Refund policy
Last updated 8 September 2026. This policy sits underneath the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 and the ECT Act 25 of 2002. Where anything here conflicts with either, the law wins.
How cancelling works
We make to order. Your order is bought from the manufacturer once you place it, so what it costs us to cancel depends on when you tell us. This is the whole schedule, in advance.
1. Within 2 business days of ordering — free
We do not send your order to the supplier the moment you place it. Cancel within 2 business days and you get a full refund of everything you paid, including delivery. Nothing is deducted, and you do not need a reason.
If you are unsure about a product, this is the window to use. Email info@zeva.co.za with your order number.
2. After we have ordered from the supplier, before we dispatch to you — R100
Once your order is bought, our money is committed for up to eleven weeks. You may still cancel at any time, and we will refund everything you paid less a R100 cancellation charge.
This is a reasonable cancellation charge under section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act. It covers the payment processing fee we are charged and cannot recover, and the cost of handling and re-listing the order. It is a fixed R100 whatever the order is worth.
We will not charge it where the cancellation follows the death or hospitalisation of the person the order was for. Section 17(5) of the CPA says so, and so do we.
We will also not charge it if we have missed our own delivery commitment — see "Late delivery" below.
3. Within 7 days of delivery — full refund, no charge
Section 44 of the ECT Act gives you 7 days from the day your parcel arrives to cancel without giving a reason and without penalty. We refund everything you paid, including the delivery charge, and we do not deduct a cancellation fee.
The one cost that is yours is the direct cost of sending the goods back to us. That is what the Act allows, and it is the only thing we will ask you for.
Refunds under this section are paid within 30 days of your cancellation, and in practice within 5 to 7 business days of the goods reaching us.
4. Day 8 to day 30, unopened — refund less 15% and delivery
Beyond the 7 days the law gives you, we choose to accept unopened returns for 30 days from delivery. Because this is our own offer rather than a legal right, it comes on our terms:
- The item must be unopened and in its original packaging, with any seal intact.
- We refund the price of the goods less a 15% restocking charge.
- The delivery charge you paid is not refunded.
- You pay the cost of sending it back.
None of this applies to anything faulty, damaged or incorrectly supplied. Those are always returned free — see below.
5. Opened items, and after 30 days
Opened skincare cannot be returned, and we cannot accept returns more than 30 days after delivery. Cosmetics are goods that by their nature cannot be returned once the seal is broken, which is the exception in section 42(2)(h) of the ECT Act. It is a hygiene rule and not a way around your rights: it does not apply to anything faulty, unsafe, damaged or not what you ordered, and it does not affect your rights under sections 55 and 56 of the Consumer Protection Act.
If you want to keep the 7-day cooling-off open, keep the seal intact. Unopened, you may cancel for any reason at all within those 7 days and we refund everything you paid.
If you have a known allergy and would rather check the printed ingredient list when your order arrives than ask us beforehand, keep the product sealed until you have.
Always returnable, always free
Anything that arrives damaged, faulty, unsafe, or that is not what you ordered. We pay that return, and you choose a refund, a replacement or a repair. No cancellation charge and no restocking charge applies, ever.
Section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act gives you six months on goods that fail, are defective or are unsafe.
Please check your parcel when it arrives and tell us within 7 days if anything is damaged, missing or wrong.
If a product does not suit your skin
Skincare works differently on different people, and a product that does not suit you is not the same as a faulty one. Patch test everything before you use it on your face, as our terms describe.
If you have had a skin reaction, stop using the product, email us with your order number and what happened, and we will deal with it case by case. We record every report and raise it with the manufacturer. Tell us as soon as you can, because we cannot trace a batch if we do not know.
If a parcel comes back undelivered
If the address was wrong or incomplete, or nobody could take delivery after the courier tried, we hold the parcel and email you. Redelivery is R100. If you would rather cancel then, we refund the price of the goods but not the original R100 delivery, because that journey was made. Section 44 has not started, because you have not received the goods.
Where the failed delivery was our fault or the courier's, none of that applies: we redeliver at our cost or refund you in full, and you choose which.
Late delivery
Our agreed delivery period is up to 12 weeks, as stated at checkout and in our shipping policy. If we pass it, you may cancel and take a full refund with no cancellation charge, under section 19 of the Consumer Protection Act. The charge in section 2 above never applies to a late order.
How to cancel or return something
Email info@zeva.co.za with your order number and what you would like to do. We will confirm which of the stages above applies to you, in writing, before anything is deducted. You will always be told the exact amount before we process a refund.
Please do not send anything back before you have heard from us — we will send you the return address and instructions.
Refunds
Refunds go back to the method you paid with. Where we cancel before dispatch, within 5 to 7 business days of the cancellation. Where goods are returned to us, within 5 to 7 business days of the return reaching us, and in every case within the 30 days the ECT Act allows.
Complaints
Email info@zeva.co.za. We reply within one business day and aim to resolve a complaint within 10 business days. If we cannot settle it between us, you may take the matter to the National Consumer Commission or to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud at cgso.org.za at any time.