Payment & billing terms

1. About these terms

These payment and billing terms explain how charges, subscriptions and payment processing work on Sino Tutor. They form part of, and should be read together with, our Terms of service, Refund policy and Cancellation policy. Where they refer to "we", "us" or "Sino Tutor" they mean the platform operator; "you" means the account holder.

2. Prices and currency

All prices on Sino Tutor are shown and charged in South African rand (ZAR). Subscription prices for the Plus and Pro plans are displayed on our pricing page and in the app before you confirm. Tutors set their own hourly rates, which are charged per session and are separate from any subscription.

3. Subscriptions and billing cycles

Paid plans are billed in advance for the billing period you choose - monthly or annually. By starting a paid plan you authorise us, through our payment provider, to charge the applicable fee for each period until you cancel. Annual plans are charged once for the year; monthly plans are charged each month.

4. How payments are processed

Payments are processed securely by our third-party payment provider. We do not store your full card or banking details on our own servers - they are handled by the provider under their own security standards. A payment is only complete once the provider confirms it; until then, access to paid features may not be granted.

5. Renewals

Subscriptions continue for successive billing periods until you cancel. Where a plan renews automatically, the renewal is charged at the start of the new period at the then-current price. If we change a plan's price, we will give you reasonable notice before the change affects you.

6. Failed and disputed payments

If a payment fails, we may retry it and may pause access to paid features until it succeeds. If you believe a charge is wrong, contact us promptly and we will investigate. Deliberately disputing a legitimate charge with your bank may result in your account being suspended.

7. Session charges

Where a tutoring session is paid for through the platform, the charge is calculated from the tutor's hourly rate and the session length, and is shown to you before you confirm. Cancellations and refunds for sessions are governed by our Cancellation policy and Refund policy.

8. Invoices and records

Your payment history is available in your account billing area. If you need a specific invoice or record, you can request it from the contact page.

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these payment and billing terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the date shown above, and where the changes are significant we will take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention.

10. Contact

If you have any questions about payments or billing, please reach us via our contact page.