Refunds and Returns Policy

Buying a thing from us, and what happens if it is not right

Eye patches, reward charts, sunglasses, cases and cords, and prescription glasses. When something can come back, when we refund you, who pays the postage, and how long it takes.

Four things up front, in plain terms.

• Changed your mind? Most unused items can come back within 7 days of arriving, in the state they reached you. You pay to send them back.
• Faulty, unsafe, or not what you ordered? That is different, and stronger. You choose a refund, a replacement or a repair, and we pay the postage both ways.
• Some things cannot come back once they are opened or made, for hygiene and because they are made for one child. Opened patches and prescription glasses are the two.
• Courses have their own guarantee, and it is a generous one: 14 days to change your mind, and 60 days if you work through the programme and it does not help your family.

The rest of the page fills in the detail.

Kids Eyes LLC, the same company that runs the website

Our shop and everything you buy through it is run by Kids Eyes LLC. Your consultations are delivered by Dr Claire's practice. That split is set out in our Terms of Service, and it matters here because a shop order and a consultation are put right in two different ways.

Throughout this page, "we", "us" and "our" mean Kids Eyes.

Our promise first, and your own country's law on top of it

We would rather make you a promise you can read than send you to look up an Act. Everything on this page is a promise we make to every customer, wherever you are.

On top of that:

• If South African law applies to your order, you keep every right the Consumer Protection Act and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act give you, including the seven-day cooling-off right on an online purchase and the six-month right to return goods that are faulty, unsafe or not as described.
• If the law where you live gives you something better than what is written here, you keep that too.

This one is about physical things. The others pick up where it stops

• Getting it to you, what delivery costs and how long it takes, is our Shipping Policy.
• Sending it back, and getting your money, is this page.
• Courses, downloads and resources are digital. Their rules are in group 8 below.
• Consultations are a booking, not a purchase you can return. Moving or cancelling one is covered by our Terms of Service, and summarised below.

Yes, within 7 days, and you do not owe us a reason

You have 7 days from the day your order arrives to tell us you want to send something back. You do not have to explain why.

Tell us inside that window, get the return moving, and we refund what you paid for the item. The only cost to you is the cost of sending it back. This is the cooling-off right the law gives you on anything bought online, and we apply it to every customer whether or not South African law reaches your order.

Two things it does not stretch to: the items listed under what cannot come back, and anything made or ordered specially for your child, which includes prescription glasses and prescription lenses.

You have 10 business days, and that is a separate right

If you told us before you bought that an item had to do a particular job, and it turns out not to be reasonably suitable for that job, you may return it within 10 business days of delivery for a refund. That is a different right to the 7 days above, and it does not depend on the item being unused.

To use it, we have to have known what you needed. A note on the order, an email, or a conversation with us before you bought all count. It is worth doing.

Unused, still sealed where it was sealed, and in its own packaging

• The item must be unused and undamaged, with any tags, inserts and instructions still with it.
• Anything sealed for hygiene must still be sealed.
• The original packaging must come back with it, in a state we can still sell it in. Please post it inside another box or bag, rather than sticking a courier label on the product box itself.
• We may reduce or refuse a refund on an item that comes back used, damaged, incomplete or without its packaging. If that happens we tell you why, and we send it back to you if you would rather have the item than a reduced refund.

Holding a pair of sunglasses up to your child's face is not "used". Wearing them to the beach is.

Yes, and it is usually quicker

If you have the wrong size, the wrong colour or the wrong style, ask for an exchange rather than a refund. The same 7 days and the same condition rules apply.

• If the swap is because you changed your mind, you pay to send the item back and we pay to send the replacement out.
• If the swap is because the item is faulty, or we sent the wrong thing, we pay both ways.
• If the new item costs more, you pay the difference. If it costs less, we refund the difference by the route you paid.
• If the item you want is out of stock, we offer you the nearest thing or a refund. Your choice.

You choose: refund, replacement or repair, and we pay the postage

Everything we sell must be of good quality, in working order, safe, and fit for what it is normally used for. If it is not, that is on us, not on you.

For six months from the day it reaches you, if an item turns out to be faulty, defective, unsafe, not what you ordered, or not what the product page described, you may return it and you choose one of three things:

• a refund of what you paid for it;
• a replacement of the same item; or
• a repair, where a repair makes sense.

We cover the postage in both directions, and you pay nothing to have it put right. This is the standard the Consumer Protection Act sets, and we apply it to every customer, whether or not that Act reaches your order.

If we made the error we remake them free. If the choice was yours, we can usually still help

Prescription glasses are made for one child, so they cannot come back simply because you changed your mind. What you do have is this.

• If the glasses do not match the prescription we were given, that is our error. We remake them at no cost to you, or refund you, whichever you prefer, and we pay the postage both ways.
• If the frame, lens or hinge is faulty, it is covered exactly like any other fault in the clause above.
• If you chose the wrong prescription at checkout, we can exchange them for the correct pair. The cost of the exchange is yours, because the error was not ours.
• If the lenses were made to order, an exchange depends on whether we can resell the pair you have. Where we can, we will offer it, and that is at our discretion. A lens ground for one child's eyes usually cannot be worn by anyone else, which is why we cannot promise it.
• If the glasses match the prescription but your child is struggling, tell us before you do anything else. Some children need a week or two to settle into a new lens, and some do not settle because the prescription itself has moved on. That is a clinical question, and Dr Claire would rather look at it than have you guess.

Then we refund or replace it. You do not get a second repair

If we repair or replace an item and the same fault comes back within three months, we refund you or replace it, whichever you prefer. We will not keep sending the same thing back to you.

Ordinary wear, damage after delivery, and a fault we told you about

This section does not cover:

• normal wear and tear, or a consumable reaching the end of its life. Patches are made to be worn once;
• damage caused after delivery, including drops, pets, washing machines, being sat on, or use the item was never made for. Children's glasses take a beating, and that is not a manufacturing fault;
• scratches on a lens from ordinary use or cleaning;
• alterations or repairs by somebody else;
• a child outgrowing a frame, or a prescription changing;
• a fault or a mark we told you about before you bought, for example a clearance item sold as marked.

If we disagree with you about whether something is a fault, we say so plainly, in writing, and we tell you where you can take it from there.

Photograph it before you open it, and tell us

There is no deadline on this one. Tell us whenever you find it, and we will put it right. But the sooner you tell us, the easier it is for us to claim from the courier.

1. Photograph or video the parcel before you open it, if the packaging looks damaged, crushed, wet or already opened. Then photograph the contents.
2. Do not use the item.
3. Send us the photos, your order number and what is wrong, at hello@kidseyes.co.za.

We replace it or refund you, and we carry the cost. What happens on the courier's side is in our Shipping Policy.

We trace it first. If it cannot be found, we replace it

If your tracking has stopped moving, or the parcel is marked delivered and you do not have it, tell us as soon as you notice. We open a trace with the courier the same day.

A trace is a real search: the courier works back through every scan, checks the depot, and speaks to the driver. Parcels do turn up, and a fair number are found at a neighbour, a gate guard or a reception desk. So we ask you to give us enough time to run it properly before we write the parcel off.

• Deliveries in South Africa: up to 10 working days from the day we open the trace.
• International deliveries: up to 20 working days, because a parcel can sit in customs without being lost at all.
• If the courier cannot find it, we send your order again, or refund you if you would rather. You choose, and it costs you nothing.

Those are the outside figures, not a queue you have to wait in. Where a courier confirms a loss on day three, we act on day three.

The one exception is a delivery that failed because the address was wrong or incomplete, or because nobody was there to receive it. That is covered by the Shipping Policy, and sending it again is for your account.

Yes, and it is a short list

Unless the item is faulty, these cannot be returned or refunded:

• Eye patches, and anything worn on or against the eye or the skin, once the seal or the packaging is opened. Sealed, unopened packs come back in the normal way.
• Prescription glasses and prescription lenses, and anything else made, ordered or personalised for your child, because they are made to one child's measurements and cannot go to another family. Everything in the glasses clause still applies to them, including an exchange where you picked the wrong prescription.
• Downloads and resources, once you have the link or the access.
• Gift cards and store credit.
• Clearance or final-sale items, where the product page says so.

Because it goes on a child's eye

Once a pack of patches has been opened we cannot know how it was stored or handled, and we will not put it back on the shelf for another family's child. It is the same reason a pharmacy will not take back opened medicine.

If a pack is faulty, if the adhesive fails, or if the patches are not what the pack says they are, that is a fault, and we sort it out.

Yes, and how long depends on the item. The product page tells you

There is no single Kids Eyes warranty period, because a pack of patches and a pair of frames are not the same kind of thing.

• Glasses carry the maker's warranty, and it differs by brand. Across the frames we stock it runs from 30 days to 12 months from the day they reach you. The product page for each frame says which.
• Other products carry the warranty stated on their product page, plus any warranty the maker gives.

A warranty claim runs like any fault: tell us, send us a photo, and we refund, replace or repair.

No. Come to us and we handle it

Where a maker's warranty applies, we either claim on it for you or give you exactly what you need to claim it yourself. You are never passed between two companies with nobody helping, and you never have to work out which of us is responsible. Start with us.

Tell us first, then post it. Never post it back unannounced

1. Email hello@kidseyes.co.za inside the relevant window, with your order number, what you are sending back, and why. A photo helps for anything faulty or damaged.
2. Send us proof of purchase if we ask. Your order confirmation is enough.
3. We confirm that the return qualifies, and tell you to send it, or arrange the collection where we are paying for it. Please wait for this step. An unannounced parcel can sit unidentified in a depot for weeks.
4. Pack it properly and send it to the address below. Use a tracked service, and keep the tracking number.

You for a change of mind, us for anything that is our fault

• Changed your mind: you pay to send it back.
• Faulty, unsafe, wrong item, wrong quantity, a prescription we got wrong, or damage in transit: we pay, both ways, including the postage on any repair, remake or replacement.
• An exchange because you chose the wrong option: the cost of the exchange is yours.
• International returns: the return postage, and any duties, taxes or clearance charges on the way back, are for your account.

Duties and taxes you paid in your own country when the parcel arrived were collected by your government, not by us, so we cannot refund them. Your customs authority may refund them on a returned item, and that is a claim you make to them.

You do, until it reaches us, so please track it

An item you are returning is your responsibility until it arrives with us. We strongly recommend a tracked and insured service, because we cannot refund a return we never received. Where we are paying for the return, we arrange the courier and we carry that risk ourselves.

Back the way it came, within 15 days of the item reaching us

• We aim to settle a return within 15 days of the item reaching us, or of you cancelling something that has not been sent yet. Where the law sets an outer limit it is 30 days, and we work well inside it.
• Refunds go back to the same method you paid with. We cannot refund to a different card, a different account, or a different person.
• Once we release it, your bank or card provider usually takes another 5 to 10 working days to show it. That part is theirs, not ours.
• Anything bought with a gift card or store credit is refunded as gift card or store credit.

We refund the price, not the bank's charges

We refund what you paid us for the item. We cannot refund bank fees, card fees, interest or currency differences.

Our online pricing is set in US dollars, so if your account is in rand or another currency the amount that comes back can differ slightly from the amount that left, because exchange rates move between the two dates. That is the same point our Terms of Service make about paying us in the first place.

We refund that part, and re-check anything the order qualified for

• We refund the item, not the whole order, unless the whole order is going back.
• Delivery charges are refunded when the whole order goes back, or when the return is our fault. On a change-of-mind return of one item out of several, the delivery you have already paid stays paid.
• If the order qualified for free delivery, a discount code or a free gift because of what it was worth, and sending part of it back takes it under that threshold, we either adjust the refund by the benefit or ask for the free item back. We always tell you which, before we process it.
• A bundle or a set comes back whole. We cannot refund one piece of it.

Check with your bank first, then come to us and we chase it

If we have confirmed your refund and you cannot see it, check with your bank or card provider first, because a processing delay on their side is the usual answer. If it still is not there, email us with your order number. We chase it from our end and send you the proof that it left us.

Two ways, and the second one is Dr Claire's own promise

A course is not a parcel, so there is nothing to send back. Instead there are two routes, and one of them stays open for two months.

1. Fourteen days, no questions asked.

If you buy a course and it is not what you expected, tell us within 14 days of buying and we refund you in full. You do not have to explain why, and it does not matter how much of it you have watched. Where a course has a start date, the 14 days run from the day you paid or from the day the course starts, whichever is later.

2. The Do the Work Guarantee, up to 60 days.

Some parents only find out whether a programme has helped after living with it for a few weeks. So there is a second route, and it stays open far longer.

To use it, we ask three things:

• Work through the course. At least 80% of the lessons completed. Your progress is recorded as you go, so there is nothing for you to prove.
• Give it 30 days. Follow the programme with your child for at least a month before you decide.
• Tell us within 60 days of buying, by email, what you tried and why you feel it did not help.

We refund by the route you paid, and access to the course ends. The guarantee is once per family per course. It is not a way to take each new course for free.

The full terms for every course we run, including how long your access lasts and what you may do with the material, are in our Course Policy.

Delivered the moment you have the link, so there is nothing to send back

A download, a guide, a chart or a template is fully delivered the moment you have the link or the access, whether or not you have opened it. A change of mind is not a refund on those, and the course guarantee above does not cover them.

We always put it right where the fault is ours:

• the file is corrupt, incomplete, or will not open;
• you were charged twice, or charged for something you did not buy;
• what you received is materially not what the sales page described; or
• you cannot get access and we cannot fix it for you.

It is a booking, not a purchase. The rule is 24 hours

• A virtual consultation is paid when you book. Cancel or move it with at least 24 hours notice and you can reschedule or have the fee refunded. Inside 24 hours, or if you do not arrive, the fee is forfeited.
• An in-person consultation is not paid online, so there is nothing to refund. Give us as much notice as you can, so another family can use the slot.
• If we move or cancel an appointment, you get the next available slot or your money back. Your choice.
• Medical aid does not change this. You pay us, and your scheme refunds you. What the scheme does is between you and them.

The full booking terms are in our Terms of Service.

Occasionally, and then you get every cent back

We may cancel an order, or part of one, where:

• the item is out of stock and we cannot get it;
• there was a pricing or description error on the site, which our Terms of Service allow us to correct even after you have ordered;
• we cannot deliver to your address; or
• the order looks like fraud, resale, or a breach of our order limits.

If we do, we tell you on the details you gave us, and we refund you in full by the route you paid. You are never left out of pocket for a decision we made.

We ask you to use this policy the way it is meant

This policy exists so that a parent who bought the wrong thing is not stuck with it. It is not a free rental service. Where returns from one customer, one card or one address become repeated and clearly not genuine, we may refuse further change-of-mind returns or decline future orders, and we tell you before we do.

This never limits your rights on a faulty item, which are not ours to limit.

The person who paid gets the refund

We can arrange an exchange or a credit with whoever is holding the item, but money goes back to the card or the account that paid for it. That is a rule of our payment provider, not a choice we make.

Tell us first, and you keep every other route open

Almost everything is settled with a conversation. We would much rather have that conversation than a formal process.

Email hello@kidseyes.co.za with your order number and what you would like us to do. We aim to acknowledge within 2 business days, and to work it out with you in good faith. If that does not settle it, the route is in our Terms of Service.

If you are thinking of asking your bank to reverse a payment, please talk to us first. A chargeback usually takes longer than a refund does, and it is easier for both of us to fix it directly. Your rights with your own bank stay yours, and we do not ask you to give them up.

Yes, and the date at the top tells you when it last did

We may update this policy from time to time. The version that applies to your order is the one that was on this page when you placed it, so a change never takes away something you already had.

The headings on this page are written as the questions a parent would ask, so it can be scanned rather than waded through. They are for convenience and do not affect how the policy is read.

One inbox, and a person on the end of it

For anything about an order, a return, a refund or this policy, start here.

Read this together with the rest

This policy is one of six, and it forms part of our Terms of Service. Anything else we agree with you in writing forms part of them too.