Returns, refunds & disputes

Because every payment is held in escrow, most 'refunds' on SA Fashion Mall are actually just NOT releasing the money in the first place. If you open a dispute before confirming delivery, no funds have moved and a resolution is a single admin call. The contract of sale is between you and the seller — SA Fashion Mall is the marketplace facilitator that holds funds in escrow and reviews disputes as a neutral third party.

Can I cancel? Depends on the order type + stage

• Ready-made garment — freely cancellable before dispatch (full refund). After dispatch, a natural-person consumer may exercise the ECTA s44 7-day cooling-off right subject to the lawful conditions below.
• Fabric cut-to-length — freely cancellable before the mill starts cutting. Once fabric has been cut to your ordered length, the goods are 'made to your specification' (ECTA s42(2)(f)(i)) and cancellation requires mutual agreement with the mill, or evidence the mill is in breach.
• Custom tailor order — depends on the stage: (1) before the tailor accepts → free cancellation; (2) after acceptance, before cutting → cancellable but the tailor may retain documented out-of-pocket costs; (3) after material is cut → not unilaterally cancellable — you'd need mutual agreement or a dispute; (4) seller-side failure at any stage (non-delivery, abandonment, material deviation from the brief) → full cancellation right with refund.

Cooling-off returns — lawful conditions

• Return-first, refund-after. Refunds on a cooling-off return are processed ONLY after the item is received by the seller and passes inspection.
• The item must be unworn, unwashed, unaltered, and returned with original tags and packaging where applicable. Signs of wear, use or laundering void a cooling-off return (statutory defect remedies are unaffected).
• The buyer bears return shipping. The original outbound shipping fee is not refunded — the seller already dispatched the goods.
• The return notification must be logged within 7 business days of delivery; the physical return must be dispatched within a further 7 business days.
• Excluded from cooling-off: custom / made-to-measure garments, fabric cut to a specified length once cutting has started, and B2B / wholesale (Factory Cut) orders. Statutory defect and non-delivery remedies remain available on all of these.

What is NOT a defect

• Normal wear and tear consistent with the age and use of the garment.
• Damage from use, washing contrary to the care instructions, or buyer alteration by a third-party tailor or dry-cleaner.
• Fit / size issues where the buyer supplied and confirmed the measurements on a custom order.
• Minor colour variance attributable to screen calibration where the listing photos are otherwise accurate.
• Natural variation inherent to handmade goods and fabric dye lots where disclosed on the listing.

Qualifying dispute reasons

• Damaged in transit — the item arrived broken, torn or stained.
• Wrong item — you received something materially different from the listing.
• Not as described — colour / fabric / measurements are meaningfully off spec.
• Never arrived — the tracking has been static for 10+ business days.
• Poor workmanship — for custom orders where the finish falls below industry-standard tailoring.
• Cooling-off (ready-made only, natural-person consumer, conditions above satisfied).
• Other — anything else; the admin decides case-by-case.

How the review runs

• You open a dispute on the order page. Describe the issue (min 5 characters, 50+ for defect claims) and pick a reason. Attach photos where relevant.
• Funds freeze automatically. The seller is notified and asked to respond within 48 hours with their side (order chat + evidence). The seller has a right of reply before any refund decision is issued.
• SA Fashion Mall admin reviews the evidence from BOTH sides — order brief, agreed measurements, chat history, photos, tracking — within 2 business days: 'release' (seller gets paid), 'refund_due' (you get your money back to your original payment method), or 'partial' (custom split reflecting work / materials reasonably incurred by the seller). Decisions are impartial; neither buyers nor sellers are favoured by default.

Fair use

Disputes are evidence-based. Where an account shows a repeated pattern of cooling-off returns or bad-faith disputes, SAFM may — acting reasonably — require additional evidence for further change-of-mind requests, decline further change-of-mind returns, or restrict the account. This governs change-of-mind conduct only; statutory defect claims are always reviewed on the merits regardless of an account's prior history.

Physical returns

Every return must move on a tracked and insured courier service with signature-on-delivery, insured for its declared value. Untracked returns are at the sender's risk. Defective / wrong-item returns — the seller bears return shipping. Cooling-off returns — the buyer bears return shipping. Custom orders — return arrangements are negotiated in the dispute thread.