Refunds, Returns & Cancellations

This policy forms part of our Terms of Service and explains what happens to your money when a hire or a booking does not run as planned.

THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd is the supplier and merchant of record for every order on this site. That means any refund due to you is paid by us, directly, and you do not need to approach anyone else for it.

Nothing in this policy limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. Where this policy gives you more than the law requires, the more generous term applies.

Every equipment hire carries a refundable security deposit, shown on the listing and in your cart before you pay. It is a fixed amount per item, not a percentage of the hire, and it is held against late return, damage, and loss.

When the equipment comes back we inspect each item and photograph its condition, then compare it against the record made when it left us. The deposit is then settled in one of four ways:

• Released in full — everything came back on time and in the condition it went out in.
• Released in part — a deduction is made for a late return, damage, or a missing item, and the balance is refunded to you.
• Withheld — the deduction equals or exceeds the deposit.
• Held pending a dispute — where the position is not clear, or the equipment has not come back, the deposit is held while we investigate.

Where any part of your deposit is withheld, we send you a written breakdown showing what was deducted and why. If you disagree with it, raise it with us using section 8 below.

Deposits are refunded to the original payment method used for the order. We do not refund to a different card, to a third party, or in cash.

Late returns are charged at R150 per day or part of a day, for a maximum of 14 days. The late fee is recovered from your security deposit and can never exceed it.

Equipment still outstanding 14 days after the return date becomes a formal dispute. Separately from the deposit, you remain liable for the replacement cost of equipment that is never returned, and for the cost of covering another client’s booking that your late return caused us to fail. Those amounts are invoiced to you, not taken from your card.

You are liable for repair costs, or for full replacement cost where an item is lost, stolen, or damaged beyond economic repair, as set out in section 13 of our Terms of Service. Fair wear and tear is excluded.

Where the amount owed is more than your deposit, the balance is invoiced to you with the supporting documents. We do not charge additional amounts to your card without telling you first.

You can cancel an equipment booking yourself from your dashboard while it is still pending payment or confirmed. Once the equipment has been released to you, the return process applies instead and you should contact us.

The refund is worked out automatically from how much notice you give, and processed to the card you paid with. You are shown the exact amount before you confirm the cancellation.

• More than 48 hours before the hire starts — the hire charge is refunded in full.
• Between 24 and 48 hours before — 50% of the hire charge is refunded.
• Less than 24 hours before, or after the hire has started — the hire charge is not refunded, because the equipment has been held for you and turned away from other bookings.

Your security deposit is always refunded in full when you cancel, whatever notice you give. It secures equipment against damage and late return, and on a cancellation no equipment ever left us.

Where you chose delivery, the delivery fee is refunded in full if you cancel before the vehicle is dispatched. Once it has left, the fee has been incurred and is not refundable, even where the hire charge is.

Where you chose to pay the deposit online and settle the hire charge on collection, cancelling before collection means there is no hire charge to refund. Your deposit comes back in full.

If the automatic refund fails for any reason, your booking is still cancelled and we complete the refund by hand. We will tell you if that happens.

You can cancel a service booking up to the point where the work is delivered. After delivery, the approval process in section 7 applies instead.

The refund is worked out from how much notice you give against your agreed shoot date, and processed automatically to the card you paid with:

• More than 48 hours before the shoot — refunded in full.
• Between 24 and 48 hours before — 50% refunded.
• Less than 24 hours before — no refund, because crew and equipment have been committed to your date and turned away from other work.

Where a booking was made without a fixed shoot date, we cannot measure the notice automatically, so a person assesses it. Contact support@thabangvision.com with your booking reference and we will come back to you within 2 business days.

When deliverables are submitted to you, you have 7 days to review them. Approve them, or tell us what is wrong. If you do not respond within 7 days, the delivery is approved automatically and the booking is treated as complete.

Raise any problem inside that window. Once a booking has been approved, or auto-approved, it is settled and a refund becomes much harder to arrange.

Inspect equipment when you collect or receive it, and tell us immediately if an item is faulty, damaged, incomplete, or not what you booked. Do not use it. We will replace it, repair it, or refund it.

If equipment or a service is not supplied as described, tell us within 7 days of receiving it. Where the fault is ours, you choose between a re-supply and a full refund. This is your right under section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act and we do not limit it.

If we cancel your booking, or cannot supply what you paid for, you receive a full refund of everything you paid, with no deduction.

• We approve or decline a refund request within 2 business days.
• Approved refunds are processed within 5 business days of approval.
• Deposits are settled within 5 business days of the equipment being returned and passing inspection.
• Your bank typically takes a further 5 to 10 business days to reflect the money.

Refunds are made in ZAR to the original payment method. We do not charge a fee to process a refund. If more than 15 business days have passed since we told you a refund was approved, contact us at support@thabangvision.com.

Under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, you may cancel a transaction concluded electronically within 7 days, without reason or penalty, and receive a refund of what you paid.

This right works differently once a hire has begun. Where you have asked us to start supplying, and the hire period has started with your agreement, the cooling off right no longer applies to the part already supplied. For that reason, cancel before your hire starts if you want to rely on it.

The direct cost of returning equipment to us is for your account when you cancel under this section. It is not charged when the cancellation is because something was faulty or misdescribed.

If you are unhappy with a refund decision, tell us. Email support@thabangvision.com with your booking reference, or call +27 79 539 9012 during business hours.

We acknowledge every complaint within 2 business days and aim to resolve it within 10 business days. If we need longer, we tell you why and give you a revised date.

If you are still not satisfied, escalate in writing to hello@thabangvision.com for review by management. You keep the right to refer an unresolved complaint to the National Consumer Commission or to a court of competent jurisdiction in South Africa.

If you do not recognise a charge from ThabangVision, contact us before raising a dispute with your bank. Most queries are resolved the same day, and a chargeback takes considerably longer than a refund.

Where a chargeback is raised, we supply your bank and our payment provider with the booking record, the collection or delivery confirmation, the return and inspection record, and the related correspondence. Chargebacks raised in bad faith, where the equipment or service was supplied as agreed, may be recovered from you as a debt.

THABANGVISION STUDIO (Pty) Ltd
9873 Extension 5, Soshanguve South, Gauteng, 0152, South Africa
Registration number 2025/742948/07
Refunds and returns support@thabangvision.com
Telephone +27 79 539 9012
Mon–Fri: 08:00 – 18:00 | Sat: 09:00 – 14:00 | Sun: Closed