Refund policy

1. About this policy

This refund policy explains when you are entitled to a refund for payments made to Sino Tutor, how to request one, and how long it takes. It forms part of, and should be read together with, our Terms of service. Where it refers to "we", "us" or "Sino Tutor" it means the platform operator; "you" means the account holder who made the payment. Nothing in this policy limits the rights you have under South African consumer-protection law.

2. Subscription plans

Sino Tutor offers a Free plan and paid Plus and Pro plans, billed in South African rand for the billing period you select.

• Cooling-off. If you upgrade to a paid plan and have not made meaningful use of the paid features, you may request a full refund within 7 days of the charge. "Meaningful use" includes things like exhausting a plan's booking allowance or making substantial use of the AI study assistant beyond the Free limits.
• Renewals. Recurring renewal charges are not automatically refundable once the new billing period has started, because the plan remains available to you for that period. If a renewal caught you by surprise, contact us promptly - we will look at it fairly and in line with the law.
• Downgrades and cancellations. When you downgrade or cancel a paid plan it stops renewing, and you keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for. We do not pro-rate or refund the unused portion of a period unless the law requires it. See our Cancellation policy for how to cancel.

3. Tutoring sessions

Bookings are arranged directly between you and an independent tutor through the platform, and any payment terms for a session are a matter between you and that tutor. Where a session is paid for through Sino Tutor:

• if a tutor fails to attend a confirmed session, or it cannot go ahead for a reason that is the tutor's responsibility, you are entitled to a full refund or to reschedule at no extra cost;
• if you cancel within the notice period set out in our Cancellation policy, any amount you are owed will be refunded;
• if you simply do not attend, or cancel too late, the session may be treated as delivered and may not be refundable.

We are not a party to the tutoring relationship itself, but we will help mediate a refund dispute in good faith and, where appropriate, withhold or reverse a payment.

4. Payments that are always refundable

Regardless of anything above, we will refund a charge that is the result of a duplicate payment, a clear billing error on our side, or an unauthorised transaction you report to us promptly. If a paid feature is materially unavailable for an extended period because of a fault on our side, you may be entitled to a refund or credit for the affected time.

5. How to request a refund

To request a refund, reach us via our contact page with your account email, the date and amount of the charge, and a short explanation. We aim to acknowledge requests within 2 business days and to make a decision within 14 days.

6. How refunds are paid

Approved refunds are made to the original payment method through our payment provider. The time it takes for the money to appear depends on your bank or card issuer, and is usually within 5 to 10 business days after we process it. We do not charge a fee to process a refund.

7. Changes to this policy

We may update this refund policy 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.

8. Contact

If you have any questions about refunds, please reach us via our contact page.