Refund & Cancellation Policy

01 The short version

02 Subscriptions and billing

Sentinel Eye is a cloud service. Your subscription covers AI intrusion detection, alerts, and the features included in your plan (Core, Shield, or an Estate/Commercial agreement).

• Billing cycle: monthly in advance, on the calendar day you subscribed (or the closest business day).
• Auto-renewal: your subscription renews automatically each month until you cancel it.
• Payment method: card payments are processed by Paystack. Hardware is paid separately and in cash/EFT — never through the subscription.
• Price changes: founding-member rates are locked for the life of your subscription. Any future change to non-founding rates applies only after at least 30 days' written notice.
• Failed payments: we'll retry and notify you. Service may be suspended after 7 days of non-payment, and resumes once payment clears.

03 Cancelling your subscription

You can cancel at any time. No lock-in, no cancellation penalty, no exit fee.

How to cancel

• Email hello@sentineleye.co.za from the address on your account, or cancel from your account dashboard.
• We'll confirm in writing within one business day. Keep that confirmation.

When it takes effect

• Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period you've already paid for — you keep full access until then.
• Cancel at least 5 business days before your next billing date to avoid the next charge. Cancel later than that and the following month's charge may already be in process.
• Estate and Commercial agreements run on their written contract terms, which usually require 30 days' written notice.

04 Subscription refunds

Because the service is delivered continuously, we do not refund billing periods that have already been consumed. If you cancel halfway through a month, you keep access to the end of that month and no further charges are made.

When we do refund — in full

• Duplicate or double charge on the same billing period.
• Charge after a valid cancellation that we confirmed in writing.
• Charge made in error (wrong amount, wrong account, unauthorised transaction).
• Service not supplied — if we cannot deliver the service you paid for and cannot fix it within a reasonable time.

When we refund pro rata

• If we permanently discontinue the service or a core feature you're paying for, we refund the unused portion of the current billing period.
• If a prolonged outage on our side removes service for more than 7 consecutive days, you may request a pro-rata credit for the affected days.

How refunds are paid

Refunds go back to the original payment method via Paystack, normally within 10 business days of approval. Bank processing times can add a few days.

What is not refundable

• Periods where the service was available but unused (for example, you were away or your cameras were offline).
• Failures caused by your own equipment, network, or camera incompatibility that we warned you about.
• Add-on or once-off professional services already performed (for example, installation or site configuration).

05 Hardware purchases and returns

Returns — change of mind

If you bought hardware online or by phone without seeing it first, you may return it within 7 days of delivery. The item must be unused, undamaged and in its original packaging. We refund the purchase price within 30 days of receiving the returned goods. Return courier costs are for your account unless the item was defective or incorrectly supplied.

Returns — defective or faulty

If hardware is faulty, we'll repair, replace or refund it at our option, within a reasonable time and at no cost to you. This applies for the full warranty period and is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Protection Act.

Warranty

• Hardware: 12 months against manufacturing defects from date of delivery.
• Installation workmanship: 3 months from date of installation.
• Statutory implied warranty: 6 months under section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act, regardless of our own warranty.
• Warranty excludes damage from lightning, power surges, water ingress, physical damage, tampering, or incorrect installation by a third party.

Rent to Own

Where hardware is supplied under a Rent to Own agreement, that separate written agreement governs ownership, payments, early settlement and return of the equipment. This policy does not override it.

06 Pilot and trial periods

• Complimentary pilot periods are provided at no cost and carry no payment obligation.
• No card is charged during a free pilot, and no refund arises because nothing was paid.
• No automatic conversion: a pilot never rolls into a paid subscription on its own. We'll ask you first, and you'll confirm in writing before any billing starts.
• Either party can end a pilot at any time. If a pilot ends, your access stops at the end of the pilot period — no cancellation fee, no notice period.
• Hardware supplied for a pilot remains our property unless you've bought it, and is returned at the end of the pilot unless you choose to purchase it.

07 Your rights under South African law

Nothing in this policy takes away your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA). If this policy and those laws differ, the law applies.

• Cooling-off (direct marketing): if you signed up because of direct marketing, you may cancel in writing within 5 business days. We then refund any payment made.
• Fixed-term agreements (CPA section 14): you may cancel a fixed-term agreement on 20 business days' written notice. We may charge a reasonable cancellation fee only to the extent the law permits, and only for actual costs we cannot recover.
• Right to cancel for cause: you may cancel without penalty if we materially breach the agreement and fail to remedy it after written notice.
• Quality of goods (CPA section 55–56): goods must be safe, of good quality and fit for purpose, with a 6-month implied warranty.
• Fair terms (CPA section 48–52): terms must be fair, reasonable and in plain language. If a court or the National Consumer Commission finds a term unfair, that term falls away and the rest stands.

08 Questions and complaints

Contact us first — most billing issues are resolved the same day.

This policy may be updated from time to time. The version in force when you were billed applies to that billing period. Material changes are communicated by email at least 30 days before they take effect.