Cancellations & Refunds
Plans change, and that’s completely okay. Here’s exactly how it works — first in plain words, then in full detail.
The short version
How it works
Your first lesson is a free trial
It costs nothing and asks nothing of you. There’s no card, no commitment, and nothing to refund — just a chance to meet your teacher and see if VerbaKid feels right.
Move or cancel a single lesson — free up to 8 hours before
Life happens. As long as it’s more than 8 hours before that lesson starts, you can reschedule or cancel it at no cost, right from your parent portal.
Cancel your whole plan whenever you like
You’ll be refunded for every lesson you haven’t used yet. We only keep the value of lessons your child has already been taught — because a teacher gave their time for those.
The one rule worth knowing
The 8-hour line
Cancel and you’re refunded in full for that lesson. Reschedule and it simply moves. No cost, no fuss.
Full refund for that lessonYour teacher has set that time aside for your child, so that single lesson can’t be refunded — but nothing else is affected.
Only that one slot is keptThe full details
Refund & Cancellation Policy
1. Who this agreement is with
This policy governs the purchase and cancellation of tutoring services provided by VerbaKid (“VerbaKid”, “we”, “us”, “our”) to the parent, guardian, or account holder (“you”). By booking a paid lesson or subscription, you agree to the terms set out below.
2. Free trial lessons
Your first lesson is offered as a complimentary trial at no charge. Because no payment is taken, no refund arises and no cancellation fee applies. You may reschedule or decline a trial lesson at any time without obligation, and missing a trial simply means it goes unused — there is nothing to pay either way.
3. Rescheduling or cancelling an individual lesson
- You may reschedule or cancel any individual scheduled lesson free of charge, provided you do so more than eight (8) hours before that lesson’s start time.
- Where an individual lesson is cancelled within eight (8) hours of its start time, that specific lesson is treated as delivered and non-refundable, as the assigned teacher has reserved that time slot.
- The eight-hour window is calculated from the scheduled start time of the lesson, measured against our server clock.
For clarity, a lesson is considered “delivered” when the assigned teacher is present and available at the scheduled time and that time has passed — whether or not the child attends, and regardless of how much of the lesson the child chooses to use. The one exception is a lesson that cannot go ahead because of a fault on our side, which is covered in Section 7.
4. Cancelling a subscription or lesson package
You may cancel an active subscription or lesson package at any time. Upon cancellation, we will issue a refund calculated as follows:
- Lessons already delivered — meaning lessons attended, or missed without a valid cancellation, or cancelled within the eight-hour window described in Section 3 — are non-refundable.
- All remaining prepaid lessons that have not yet been delivered are refunded in full.
In short: you are only ever charged for the teaching your child has actually received. Everything ahead of you is returned.
5. How refunds are paid
- Approved refunds are returned to your original payment method.
- Refunds are processed within 5 to 10 business days of approval, where a business day means Monday to Friday, excluding South African public holidays. The exact time for funds to appear in your account may vary depending on your own bank or payment provider.
- Refunds are issued in the currency of the original transaction. VerbaKid is not responsible for any difference in amount caused by exchange-rate fluctuations or third-party bank fees.
6. Lessons missed by VerbaKid
If a lesson cannot go ahead due to teacher unavailability or a technical fault on our side, that lesson will be rescheduled at no cost to you, or fully refunded if it cannot be rearranged. A child arriving unable to connect through no fault of their own is treated the same way.
7. How to cancel or request a refund
You can reschedule or cancel a single lesson directly from your parent portal. To cancel a full subscription or request a refund, contact us at info@verbakid.com and we will process your request promptly. We’re always happy to sort things out with you directly — reaching out to us first is the fastest way to resolve anything.
8. Payment disputes & chargebacks
If you have any concern about a charge, please contact us at info@verbakid.com before raising a dispute with your bank or card provider — we can almost always resolve it faster ourselves, in line with this policy. Where a chargeback is raised, we reserve the right to respond with our records of the lessons booked and delivered, and to apply the terms of this policy in assessing what refund, if any, is due.
9. Governing law
This policy is governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. This does not remove any consumer protection you are entitled to under the laws of the country in which you live.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Any change applies only to bookings made after the updated policy takes effect. The version shown here, with its effective date, is the one that applies to your current bookings.
We’d genuinely rather you ask than wonder. We’re here to help.
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