Refunds and Returns in South Africa: What the Law Actually Requires

Three different rights, constantly confused

Almost every argument about refunds in South Africa comes from mixing up rights that live in different statutes and work differently. Before writing a refund policy, or before telling a customer no, it is worth separating them.

• Seven days to cancel an online purchase for no reason at all, under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
• Five business days to cancel something sold to you through direct marketing, under section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act.
• Six months to return goods that are defective, unsafe or not fit for purpose, under sections 55 and 56 of the Consumer Protection Act.

They are not alternatives to each other. A single transaction can attract more than one, and none of them can be removed by a term in your policy.

There is also a fourth situation, the ordinary change of mind, which is the one most customers believe is a right and usually is not. That is covered further down.

Seven days: online sales

Section 44 of the ECT Act gives a consumer in an electronic transaction seven days to cancel without reason and without penalty. The period runs from the date of receipt for goods, and from the date the agreement was concluded for services.

You may charge only the direct cost of returning the goods, and you must refund within 30 days of the cancellation. No restocking fee, no admin fee, no deduction because the customer changed their mind.

What this right is not is universal. Section 42 excludes a substantial list of transactions from it, including financial services, auctions, foodstuffs and other everyday consumables, goods made to the consumer's specification or clearly personalised, goods that deteriorate quickly, unsealed audio, video or software, newspapers and periodicals, gaming and lottery services, accommodation, transport, catering and leisure bookings for a specific date, and services that began with the consumer's agreement before the seven days ran out.

That last exclusion is the one digital businesses rely on. If you deliver a service immediately on payment and the customer agreed to that, the cooling-off right falls away. But the agreement has to be real and visible, not implied from a link in the footer. If you intend to rely on it, say so at checkout.

The section 43 disclosure list requires you to tell consumers about their section 44 rights in the first place, which is covered in website terms and conditions in South Africa.

Five business days: direct marketing

Section 16 of the CPA gives a separate cooling-off right where the transaction resulted from direct marketing: the salesperson at the door, the unsolicited phone call, the approach in a shopping centre. The consumer may rescind within five business days, in writing, without reason or penalty.

Note the difference in trigger. Section 44 turns on how the transaction happened, electronically. Section 16 turns on how the customer was approached. A phone sale concluded by emailing a payment link can attract both.

Note also the difference in counting. Seven days under the ECT Act are calendar days. Five days under section 16 are business days, which is a materially longer window over a holiday period.

Six months: goods that are defective

This is the right that matters most in practice, and the one retailers most often understate.

Section 55 gives every consumer an implied right to goods that are reasonably suitable for their intended purpose, of good quality, in good working order, free of defects, usable and durable for a reasonable period, and compliant with any applicable standards.

Section 56 turns that into a warranty. If goods fail to meet the section 55 standard within six months of delivery, the consumer may return them at the supplier's risk and expense, and the consumer chooses between:

• a repair,
• a replacement, or
• a full refund.

The choice belongs to the customer, not to you. A policy stating that you will repair first, or that refunds are at management's discretion, does not override section 56 inside the six months.

There is a further protection worth knowing. If you repair the goods and the same failure recurs, or a new defect appears, within three months of that repair, you must then replace the goods or refund the customer. You do not get a second repair attempt.

After six months the position changes and the supplier has more room, but the section 55 standard still applies and a durability argument does not disappear on day 181.

When a customer may return goods for a full refund

Section 20 sets out specific situations where goods can go back for a full refund. A consumer may return goods where the supplier delivered:

• goods under a direct marketing agreement that the consumer rescinded during the section 16 cooling-off period;
• goods the consumer had no opportunity to examine before delivery, which the consumer has rejected;
• a mixture of goods where the consumer has refused delivery of some of them; or
• goods bought for a particular purpose the consumer told you about, which the consumer finds unsuitable for that purpose within 10 business days of delivery.

The third and fourth are underrated. If a customer explained what they needed the product for and you sold them something that does not do it, that is not a change of mind, it is a section 20 return. The obligation attaches because you were told the purpose.

Can a shop refuse a refund in South Africa?

Often, yes, and this is where consumer expectation and the law part company.

There is no general right to return goods in South Africa because you changed your mind. If you buy a shirt in a physical store, take it home, and simply decide against it, the CPA gives you nothing. The shop may refuse. Many retailers accept change-of-mind returns anyway as a commercial policy, and that generosity is frequently mistaken for a legal entitlement.

What a shop may not do is refuse where a statutory right applies. It cannot refuse a section 56 return on defective goods inside six months, cannot deny the section 44 cooling-off right on a qualifying online sale, and cannot refuse a section 20 return in the circumstances listed above.

The practical consequence for a business is that your policy should be explicit about which returns are a legal right and which are a courtesy you are extending. Blurring the two produces arguments you will lose, in both directions.

What you are allowed to charge

Where goods come back under section 20, the Act does allow some recovery. A supplier may charge a reasonable amount for the use of the goods during the time the consumer had them, and may charge the cost of restoring the goods to a condition fit for restocking.

There is an important exception. You may not charge restocking costs where the consumer had to open or destroy the packaging in order to work out whether the goods matched the description or were fit for the purpose. Someone cannot be penalised for opening a box to discover you sent the wrong thing.

Two cautions. First, the test is reasonableness, not a fixed percentage. The Act sets no standard restocking fee, so a flat 20% deduction applied to every return is difficult to defend. Second, none of this applies to a section 44 cooling-off cancellation, where the only permitted charge is the direct cost of returning the goods, or to a section 56 defect return, where the goods come back at your risk and expense.

Clauses that do not survive contact with the CPA

Some of the most common wording in South African refund policies is void.

• "No refunds under any circumstances." Void wherever a statutory right applies. Section 51 makes any term purporting to waive a consumer's rights under the Act of no force.
• "All sales final." Unenforceable against the section 44 cooling-off right and the section 56 warranty.
• "Credit note only." You cannot force a credit note where the consumer is entitled to elect a refund.
• "Goods must be returned in original unopened packaging." Reasonable as a general policy, but it cannot be applied to defective goods, or where the packaging had to be opened to discover the problem.
• "Sale items are not returnable." A discount does not remove the section 55 quality standard. It may be relevant if the specific defect was disclosed and is why the item was discounted.
• "Refunds within 7 days only." Cannot shorten the six-month window on defects.

Section 48 also prohibits terms that are unfair, unreasonable or unjust, and section 22 requires plain and understandable language throughout. A policy written to intimidate rather than inform is a risk in itself.

What a refund policy should actually say

A refund policy that works is mostly a clear description of a process, not a set of exclusions. Cover:

• Cooling-off. Whether the seven-day right applies to what you sell, or which exclusion you rely on and why.
• Defective goods. The six-month right, and that the customer chooses repair, replacement or refund.
• Change of mind. Whether you accept these at all, and on what conditions. This is your commercial decision, so state it plainly.
• How to start a return. Who to contact, what information you need, and how long you take to respond.
• Who pays return shipping, separated by reason: your error, a defect, or a change of mind.
• Refund method and timing. Original payment method, and a realistic number of days.
• Any charges you apply, and when they do not apply.
• Exclusions, stated specifically rather than as a blanket disclaimer.

Remember that section 43 of the ECT Act requires an online seller to make its return, exchange and refund policy available before the customer transacts. A policy that exists but is only produced after a dispute does not satisfy that.

Common mistakes

• Treating the six-month right as a discretion. It is the customer's election, not yours.
• Applying a flat restocking fee to everything, including defective goods and cooling-off cancellations, where it is not permitted at all.
• Confusing the five business days with the seven days, and applying the shorter one to online sales.
• Copying an American returns policy, which will typically offer a 30-day change-of-mind window our law does not require and omit the six-month defect right our law does.
• Requiring the original receipt in all cases. Proof of purchase is reasonable, but the CPA does not make one specific document the only acceptable proof.
• Hiding the policy. It has to be available before the sale.
• Never testing it. If your own staff cannot explain the policy in a sentence, customers will not follow it either.

A short checklist

• Does your policy state the seven-day cooling-off right, or name the exclusion you rely on?
• Does it say the customer chooses repair, replacement or refund within six months?
• Does it separate legal rights from your own goodwill returns?
• Are your charges limited to what section 20 permits, and excluded where they do not apply?
• Is the policy reachable before checkout, not just after?
• Have you removed every "no refunds" and "all sales final" phrase?
• Does it agree with your terms and conditions rather than contradicting them?

If you are also reviewing the rest of your site documents, website terms and conditions in South Africa covers the section 43 disclosure list, and POPIA for online stores deals with the customer data side of checkout.

POPIA Ready generates a refund policy, terms of service, a privacy policy and four other documents customised to your business and drafted for South African law, free to preview. The free checklist will show you what else your site is missing.

General guidance on South African law as at August 2026, not legal advice. The Consumer Protection Act applies differently depending on what you sell, to whom, and the size of your business, and a specific dispute deserves a professional opinion.