Knowler — non-refundable T-shirt is still refundable (Dewey)

News24, 02 November 2025 · Wendy Knowler

Why the site cites this

The article confirms — with named consumer, named retailer, dated transaction, and Takealot’s own admission — that a Takealot listing tag of “non-refundable” applied to an item that did not fall within any statutory carve-out (a R450 T-shirt). The site’s clause on non-returnable items relies on the article to ground the angle that a supplier listing tag cannot expand the carve-outs in s 42(2) of the ECT Act or override the s 44 cooling-off right.

Verbatim extracts (fair-dealing quotations)

The transaction

Tracey Dewey purchased two R450 “Rock Ts The Offspring” T-shirts on Takealot in different sizes — the listed item was tagged “non-refundable.”

The refusal

“I checked the listing again and it does say ‘non-refundable’. But since when are T-shirts non-refundable?”

Knowler’s legal framing

“The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives consumers the benefit of a ‘cooling off’ period of seven days in which to return an unwanted purchase for a full refund. Provided it is in a re-saleable condition, with the consumer being responsible for the cost of returning it.”

“Unlike most online retailers, the Takealot Group absorbs the cost of the return courier. It also gives consumers up to 30 days from the date of delivery to return unwanted goods.”

“They aren’t [non-refundable]. They are most definitely refundable within seven days of delivery when bought online.”

Takealot’s admission and remediation

“After investigating, we can confirm that this issue was the result of a human error during the return process. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to Ms Dewey. Our team has since been in contact with her and arranged for the item to be collected and processed correctly. We appreciate her patience and the opportunity to make things right.”

“Yes, we’re aware of the listing error, as it formed part of the issue we identified. The product has been delisted until this has been corrected.”

(Knowler confirms the listing later returned without the “non-refundable” tag.)

Knowler’s note on credit-vs-refund

“If you return an unwanted product bought online within the legal cooling-off period, you do not have to accept a credit – you are entitled to insist on a refund.”

Site reliance

• ECT s 42(2) carves out specific categories from the s 44 cooling-off right (already covered in the site’s Clause 10). The article shows the carve-outs cannot be extended by a listing tag.
• Takealot’s “human error” framing is significant: the “non-refundable” tag was not policy — it was a listing error. That distinction matters when consumers are asking the supplier to reverse a refusal.
• The case strengthens the credit-vs-refund election framing in the site’s Clause 06, in the cooling-off context.

Wayback / archive status

Wayback Machine has no snapshot of this URL as of 2026-05-07. Same access pattern as the companion Knowler citations — News24 blocks bot crawlers and SPN. Verbatim text captured from authenticated subscription on 2026-05-07. If a snapshot becomes available later, paste its dated URL into wayback_url_dated: above.