Refund & Cancellation Policy
Last updated: 20 July 2026
This policy forms part of our Terms of Service. It exists so we can keep classes small and commit real time to every handler, and so nobody is surprised by a bill. Nothing in it takes away rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008.
Stopping your training: 15 days' notice
If you are stopping, we ask for 15 days' notice. Tell Diane directly, or email info@paws4purpose.co.za with your name and your dog's name. Your notice takes effect on the day we receive it. If a monthly invoice falls due inside your notice period for a month you will still be attending, it remains payable; after your last paid month, no further invoices are raised.
Your paid month
You are welcome to finish the lessons in any month you have paid for. We do not refund monthly fees, in full or in part, whether or not you attend the remaining classes. Choosing to leave mid-month means choosing between finishing the month's lessons or forfeiting them.
Once-off fees
The annual registration fee (R500 per handler) and assessment fees (R350 per hour plus R180 arena rental) are not refundable once invoiced and paid. Your registration renews on your own anniversary each year: join in June, and it is due again the following June. We send a reminder before the renewal invoice; if you have given notice before your renewal date, no renewal invoice is raised.
If you need to move an assessment
Life shifts. Tell us at least 48 hours before your assessment slot and we will move you to another Saturday slot at no charge. Miss the slot without telling us and the fee stands, though Diane may, at her discretion, apply it to a rescheduled assessment.
Missed classes and make-ups
Miss a class and Diane will help you arrange a make-up; you pay only the arena rental for the make-up, with no training fee on top. If a genuinely hard month (illness, family crisis, the real stuff) stops you training at all, tell Diane. She is kind about it, and waivers for a hard month are hers to give.
No-shows
A booked class or assessment where you simply do not arrive is treated as attended for billing. We will always check on you first; things happen, and the make-up route above usually solves it.
Reactive session arena payments
Reactive sessions are arranged personally and the arena is paid in advance. If you cancel with at least 48 hours' notice, your arena payment is applied to the rescheduled session. Cancel later than that and the arena cost is forfeited, because the space was held for you. If we or the park cancel the session, your payment moves to the new date in full.
When we cancel
If we have to cancel a class (weather, park availability, or anything on our side), you lose nothing: the class is made up, or the value is credited to your next invoice. Cash refunds are made only where a make-up or credit is not reasonably possible.
Overpayments and billing mistakes
If you are ever invoiced or paid incorrectly, tell us and we will correct it, by EFT refund where a credit does not make sense. We would rather fix a mistake fast than win an argument.
How to ask
Email info@paws4purpose.co.za with the subject line "Billing" and tell us what happened. Diane reads it herself and replies.