Refund & Credit Policy

This Policy applies to every paid product on the Ikhayalami Property Intelligence Platform, including but not limited to: standard property listings, premium and featured listings, listing extensions, banner placements, AI-powered insight upgrades, agency profile boosters, lead-pack subscriptions, and any future monetised services we may introduce.

It does not apply to free listings, free trials, complimentary credits, promotional vouchers, or services delivered by third-party partners — those are governed by the relevant partner terms or the specific promotional terms communicated at the time of issue.

• All amounts referenced in this Policy are in South African Rand (ZAR) unless otherwise stated.
• All listing prices are inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) where applicable.
• All credit balances are non-cash, non-transferable digital balances held in your Ikhayalami Wallet.
• This Policy does not limit any non-excludable rights you may have under the Consumer Protection Act.

• "Listing" means any property advertisement (rental, sale, share, student, commercial or otherwise) published or scheduled to be published on the platform.
• "Activation" means the moment a paid listing or feature is set live, becomes searchable, or any AI/distribution work has commenced — whichever occurs first.
• "Credit" means a non-cash digital balance reflected in your Ikhayalami Wallet that can be redeemed for future paid services on the platform.
• "Wallet" means the credit ledger associated with your Ikhayalami account, accessible from your dashboard.
• "Listing Period" means the active duration of a listing as specified in the tier purchased (typically 30, 60 or 90 days).
• "Cancellation" means a user-initiated request to take a paid listing offline before the end of its Listing Period.
• "Take-down" means a removal initiated by Ikhayalami because a listing breached the Terms of Use, this Policy, or applicable law.
• "Failed Listing" means a paid listing that did not go live, was incorrectly displayed, or was unavailable for a continuous and material period due to a fault attributable to Ikhayalami.
• "Chargeback" means a payment dispute raised with the user's bank or card issuer rather than directly with Ikhayalami.

Listings are not physical goods. The moment you purchase and activate a paid product, we begin delivering value in real time: the listing is indexed by our search engine, surfaced to relevant buyers and tenants, scored by our AI ranking system, distributed across syndication partners, and included in market-intelligence calculations. Reversing this work is technically impossible — once your listing has appeared in a buyer's search results, the impression has been delivered.

Section 44(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act recognises that digital content delivered immediately on purchase is not subject to the standard 7-day "cooling-off" right that applies to physical goods. Because of this, and to ensure fairness for all platform participants, Ikhayalami issues platform credit rather than cash refunds for eligible cancellations.

Credit guarantees that your purchasing power is preserved in full or in part — even when reversing the underlying transaction is no longer possible. You are never required to forfeit value: you simply hold it on the platform until you are ready to relist, upgrade, or use another paid feature.

Ikhayalami uses a flat-rate listing model with two product lines: (a) per-listing purchases — used by Private Sellers, individual Property Agents, and Property Agencies for ad-hoc listings — and (b) Agency monthly subscriptions, which bundle a number of agent seats and listing entitlements into a single recurring plan. The tables below illustrate the standard pricing on which credit values are calculated. Final prices and tier structure are displayed in your account dashboard at the point of purchase, and may change from time to time on prospective notice. Cancellations purchased under previous pricing are credited at the price actually paid.

Per-Listing Pricing (All Roles)

A single property listing on Ikhayalami costs R 199 per month, regardless of whether the lister is a Private Seller, a registered Property Agent, or a Property Agency listing additional inventory outside their subscription bundle. The same fee applies across all three roles.

Property Agency Monthly Subscriptions

Property Agencies subscribe to a tiered monthly plan based on the number of agent seats required. Each plan includes a stated number of bundled listings and team workspace features. Listings consumed beyond the bundle are billed at the standard per-listing rate of R 199 above.

Credit is calculated on the price actually paid (after any promotional discount, voucher or coupon). If you used a free listing, complimentary credit, voucher or partner promotion, no monetary credit is generated on cancellation — only the unused portion of any complimentary listing time is forfeited.

Before activation (pre-publish)

If you cancel a paid listing before it goes live — i.e. before activation — you are entitled to 100% credit equal to the amount paid, issued to your Ikhayalami Wallet within one (1) business day. No portion is retained by the platform in this scenario.

After activation, within first 48 hours

If you cancel within 48 hours of activation, you receive 90% credit. The 10% retention covers immediate AI-indexing, distribution and ranking work that has already been performed and cannot be reversed.

After 48 hours, within first half of Listing Period

If you cancel before the midpoint of the Listing Period (e.g. day 15 of a 30-day listing), you receive credit proportional to the unused time, less a 15% administrative retention.

After midpoint of Listing Period

If you cancel after the midpoint of the Listing Period, no credit is issued. The majority of the listing's intended exposure has already been delivered, and the remaining value is treated as fully consumed.

Section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives consumers a 7-day cooling-off right for certain electronic transactions. However, section 44(1)(d) of the same Act expressly excludes digital content that has been supplied immediately on payment, such as activated property listings, listing upgrades and AI-driven services.

For paid services that have not yet been activated — for example a listing that is queued but has not been published — you retain a 7-day cooling-off right, and Ikhayalami will refund 100% of the amount paid as platform credit.

For paid services that have been activated, the cooling-off right does not apply, and the cancellation windows in clause 5 govern. By clicking "Activate" or any equivalent confirmation when publishing your listing, you expressly consent to the immediate commencement of the service and acknowledge that you are forfeiting your ECTA cooling-off right in respect of that specific listing.

Nothing in this clause limits non-excludable rights you may have under the Consumer Protection Act, including rights to safe, good-quality services and the right to a fair process for failed services.

• All credit is held in your Ikhayalami Wallet, accessible from your account dashboard under "Wallet & Billing".
• Credit is automatically applied at checkout for any eligible paid product on the platform — listings, upgrades, feature packs, and agency tools.
• If credit covers only part of a purchase, the balance can be settled by card or any supported payment method.
• Credit is denominated in ZAR, is non-interest-bearing, and is non-transferable — it cannot be sent to another user, gifted, sold, or assigned.
• Credit cannot be exchanged for cash, deposited to a bank account, withdrawn, or converted to any non-platform value.
• Credit may be combined with active promotions, but cannot be combined with refunds or chargebacks for the same underlying transaction.
• Each credit transaction is logged with a unique ID, the originating cancellation, the issuing date, and the expiry date — visible to you in your Wallet history.

Credit issued under this Policy is valid for twelve (12) months from the date of issue, unless a different period is communicated in writing at the time of issue (for example, promotional credits with shorter validity).

Before any credit batch expires, we will notify you via email at the following intervals:

• 90 days before expiry — first reminder with quick-redeem links
• 30 days before expiry — second reminder
• 7 days before expiry — final reminder

On the expiry date, any unused balance from the relevant credit batch is forfeited. We treat the oldest credit batch as redeemed first ("FIFO") whenever credit is applied to a purchase, so you are always spending the credit closest to expiring.

Where a paid listing fails to perform as advertised through Ikhayalami's fault — for example a sustained technical outage that prevents the listing from being visible to end users for more than 24 continuous hours — we will issue compensation as follows:

• Listing Period extension: The Listing Period is extended by the duration of the outage, at no cost.
• Bonus credit: If the outage exceeds 72 continuous hours, additional credit equal to 25% of the listing fee is added to your Wallet.
• Full credit: If the listing was never able to publish at all due to a platform fault, you are credited 100% of the amount paid.

Section 19 (Dispute Resolution) sets out how to claim failed-listing compensation. Outages caused by force majeure events, third-party service providers acting outside our control, or scheduled maintenance windows notified in advance are not treated as platform faults for purposes of this clause.

• Upgrades mid-listing are allowed and prorated — you pay the difference between the unused portion of your current tier and the new tier.
• Downgrades mid-listing are not refundable and not creditable. You may downgrade your plan for the next billing cycle by changing your settings before the next renewal date.
• Add-ons (e.g. extra photos, video tour, "Top of search" boost, AI insight pack) are non-refundable and non-creditable once activated, given their immediate-delivery nature.
• Bundles purchased at a discounted rate are credited at the discounted unit price, not the standalone price.

Booking fees

Stay is funded by two transparent fees collected through the platform. The host commission keeps the service running — platform operations, secure payouts and support — and the guest service fee scales with demand. Both are disclosed before a booking is confirmed.

The exact guest service fee applicable to a booking is shown at checkout before payment. Service fees form part of the accommodation charge for the purpose of the refund schedule below, except where stated otherwise.

1. Guest cancellations

Guests may cancel a booking through the Ikhayalami platform at any time before check-in. The refund is determined by how far in advance the cancellation is made, measured against the listing's local check-in time.

Any applicable payment-processing fees may be deducted from the refund where permitted by law.

2. Host cancellations

If a host cancels a confirmed booking before check-in:

• The guest will receive a full refund of all accommodation charges and service fees paid.
• Ikhayalami may assist the guest in finding suitable alternative accommodation, but does not guarantee a replacement.
• Repeated cancellations by a host may result in warnings, temporary suspension, or removal of the host's listings from the platform.

3. Property not as advertised

Guests must report any significant issues with a property within 24 hours of check-in. Examples include:

• The property is unavailable.
• The property is materially different from the listing description.
• The property is unsafe or unsuitable for occupation.
• Essential advertised amenities are unavailable.

Ikhayalami reserves the right to investigate the matter and, at its sole reasonable discretion, issue a partial or full refund where the complaint is substantiated. Nothing in this clause limits a guest's non-excludable rights under the Consumer Protection Act.

4. Refund processing

• Approved refunds are processed to the original payment method used for the booking.
• Refund processing times may vary depending on the payment provider or financial institution.

5. Host payouts & escrow

To protect both guests and hosts:

• Ikhayalami holds guest payments in escrow until after check-in.
• Host payouts are normally released within 24 to 48 hours after the guest's confirmed check-in, net of the host commission.
• Any approved refunds, disputes, or chargebacks may be deducted or recovered from the host payout where applicable.

6. Exceptional circumstances

Ikhayalami may, at its discretion, provide alternative refund or rebooking arrangements in cases involving natural disasters, government restrictions, public emergencies, or other circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the guest or host.

Registration fee

Service providers pay a once-off registration fee of R199 to create and activate a business profile on the Marketplace. This is a single onboarding charge — not a recurring subscription. The fee covers:

• Profile creation and verification.
• Listing on the Marketplace.
• Administrative and onboarding costs.
• Access to customer enquiries and platform features.
• Ongoing profile hosting and maintenance.

Cancellation of membership

Service providers may request removal of their profile from the platform at any time. Upon cancellation:

• The profile will be removed or deactivated.
• No future charges will be incurred.
• Access to platform features and enquiries will cease.

Refunds

Duplicate payments: Where a service provider is charged more than once due to a technical error or duplicate payment, the duplicate amount will be refunded in full upon verification.

Removal for misconduct

The platform reserves the right to suspend or remove service provider profiles that:

• Provide false information.
• Engage in fraudulent conduct.
• Violate the platform terms.
• Receive substantiated complaints of serious misconduct.

Removal for misconduct does not entitle the service provider to a refund of the registration fee.

Subscription fee

• Tenant+ charges landlords a subscription fee of R199 per month for access to the platform and its premium landlord features.
• Tenants may register and use the platform free of charge.

Cancellation by landlords

Landlords may cancel their subscription at any time through their Tenant+ account or by contacting Tenant+ support. Upon cancellation:

• The subscription remains active until the end of the current billing period.
• No further monthly subscription fees are charged after the current billing period ends.
• Access to premium landlord features terminates at the end of the paid subscription period.

Refunds

Failed payments

If a monthly subscription payment cannot be collected:

• Tenant+ may suspend access to premium features.
• Tenant+ may retry payment collection.
• Continued non-payment may result in subscription termination.

Changes to subscription pricing

Tenant+ reserves the right to amend subscription pricing. Existing subscribers will be provided with reasonable notice before any pricing change takes effect, and may cancel before the change applies.

Termination by Tenant+

Tenant+ may suspend or terminate accounts that:

• Violate the Terms of Use.
• Engage in fraudulent activities.
• Misuse the platform.

Where appropriate, notice will be provided before termination. Personal information is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and POPIA at all times.

Cash refunds (rather than credit) may be issued at the platform's sole discretion in the following limited circumstances:

• Duplicate or accidental charge: Where a payment was demonstrably charged twice or charged in error and the duplicate transaction has not yet generated platform value.
• Failure to publish at all: Where a paid listing could not be activated due to a platform fault and the user requests a cash refund instead of credit.
• Statutory requirement: Where the Consumer Protection Act, ECTA, or any applicable South African law specifically requires cash repayment.
• Fraudulent unauthorised charge: Where a verified third-party fraud victim's card was used without their authorisation, subject to evidence and timely reporting.

Cash refunds are processed to the original payment method only, are subject to a maximum 14-business-day processing window, and may attract bank transfer or card-network fees deducted from the refunded amount.

Ikhayalami operates an automated abuse-detection layer that flags unusual cancellation, refund or credit- redemption patterns. The platform reserves the right to refuse, reduce or reverse any credit issuance — and to suspend Wallet usage — where it reasonably believes a user is engaged in abusive behaviour, including:

• Repeated cancellations of paid listings within short windows that appear designed to extract maximum exposure without committing to the full Listing Period
• Listing the same property under multiple accounts, then cancelling some to claim credit while keeping the same property visible
• Use of stolen, fraudulent, or unauthorised payment instruments
• Coordinated activity across linked accounts to inflate exposure or accumulate refundable credit
• Lodging chargebacks (clause 13) without first attempting to resolve the matter through Ikhayalami's dispute process
• Posting fake, misleading or non-compliant listings then requesting credit on take-down

Where abuse is established, in addition to refusing or reversing credit, we may suspend or terminate the affected accounts, withhold any outstanding Wallet balances pending investigation, and report suspected fraudulent activity to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), the South African Police Service, the Information Regulator (where personal information is misused) and the relevant card networks.

A chargeback is a payment dispute initiated with your bank or card issuer rather than directly with Ikhayalami. We strongly request that you contact us first via the dispute process in clause 15 — most chargebacks are the result of misunderstandings that we can resolve quickly through credit issuance or service correction.

Where a chargeback is filed, the following applies:

• The disputed account is automatically suspended pending the outcome of the chargeback investigation, including any active listings, Wallet balance and Agency tools.
• All previously issued credit related to the disputed transaction is frozen and reversed if the chargeback is upheld in your favour.
• Where a chargeback is found to be invalid, fraudulent or filed in bad faith, we may charge a chargeback recovery fee of up to R 350 per disputed transaction (or the bank's actual fee, whichever is higher) and reinstate the original debt as a Wallet negative balance.
• Repeated invalid chargebacks may result in permanent termination of your account and a referral to the relevant card network's dispute escalation process.
• Ikhayalami will respond to all chargeback enquiries from acquirers within the timeframes required by the card network, with full evidence of service delivery (timestamps, indexing logs, search-impression data and any user communications).

Where Ikhayalami removes a listing because it breaches the Terms of Use, this Policy, the Property Practitioners Act, FICA, POPIA, the Consumer Protection Act, or any applicable South African law, no credit is issued and any unredeemed Wallet balance attached to that account may be suspended pending review.

Examples of breach-driven take-downs include (without limitation):

• Knowingly misrepresenting a property's condition, location, price, ownership, FICA status or attributes
• Listing a property the user does not have lawful authority to advertise
• Posting a duplicate listing of an already-active property to manipulate ranking
• Using the platform for advance-fee fraud, phishing, identity harvesting or any other unlawful purpose
• Operating as an estate agent without a valid Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Fidelity Fund Certificate where one is required
• Posting content that violates the Films and Publications Act or other applicable content laws

Where a listing is removed in error and is later reinstated, the original Listing Period is extended by the full duration of the suspension and any lost exposure is compensated as set out in clause 9.

If you disagree with how a refund, credit or cancellation was handled, please follow the steps below in order:

To request a cancellation, refund or credit:

1. Go to your Dashboard → "My Listings" → select the listing → "Cancel listing"
2. Choose a reason from the dropdown (this helps our quality team)
3. Confirm the credit amount displayed (calculated based on clause 5)
4. Submit — credit is reflected in your Wallet within 1 business day

For matters that cannot be resolved through the in-app flow (e.g. a duplicate charge, a chargeback dispute, a failed-listing claim), please email billing@ikhayalami.properties with your transaction ID, listing reference, payment proof and a clear description of the issue. We aim to acknowledge billing emails within one (1) business day and resolve straightforward matters within five (5) business days.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Policy, Ikhayalami reserves an unqualified administrative discretion to:

• Issue credit, partial cash refunds, or goodwill adjustments outside the standard windows where the circumstances warrant a fair outcome (for example, genuine bereavement, illness, fraud-victim status, or material misunderstanding by a vulnerable user)
• Refuse or reduce credit where required to comply with applicable law, including anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorism financing, or financial sanctions obligations
• Apply a higher credit threshold to Growing and Enterprise Agency-tier customers as a service-recovery gesture in line with internal customer-success policies
• Adjust this Policy on prospective notice (clause 19) — past purchases are credited under the Policy in force at the time of purchase

The exercise of administrative discretion is not a right enforceable by any user and does not establish a precedent for future similar requests.

• All listing fees and add-ons are quoted inclusive of VAT (currently 15%) unless explicitly indicated otherwise.
• Tax invoices compliant with the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991 are issued automatically on each payment and are available in your Dashboard under "Wallet & Billing".
• Where a transaction is reversed (rare cash refund), a corresponding credit note is issued and a fresh tax invoice supersedes the original.
• Credit issued to your Wallet is treated for tax purposes as deferred consideration for future services — VAT is recognised at the point of redemption, not at the point of issue.
• If you require a VAT-compliant invoice in the name of a registered business, please ensure your billing details (including VAT number) are correctly captured before purchase.

• Material changes are notified via a prominent notice on www.ikhayalami.properties and, where possible, by email to registered users at least 14 days before the new version takes effect.
• The "Effective" date in the hero meta-pills always reflects the most recent version.
• Changes apply prospectively only — purchases made before the effective date are credited and refunded under the Policy in force at the time of that purchase.
• Continued use of the platform and continued purchase of paid services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

For all queries, requests or complaints relating to this Policy, please contact our Billing & Disputes team. We aim to acknowledge requests within one (1) business day and resolve straightforward matters within five (5) business days.