Refund & Returns Policy

1. Overview

The return or refund options available will depend on the nature of the product, why it is being returned and whether it was a standard product or a product made, branded or personalised specifically for the customer.

Brand Ground supplies both standard products and products that may be customised, sublimated, embroidered, printed, branded or otherwise produced to a customer’s specifications.

Customers should contact Brand Ground as soon as possible if there is a problem with an order.

2. Online Purchases & Cooling-Off Rights

Certain electronic transactions may qualify for a cooling-off period under applicable South African law.

Where the statutory cooling-off right applies, a customer may cancel a qualifying electronic transaction for goods within seven days after receiving the goods.

Where such a return is based only on the applicable cooling-off right, the customer may be responsible for the direct cost of returning the goods, as permitted by law.

Certain categories of goods are excluded from this cooling-off right, including goods made to the customer’s specifications or goods that are clearly personalised.

These cooling-off provisions are separate from a customer’s rights where products are defective, unsafe, incorrectly supplied or do not comply with applicable legal standards.

3. Custom, Personalised & Special-Order Products

Many Brand Ground products are produced specifically for a school, team, organisation, business or individual customer.

This may include products that are:

• sublimated;
• embroidered;
• printed or branded;
• personalised with names, numbers or other information;
• manufactured in a specific design, colour or configuration; or
• specially ordered or produced to the customer’s specifications.

A non-defective customised or clearly personalised product may not qualify for a change-of-mind return or statutory electronic cooling-off right where the applicable law provides an exclusion for that type of product.

This does not remove a customer’s rights where a customised product is defective, unsafe, incorrectly supplied or does not reasonably conform to the specifications approved for the order.

4. Defective, Unsafe or Poor-Quality Products

If a product is defective, unsafe or does not meet the quality requirements applicable under South African consumer law, please notify Brand Ground as soon as reasonably possible.

Where the Consumer Protection Act applies, qualifying defective goods may be returned within six months after delivery without penalty and at the supplier’s risk and expense.

Where the legal requirements are met, the customer may be entitled to choose an applicable remedy such as:

• repair;
• replacement; or
• refund.

Products may be inspected where reasonably necessary to confirm the nature and cause of the reported defect.

Rights relating to defective goods may not apply where the problem was caused by misuse, failure to follow reasonable care instructions, unauthorised alteration or damage occurring after the product left Brand Ground’s control.

5. Incorrect or Damaged Orders

If Brand Ground supplies the wrong product, incorrect size, incorrect quantity or an item materially different from the confirmed order, please contact us promptly.

The same applies where a product arrives damaged or where an approved custom specification has not been followed.

Please provide the Brand Ground order number together with clear photographs or other information reasonably required to assess the issue.

Once the issue has been verified, Brand Ground will arrange the appropriate remedy in accordance with the circumstances and applicable consumer rights.

6. Size & Fit Exchanges

Customers are responsible for selecting the required size when placing an order and should use the sizing information provided where available.

Where a standard, non-customised product has been ordered in the incorrect size, Brand Ground may assist with an exchange where the product is eligible for exchange and the required replacement size is available.

Products presented for a discretionary size exchange must generally be unused, unworn, unwashed and in a condition suitable for resale.

Customised, personalised or made-to-order garments may not be exchangeable solely because the customer selected the incorrect size, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

Where Brand Ground supplied a size different from the size confirmed on the order, this will be treated as an incorrectly supplied product rather than a customer sizing error.

7. Condition of Returned Products

Where the reason for return is not a defect or other statutory product-quality issue, Brand Ground may require the product to be:

• unused and unworn;
• unwashed;
• free from marks, odours or damage;
• returned with applicable tags or packaging where reasonably possible; and
• otherwise suitable for resale.

These condition requirements do not remove or reduce rights that apply to defective, unsafe or incorrectly supplied products.

8. How to Request a Return or Exchange

Before sending any product back, please contact Brand Ground so that we can review the request and provide the appropriate return, collection or exchange instructions.

Please provide:

• your name;
• Brand Ground order number;
• the product concerned;
• the reason for the return or exchange;
• the required replacement size, where applicable; and
• clear photographs where the item is damaged, defective or incorrect.

Do not send a product to an address without first receiving return instructions from Brand Ground.

9. Refunds

Where a refund is approved or required by law, Brand Ground will process the refund using an appropriate payment method.

The time taken for a refund to reflect may depend on the payment method, financial institution or payment service provider involved.

Where a statutory electronic cooling-off right applies, refunds will be handled within the period required by applicable law.

Where only part of an order is returned, any refund will relate only to the products or charges properly subject to refund.

10. Return Delivery & Collection Costs

Responsibility for return or collection costs depends on the reason for the return.

Where goods are properly returned because they are defective, unsafe or otherwise qualify for return at the supplier’s risk and expense under applicable law, Brand Ground will handle the return accordingly.

Where a qualifying online purchase is returned only under an applicable cooling-off right, the customer may be responsible for the direct cost of returning the goods.

For discretionary size exchanges or other non-defective returns, applicable delivery or return costs will be communicated before the exchange or return is completed.

11. School Orders & Collection Points

Where a school order is fulfilled through a coach, school office or other designated collection point, Brand Ground may provide specific instructions for the return or exchange process.

Handing an item back to a school or coach does not automatically mean that a refund or exchange has been approved. The return must still be recorded and processed through the applicable Brand Ground return process.

12. Consumer Rights

This policy must be read together with Brand Ground’s Terms & Conditions .

Nothing in this policy is intended to waive, exclude or restrict rights that a consumer has under applicable South African law.