Legal & Billing Governance

Refund, Domain & Cancellation Policy

Last Updated: October 31, 2026

Domain Names

Strictly Non-Refundable

Domain registrations, transfers, and renewals are executed instantly at the official registry and cannot be reversed, modified, or refunded once submitted.

Monthly Subscriptions

Cancel Anytime

Zero contract lock-ins. Cancel anytime to stop future billing. Paid monthly cycles are non-refundable and remain active until the end of the billing period.

Billing Protection

100% Error Reversal

If a duplicate gateway charge occurs or if a domain fails registry provisioning, we refund 100% of the erroneous charge within 5–7 business days.

This Refund, Domain & Cancellation Policy governs all purchases, domain transactions, monthly website and email subscriptions, and custom software engagements processed through CodeWays (https://codeways.co). This policy forms an integral part of our Terms of Service.

1. Domain Name Registrations, Transfers & Renewals (Non-Refundable)

When you register a new domain name, transfer an existing domain, or renew a domain through CodeWays (including but not limited to .co.za, .org.za, .net.za, .com, .co, .org, .net, .io, and .ai extensions), CodeWays acts as an automated provisioning intermediary with the official central registries (such as ZARC / ZA Central Registry and ICANN-accredited registrars).

  • All Domain Fees Are Final and Non-Refundable: Once a domain registration, renewal, or transfer order is submitted and paid for, the registry fee is committed immediately and the domain is locked to your registrant record. Because central registries do not permit registrars to cancel or reverse completed domain registrations for credit, CodeWays cannot issue refunds, credits, or exchanges for any registered, renewed, or transferred domain name.
  • Spelling, Typos & Customer Verification Responsibility: Domain names are bespoke, custom-specified digital registrations created to your exact character input. In accordance with Section 42(2)(c) of the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA, Act 25 of 2002) and equivalent international digital commerce regulations regarding personalized/instant-execution digital goods, the statutory 7-day cooling-off period does not apply to domain name registrations. You are solely responsible for verifying the exact spelling, hyphenation, and extension (TLD) of your domain name before completing checkout.
  • Domain Transfers: Fees paid for domain transfers (which include a 1-year registry renewal where applicable) are non-refundable once initiated. If a transfer is delayed or rejected due to an invalid EPP/Authorisation code, registrar lock, or administrative contact hold at your previous provider, our team will assist you in re-submitting the transfer at no extra cost once unlocked.
  • Domains Included in Monthly Website Bundles: Where a domain name is registered or renewed as part of a monthly Website, Domain & Email package ($29/mo or WaaS packages), CodeWays pays the full 12-month registry cost upfront on your behalf. You retain 100% ownership of the domain. If you cancel your monthly website subscription within the first 12 months and wish to transfer the domain to an external registrar, the standard annual domain fee ($14/yr for .co.za or the applicable TLD renewal rate) and any overdue subscription invoices must be settled prior to release, or you may continue managing your domain's DNS freely inside your CodeWays Client Portal until its annual expiry date.
  • Failed Registry Provisioning Exception: In the rare event that a domain shows as available during search, you complete payment, and the central registry rejects the registration because another party registered the exact domain milliseconds prior, CodeWays will either register an alternative domain of your choice of equal value or issue a 100% full refund of the domain fee.

2. Website, AI Builder & Business Email Subscriptions

Our website packages, AI builder plans ($29/mo), Business Email Inbox add-ons (+$4/mo), and managed Website-as-a-Service (WaaS) tiers ($97/mo and $197/pm) operate on a transparent, month-to-month basis:

  • Zero Long-Term Lock-In (Cancel Anytime): You may cancel your monthly subscription at any time directly through your Client Portal, by emailing [email protected], or via WhatsApp support.
  • Effect of Cancellation: Cancelling your subscription immediately stops all future recurring monthly charges. You will never be charged a cancellation penalty or early exit fee.
  • No Refunds on Completed Billing Cycles: Because cloud edge hosting, SSL certificates, AI structuring tokens, and business email server resources are provisioned at the start of each billing cycle, payments already processed for the current or prior monthly billing periods are non-refundable. We do not offer pro-rata refunds or partial credits for unused days within a billing month.
  • Post-Cancellation Hosting Grace Period: Following cancellation of a managed website subscription, your site remains live until the end of your paid billing cycle, after which we provide a 14-day grace period for you to export your content or update your DNS records before hosting is decommissioned.
  • Pay-Only-When-Live Custom Builds: For our custom 48-hour WaaS packages where no upfront fee is charged during the initial draft phase, you are under no obligation to pay if you decide not to proceed before sign-off. However, once you approve the draft and pay the first monthly subscription and domain activation invoice to publish the website live, that payment is final and non-refundable.

3. Custom Software, Mobile Apps, APIs & Digital Enablement

For bespoke full-stack development, mobile applications (iOS, Android, Huawei), custom CRM/portal engineering, and API integration projects:

  • Project Deposits & Commencement: Initial deposits or commencement fees secure dedicated engineering capacity, cloud database provisioning, and architecture design, and are non-refundable once work has started.
  • Milestone Payments: Payments made against completed or active development milestones are non-refundable. If a custom project is terminated early by the client, the client is only responsible for milestones completed or in progress up to the date of written cancellation notice.
  • Third-Party Licenses & App Store Accounts: Fees paid to third-party providers (such as Apple Developer Program, Google Play Console, WhatsApp/Meta Business messaging credits, or third-party API providers) are governed by those providers and are strictly non-refundable.

4. Programmatic SEO & Marketing Automation

  • Third-Party Ad Spend: Advertising spend billed by Google Ads, Meta Ads, or other ad networks is paid directly to those platforms and cannot be refunded by CodeWays.
  • SEO & Automation Subscriptions: Monthly programmatic SEO and marketing automation fees cover continuous content generation, indexing pipelines, and automated campaign optimization, and are non-refundable once the billing period has commenced. You may cancel future renewals at any time before your next billing date.

5. Duplicate Charges, Billing Errors & Chargebacks

  • 100% Refund for Duplicate or Erroneous Charges: If a technical error at our payment gateway (PayFast, Yoco, or Stripe) results in a duplicate charge or an incorrect billing amount, notify us at [email protected] and we will verify and refund the duplicate charge in full within 5 to 7 business days to your original payment method.
  • Contact Us First Before Filing a Dispute: Our support team resolves billing queries rapidly via WhatsApp (+27 60 530 8796) and email ([email protected]). Filing an unverified bank chargeback on a validly registered domain name or active service results in immediate automated suspension of DNS resolution, website hosting, and domain transfer locks while the payment gateway dispute is investigated.

6. How to Request a Cancellation or Report a Billing Issue

To cancel a recurring subscription, check your domain status, or report an erroneous charge, use your Client Portal or reach our billing team directly: