Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 and Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002
Refund and cancellation policy
How The Archive and Heritage Digital Commons Group (Pty) Ltd ("the AHG", "we", "us") handles cancellations and refunds for Life's Next Chapter and the LifeFile platform, and the rights you hold under South African law when something is cancelled or does not meet the standard agreed.
1. Who this applies to
Everyone who buys a service from us in connection with Life's Next Chapter: a professional practice licensing the platform, and an individual client buying planning services directly from us.
Where a signed services agreement, engagement letter or statement of work exists between us, that agreement prevails to the extent the two differ. This policy governs everything it does not cover.
Nothing here limits a right you hold under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. Where this policy and either Act differ, the Act applies.
2. What we sell, and why the treatment differs
| What | How it is billed | How cancellation works |
|---|---|---|
| Platform subscription | Recurring, in advance, per the services agreement | Notice period in the agreement. The period already paid for runs to its end |
| Hosting | A separate line on the same invoice | Follows the subscription. It is not cancellable on its own, because it is what runs the service |
| Onboarding and consultancy | Quoted and accepted before work starts | Cancel before work begins and nothing is owed. After it begins, the work actually done is owed |
| Planning services to an individual | Per the engagement letter | Section 3 and section 4 below |
3. Your right to cancel an electronic transaction
Section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives a consumer who concludes an electronic transaction the right to cancel it within seven days, without reason and without penalty.
Where you exercise that right we refund what you have paid within 30 days.
The right does not survive a service having been performed with your consent. If you ask us to begin drafting and we do, that part of the work has been performed. We will tell you at the point of instruction that this is the effect, rather than letting you discover it afterwards.
4. Cancelling planning services
You may end an engagement at any time, in writing. We charge for the work done up to that point and nothing beyond it.
Where we have not yet begun, there is no charge. Where a will has been drafted but not signed, the drafting is owed. Where a will has been signed, the work is complete.
If it ends, you receive a copy of everything we hold for you in a usable form and we tell you where your original documents are. Your plan does not stop being yours because our engagement ends.
5. Cancelling a practice subscription
A practice may terminate on the notice in its services agreement. Subscription and hosting are billed in advance and the period already paid for runs to its end; we do not pro-rate a part month.
Where we increase a fee, we give notice before the increase takes effect, and a practice that does not accept it may terminate without penalty rather than being held to the new price.
Where a practice terminates because we have materially failed to meet the service levels we committed to, and have not put it right after notice, we refund the affected period.
6. What happens to the data, whatever the dispute
This section is the important one, and it does not bend.
On termination we export the practice's entire client set in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, deliver it to the practice or a party it nominates, then delete it from our live systems and our backups on a stated schedule and certify that we have done so.
We do not withhold client data as leverage in a fee dispute. The clients are not parties to that dispute, and their families may need what we hold. Whatever is owed to us is pursued as a debt, never by holding a record hostage.
7. Where a service falls short
Tell us. If a service does not meet the standard agreed, we will correct it, and where correcting it is not possible we will refund the part that failed.
Nothing in this policy asks you to give up the right, under section 54 of the Consumer Protection Act, to services performed with reasonable skill and care.
8. How a refund is paid
To the account the payment came from, in South African rand, within 30 days of us agreeing the refund. We do not charge an administration fee to process one.
9. What is not refundable
- Work already performed with your consent, including drafting you asked us to begin.
- Third party costs already incurred on your instruction, such as an attorney's fee on a referred matter or a deeds office charge.
- A period of subscription already consumed.
An attorney's fee for referred work is agreed with you before that work starts and is not ours to refund.
10. How to ask
Email info@theahg.co.za with what you bought, when, and what has gone wrong. We acknowledge within two business days and give you an answer, with reasons, within ten.
If you are not satisfied, you may take the matter to the National Consumer Commission or a recognised consumer tribunal. Doing so costs you nothing and we will not treat it as a reason to end your engagement.