Terms of service

Last updated: 10 August 2026

1. About Seruvia

Seruvia is an owner-run South African online retailer serving customers through its Shopify-powered store.

2. Eligibility and legal capacity

Online purchases must be made by a person aged 18 or older who has legal capacity to contract, or by a person acting with the involvement and valid consent of a parent, guardian or other competent adult where the law permits.

If an unemancipated minor uses the website, the responsible adult must supervise the activity and submit any order. Seruvia may refuse or cancel an order where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person lacks legal capacity or the required authority.

3. Accounts and customer information

You agree to provide information that is accurate, current and reasonably complete, and to update it when necessary. You are responsible for safeguarding account credentials and for activity authorised through your account.

Please notify Seruvia promptly if you suspect unauthorised access. Seruvia may require proportionate verification, temporarily restrict an account or pause an order where reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, protect a customer or secure the Services.

You may not impersonate another person, create an account using information you are not authorised to use, or transfer an account in a way that creates a security or fraud risk.

4. Product information and availability

Seruvia takes reasonable steps to provide clear, accurate and current product descriptions, prices, images, included components, instructions and availability information. Screen settings, lighting and normal manufacturing or packaging updates may cause minor colour or presentation differences that do not materially change the product.

Images form part of the product presentation but should be read together with the written description and the “what is included” information. Seruvia will not knowingly substitute a materially different product without the customer’s agreement.

Before an order is accepted, Seruvia may update, replace or discontinue a product, correct content or limit reasonable purchase quantities. After acceptance, a material change will be discussed with the customer and may result in an agreed substitute or refund. Availability remains subject to stock and lawful promotional limits.

5. Product use, suitability and results

Unless expressly and lawfully stated otherwise, Seruvia products are general consumer oral-care, beauty or self-care products and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent a disease. Website content is general product information and does not replace individual medical, dental or other professional advice.

• Read and follow the supplied product instructions, warnings, age guidance, care directions and charging requirements.
• Do not use a product for an unintended purpose or continue use after serious, unexpected irritation, injury or an unsafe condition becomes apparent.
• Check disclosed ingredients and materials where allergies or sensitivities are relevant.
• Do not dismantle, modify or repair electrical products unless the instructions expressly permit it.
• Keep products and small components away from unsupervised children where appropriate.

Cosmetic and personal-care results differ between individuals. Seruvia does not promise a particular whitening shade, appearance, comfort level, timeframe or other subjective result unless an express written product claim clearly says so and is supported.

Seruvia is not responsible for harm caused solely by misuse, use contrary to clear instructions, unauthorised alteration or a customer’s failure to consider a clearly disclosed ingredient or warning, to the extent permitted by law. This does not limit rights relating to unsafe or defective goods or inadequate legally required instructions.

6. Prices, taxes and display errors

Prices are displayed in South African Rand (ZAR) unless clearly stated otherwise. Prices include VAT only where Seruvia is legally required to charge VAT and the website states or reflects this. Delivery and other applicable charges are shown before the customer submits payment.

Seruvia may change a price before an order is accepted. A change will not retrospectively increase the price of an accepted order without the customer’s agreement, except where the law permits correction of an inadvertent and obvious display error.

If a displayed price contains an inadvertent and obvious error, Seruvia will correct it and take reasonable steps to inform affected customers of the error and correct price. Where legally permitted, Seruvia may offer the customer the choice to proceed at the correct price or cancel for a full refund. Seruvia will not use this clause to avoid a genuine advertised price or lawful promotional commitment.

Customs duties or cross-border charges apply only if Seruvia expressly offers delivery outside South Africa and discloses the applicable arrangement.

7. Orders and contract formation

Products placed in a cart are not reserved. Submitting an order is an offer to purchase the selected products. An automated order-received or payment-pending message acknowledges receipt but does not necessarily mean that Seruvia has accepted the order.

An order is accepted when Seruvia sends a clear processing, fulfilment or dispatch confirmation, or otherwise expressly confirms acceptance. Seruvia may reasonably refuse an order before acceptance where:

• Payment is not authorised or cannot be verified;
• The product is unavailable despite reasonable stock controls;
• Delivery information is incomplete or outside a supported area;
• There is an inadvertent and obvious pricing or product-information error;
• There are reasonable grounds to suspect fraud, unlawful resale, promotion abuse, identity misuse or a security risk; or
• Accepting the transaction would breach applicable law.

If payment was received for an order that Seruvia lawfully declines or cannot fulfil, Seruvia will notify the customer and refund the amount due within the period required by law. If exact stock becomes unavailable after acceptance, Seruvia will not impose a substitute; the customer may agree to an appropriate alternative or receive the remedy required by law.

Seruvia may set reasonable quantity limits to protect stock availability and prevent unauthorised commercial resale. Orders that appear connected may be considered together when applying a clearly disclosed limit.

8. Payment and fraud prevention

Available payment methods are displayed at checkout and may be provided by Shopify-supported services, PayFast, Zapper or another disclosed payment provider. The customer confirms that they are authorised to use the selected payment method and that information submitted for payment is accurate.

Seruvia may use proportionate fraud-prevention and verification measures. We will never request a card PIN, banking password or one-time PIN by email, telephone, social media or WhatsApp.

A customer retains the right to dispute a genuinely unauthorised or incorrect charge. Deliberately false chargebacks, forged proof of payment, payment reversal after knowingly receiving goods, or other fraudulent conduct may result in account restriction, cancellation, reporting to the appropriate payment provider or authority, and recovery of direct proven losses or legal costs where allowed or awarded by law.

9. Delivery, risk and incorrect details

Delivery charges, destinations and estimated timeframes are described in Seruvia’s Shipping Policy and at checkout. Estimates may be affected by location, weekends, public holidays, courier operations and events beyond reasonable control.

Seruvia remains responsible for the goods and bears the delivery risk until the customer or an authorised recipient accepts delivery, as required by the CPA. Ownership passes after full payment has cleared, but this does not change the statutory allocation of delivery risk.

The customer must provide a complete, accessible and accurate delivery address and reasonable contact details. If a delivery fails because the customer supplied incorrect details, was unavailable after reasonable attempts or requested redirection, Seruvia may recover a reasonable additional delivery cost before re-dispatch, provided the cost is fair and permitted by law.

Seruvia is not liable for loss caused solely by an event genuinely beyond its reasonable control, except for duties and remedies that remain mandatory under law. We will take reasonable steps to communicate material delays and assist with courier tracing. If Seruvia cannot perform within an agreed or legally required period, the customer may exercise any cancellation or refund right available under the CPA or ECTA.

10. Cancellations, returns, refunds and warranties

Order cancellations, online cooling-off rights, hygiene considerations, delivery problems, defective goods, refunds and exchanges are governed by Seruvia’s Return & Refund Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

Opened or used oral-contact, beauty or personal-care goods are not ordinarily eligible for a voluntary change-of-mind return. This hygiene rule never removes rights relating to defective, unsafe, incorrect or misdescribed goods or another return required by law.

Nothing in these Terms reduces the CPA implied warranty of quality, the consumer’s applicable choice of repair, replacement or refund, or any longer valid express warranty.

11. Promotions, discount codes, bundles and vouchers

Promotions are subject to their advertised dates, eligibility, stock, redemption and quantity conditions. Unless stated otherwise:

• A discount code may be used once per qualifying order and cannot be combined with another offer;
• A promotion has no separate cash value and cannot be retrospectively applied to an earlier order;
• A returned bundle or promotional transaction may require all qualifying items and gifts to be returned, subject to statutory rights;
• A promotion may not be obtained through bots, duplicate identities, false accounts, manipulated referrals or other dishonest means; and
• Seruvia may correct a genuine technical error, but will not withdraw an accepted promotional commitment merely because it is inconvenient.

Seruvia may suspend or cancel participation affected by proven or reasonably suspected fraud or abuse after a fair assessment. Sale and promotional goods retain all statutory quality and safety rights.

Gift cards, vouchers and prepaid credit are governed by the CPA and any disclosed terms. No term will shorten a statutory validity period or deprive the bearer of protected prepaid value.

12. Permitted website use

Seruvia grants users a limited, revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable right to access the website for lawful personal shopping and information purposes. You must not:

• Use the Services for fraud, unlawful activity or infringement of another person’s rights;
• Introduce malware, harmful code, scraping tools that unreasonably burden the website, or automated purchasing systems used to defeat limits;
• Attempt to bypass authentication, checkout controls, security, rate limits or access restrictions;
• Interfere with the website, Shopify, payment services, customer accounts or another user’s access;
• Harvest personal information, send spam, impersonate Seruvia or create misleading Seruvia-branded pages;
• Manipulate reviews, referrals, promotions, prices, stock or payment processes; or
• Use Seruvia content or systems to develop, market or train a competing commercial service without permission where the law allows restriction.

Security research, reverse engineering or interoperability activity that is expressly protected by law is not prohibited to the extent it cannot lawfully be restricted, but it must not be used to access data unlawfully or harm the Services.

13. Intellectual property

The Seruvia name, logos, brand presentation, product names, original images, videos, graphics, copy, page design, downloadable material and other content are owned by or lawfully licensed to Seruvia and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Except for ordinary personal viewing, you may not copy, reproduce, adapt, remove watermarks, republish, distribute, sell, frame, create misleading derivatives from or commercially exploit protected Seruvia material without prior written permission or another lawful basis.

No use of the website transfers ownership of Seruvia’s intellectual property. Fair dealing, quotation, consumer review and other uses protected by law remain unaffected.

14. Reviews, photographs and customer submissions

Customer feedback must reflect a genuine experience and must not be knowingly false, defamatory, unlawful, threatening, discriminatory, infringing or deceptive. Do not publish another person’s private information or image without authority.

If you intentionally submit content for public display, or separately authorise Seruvia to use it, you grant Seruvia a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, format, resize, display and promote that content for Seruvia’s business and marketing purposes. Seruvia may correct formatting or shorten content but will not materially change the meaning of a review.

You retain ownership of your original content. You may withdraw permission for future use by contacting Seruvia, subject to completed printed material, legal recordkeeping, rights already granted to third parties with your authority and other lawful limitations explained at the time of submission.

Private support messages, return evidence and personal communications will not be treated as public testimonials without appropriate permission. Seruvia may moderate or remove content for a legitimate reason and may identify a review as gifted, incentivised or part of a collaboration where applicable. Seruvia does not permit fabricated testimonials.

15. Privacy and electronic communications

Personal information is processed according to Seruvia’s Privacy Policy and POPIA. Use of the website does not create blanket consent to every form of data processing or direct marketing.

Where consent is required, Seruvia will request it separately. Customers may unsubscribe from marketing while continuing to receive necessary order, delivery, account, security or support communications.

Orders, policies, confirmations and notices may be created, retained and communicated electronically as permitted by ECTA. Customers should save relevant transaction records and keep contact details current.

16. Shopify, third-party tools and external links

The store is hosted by Shopify and may rely on payment providers, couriers, email services, analytics, advertising, social-media and other third-party tools. Those providers may operate under their own terms and privacy notices.

Seruvia is responsible for selecting and using providers with reasonable care where the law requires. However, Seruvia does not control every independent third-party system and is not responsible for an external service’s separate content, availability or unlawful conduct where Seruvia neither caused nor could reasonably prevent it.

Third-party links are provided for convenience or necessary service access. A link does not amount to an endorsement or guarantee. Review the third party’s terms before submitting information or entering a separate transaction.

17. Website availability and maintenance

Seruvia aims to keep the website accurate, secure and reasonably available, but uninterrupted or error-free operation cannot be guaranteed. Maintenance, updates, internet failure, cyber incidents or provider outages may temporarily affect access.

Seruvia may correct errors, update security, withdraw harmful content or temporarily suspend affected functions. We will take reasonable steps to avoid disrupting accepted orders and will preserve mandatory customer remedies.

Users should maintain suitable device security and must not rely on the website as the sole location for important records.

18. Statutory product rights

Consumers are entitled to the quality, safety, disclosure, delivery, return and redress protections provided by applicable law. In particular, goods must meet the standards in the CPA, including reasonable suitability, quality, working order, freedom from defects and reasonable durability in the circumstances.

Seruvia’s inspection of a reported fault is intended to establish the cause and appropriate remedy; it will not be used to frustrate a valid statutory right. Product rights are subject to the facts, including whether damage was caused by misuse or alteration after delivery.

19. Disclaimers permitted by law

To the extent permitted by law, Seruvia does not warrant that the website will meet every subjective preference, operate without interruption or be compatible with every device or third-party service. General educational or marketing content is not a personalised diagnosis or professional treatment plan.

No statement from an unauthorised third party creates a Seruvia warranty. An express written warranty, supported product representation, product description and every warranty implied by law remain fully effective.

Any “as available” wording concerning the website applies only to technical availability and does not convert products into goods sold without statutory quality or safety rights.

20. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by South African law, Seruvia is not responsible for indirect or consequential loss that is too remote, was not reasonably foreseeable when the agreement was made, or was caused solely by:

• The customer’s misuse, neglect, unauthorised modification or failure to follow clear instructions;
• Incorrect information supplied by the customer;
• An independent third party outside Seruvia’s reasonable control; or
• An event beyond Seruvia’s reasonable control, after Seruvia took reasonable steps to limit the effect.

Seruvia will not be liable for a business user’s lost profit or business interruption arising from a consumer product purchased for commercial use, to the extent such exclusion is fair and lawful in the circumstances.

This limitation does not apply to gross negligence; fraud or wilful misconduct by Seruvia; death or personal injury where liability cannot be excluded; unsafe or defective goods; inadequate legally required instructions or warnings; damage covered by section 61 of the CPA; breach of a non-excludable statutory duty; or any remedy that applicable law requires Seruvia to provide.

No general monetary cap in these Terms limits a consumer’s non-excludable statutory claim.

21. Responsibility for unlawful conduct

To the extent permitted by law, a user is responsible for direct, reasonably proven loss caused by that user’s deliberate fraud, unlawful access, malicious code, knowing infringement of third-party rights, dishonest chargeback or material breach of these Terms.

This section does not require a consumer to indemnify Seruvia for Seruvia’s own negligence, prohibited conduct, unsafe or defective goods, breach of law or any matter for which shifting responsibility would be unfair, unreasonable or unlawful.

22. Events beyond reasonable control

Neither party is responsible for delay caused by a genuine event beyond reasonable control, such as a natural disaster, widespread power or network failure, civil unrest, lawful government action, epidemic, strike not limited to that party’s own workforce, or major supply-chain interruption, provided the affected party:

• Did not cause the event through a failure to carry out ordinary business responsibilities;
• Notifies the other party as soon as reasonably practicable;
• Takes reasonable steps to reduce the delay or loss; and
• Resumes performance when reasonably possible.

If performance becomes impossible or is delayed beyond the agreed or legally permitted period, the customer retains any statutory cancellation and refund right. A force-majeure event does not allow Seruvia to keep payment for goods it cannot lawfully supply.

23. Suspension and termination

Seruvia may proportionately restrict website or account access where reasonably necessary to address a material breach, fraud, harassment, unlawful conduct or a security threat. Where appropriate, we will give notice and an opportunity to correct the issue.

Immediate restriction may be used where delay creates a credible risk to customers, Seruvia, a provider or the public. Termination does not cancel payment or delivery duties already lawfully owed, privacy obligations, accrued rights or terms intended to survive termination.

Seruvia will not penalise, suspend or discriminate against a consumer merely for asserting a right under the CPA or another law.

24. Complaints, governing law and disputes

These Terms and transactions with Seruvia are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. The parties should first attempt to resolve a dispute directly, fairly and in good faith.

If unresolved, an eligible consumer may approach the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO), the National Consumer Commission (NCC), a provincial consumer authority, a competent court or another remedy available by law.

Nothing in these Terms forces a consumer to surrender jurisdiction or a dispute-resolution right granted by law.

25. Changes to these Terms

Seruvia may update these Terms for future use of the Services when laws, providers, products or business practices change. The revised version will be published with an updated date.

A change will not retrospectively alter an accepted order, remove an accrued right, impose a new charge or make earlier conduct a breach. Where a material change affects an ongoing service or requires consent, Seruvia will provide appropriate notice and obtain agreement where required.

26. Electronic notices

Seruvia may send order and legal notices to the email address, telephone number, account or other contact channel the customer provided, as permitted by law. A customer must notify Seruvia if essential contact details change during an active order or dispute.

Electronic communications and records may be used as evidence subject to ECTA and applicable evidentiary law. Nothing prevents either party from proving that a record is inaccurate, incomplete, unauthorised or was not received.

27. General provisions

Severability

If a provision is unlawful or unenforceable, it will be limited or severed only to the minimum extent necessary. The remaining lawful provisions continue to apply, unless the agreement cannot fairly operate without the affected provision.

No waiver

A delay or failure to enforce a right is not a permanent waiver. A waiver must be clear and applies only to the specific circumstances in which it was given.

Transfer

Seruvia may transfer its rights and obligations as part of a genuine business sale, restructure or legal succession if this does not reduce the customer’s rights and the recipient assumes the relevant duties. Customers may not transfer an account or order in a manner that creates fraud, payment or delivery risk, but may nominate an authorised recipient where Seruvia agrees.

Entire agreement

These Terms, the incorporated policies, the accepted order, product description, express warranty and any specific written agreement form the agreement relating to the transaction. This clause does not exclude a representation or right that the CPA or another law treats as binding.

Interpretation

Headings assist reading but do not limit meaning. “Including” means “including without limitation”. If wording is reasonably capable of more than one meaning, it will be interpreted consistently with the CPA and other applicable law.

28. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent to:

Official legal references: Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 and Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.