797
- Address: 1862 Sun City A, Kwamhlanga 1022, South Africa