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Legal

Returns and refunds

What happens if you change your mind, and what happens if something goes wrong. These are two different things, and the law treats them differently.

Version 1.1 · Last updated: 9 September 2026

1. What this policy covers

This policy applies to vending machines, spares and equipment bought from Innovative Vending Solutions (Pty) Ltd (“IVS”, “we”, “us”). Where our written quotation or agreement for your purchase incorporates this policy, it forms part of that agreement. Where the signed agreement says something different, the signed agreement applies.

Rentals and service contracts are covered by their own agreements, not by this page.

2. There is no change-of-mind return

South African law does not give a general right to return goods simply because you have changed your mind, and we do not offer one. A vending machine is a considered purchase: it is quoted, specified and often configured for your site.

So before you commit, ask us anything you are unsure about. We would far rather answer ten questions before delivery than one after it.

There are two narrow exceptions where the law does give you a no-reason cancellation right, and we honour both:

  • If we approached you — if the sale followed direct marketing by us rather than an enquiry from you, you may cancel within five business days of the later of the agreement or delivery, and we will refund you in full within 15 business days.
  • If your purchase was concluded electronically — where the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives you that right, you may cancel within seven days of receiving the goods, and the only cost to you is the direct cost of returning them. That right does not extend to machines made to your specifications or clearly personalised for you. If you think it applies to how you bought from us, tell us and we will deal with it.

3. Machines are sold as shown, described and quoted

Before you buy, you will have seen the machine in person, or been sent photographs, video or a written description of it, and you will have received a written quotation setting out what it is. That is the machine you are buying, and that is what we are undertaking to deliver.

Before you commit we will ask you to confirm the things that decide whether a machine suits you — where it is going, what you intend to sell from it, the power available at the site, and access for delivery. Please answer those accurately, because we rely on your answers when we tell you a machine will work for you. If you tell us what you need it for, we will tell you honestly whether it is the right machine, and we would rather lose the sale than sell you the wrong thing.

Where the machine we deliver is the machine that was shown, described and quoted, we do not accept a return because you have changed your mind about it, because you have decided a different model would have suited you better, or because your site or your product mix has not worked out the way you expected. Those are commercial risks that sit with you, and they are not faults in the machine.

This does not affect anything in clause 2 or clause 4. If the machine is not what was described, or it does not work, that is a different matter entirely and it is dealt with there.

4. Your rights if something goes wrong

A change of mind and a fault are not the same thing. Nothing in this policy limits, and nothing in your agreement with us can limit, the rights the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 gives you.

If the Act applies to your purchase, then for six months after delivery you have the right to return goods that are not of good quality, not in working order or not fit for their intended purpose — at our risk and expense, and without penalty. Where that right applies, the choice between a repair, a replacement or a refund is yours, not ours.

The Act does not apply to every sale. It does not apply where the buyer is a company, close corporation or trust whose annual turnover or asset value reaches the threshold set by the Minister. If you are not sure which side of that line you fall on, ask us and we will tell you what we have recorded.

5. Refurbished machines

A refurbished machine is a used machine. That is the whole basis on which it is priced, and it is why it costs less than a new one.

We strip, clean, test and service every machine before it leaves our workshop, and we replace the components that are not working. What we do not do is rebuild it into a new machine. The parts that were working when it came in are the parts you are buying, and they have been used before.

A refurbished machine is therefore sold as is and as seen. You are welcome to come and inspect it before you buy, and we would rather you did. Ask us about its age, where it came from and what we did to it, and we will tell you what we know.

Sold as is does not mean sold broken. It still has to work, and to keep working for a reasonable period, and it still carries the parts warranty in clause 7 — which covers parts, with labour billed separately where applicable. None of that reduces the rights clause 4 gives you.

6. Checking your machine on delivery

Please inspect the machine when it arrives, before you sign the delivery note. Check it against your quotation, and check it for transit damage.

Tell us about anything visibly wrong — wrong model, wrong configuration, missing items, damage in transit — within 48 hours of delivery, in writing, with photographs. Risk in the machine passes to you on delivery, so this window is how we tell a transit problem apart from something that happened later on your site.

7. Warranty, and how we handle a fault

New machines carry a parts warranty of 12 months. Refurbished machines carry a parts warranty of 6 months. Excludes damage caused by vandalism, negligence or power surges. Labour is billed separately where applicable. This warranty is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Protection Act — it does not replace them or reduce them.

When you report a fault, this is what we do:

  • We diagnose it. Often over the phone or WhatsApp, with photographs or a short video, because a lot of faults turn out to be settings, stock or power rather than the machine.
  • We sort it out. If it is a warranty fault the part is covered — we either repair the machine or courier you the part and talk you through fitting it, with labour billed separately where applicable. Wherever you are on the continent we courier spares and our technicians guide the repair by phone. What we do not do is send a technician across a border to your site.
  • If a repair does not hold, we escalate. Where the Act applies and we have repaired a fault covered by your six-month rights in clause 4, and that fault is still unresolved or another appears within three months of that repair, you are entitled to a replacement or a refund, at your election.

A fault has to actually be a fault. Consumable items, normal wear, damage from misuse, vandalism, power surges or an unsuitable power supply, and problems caused by the machine being moved or serviced by someone else, are not warranty faults.

Talking to us costs nothing. Phone and WhatsApp diagnosis is part of buying a machine from us, whatever the cause turns out to be. But if we attend site, ship a part or do workshop work on something that turns out not to be a warranty fault, and is not a failure of the kind clause 4 covers — no power at the site, a product that does not suit the machine, a setting that needs changing, or damage from misuse — that work is chargeable at our standard rates. We will quote you before we do it, not invoice you afterwards.

8. Returns we agree to at our discretion

Outside the cases above, and outside any other return the law entitles you to, we are not obliged to take a machine back. We would still rather solve a problem than win an argument, so we will consider a return case by case. Where we agree to one:

  • The machine must be complete, undamaged and in resaleable condition.
  • We may deduct a handling and restocking charge of up to 10% of the price, covering inspection, cleaning, re-testing and putting the machine back into stock.
  • Separately from that, we recover what the order actually cost us and cannot recover elsewhere — delivery and collection, installation and removal labour, custom branding or wrapping already applied, configuration and preparation work, and third-party items bought in for you. We itemise these rather than estimating them, and we do not charge twice for work already covered by the handling charge above. Where delivery or installation was included in the price you paid, what we recover is what it actually cost us to do and to undo.
  • A machine that has been installed or used is no longer new. We deduct the difference between what you paid for it and what it is worth on return. We will show you how we arrived at that figure, and it will not count anything already covered by the handling charge above.
  • Return transport is at your cost.
  • We refund to the account the payment came from, within 15 business days of the machine reaching us and passing inspection.

None of those deductions apply where you are returning goods because they failed to meet the standard the law requires, or in any other case where the law gives you a right to return them — including where you told us before buying what you needed the machine for, and it turns out not to be suitable for that purpose. Where the law gives you the right to return something, it also limits what we may charge you for doing so, and nothing in this clause increases that limit. In those cases the return costs you nothing and we carry the transport within South Africa — except for the seven-day cancellation in clause 2, where the law puts the direct cost of returning the goods on you. For machines exported beyond South Africa we will agree return arrangements with you case by case.

We do not recover the same cost twice under more than one of those headings. And in every case, what we deduct will never come to more than you paid us — returning a machine will not leave you owing us money.

9. Cancelling before delivery

If you cancel a confirmed order before delivery, we recover the costs we have already incurred on it and cannot recover elsewhere — third-party items bought in, custom branding or wrapping, configuration and preparation work, transport already booked, and storage where a machine has been held for you. We itemise them. We do not charge a flat cancellation penalty, because we would rather charge you what it actually cost us than a percentage plucked out of the air. What we charge has to be reasonable, and we take account of how much notice you gave us and whether we can sell the machine to someone else. Where the law says we may not charge you for cancelling at all — including where an order is cancelled because of a death or a hospitalisation — we do not.

Machines we source, configure or brand specifically to your order are a different case. Once that work has started the machine cannot go back into general stock, and cancelling may cost you most of the price. We itemise that too, and if we do manage to resell or re-purpose the machine we credit you with whatever we recover. We will always tell you before you reach that point, and we will not start work you have not approved.

10. Ownership and risk

Where a machine is paid for in full before or on delivery, it is yours from that day. Where payment is made in stages or on terms, ownership stays with IVS until we have received payment in full. Either way risk passes to you on delivery, so please insure the machine from the day it arrives even if it is not yet fully paid.

11. Where the Consumer Protection Act does not apply

Where your purchase falls outside the Act, goods are sold voetstoots — in the condition they are in at the time of sale, as described and as seen under clauses 3 and 5 — and the remedies in this policy and your signed agreement are the ones available to you. We do not exclude liability for a defect we knew about and did not tell you about, and nothing here affects a right that cannot be excluded by law.

12. How to make a claim

Email [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 063 131 0577. Tell us your invoice number, the machine serial number, what is happening and when it started, and send photographs or a short video if you can. We will come back to you with a diagnosis and a plan.

If we cannot resolve it between us, you may refer the matter to the National Consumer Commission or to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud. We would much rather it did not get that far, and it very rarely does.

13. General

If any part of this policy is found to be unenforceable, the rest of it continues to apply. This policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. See also our terms of use and our privacy policy.