Draft 0.1: not yet in force. This document is a working draft awaiting review by an attorney, and the highlighted details are still to be completed. It does not yet bind VINSTORE or anyone using it.
Returns and warranty policy
Version 0.1 · Effective [effective date]
One rule for every supplier on VINSTORE, new parts and used. In short: inspect before you pay; 7 days to return a part you have not fitted; six months if it turns out to be defective, and you choose repair, replacement or refund. Keep your receipt and leave the VINSTORE label on the part.
1. Who you are dealing with
The supplier named on your receipt sold you the part and is responsible for returns and warranty. VINSTORE sets this policy as a condition of trading on the platform, and steps in if a supplier does not honour it (section 7).
2. Before you pay: inspect
- Check the part against the listing, its photos and its condition grade. Compare part numbers with your old part if you can.
- Any damage or fault the supplier knows about must be on the listing or pointed out to you at the counter.
- If the part is not as described, you may decline it. You owe nothing and your reservation is simply cancelled.
3. Wrong part or change of mind: 7 days, unfitted
3.1
You may return a part within 7 days of collection for a refund or an exchange if it has not been fitted, altered or damaged and still carries its VINSTORE label.
3.2
Bring the part and your receipt to the supplier. The refund is made the way you paid, within 5 business days.
3.3
This return is a VINSTORE standard offered on top of your legal rights. It does not apply to parts ordered in specially for you, or to electrical and electronic parts once their seal or packaging has been opened, unless the part is defective (section 4).
3.4
If the listing described the part incorrectly (wrong side, wrong model, wrong part number), that is the supplier's error: the full price is refunded with no deduction, fitted or not.
4. Defective parts: six months
4.1
Under the Consumer Protection Act, a part must be reasonably suitable for its purpose, of good quality, in good working order and free of defects, taking into account that it is sold as a used part where that is the case. This applies for six months from the day you collect it.
4.2
If a part fails that standard within six months, you may return it to the supplier at the supplier's risk and expense, and you choose: repair, replacement, or a refund of the price paid.
4.3
If a repaired part fails again, or the fault is not fixed, within three months of the repair, the supplier must replace it or refund you.
4.4
The supplier may inspect and test the part before deciding, and must do so within 5 business days of receiving it.
5. What is not covered
- A condition or fault that was described on the listing or pointed out to you, and that you accepted when you bought the part.
- Normal wear for a used part of its age and grade.
- Damage caused by incorrect fitting, by another faulty component on the vehicle, by misuse, accident, modification or overheating, or by not following the manufacturer's fitting requirements (for example not replacing fluids, seals or related parts when fitting an engine or gearbox).
- A part that has been opened up, dismantled or repaired by anyone other than the supplier, where that caused or hid the fault.
- Parts whose VINSTORE label or the supplier's own marking has been removed, so that the supplier cannot confirm it is the part they sold.
Costs beyond the part. The warranty covers the part. To the extent the law allows, the supplier and VINSTORE are not responsible for labour to fit or remove it, towing, vehicle hire, fluids or loss of income. If you are a consumer and a defective part caused harm, the Consumer Protection Act may give you further rights that this policy does not limit.
6. How to return a part
- Contact the supplier first, with your receipt or VINSTORE order reference.
- Take the part back to the supplier's premises. For a defective part the supplier carries the reasonable cost of getting it back to them.
- Keep the VINSTORE label on the part: it is how the supplier identifies it.
- Fitted by a workshop? A short note from the workshop describing the fault helps and speeds things up.
7. If the supplier does not help
7.1
Write to support@vinstore.co.za with your order reference, what happened and any photos. We acknowledge within 2 business days, look at the listing, the records and both sides, and tell the supplier what this policy requires.
7.2
A supplier who refuses to honour this policy can be suspended from VINSTORE. We cannot pay a refund on a supplier's behalf, because we never held your money.
7.3
You may at any time take a complaint to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (cgso.org.za), the National Consumer Commission or a court.
8. Trade buyers
Workshops, panel beaters and other businesses get the same 7-day and six-month terms on VINSTORE as private buyers, as a platform standard. The Consumer Protection Act itself does not apply to larger businesses above the threshold set under that Act, and a trade buyer and a supplier may agree different terms in writing between themselves.