Subscription, Billing & Refund Policy

Draft — to be reviewed by a qualified legal practitioner before publication.

Version 1.0 · Effective 25 September 2026

This policy forms part of the Terms of Service. It explains how you pay for SiteMinutes and what happens when you change or cancel your plan.

1. Plans and prices

• SiteMinutes is priced per seat: one seat for each active user in your company.
• Solo is one seat; Team is two or more seats. Larger firms can ask for an Enterprise agreement.
• You can pay monthly or yearly (a yearly plan costs 10 × the monthly price).
• The currency follows your company's billing country: Namibian dollars (N$) for Namibia, South African rand (R) for South Africa, and US dollars (US$) elsewhere.
• Current prices are shown in the web app under Settings → Billing before you pay. [VAT: prices are [inclusive / exclusive] of VAT where applicable — to be confirmed.]
• Only the company's billing owner can pay, change the plan or the number of seats, and see payment records.

2. Free trial

New companies get a 7-day free trial with no card required. Nothing is charged automatically when it ends: the workspace becomes read-only until you subscribe.

3. How payment works

• Card payments are processed by PayGate (DPO Group). You enter your card details on their secure page; SiteMinutes never sees or stores your card number.
• Recurring (N$ and R, monthly): your card is charged for the first month when you subscribe and then automatically every month on the same date, until you cancel.
• Once-off periods (US$, and yearly plans): you pay for one month or one year at a time. The plan runs to the end of that period and does not renew automatically; you will be reminded before it ends so you can renew.
• A plan is activated only after we have confirmed the payment with PayGate. Every payment has a reference beginning with SM- (once-off) or SMV- (recurring). Quote it if you contact us.
• Payment by EFT on invoice can be arranged through a support ticket.

4. Changing seats

• Adding seats takes effect immediately. You are charged the pro-rata difference for the rest of the current billing period, and the higher amount from the next billing date.
• Removing seats takes effect from the next billing date. There is no refund or credit for the remainder of the current period. You cannot pay for fewer seats than the number of active users; remove users first.
• Changing between monthly and yearly takes effect at the end of the current period.

5. Price changes

We may change prices. We will tell the billing owner at least 30 days before a new price applies to an existing subscription. The new price applies from the first billing date after the notice period. If you do not accept it, you can cancel before then.

6. Cancelling

• The billing owner cancels under Settings → Billing, or by support ticket.
• Your plan stays active until the end of the period you have paid for; no further recurring charges are made after cancellation. If a charge is taken in error after you cancelled, we refund it in full.
• After the paid period ends, the workspace becomes read-only and your data is kept as set out in section 9.

7. Refunds

Except as set out below or required by law, payments are non-refundable: we do not refund partial months, unused seats, seat decreases, or periods in which the Service was not used.

We will refund:

• Consumer cooling-off. If you are a consumer (see below) you may cancel your first subscription payment within 7 days of subscribing, without reason and without penalty, and we will refund you in full within 30 days. This reflects section 44 of South Africa's Electronic Communications and Transactions Act and section 35 of Namibia's Electronic Transactions Act. Because every account first has a 7-day free trial, you can try the Service before paying.
• Yearly plans under the Consumer Protection Act. If the South African Consumer Protection Act applies to you and you cancel a yearly plan early, you may do so on 20 business days' notice; we will refund the unused part of the year, less a reasonable cancellation charge as allowed by the Act and its regulations.
• Our fault. A duplicated charge, a charge after cancellation, a wrong amount, or a period in which we materially failed to provide the Service.
• Discontinuation. If we end the Service or remove a core paid feature, the prepaid unused part of your period.

Who is a consumer depends on the law that applies. In South Africa it generally includes individuals and, under the Consumer Protection Act, small businesses with an annual turnover or asset value below the threshold set by the Minister (currently R2 million). Businesses buying for business purposes above that threshold are generally not consumers.

Refunds are paid to the card used for the payment (or by EFT for EFT payments), in the original currency.

8. Failed payments and non-payment

1. If a recurring charge is declined, we will notify the billing owner and show a notice under Settings → Billing. You can update your card by subscribing again.
2. You keep full access for a 3-day grace period after the end of the paid period.
3. After that, the workspace becomes read-only: everyone can still sign in, view and export, but not create new minutes or add users. Nobody is removed.
4. Paying restores full access at once.

9. Your data when a plan ends

We never delete a workspace's data merely because of non-payment for at least 12 months after it became read-only (6 months for a trial that was never paid). Before deleting anything we e-mail the owners at least 30 days in advance. See the Data Retention & Deletion Policy.

10. Taxes

Prices [include / exclude] value-added tax (VAT) and similar taxes. Where we are required to charge VAT, it will be shown on your invoice. You are responsible for any withholding tax or other taxes that apply to your payment in your own country.

11. Invoices and disputes

Payment records are available to the billing owner in the web app. If you think a charge is wrong, open a support ticket under Billing & plans within 60 days, quoting the payment reference. We will check it with PayGate and correct any error. Please contact us before disputing a charge with your bank, so we can sort it out quickly.

12. Apple App Store

If you subscribe through the App Store (when that is offered), Apple processes the payment, and Apple's terms apply to billing, renewal, cancellation and refunds. Manage or cancel such a subscription in your Apple account settings.

13. Contact

Billing questions: open a support ticket in the web app, or e-mail help@siteminutes.com.