Term & Conditions
These are vavender terms and conditions, learn more about vavender’s term This description emphasizes the benefits of reading the terms and conditions page, such as understanding the rules and guidelines for using the platform, and ensuring a safe and fair rental experience for all users. It also includes relevant keywords such as “peer-to-peer rental”, “terms and conditions”, and “policies” to improve search engine visibility.s of operations.
Make sure you read and understand this boring legal stuff…
Terms of services of vavender.co.za
1. Welcome to Vavender
These terms and conditions outline the rules and regulations governing the use of the Vavender Service and are intended to ensure the safety and satisfaction of all users.
1.1 Vavender operates a platform that allows:
a) Users to advertise items for rent (such users being “owners or vendor”);
b) Owners to communicate with and enter into agreements with other users to borrow such items (such users that borrow being “renters”);
c) Renters to pay owners for renting the relevant items;
d) Users to resolve disputes concerning the rented items,
Which we make available to you through the Vavender application available for download on your mobile device (the “Vavender App”) and our website at https://vavender.com (together, the “Vavender Service”).
1.2 The Vavender Service is provided by Bonolo Solution (Pty) Ltd (“Vavender”, “we”, “our”, or “us”).
2. Important warnings about lending and hiring items
2.1 Vavender only provides a platform that enables users to borrow and lend items, but does not borrow or lend items itself. We also do not regularly monitor the quality of the items made available for hire by owners through the Vavender Service.
2.2 As such, the owner (and not us) is responsible for ensuring that items conform to any descriptions provided, are fit for purpose and safe to use. If you are a renter, we will not be responsible to you for any items that you hire through the Vavender Service.
2.3 If you are an owner, you will also be responsible for complying with any obligations you may have under applicable law with respect to the items that you provide for hire, including giving effect to renters’ rights under applicable consumer law. As an owner you are not liable for any injury or damage caused to the renter by your item unless the damage is the result of a defect of the item that you have prior knowledge of and of which you didn’t inform the renter.
2.4 If you are a renter, you will be responsible for any items you hire through the Vavender Service, including compensating the owner for any loss or damage to those items. You will also be responsible for any damage you cause to other people or property when you use those items. As a renter it is your responsibility to inspect the item before you hire it. Once the rental has commenced you have accepted the item is in a safe condition to use and are liable for any damage or injury caused.
3. Your relationship with us
3.1 This document and any documents referred to within it (collectively, the “Terms and Conditions”) set out the terms of your relationship with us. It is important that you read and understand these Terms and Conditions before using the Vavender Service.
3.2 Additional terms will apply to you depending on whether you are a renter or owner. Please refer to paragraph 9 if you are an owner and paragraph 10 if you are a renter.
3.3 By accessing and using the Vavender Service, you agree to these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, please do not access or use the Vavender Service.
4. Information about us
4.1 Bonolo Solution is a private company registered in South Africa, with its registered address at 1644 DRD, Roodepoort, 1724, and registration number 2021/936667/07.
5. Information about you
5.1 Your privacy is important to us. You should read our Privacy Policy to understand how we collect, use and share information about you.
6. The Vavender Service
6.1 The Vavender Service allows owners to advertise items for hire, and to communicate and enter into agreements with renters for the hire of those items.
6.2 We may, from time to time, provide social features on the Vavender Service, which enable you to message and share information about your use of the Vavender Service with other users. Any use of these social features should comply with our Rules of Acceptable Use below.
7. Setting up your account
7.1 To access the Vavender Service, you must set up an account using your email address (your “Account”). You will need to create a password for your Account – we encourage you to use “strong” passwords (passwords that use a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols) with your Account.
7.2 You must be 18 years or older and capable in entering into a legally binding agreement to use the Vavender Service. If you are below the age of 18 we may require a parent or guardian to enter into the agreement on your behalf. In this instance, we will hold a legally binding agreement with the parent or guardian.
7.3 You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login details and for any activities that occur under your Account. If you have any concerns that your Account may have been misused, you should contact us at admin@vavender.co.za straight away to let us know.
7.4 In order to set up a Vavender account, you must go through a verification process. You will need to enter valid, up-to-date, and complete credit or debit card details, as well as upload, certified ID copies and police affidavit. Your privacy is very important to us and all personal information is held securely. For more information on how we protect your information please visit our full Privacy Policy.
8. Your right to use the Vavender Service
8.1 The materials and content comprising the Vavender Service belong to us or our third-party licensors, and we give you permission to use these materials and content for the sole purpose of using the Vavender Service in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
8.2 Your right to use the Vavender Service is personal to you and you are not allowed to give this right to any other person. Your right to use the Vavender Service does not stop us from giving other people the right to use the Vavender Service.
8.3 Unless allowed by these Terms and Conditions or as permitted by the functionality of the Vavender Service, you agree:
a) Not to copy, or attempt to copy the Vavender App or any other portion of the Vavender Service;
b) Not to give or sell or otherwise make available the Vavender App or any other portion of the Vavender Service to anybody else;
c) Not to change, or attempt to change the Vavender App or other portion of the Vavender Service in any way;
d) Not to look for or access the code of the Vavender App or any other portion of the Vavender Service that we have not expressly published publicly for general use.
8.5 You agree that you have no rights in or to the Vavender App or any other portion of the Vavender Service other than the right to use and access them in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
9. Your content
9.1 You confirm that any images, text, or information that you upload to the Vavender Service, including any reviews that you post about other users or items (collectively, your “User Content”) will meet the Rules of Acceptable Use and be in line with our Content Policy.
9.2 We do not claim ownership of your User Content, and ownership will remain with you and any third party whose content you include in your User Content. Instead, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and perpetual license to use, copy, reproduce, distribute, adapt, re-format, modify, publish, translate, license, sub-license, and otherwise make available the User Content anywhere and in any form for the purposes of providing the Vavender Service (including allowing users that you give access to any User Content to view and use your User Content).
9.3 You must ensure that you are able to grant us the above license for any content owned by a third party that you include in your User Content.
9.4 Our right to use your User Content does not in any way affect your privacy rights. Please see our Privacy Policy which provides information on how we use your personal information.
9.5 We have the right to monitor any User Content and to reject, refuse or delete any User Content where we think that it breaks any of the Rules of Acceptable Use or is in breach of our Content Policy.
13. Rules of Acceptable Use
13.1 In addition to the other requirements within these Terms and Conditions, this section describes specific rules that apply to your use of the Vavender Service (the “Rules of Acceptable Use”). For more information please visit our full Content Policy.
13.2 When using the Vavender Service you must not:
a) circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with any security related features of the Vavender Service;
b) give any false or misleading information, impersonate any person or permit any other person to use the Vavender Service under your name or on your behalf unless such person is authorised by you;
c) use the Vavender Service if we have suspended or banned you from using it;
d) advocate, promote or engage in any illegal or unlawful conduct or conduct that causes theft, loss, damage or injury to any person or property;
e) promote or advertise any goods or services, other than items you, as an owner, make available for rent through the Vavender Service;
f) send any unsolicited marketing communications through the Vavender Service;
g) modify, interfere, intercept, disrupt or hack the Vavender Service;
h) misuse the Vavender Service by knowingly introducing viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which would harm any of the Vavender Service or any user of the Vavender Service’s own equipment;
i) collect any data from the Vavender Service other than in accordance with these Terms and Conditions;
j) submit or contribute any User Content that contains nudity or violence or is abusive, threatening, obscene, misleading, untrue or offensive;
k) submit or contribute any User Content that is discriminatory;
l) submit or contribute any User Content that you do not own or have the right to use or otherwise infringe the copyright, trademark or other rights of third parties;
m) use any User Content in violation of any licensing terms specified by the owner;
n) other than leaving reviews about lenders or items, submit or contribute any information or commentary about another person without that person’s permission;
o) threaten, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person (including but not limited to other users, and Vavender employees);
p) use any automated system, including without limitation “robots”, “spiders” or “offline readers” to access the Vavender Service in a manner that send more request messages to the Vavender Service than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time;
q) enter into any agreement to rent any item other than through the Vavender platform with any other user who you initially met through the Vavender Service. Doing so is “Fee Avoidance” and you will be liable for double the fees avoided, or an R500.00 fine (whichever is more) for each instance of doing so.
13.3 Failure to comply with the Rules of Acceptable Use constitutes a serious breach of these Terms and Conditions, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions (with or without notice):
a) immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use the Vavender website, Vavender App or any other portion of the Vavender Service;
b) immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any User Content;
c) issuing of a warning to you;
d) legal action against you including proceedings for reimbursement of all costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach;
e) disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.
13.4 The responses described in paragraph 13.3 are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.
14. Notice and take-down policy
14.1 Any person may contact us by sending us a notice (an “Infringement Notice”) if any content available through the Vavender Service infringes their rights. The Infringement Notice should be sent by email to admin@vavender.co.za Please provide the following information in the Infringement Notice:
a) your name and contact details;
b) a statement explaining in sufficient detail why you consider that the content available through the Vavender Service infringes your rights or fails to comply with our Rules of Acceptable Use; and
c) a link to or such other means of identifying the problematic content.
14.2 We will take the action that we believe is appropriate depending on the nature of the Infringement Notice and will aim to respond to you within a reasonable period of time on the action we propose to take.
15. Ending our relationship
15.1 If at any time you do not feel that you can agree to these Terms and Conditions or any changes made to these Terms and Conditions or the Vavender Service, you must immediately stop using the Vavender Service.
15.2 Deleting the Vavender App might not close any Account you have created in relation to the Vavender Service. You must notify us if you wish to close your Account by contacting us using the details and functionality at contact us, and we will end your use of the Vavender Service.
15.3 We may immediately end your use of the Vavender Service if you break the Rules of Acceptable Use, any other important rule(s), or terms and conditions we set for accessing and using the Vavender Service including these Terms and Conditions.
15.4 We may also withdraw any part of the Vavender Service at any time and will notify you if we feel it will significantly affect your usage of the Vavender Service.
15.5 If you or we end your use of the Vavender Service or we withdraw Vavender Service as described in this section, we may delete your User Content, any other information that you have uploaded to the Vavender Service or any other information we hold about you. You will also lose any rights you have to use the Vavender Service or to access our content or your User Content. You should therefore ensure that you keep a copy of any information or content you use on the Vavender Service, as well as your User Content, as we will not offer you compensation for any losses you might suffer if you lose your rights to access and use the Vavender Service or any such information, content or User Content.
15.6 The termination of your use of the Vavender Service and the cancellation of your Account shall not affect any of your obligations to pay any sums due to us.
15.7 Nothing in paragraph 13 affects any legal rights you may have under the law of the country in which you are resident.
16. Our liability/responsibility to you
16.1 While we will do our best to ensure that the Vavender App itself is of a reasonable standard and quality and matches any descriptions we have provided you, the Vavender App and any other portion of the Vavender Service may contain some content owned or developed by third parties. As we do not own or produce such third-party content, we cannot be responsible for it in any way.
16.2 In addition, due to the nature of the Internet and technology, the Vavender Service is unfortunately provided on an “as available” and “as is” basis. This means that we are unable to promise that your use of the Vavender Service will be uninterrupted, without delays, error-free or meet your expectations and we do not give any commitment relating to the performance or availability of the Vavender Service in these Terms and Conditions and, to the extent we are able to do so, we exclude any commitments that may be implied by law.
16.3 In the event of a claim arising out of the provision of the Vavender Service, our responsibility to you will never be more than the amount you have paid us in the 12 months prior to the claim arising and, in the event that you have not paid us any money, we shall have no responsibility whatsoever to you.
16.4 In every case, we will never be responsible for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable.
16.5 The above does not affect your rights under the applicable law of the country in which you are resident, including our responsibility to you for any personal injury or death caused by our negligence.
17. Resolving disputes with us
17.1 If you have a dispute with us relating to the Vavender Service, in the first instance please contact us at admin@vavender.co.za and attempt to resolve the dispute with us informally.
17.2 In the unlikely event that we have not been able to resolve a dispute informally, we will discuss and agree with you the most effective way of resolving our dispute.
18. Changes to the Vavender Service
18.1 We are constantly updating and improving the Vavender Service to try and find ways to provide you with new and innovative features and services. Improvements and updates are also made to reflect changing technologies, tastes, behaviours and the way people use the Internet and the Vavender Service.
18.2 In order to do this, we may need to update, reset, stop offering and/or supporting a particular part of the Vavender Service, or features relating to the Vavender Service (“changes to the Vavender Service”). These changes to the Vavender Service may affect your past activities on the Vavender Service, features that you use, your User Content and any other information you submit to the Vavender Service (“Service Elements”). Any changes to the Vavender Service could involve your Service Elements being deleted or reset.
18.3 You agree that a key characteristic of the Vavender Service is that changes to the Vavender Service will take place over time and this is an important basis on which we grant you access to the Vavender Service. Once we have made changes to any part of the Vavender Service, your continued use of the Vavender Service will show that you have accepted any changes to the Vavender Service. You are always free to stop using the Vavender Service.
19. App Marketplaces and Platforms
19.1 This paragraph 20 applies where the Vavender App has been downloaded from any app store or distribution platform other than the Apple App Store, including the Google Play Store (the “Distribution Platform “):
a) you acknowledge that these Terms and Conditions are between you and Vavender, and not with the provider of the Distribution Platform (“Store Provider”);
b) your use of the Vavender App must comply with the Store Provider’s then-current Distribution Platform Terms and Conditions;
c) the Store Provider is only a provider of the Distribution Platform where you obtained the Vavender App;
d) Vavender, and not the Store Provider, is solely responsible for the Vavender App;
e) the Store Provider has no obligation or liability to you with respect to the Vavender App or these Terms and Conditions; and
f) you acknowledge and agree that the Store Provider is a third-party beneficiary to these Terms and Conditions as it relates to the Vavender App.
20. Changes to the document
20.1 We may revise these Terms and Conditions from time to time but the most current version will always be at https://vavender.co.za/terms-of-service or in the relevant section of the Vavender App.
20.2 Changes will usually occur because of new features being added to the Vavender Service, changes in the law or where we need to clarify our position on something.
20.3 Normally, we will try to give you some warning before the new terms become effective. However, sometimes changes will need to be made immediately and if this happens we will not give you any notice.
21. Documents that apply to our relationship with you
21.1 The current version of these Terms and Conditions contains the only terms and conditions that apply to our relationship with you.
21.2 We intend to rely on these Terms and Conditions as setting out the written terms of our agreement with you for the provision of the Vavender Service. If part of these Terms and Conditions cannot be enforced then the remainder of these Terms and Conditions will still apply to our relationship.
21.3 If you do not comply with these Terms and Conditions and we do not take action immediately, this does not mean we have given up any right we have and we may still take action in the future.
22. Law
22.1 South African Constitution Law will apply to all disputes and the interpretation of these Terms and Conditions. If we need to apply to court to enforce any part of these Terms and Conditions against you or resolve any other dispute between us arising from or related to your use of the Vavender Service, we will initially seek to apply to the English courts. This does not affect your rights under the law of the country in which you are resident, including your right to have a dispute in relation to your use of the Vavender Service heard in the courts of that country.
23. Contact, feedback and complaints
23.1 If you need to contact us in relation to these Terms and Conditions or any other documents mentioned in them, please email us at admin@vavender.co.za.
23.2 We value hearing from our users, and are always interested in learning about ways we can improve the Vavender Service. By providing your feedback you agree that you are giving up any rights you have in your feedback so that we may use and allow others to use it without any restriction and without any payment to you.
1. Owner-Specific Terms
1.1 This paragraph 1 applies to you if you are an owner.
1.2 You must not offer to lend through the Vavender Service any firearms, weapons, pornography, mature content, animals, or any items that would be illegal to offer for hire in your or the renter’s country of residence. We may remove any items offered for hire from the Vavender Service if we believe such items are illegal, immoral, or damaging to our reputation.
1.3 You are responsible for ensuring that:
a) You have all necessary rights to hire out any items you advertise on the Vavender Service, and that the renter’s use of those items will not infringe any other party’s rights;
b) You make available hired items to the renter in accordance with the agreement you reach with the renter;
c) Any descriptions of the items you advertise for hire through the Vavender Service are accurate and include all information relevant to the use of the item, including (as appropriate): (i) notice of any defects, restrictions or other requirements that may apply to the use of the item; and (ii) any instructions or notices that may reasonably be required to use the item safely;
d) The items you advertise on the Vavender Service: (i) conform in all material respects (must be same) to any pictures or descriptions that you upload to the Vavender Service; (ii) are safe to use in accordance with any reasonable instructions (manual) that you provide to the renter, (iii) are fit for any purpose for which such items would normally be used, or any purpose communicated to you by the renter; (iv) can be legally offered for hire.
e) Any rental item is only handed over to the renter after the transaction(s) are approved by the Vavender Verification process. You must only hand over the item to the person verified by Vavender, no third parties.
1.4 If you offer storage space for hire, you must also ensure that the space is accessible safely and legally, that it is secure and free from leaks and/or excessive heat or cold. You will be responsible for any damage to any of the renter’s items that are left in your storage area.
1.5 You will be responsible for any damage the renter or any other person may suffer as a result of any defect in the item they have rented from you, or for any failure to comply with the requirements in paragraph 1.2.
1.6 You are free to agree with any other terms on which you hire an item to a renter, including the price you wish to charge to the renter for hiring your item for the relevant rent period (the “Rental Fee”). When you post items for hire on the Vavender Service, you must ensure that the Rental Fee you advertise on your listing is the total price payable for hiring your items, including any applicable taxes or cost of delivery.
1.7 Once you agree with the terms on which you will lend an item to a renter, you must not try to amend those terms (including the price) unless you have a valid, justifiable reason for doing so and the renter agrees to those amended terms.
1.8 As an owner, you choose which cancellation policy applies to your items. You must select between flexible, moderate, and strict. Our full Cancellation Policy can be found at https://vavender.com/page/cancellation-policy with our full Refund Policy at https://vavender.com/page/refund-policy.
2. Renter-Specific Terms
2.1 This paragraph 2 applies to you if you are a renter.
2.2 When you agree to hire an item with an owner, the owner grants you a limited right to use that item for the relevant hire period. This right is personal to you and you are not allowed to give this right to any other person.
2.3 You are responsible for ensuring that:
a) You are legally allowed to use any item that you rent through the Vavender Service;
b) You comply with all applicable laws when using the item;
c) You comply with any reasonable directions provided by the owner in order to use the item safely;
d) You use the item responsibly to not cause harm to yourself or others, or to cause damage to the item;
e) You return the item in the same condition as it was when you collected it from the owner (any reasonable wear and tear excepted).
Reasonable wear and tear can be minor damages that do not affect the main operation or function of the item or object.
2.4 If you hire a storage space through the Vavender Service, you must ensure that the items you store are not flammable, dangerous, or hazardous to people or animals, and do not exceed R50, 000.00 in value. You will be responsible for any damage caused to the storage space, the owner, or any other person or property as a result of your use of any storage space you hire through the Vavender Service. The items stored within the rented space must be legal items and must not include any of the prohibited items listed within our Content Policy.
2.5 You are free to agree with the owner on how you will return any items you have hired to the owner; however, you must ensure that you return any items you have hired to the owner before your hire period ends.
2.6 You will be responsible for any loss of or damage to the item you have hired. Please see paragraph 4 for more information about how we handle disputes between owners and renters, including if the item is damaged, lost, or stolen.
2.7 Should you wish to cancel a request to rent an item, any applicable fees are dependent on the Cancellation Policy that was chosen by the owner. Our full Cancellation Policy can be found at https://vavender.com/page/cancellation-policy. However, please note that our Renter Refund Policy supersedes the owner’s cancellation policy. Our full Refund Policy can be found at https://vavender.com/page/refund-policy.
2.8 If you fail to return an item by the agreed deadline you must contact the owner and/or Vavender to notify them as soon as you are aware you are going to miss the deadline. You will also need to book and pay for the extended time immediately. The owner may not be able to accommodate the extension in which case it is your responsibility to get the item(s) back to the owner within a time frame that suits the owner. If you do not do so you will be liable to pay late fees, which will be double the Rental Fee for the period the item was late (“Late Fees”). You agree that Vavender can charge this amount from your card or bank account without further permission.
2.9 If you miss the agreed deadline for return and are uncommunicative with the owner or Vavender, or we have reason to believe you have caused damage to the item, you agree that Vavender can take a holding deposit from your account up to the full value of the items you have rented (“Holding Deposit”). This deposit will be fully refundable, less any fees owed to Vavender or the owner, once the items are returned, replaced, or repaired. Otherwise, the deposit will not be refunded.
3. Fees and payment
3.1 If you are an owner, we will collect the Rental Fee from the renter on your behalf. Unless we are unable to obtain payment from the renter, such as when a renter’s payment method is refused or our payment services provider determines that there is a risk of fraud, we will transfer you the Rental Fee within 24 hours of the start date of the rental. The owner will be notified if payment could not be taken from the renter. We will also charge you 5% of the Rental Fee (“Owner Fee”), which we will deduct from the amount we transfer to you. As the owner, for items with a replacement value of over R5, 000.00 security deposit equivalent to a minimum of 1.5 days rental will be required. For items with a replacement value of R1, 000.00 – R4, 950.00 it is at your discretion whether you charge a security deposit, the minimum for this is set to 1 day’s rental. For items with a replacement valuation of R985.00 and under a security deposit will not be required.
3.2 The full Rental Fee listed on the Vavender Service includes an additional fee equal to 25% of the owner’s listing price (“Renter Fee”). This is charged by Vavender for the use of the Vavender Service.
3.3 If you are a renter, once you have agreed to hire an item from the owner, we will charge you the full Rental Fee on the owner’s behalf. If the owner has opted to charge a security deposit, this payment will be taken days before the start of the rental period. This will be held by Vavender until the end of the rental period when it will be transferred back to you (in the event no disputes arise). Please allow up to 7 days for this to be processed.
3.4 When you create your Account, you will need to provide us with valid, up-to-date, and complete credit or debit card details. When you agree to rent an item, you authorize us to charge such credit or debit card for the relevant Rental Fee and Renter Fee and hereby confirm that the details you provide are accurate and that you have the right to use the payment method selected.
3.5 If we are unsuccessful in charging the Rental Fee, Renter Fee, Late Fee, Settlement Fee, or any other amount to your credit or debit card, and have still not received payment within 7 days after informing you, we may suspend or temporarily disable all or part of your access to the Vavender Service (without any responsibility to you), and we shall be under no obligation to provide any or all of the Vavender Service while the amount concerned is unpaid. This does not affect any other rights and remedies available to us or the owner. If you charge back a payment you were obliged to pay by the terms of this agreement, your account will be immediately suspended until the payment is re-paid, or the chargeback is cancelled.
3.6 The Vavender Service uses the platform Payfast to process payments. Full payment terms can be found at https://www.payfast.co.za/legal/
4. Resolving disputes between renters and owner
4.1 We encourage users to resolve any disputes directly. If, as a renter, you have lost or damaged an item, you are responsible for reimbursing the owner immediately for the full value of repairing the item (if possible) or replacing it.
4.2 If you are an owner, we may ask you to provide proof of purchase, photos of any damage caused to an item, or any other evidence to support your claim for reimbursement from a renter. Where you claim that a renter has damaged an item, we may also ask you to provide photos of your item taken before it was provided to a renter, to support your claim that any damage was caused by the renter (and was not present at the start of the rental period).
4.3 If a security deposit has been taken for the rental, an agreement between the owner and renter can be made for any damage repairs that are less than the value of the deposit. Once an amount has been agreed between the parties, this security deposit can be used to reimburse the owner if the amount agreed allows. The agreed amount will be transferred to the owner, with the remaining transferred back to the renter. Please note that a 5% handling fee will be taken from the owner’s payment to cover the processing of this transaction. It may take up to 7 days to process these payments.
4.4 In the event that an owner and a renter are unable to resolve a dispute between them directly, they can ask us to mediate the dispute. If we do mediate a dispute, we may charge a fee of up to 25% of any amounts that we, the owner, and the renter determine are payable by the renter to compensate the owner for any loss or damage to the item. We will charge this amount to the renter in addition to any amounts the renter is required to pay to the owner (together known as the “Settlement Fee”). If Vavender mediates the dispute you agree to accept Vavender’s conclusion and pay any amount which Vavender determines you are liable for.
4.5 If you owe Vavender or another Vavender user money through the terms of these Terms and Conditions you agree to pay the sum promptly and not more than 48 hours from it being requested. In the event that you do not pay the owed money within this timeframe, Vavender may debit this amount from your card. In agreeing to these terms you agree to allow us to do so and waive your right to charge back this transaction with your bank.
5. Owner Guarantee
5.1 In the event that you are unable to recover the cost of repairing or replacing an item or the estimated value of the item, we may reimburse you any such amounts provided you meet the criteria laid out in the “Owner Guarantee”.
5.2 If you are an owner, if we agree to reimburse you under the Owner Guarantee, you must inform the renter that any amounts owed to the owner will now be owed to us. The owner must supply Vavender with evidence of this correspondence with the renter.
5.3 If you are a renter, any payment we may make to the owner under the Owner Guarantee will not affect your obligation to pay for the items that have been lost, stolen, or damaged, but this obligation will be owed to us, rather than the owner.
1. What is Covered?
1.1. We will guarantee your listed items against damage occurring during the period of cover and in the course of a booking. Each item is covered up to its full value, providing that it falls on or below the threshold and meets the criteria laid out in this document. The threshold is R 50,000.00.
1.2. Where an item is not returned at all or returned in a damaged condition (excluding damaged conditions listed in clause 2), the owner must not authorize the return of any amount of the deposit to the renter. This guarantee will be void if the security deposit is returned to the renter.
2. What is not covered?
We will not make any payment for:
2.1. Items with a replacement value equal to or under the value of R5,000.00.
2.2. Damage:
2.1.1. caused by mechanical and/or electrical faults or breakdowns;
2.1.2. caused by inherent defects; e.g. defects caused by corrosion, moth or vermin, humidity, extreme temperature;
2.1.3. caused by previous incidents of damage; e.g. underlying structural weakness from the previous impact; for the avoidance of doubt ‘previous’ means prior to the rental in which the problem occurs;
2.1.4. caused by the previous alteration; e.g. extension, cleaning, repair, renovation, restoration, or similar process; misuse and faulty workmanship or the use of any faulty materials;
2.1.5. caused by wear and tear; for the avoidance of doubt, ‘wear and tear is minor damage that occurs during the normal and proper usage of the item that does not affect the functionality of it;
2.1.6. damage that cannot be proven to have occurred during the rental period;
2.1.7. minor superficial or cosmetic damage that does not affect the functionality of the item; e.g. small dents, scratches;
2.1.8. caused as a result of war, terrorism, or natural disaster; e.g. flood, earthquake, hurricane;
2.1.9. flat tyres or punctures of pneumatic (soft) tyres on electric scooters;
2.3. Income owed due to late returns or from work you were unable to fulfill due to the temporary absence of a functioning item;
2.4. Incidents of public or product liability; e.g. if any person or property is injured/damaged as a result of your equipment during a Vavender rental;
2.5. Real estate, camper vans, motor homes, people, persons, or services; chemicals, liquids, consumables, or anything that can be reasonably classified as a weapon.
3. Who is eligible to claim this guarantee?
You are eligible to claim this guarantee if you meet all of the following criteria;
3.1. You are the person who created the account on Vavender which rented out the item in question.
3.2. You uploaded the correct verification documents when requested.
3.3. You haven’t been convicted of or charged with, any offense other than motoring offenses in the past 5years.
3.4. You have never been subject to a county court judgment (CCJ), a debt relief order (DRO), an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA), or bankruptcy proceedings.
3.5. You have never had insurance cancelled, refused or declined, or had any special terms imposed.
3.6. You have not made more than 2 insurance claims in the past 5 years.
3.7. You have not handed over the item(s) until the transaction has been approved by the Vavender Verification process.
3.8. You must only hand over the item(s) to the person verified to borrow by Vavender. We cannot guarantee rentals that were handed to any third parties.
4. How much will we pay?
4.1. We will pay for the cost of repair, replacement, or the original value, whichever is less. The ‘original value’ is determined by the price you paid for it and must be evidenced by you (e.g. with proof of purchase).
4.2. It is at the discretion of our Resolution Team to determine if something can be reasonably repaired or is deemed ‘irreparable’. If they cannot easily determine this, then you will be asked to seek a 3rd party appraisal from a reputable repairer.
5. What are your obligations?
5.1. We will not make any payment under this guarantee unless you as the Owner:
5.1.1. make a demand against their Renter seeking compensation for any damage, loss, or theft of your items during the rental period;
5.1.2. in the case of theft, report the incident to the police as soon as reasonably possible, and obtain a crime reference number from them;
5.1.3. included each item you’re claiming for in your original listing which the renter used to rent out the items;
5.1.4. ensure the ‘Estimated Value’ is reasonably accurate. For the avoidance of doubt, ‘reasonably accurate’ is within 10% of the value you claim for. You can amend your estimated values here https://vavender.co.za/my-items;
5.1.5. provide us with the appropriate documentation to support the claim, including but not limited to;
5.1.5.1. an itemized breakdown of all items that have suffered damage, loss, or theft;
5.1.5.2. evidence of the value when you purchased the items;
5.1.5.3. serial numbers on items (particularly electronics);
5.1.5.4. photos or videos of the item(s) taken immediately (and no more than 24 hours) before the rental to prove they were in your possession undamaged at that time;
5.1.5.5. in the case of damage, photos or videos taken immediately (and no more than 24 hours) after the rental to prove the damage happened during the rental and not during your own subsequent use.
5.1.6. do not post on social media, online, or make public information about your claim before the claim process has been completed.
5.2. If the Contents are owned by a business or a professional, you (/they) must have valid underlying insurance in place covering the Contents and we will ask you to first try to claim on your existing insurance before you can proceed with a claim on this guarantee. If this proves unsuccessful, you will need to provide us with written evidence that the insurers declined the claim, in order to claim on this guarantee.
5.3. If your item is covered by a warranty from the supplier, you must attempt to use this to cover the repair or replacement before you can proceed with a claim on this guarantee. If this proves unsuccessful, you will need to provide us with written evidence that the suppliers declined the claim, in order to claim on this guarantee.
5.4. You must inform us as soon as possible, and in any event within 24 hours of the end date of the rental of any incident which you may need to claim for under this guarantee.
5.5. You must give us all assistance that we may reasonably require to pursue recovery of the items themselves, and thereafter of the amounts owed to us by the renter.
6. Fraud
6.1. If you or anyone entitled to cover in respect of any claim or loss, or anyone on behalf of you or such other person, tries to deceive us by deliberately giving us false information or making a fraudulent claim under this policy then:
6.1.1. we shall be entitled to refuse to make any payment under the guarantee in respect of any claim made or any loss; not limited to the claim in question but inclusive of all future and ongoing claims;
6.1.2. You must reimburse all payments already made by us relating to claims made or losses occurring after the date of any fraudulent act or claim or the provision of such false information;
6.1.3. we shall be entitled to pursue you with legal action for the act;
6.1.4. your use of the platform will be permanently suspended.
Refund Policy
Effective as of 29th June, 2022
These terms and conditions govern Vavender’s policy for Renter refunds (“Renter Refund Policy”) and the obligations of the Owner associated with the Renter Refund Policy. The Renter Refund Policy applies in addition to Vavender’s Terms and Conditions (“Vavender Terms”). The Renter Refund Policy is available to Renters who book and pay for an item through the Vavender Platform and suffer a Rental Issue (as defined below). The Renter’s rights under this Renter Refund Policy will supersede the Owner’s cancellation policy.
All capitalized terms shall have the meaning set forth in the Vavender Terms or Payments Terms unless otherwise defined in this Renter Refund Policy.
By using the Vavender Platform as an Owner or Renter, you are indicating that you have read and that you understand, and agree to be bound by this Renter Refund Policy.
1. Rental Issue
A “Rental Issue” means any one of the following:
(a) the Owner of the Item (i) cancels a booking shortly before the scheduled start of the booking, or (ii) fails to provide the Renter with the reasonable ability to access the Item (e.g. does not provide an address or collection time).
(b) the Listing’s description or depiction of the Item is materially inaccurate with respect to:
the size of the Item (e.g., bike frame size, tent capacity, trailer size etc.),
whether the Item technical information is correct (e.g. camera capabilities, bike gear numbers etc.)
the condition of the Item (e.g. it is not in a useable condition or is listed incorectly)
(c) at the start of the Renter’s booking, the Item: (i) is not generally clean and sanitary; (ii) contains safety or health hazards that would be reasonably expected to adversely affect the Renter’s ability to use the Item in Vavender’s judgment, or (iii) is not functional according to its purpose.
2. The Renter Refund Policy
If you are a Renter and suffer a Rental Issue, you are covered by this policy as follows:
Up to 24 hours after collection. If you report a Rental Issue up to 24 hours after collection, we agree, at our discretion, to either (i) reimburse you the amount paid by you through the Vavender Platform (“Total Fees”), or (ii) use our reasonable efforts to help you find and book for any unused days left in your booking another Item which is reasonably comparable to or better than the Item described in your original booking. Vavender shall decide whether an issue reported by a Renter qualifies as a Rental Issue, whether to reimburse or rebook a Renter who suffers a Rental Issue, and whether an alternate Item is comparable or better.
More than 24 hours after check-in. If you report a Rental Issue more than 24 hours after check-in, we agree, at our discretion, to either (i) reimburse you up to the Total Fees depending on the nature of the Rental Issue suffered, or (ii) use our reasonable efforts to help you find and book another Item for any unused days left in your booking which is reasonably comparable to the Item described in your original booking.
Vavender’s decisions under the Renter Refund Policy are final and binding on Renters and Owners but do not affect other contractual or statutory rights you may have. Any right that you may have to initiate legal action remains unaffected.
3. Conditions for making a Claim
To submit a valid claim for a Rental Issue and receive the benefits with respect to your booking, you are required to meet each of the following conditions:
(a) you must be the Renter that booked the Item;
(b) you must report the Rental Issue to us in writing or via telephone within 24 hours of discovering the existence of the Rental Issue, and you must provide us with information (including photographs, videos, or other written or tangible evidence) about the Item and the circumstances of the Rental Issue;
(c) you must respond to any requests by us for additional information or cooperation on the Rental Issue within the time specified by Vavender;
(d) you must not have directly or indirectly caused the Rental Issue (through your action, omission or negligence);
(e) unless otherwise specified by Vavender or Vavender advises you that the Rental Issue cannot be remediated, you must use reasonable efforts to try to remedy the circumstances of the Rental Issue with the Owner; and
(f) in order to receive a reimbursement of Total Fees or assistance with booking an alternative Item, you must agree to return the Item immediately. If you choose to keep the Item for the length of your booking, you may still qualify for a partial refund at Vavender’s discretion as described in this policy (regardless of whether you reported the Rental Issue up to 24 hours after check-in).
4. Minimum Quality Standards, Owner Responsibilities, and Reimbursement to Renters
• 4.1 If you are an Owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the Items you list on the Vavender Platform are accessible, adequately and accurately described in the Listing description, safe and clean, and do not present a Renter with Rental Issues, as specified in these terms. During a Renter’s booking of an Item, Owners should be available, or make a third-party available, in order to try, in good faith, to resolve any Rental Issues or other Renters issues.
• 4.2 If you are an Owner, and if (i) Vavender determines that a Guest has suffered a Rental Issue related to an Item listed by you and (ii) Vavender either reimburses that Renter (up to their Total Fees) or provides an alternative Item to the Renter, you agree to reimburse Vavender up to the amount paid by Vavender within 30 days of Vavender’s request. You authorize Vavender Payments to collect any amounts owed to Vavender by reducing your Payout or as otherwise permitted pursuant to the Payments Terms.
• 4.3 As an Owner, you understand that the rights of Renters under this Renter Refund Policy will supersede your selected cancellation policy. If you dispute the Rental Issue, you may notify us in writing or via telephone and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) disputing the claims regarding the Rental Issue. In order to dispute a Rental Issue, you must use reasonable and good faith efforts to try to remedy any Rental Issue with the Renter unless Vavender advises you that the Rental Issue cannot be remediated or the Renter has returned the Item.
5. General Provisions
• 5.1 No Assignment/No Insurance. This Renter Refund Policy is not intended to constitute an offer to insure, does not constitute insurance or an insurance contract, does not take the place of insurance obtained or obtainable by the Renter, and the Renter has not paid any premium in respect of the Renter Refund Policy. The benefits provided under this Renter Refund Policy are not assignable or transferable by you.
• 5.2 Modification or Termination. Vavender reserves the right to modify or terminate this Renter Refund Policy, at any time, in its sole discretion. If Vavender modifies this Renter Refund Policy, we will post the modification on the Vavender Platform or provide you with notice of the modification and Vavender will continue to process all claims for Rental Issues made prior to the effective date of the modification according to the then applicable policy.
• 5.3 Entire Agreement. This Renter Refund Policy constitutes the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between Vavender and you regarding the Renter Refund Policy and supersedes and replaces any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between Vavender and you regarding the Renter Refund Policy.
6. Contacting Vavender. If you have any questions about the Renter Refund Policy, please email us.
This is a rent-to-own agreement whereas the Parties agree that the Renter shall take possession of the movable property that is owned by the Owner and shall have full use of the Item for the duration of this Agreement.
WHEREAS the Parties intend that ownership of the Item will transfer to the Renter upon the full completion of payments as per the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement.
THEREFORE the Parties agree as follows:
1. Payments
1.1. The Parties agree on the total or complete purchase price of the Item, and that each month’s rent payment will be applied towards the purchase price of the Item.
1.2. The Renter must pay to the Owner a security deposit.
1.3. Subsequent rental payments must be paid by the Renter to the Owner on the specific (day or agreement) day of each month until the purchase price is paid in full.
1.4. We will collect all payments for the duration of the agreement, by debit order or deposit.
2. Insurance
2.1. The Renter shall at his/her own expense comprehensively insure the Item with an insurance company approved by the Owner for at least an amount equal to the Purchase Price and will notify the said insurance company of the Owner’s interest in the Item.
3. Risk and early termination
3.1. The risk in the Item shall pass to the Renter upon date of possession, who shall remain liable to pay the full balance of the Purchase Price despite any damage to or depreciation, loss, or destruction of the Item from whatsoever cause arising.
3.2. Upon early termination of this Agreement, in any manner, before the Purchase Price has been paid in full, the Item must be returned to the Owner and the Renter will forfeit the amounts already paid to the Owner up to date of early termination (the amounts already paid will be considered as rent for the use of the Item).
4. Restriction of Renter’s right
4.1. The Renter shall not sell, cede, assign, transfer or pledge the Item or allow it to become subject to any lien of whatsoever nature or deliver possession thereof to any other person while any portion of the Purchase Price remains unpaid.
5. Inspection, Guarantee & Warranty
5.1. The Renter hereby acknowledges the condition of the item and that s/he has inspected it and that s/he has satisfied him/herself that it is in good order and condition.
5.2. The Owner shall not be responsible for any defects, latent or patent, or any damage resulting therefrom.
5.3. The Item shall be subject to the guarantee and/or warranty as provided for by the manufacturer.
5.4. the Owner does not provide any guarantee or warranty towards the Item.
5.5. The Renter must inform the Owner of any defects, faults, or malfunctioning of the Item immediately after s/he discovers same.
6. Transfer of ownership
6.1. Ownership of the Item will remain with the Owner for the duration of this Agreement and the Renter shall, upon completion of this Agreement, which includes making payment of the full Purchase Price, become the owner of the Item
7. Breach
7.1. If the Renter breaches a provision of this Agreement, and fails to remedy the breach within 10 (ten) business days of the date of receipt of a written notice from the Owner, requiring the Renter to remedy the breach, the Owner will be entitled to any remedy available in law, without further notice to the Renter.
8. General
8.1. This Agreement constitutes the whole Agreement between the Parties.
8.2. No relaxation or indulgence granted by the Owner and no omission by the Owner timeously or diligently to enforce any right under this Agreement shall be deemed to amount to a waiver of that or any other right.
8.3. No variation in terms of this Agreement, novation or cancellation by mutual consent shall be of any force or effect unless reduced to writing and signed by both the Owner and the Renter
1. Terms of sale
By purchasing any Merchant Offering, Product, or participating in other available group buying programs via the Site, you agree to the Terms of Use, including, without limitation, the Terms of Sale specified below.
Group buying or collective usage offers products and services at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers would make the purchase or order. When this condition is not met after the count-down clock has reached zero, then the deal will be void.
(a) In General
(i). Descriptions of the Merchant Offerings and Products advertised on the Site are provided by the Merchant or other referenced third parties. Vavender does not investigate or vet Merchants. Vavender is not responsible for any claims associated with the description of the Merchant Offerings or Products. Pricing relating to certain Merchant Offerings, Products, and other available programs on the Site may change at any time at Vavender’s sole discretion without notice.
(ii). A Merchant may advertise goods, services or experiences on the Site, or with respect to Products, supply products to Vavender, that require Merchant to have an up-to-date regulatory authorization, license, or certification. Vavender does not verify, validate, or collect evidence of any regulatory authorization, license or certification from any Merchant (including, without limitation, Health & Fitness and Beauty & Spa Merchants). You should make whatever investigation you deem necessary or appropriate before purchasing any Merchant Offering or Product to determine whether: (i) Merchant is qualified to provide the advertised good or perform the advertised service; or (ii) the Product is of the care and quality required. Merchant is solely responsible for the care and quality of the goods and services being provided or the care and quality of the Products.
(iii). Vavender is not a health or wellness provider and does not, will not, and cannot refer, recommend, or endorse any specific professional services, products, or procedures that are advertised on the Site.
(iv). Vavender may, in its sole discretion, verify a user’s identity prior to processing a purchase. Vavender may also refuse to process a purchase, may cancel a purchase, or may limit quantities, shipment, or food delivery to particular addresses, as reasonably deemed necessary, to comply with applicable law or to respond to a case of misrepresentation, fraud, or known or potential violations of the law or these Terms of Use. Refunds for cancelled orders may be issued where appropriate.
(v). If an offer becomes unavailable between ordering and processing, Vavender will either cancel or not process the order and will notify you by email.
(vi). Vavender does not guarantee that it offers the best available rates or prices and does not guarantee against pricing errors. Vavender reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to not process or cancel any orders placed, including, without limitation, if the price was incorrectly posted on the Site. If this occurs, Vavender will attempt to notify you by email. In addition, Vavender reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to correct any error in the stated retail price of the Merchant Offering or Product.
(b) Merchant Offerings
(b). Merchant Offerings
Merchant Products & services
Through the Site, certain Merchants allow you to purchase various products directly from the Merchant. Terms and conditions regarding shipping, delivery and returns will vary by Merchant and will be stated in the Merchant’s deal terms. Charges for delivery and applicable sales taxes will be added at checkout. Once you click the “Buy” button, Vavender will notify the Merchant of your requested order. Your purchase is not complete until you receive an email from Vavender confirming whether or not the Merchant has accepted your order. The merchant is solely responsible for all Merchant Products purchased through the Site.
Content Policy
By posting content on Vavender, you agree to abide by this policy. We reserve the right to remove any content, in whole or part, that violates this policy, our Terms and Conditions, our Review Policy, or for any other reason at our sole discretion. We will also remove any items offered for hire if we believe such items are illegal, immoral or damaging to our reputation.
In the event of repeated or severe violations, we may suspend or permanently deactivate the account(s) in question.
You can report the content directly or contact us to report content that appears to violate this policy.
The following content is never allowed on Vavender:
• Content that is defamatory of any person, obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
• Spam, unwanted contact, or content that is shared repeatedly in a disruptive manner.
• Content that promotes sexually explicit material, violence, terrorism, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age, or any illegal activity.
• Content that is threatening, abusive or invades another person’s privacy, or causes annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
• Contents that are likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
• Content for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
• Content that is discriminatory.
• Content that infringes any copyrights, database rights, trade marks or other proprietary right of any other person.
• Content that is fraudulent or otherwise likely to deceive any person.
• Attempts to impersonate another person, account, or entity, including a representative of Vavender.
• Content that is illegal or that violates another person’s or entity’s rights, including intellectual property rights and privacy rights.
• Content that includes another person’s private or confidential information, including content that is sufficient to identify a listing’s location.
• Content that is made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty, a duty of confidence, or obligation to ensure privacy. If your content identifies or features other individuals, you must ensure that you have consent to the proposed use of the content.
• Accounts that provide fraudulent, false, misleading, or deceptive information.
• Listing titles that include information irrelevant to the listing type, style, or experience.
• Listing titles that include symbols or emojis.
• Listings for firearms, weapons, pornography, mature content, animals or any items that it would be illegal to offer for hire in yours or the renter’s country of residence.
The following review content is never allowed on Vavender:
• Reviews that are biased and exhibit indications of extortion/incentivisation, conflicts of interest, or direct competition.
• Reviews that contain no relevant information about an owner or renter, listing, or experience will be removed. Reviews that contain mostly irrelevant information are also subject to removal, but only where the otherwise relevant information would not be expected to meaningfully inform the booking decisions of other community members.
For more information on reviews please refer to our review policy.
Privacy Policy
At Vavender we take your privacy very seriously and we understand the importance of trust. It’s fundamental to the Vavender community. This privacy policy explains how Vavender use the personal data that we collect when you use our website or our app.
If you choose to use Vavender, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation to the service we provide. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.
Our contact details can be found at contact-us – please use these if you have any questions on this policy
The type of personal information we collect
Personal information means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. In order to keep Vavender a safe place to lend and borrow, we may collect, use, store and transfer the following types of data:
• Identity data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender.
• Contact data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
• Financial data includes bank account and payment card details.
• Transaction data includes details about payments to and from you.
• Technical data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access the Vavender Service.
• Profile data includes your username and password, purchases or orders made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.
• Social media data includes information from any social media accounts that you share with us or sign up with.
• Usage data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.
• Marketing and Communications data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
• Cookie information. By using the Vavender Service, you agree to our use of cookies:
o We use Session, Persistent and Third Party cookies to track what you’re doing on the site in order to help us improve it and give you a better experience in the future. Please note that cookies don’t store your banking details.
o You can turn cookies off at any time (although this will reduce the quality of your user experience). Exactly how will depend on your browser or phone settings – try searching Help on your browser toolbar to go to your phone settings to change cookie controls.
Further information can be found in our Cookie Policy.
How do we collect your personal information and data?
You directly provide Vavender with most of the date we collect – this is collected when you:
• Register online to either rent or hire through Vavender.
• Voluntarily complete a customer survey or provide feedback.
• Use or view our website via your browser’s cookies.
• Post content, comments and reviews or request information on the Vavender website.
• Contact us (should you need to) – we may keep a record of that correspondence.
How do we use your information:
To provide, analyse and improve the Vavender service, we use your data to:
• Enable you to use the Vavender service, communicate with other users, access customer service and receive relevant communications and notifications from us.
• Contact you via email, SMS or phone if we need to send you information relating to your Vavender account.
To keep Vavender a safe place to lend and borrow and to meet our legal obligations, we use your data to:
• Search your record at immigration and fraud prevention agencies.
• Prevent illegal activities like money laundering, tax evasion and fraud.
• Enforce our Terms and Conditions and other policies and resolves any disputes with any of our Members.
To exercise our legitimate interests (which doesn’t involve overriding your privacy rights), we use your data to:
• Market products, services or new features we think you’ll like, in the app, online or via text and email.
Who do we share your information with?
We will never sell your data to 3rd Parties. We may however share your personal information with:
• Anyone who you give us permission to share your information with
• Anyone who is part of our organization and needs your information to do their job
• Organizationsthat support our service these include:
o Payfast who process our payments
o Credit Reference agencies
o KYC (Know Your Customer) and cyber security providers
Where necessary, we’ll also share information to comply with regulatory authorities, to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements and to protect the rights, property or safety of us, our customers or others.
Security – How do we protect your information?
We endeavor to take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information and we have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered or disclosed.
We limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We store your verification information in an encrypted form, and only authorized Vavender employees are given access to your original documentation, to help them do their jobs.
All information you give us is transmitted using SSL, the secure encryption which websites use to transmit credit card numbers.
Data collected inside the EEA may be transferred and stored outside of the EEA for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. However, we’ll only do this where appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure an adequate level of data protection.
Data retention
We keep your personal data only as long as necessary to provide you with our Vavender service and for legitimate and essential business purposes, such as maintaining the performance of Vavender, making data-driven business decisions about new features and offerings, complying with our legal obligations, and resolving disputes. We keep some of your personal data for as long as you are a user of the service. For example, we keep your hiring and renting history.
Your data protection rights
Under the the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), you have rights including:
• Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
• Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
Please note, if you exercise your right to delete your data:
• We may retain certain information necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as fraud detection and prevention, and enhancing safety. E.g. if we suspend a Vavender account for fraud or safety reasons, we might retain certain information to prevent that user from opening another account in the future.
• We may retain and use your personal information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations.
• Information you have shared with others (e.g. reviews) may continue to be publicly visible even after your Vavender account is cancelled.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
Please go to contact-us if you wish to make a request.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us using our contacts page.
Review
From time to time we will review this Privacy Policy and updates will appear automatically within this section. If the changes are of more significance, we will contact you via e-mail and inform you accordingly. This policy was last updated on 06th June 2022.
Data Protection Policy Statement
Vavender believes that all records required for the protection of customers and the effective and efficient running of the business should be collected, maintained, and kept according to the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
At Vavender, we adhere to the rights and best interests of user’s, clients, customers, suppliers and 3rd party contractors and are safeguarded by keeping accurate and up-to-date records.
The storage and processing of all personal data held within our organisation, hard copy or digital devices and systems must comply with the Act.
At Vavender we understand that, according to the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), personal data should:
1. be obtained fairly and lawfully
2. be held for specified and lawful purposes
3. be processed in accordance with the person’s rights under the (POPIA) Act
4. be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to that purpose
5. be kept accurate and up to date
6. not be kept for longer than is necessary for its given purpose
7. be subject to appropriate safeguards against unauthorized use, loss or damage.
Training
Staff are required to understand the policies on data protection and confidentiality as part of their induction process. Existing staff have ongoing training covering information about confidentiality, data protection and access to data.
Review Policy
To ensure our platform is based on the trust between its users, we need to ensure that reviews on Vavender are useful, informative, and do not expose our community to harm. We expect all reviews on Vavender to adhere to the following:
1. Reviews should not violate our Terms and Conditions
Some content is never allowed on Vavender. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Content Policy for more information.
2. Reviews should be unbiased
Reviews are most helpful when they provide unbiased information. Therefore, we don’t allow individuals or entities who own or are affiliated with a listing or experience to post reviews of their business, nor do we allow individuals who are confirmed to offer competing listings or experiences to post reviews of their direct competitors, unless a booking has been made.
Anything posted should be your own experience and work. This includes not uploading images/videos, or using content in videos to which someone else owns the copyright, such as music. Content may be removed, without notice, if we receive a complaint from the copyright owner.
You are not allowed to incentivise positive reviews, to use the threat of a negative review to manipulate a desired outcome, or to influence another’s review with the promise of compensation.
You are also not allowed to accept fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, use a second account to leave yourself a review, or coordinate with business partners to get positive reviews.
3. Reviews should be relevant.
Keep your reviews relevant to Vavender and your booking. Other renters and owners are reading your reviews to learn about the item and people involved in the booking. Reviews that are off-topic are distracting and don’t help our users make informed booking decisions or help owners to improve their renting experience. For this reason, reviews should focus on your interactions with other Vavender members and your time during the booking.
To keep reviews relevant, we recommend avoiding the following:
• Commentary about a person’s social, political or religious views
• Abusive or offensive behaviour towards other Vavender members. This includes but is not limited to the use of profanities, threats, prejudiced comments, hate speech and/or sexually explicit language
• Content that refers to circumstances entirely outside of another’s control
• Content about services not related to Vavender
• Commentary about past Vavender bookings, renters, or owners, or about the Vavender product where it does not relate to the listing, renter or owner you are rating
• Second-hand information, rumours, or quotations from other sources. Must be your own experience.
When we receive a report of a review that violates this policy, we may remove the review from our platform. Repeated violations may lead to suspension or permanent deactivation of responsible account(s).
4. Responding to a review
Owners have the ability to respond to reviews if they wish. When replying to a review, any comments should be constructive and written in a non-biased way. They also need to adhere to the same rules as listed above.
Reporting a review that violates this policy
To report a review for violating Vavender’s review policy, email us on admin@vavender.co.za
If you feel a review is untrue
We encourage and expect all Vavender users to post reviews that contain objective and accurate information, we expect the author of the review to stand behind the content of their review. If you think a review is unfair, untruthful or violates our policies, you can flag it to one of the team on admin@vavender.co.za
Covid guidance for safe renting
Covid has temporarily changed the way we live and we have all had to adapt and make changes to the way we do things. Renting is no exception but there isn’t any reason why we can’t continue to rent from each other providing we are careful. Please remember to be kind to each other and support Vavender community members – here are some helpful hints, reminders and suggestions for safe renting:
• Please comply with any local Tier restrictions or guidelines when renting e.g., essential journeys only, restrictions on numbers etc etc
• Renters remain liable for the care and safe return of rental items not only during but also at the end of the rental period.
• Update your listing with the Covid measures you have put in place – knowing an item is thoroughly cleaned, room for distancing etc will encourage renter’s confidence
• Practice contact-free rental handover.
• Make sure masks are worn, keep your distance and respect the two-metre rule – allowing plenty of space during collection.
• Allow extra time for drop off/collection
• We do not encourage leaving rental items unattended unless you have a safe and secure drop off/pick up point
• Agree with the renter how to confirm the item has been collected if you cannot see for yourself – ask for a selfie!
• Consider using a courier company if the renter is unable to collect or you’re unable to deliver the item either at the beginning or the end of the rental
• If instructions on how to use an item are needed then a video, phone call or email will help with this
• Make sure that your item is thoroughly cleaned before it is collected and when returned. Below are some simple cleaning tips:
Wear rubber or disposable gloves
Using anti-bacterial cleaner is recommended
Use disposable cloths that can be discarded safely after use
Pay special attention to any areas that are frequently touched e.g., handles Make sure you thoroughly wash your own hands once you have finished cleaning the item/s
Cookie Policy
A cookie is a small amount of data sent from our server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies help us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Website and also allows us to improve our Website.
Cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of our Website
Some of the cookies we use are essential for parts of our Website to operate and are already set. These are strictly necessary for the provision of services requested by you and without them our Website cannot operate as intended. As an example, we may use cookies to store information recorded in a registration form while browsing different pages of our Website or between visits to our Website.
Other uses of cookies (where you have consented to such use)
Where you consent to us doing so, we may also use cookies and other such devices to:
• Allow you to carry information across pages of our Website and avoid having to re-enter information;
• Measure and improve the performance of our Website;
• Within registration to allow you to access stored information;
• Help us recognise you as a unique visitor when you return to our Website and to allow us to tailor content or advertisements to match your preferred interests or to avoid showing you the same adverts repeatedly;
• Speed up searches;
• Within research surveys to ensure you are not invited to complete a questionnaire too often or after you have already done; and/or provide additional functionality on our Website.
Other cookies outside of our control
We may use external services such as YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, to display certain content on our Website. We cannot prevent such websites from collecting information about your usage of their services on our Website, for example, number of plays of a video.
Like many organisations, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics sets a number of cookies in order to evaluate your use of our site and enable us to carry out actions including (but not limited to):
• Tracking the number of visitors to our site;
• Monitoring the number of users on our site at any given time;
• Analysing popular content on our site
Google stores the information collected by these cookies on servers in the United States. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using our site, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
How do I manage & delete these cookies?
Most internet browsers are automatically set up to accept cookies, but you can set your browser to refuse a cookie or ask your browser to show you where a cookie has been set up. Certain services are only activated by the presence of a cookie and, if you choose to refuse cookies, particular features of this Website may not be available to you.
Find out how to disable/enable cookies by clicking on the “Manage Cookies” section of the Interactive Advertising Bureau UK website on the following link http://www.allaboutcookies.org
Social Media Policy Statement
Social media allows people to communicate instantly with each other or to share information in a public forum. Social media tools and platforms include e-mail, online social forums, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp. Tumblr, blogs, wikis, podcasts, message services, video- and image-sharing websites and similar facilities.
This policy is intended to help staff make appropriate decisions about the use of social media in connection with their work, outline the standards expected and what will happen in cases of non-compliance.
Aims of Policy
This policy on acceptable/unacceptable use of social media from the perspective of this organisation specifically aims to:
1. give guidelines to all staff on what they can/cannot say on social media platforms about the organisation
2. help managers to manage the conduct of their staff effectively
3. help staff work out the boundaries between their private and work lives
4. comply with the law of the land on discrimination, data protection and health and safety
5. be clear about sensitive issues and explain how disciplinary rules apply to any social media misuse
6. help protect it against potential liability for the possible actions of its staff.
Scope of Policy
This policy covers the use of social media by staff employed by the organisation as it might impact on their work, their clients, relatives and friends and others who come into contact with the organisation.
It relates to the personal and private use of social media, references may be made to a work situation and to a person’s work experiences, which can be accessed publicly, whether intended or not.
It is the individual’s responsibility to exercise the relevant privacy controls over their social media platforms so that material implicating the organisation does not appear in the public arena unintentionally.
The policy applies to the use of the organisation’s own social media accounts and to the private accounts of all of its staff, where the content falls within the scope of the policy as explained in the previous paragraphs.
Specific Aspects
Applicants for employment with the organisation are reassured that it does not normally attempt to examine their social media accounts when they apply for a job, considered to be a breach of their privacy. It might seek to do so if alerted to evidence that would affect their suitability for the position but only with their permission.
The organisation uses social media platforms to promote and explain its values. Staff are encouraged to contribute and share their ideas as they would on any other aspect of the organisation.
When contributing to any forum launched by the organisation to obtain people’s views, staff are expected to contribute as they would to any conventional staff meeting in line with established ground rules.
Staff must be authorised by their manager to contribute to the content and make changes to any feature of the relevant platform. Any attempt to hack the organisation’s social media platforms is a serious offence that will result in disciplinary proceedings, inevitable immediate dismissal and possible criminal proceedings.
In using the organisation’s own devices for social media use staff must observe the guidelines set out below. They must be aware that they have no right to privacy to any information or data acquired for personal use that is stored on the organisation’s devices. Personal use of the organisation’s devices will be regularly monitored and reviewed to make sure that it is following the guidelines.
Use of personal social media platforms
It is accepted that staff members might use their own devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, etc) to make use of their personal social media platforms in the course of or away from their work.
The personal use of social media in work time, eg for messaging purposes, must not interfere in any way with their work.
Where they make any reference to their work situation or work in general on their personal platforms, eg in a blog or diary, they should make sure that they are expressing their views in a personal capacity and not as a representative of their organisation by providing a suitable disclaimer, eg “The views I express here are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my organisation/employer.”
Guidelines
However and whenever staff make use of social media that makes reference to or has implications for the organisation, it is essential that they comply with the following rules.
In general, they should use social media that contains reference to their work situation responsibly, respectfully and constructively. A breach of the law resulting from non-work-related social media use could have an impact on their employment.
Staff are advised to discuss areas of confusion with their manager. They should obtain consent to access and/or post any significant work-related material and information, particularly where there are possible breaches of data protection and confidentiality.
Staff members must not:
1. breach confidentiality by referring directly to clients or revealing personal details about them
2. post images, photographs or videos of clients or colleagues without their knowledge or consent
3. give away confidential information obtained about any client, colleague or person with whom they have met in the course of their work
4. discuss the business of the client or information known to be confidential information
5. do anything that could be considered discriminatory against, bullying or harassment of, any individual associated with their work
6. make offensive or derogatory comments relating to the sex, gender, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age of anyone connected to work or colleague
7. use social media to bully a colleague, client or anyone connected to either
8. bring their employer into disrepute, e.g. by making derogatory or malicious comments or defamatory remarks about the organisation’s owners or management
9. use the organisation’s devices to post images that are inappropriate or make links to inappropriate content, e.g. pornographic websites
10. disclose confidential intellectual property or information owned by the organisation or breach copyright where the latter is related to the work of the organisation.
Public Interest Disclosure (“Whistleblowing”)
Where a staff member releases information through social media that might be considered a Public Interest Disclosure, eg to disclose an internal grievance, the organisation’s whistleblowing policy will be followed.
All staff are regularly reminded of the policy and of their responsibilities to use all forms of social media within these guidelines while remaining employees of this organisation.
