Helderberg Dog Coaching Centre

Cancellation and No-Show Policy

Cancellation and No-Show Policy

Effective Date: 17 August 2026 Version: v5 Document ID: hdcc-cancellation-2026-08-17 Status: Active

What changed in v5 (17 August 2026): a regular weekly slot now needs 72 hours' notice to cancel instead of 24, and cancelling the same regular slot three times in a row gives that slot up permanently. A one-off session you booked on its own is unchanged and still has the 24-hour rule — that is Section 1.1. What is new is Section 1.2, for a slot that repeats weekly at the same time: agility and hoopers from your first appointment, conditioning from your first appointment after the Initial Assessment, and field rental only where you have asked for a recurring month. Those need 72 hours' notice, because that is how much time HDCC needs to offer the slot to somebody else. Sickness is the exception and still needs only 24 hours — a dog or a handler does not fall ill three days in advance. A cancellation made within the rules returns a credit to the following month. And cancelling the same regular slot three times consecutively releases it permanently to other clients; you will be shown this on screen, before you confirm, on the third one. Section 1 previously read that 24 hours' notice cancels any single booked session, of any kind, with full credit.

↳ SUPERSEDED BY v5 (17 August 2026). The struck-through sentence above is what Section 1 said in v4. It is left standing rather than rewritten, because a change history that quietly edits what it once said is worth less than none at all. It is still exactly right for a one-off session — it stopped being right for a regular weekly slot on this date.

What changed in v4 (Zelda, 12 August 2026): the courses are named Foundation Course 1 and Foundation Course 2 — an earlier renaming has been reverted to Zelda's own names — and refunds go back to the card the payment came from, because card is now the only payment method HDCC accepts. No cancellation right, deadline or refund percentage changed.

Cancellation rules differ depending on whether you are cancelling a single session, your monthly subscription, the CFT 3-month commitment, a foundation course, or exercising your 7-day electronic-transaction cooling-off right. Each is covered separately below.

1. Per-Session Cancellation

How much notice you owe depends on whether the session is a one-off booking or part of a regular weekly slot. The two are set out separately below. If you are not sure which one you hold, the booking screen tells you before you confirm.

1.1 A one-off session (24-hour rule)

For a single session booked on its own — field rental, a private lesson, a group class or a conditioning session that is not part of a regular weekly slot:

  • Cancel 24+ hours before the session start time: Full credit applied to your account, or refund on request.
  • Cancel within 24 hours of session start time: Session is forfeited. No refund, no credit. Counted against your monthly subscription session count if applicable.
  • Don't show up (no-show): Session is forfeited. Counted against your monthly subscription session count if applicable.

To cancel, message HDCC on WhatsApp (+27 72 602 3318) or email helderbergdogcoachingcentre@gmail.com before the 24-hour cut-off. The timestamp of your message is what counts.

1.2 A regular weekly slot (72-hour rule)

A booking becomes a regular slot when it repeats weekly at the same time. Agility and hoopers are regular from the first appointment. Conditioning is regular from the first appointment after your Initial Assessment — the Initial Assessment itself is a one-off and falls under 1.1. Field rental is regular only if you have opted in, and that opt-in runs for one month at a time and then lapses unless you renew it.

  • Cancel 72+ hours before the session start time: Full credit, applied to the following month.
  • Cancel within 72 hours: the session is forfeited — HDCC needs three days to offer the slot to somebody else.
  • Sickness (yours or your dog's) is the exception: a cancellation for sickness needs only 24 hours' notice and keeps the credit. Illness does not announce itself three days ahead. Inside 24 hours the session is forfeited whatever the reason.
  • HDCC-cancelled sessions never count against you — see Section 3.

Cancelling the same regular slot three times in a row releases it. Two consecutive cancellations are survivable. On the third consecutive cancellation of the same slot, that weekly time is released for other clients and you do not get it back — this is a policy, applied the same way to everybody, and not a decision taken about you. You will be shown this warning at the moment you cancel, before you confirm, so the third cancellation is never a surprise. Sessions you have already booked further ahead in that slot are not deleted; the slot simply stops being reserved for you.

A session HDCC cancels, and a session you attended, both break the run. Only your own consecutive cancellations count toward it.

2. Late-Arrival Forfeiture

If you are 10 minutes or more late without notifying HDCC, the session is forfeited. The remaining time may be used at the Coach's sole discretion only if it does not impact subsequent bookings.

3. HDCC-Initiated Cancellation

If HDCC has to cancel a session (illness, weather, surface unsafe, Landlord closure, force majeure):

  • Full credit applied to your account, or refund on request.
  • Where possible, we will offer a reschedule within 14 days.
  • HDCC-cancelled sessions do not count against your monthly subscription session count.

4. Subscription Cancellation (CPA section 14)

For monthly subscriptions (CFT, Agility Private, Hoopers Private):

  • You may cancel at any time by sending 20 business days' written notice to legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za.
  • A reasonable cancellation charge may apply for sessions already delivered or scheduled within the notice period.
  • Your access continues until the end of the paid period.
  • No pro-rata refund for the partial month.
  • The cancellation is final at the end of the notice period — to reactivate, you re-subscribe normally.
  • CFT-specific: CFT subscriptions carry a three-month minimum commitment (see Section 5 of the Terms and Conditions and Section 5 below). Cancellation during the commitment window may attract a reasonable cancellation charge for the balance of the commitment.

This 20-business-day notice requirement is grounded in Consumer Protection Act section 14.

5. CFT 3-Month Commitment

The CFT subscription includes a commitment to an Initial Assessment + three months of conditioning, billed monthly. The commitment window exists because three months is the minimum period in which structural and gait change is measurable, which is the basis of the CFT method.

  • If you cancel before completing the three-month commitment, HDCC may retain or invoice a reasonable cancellation charge for the unworked portion of the commitment, calculated by reference to the months remaining and the contribution those months would have made to the Initial Assessment's measurable outcome.
  • The cancellation charge is disclosed at sign-up.
  • CPA section 14 cancellation rights apply at all times — the commitment shapes the cancellation charge, it does not remove the right to cancel.
  • ECTA section 44 cooling-off (Section 6 below) applies if you cancel within 7 days of sign-up.

6. New-Subscription Cooling-Off (ECTA section 44)

Because HDCC subscriptions are entered into electronically (via this website), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act section 44 gives you a 7-day cooling-off period to cancel without reason.

  • The 7 days run from the day after your subscription begins.
  • To exercise this right, email legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za within 7 days.
  • We will refund the full subscription fee within 30 days, minus the pro-rata cost of any sessions you have already attended within the 7-day window (per ECTA section 44(2)(a) — services begun with your consent).

This cooling-off applies only to new subscriptions taken out within the last 7 days. Per-session bookings, foundation course payments, and the once-off Initial Assessment are not within the s44 cooling-off scope (the cooling-off right does not extend to a service that has been substantially performed at your request).

7. The 5th-Session Bonus and Make-Up Lessons

Each monthly subscription includes 4 sessions per cycle. In a 5-week calendar month, a 5th session may be available as a free admin-discretionary bonus.

  • The 5th session is a goodwill addition, not a contractual entitlement.
  • HDCC may cancel the 5th-session bonus at any time without notice and at our sole discretion.
  • A cancelled 5th-session bonus does NOT reduce your monthly fee.
  • The 5th session may also be used to make up a lesson that was cancelled in line with this Cancellation Policy. Any cancelled lesson must be rescheduled within 30 days of the cancellation, after which the make-up right lapses.
  • This clause complements, and does not replace, the notice rules in Section 1 — 24 hours for a one-off session (1.1), 72 hours for a regular weekly slot (1.2).

8. Foundation Course Cancellation

The foundation courses — Foundation Course 1 and Foundation Course 2, for Hoopers and for Agility, each separate — are 8-week courses at R2,000 total per course (split R1,200 to Elzabi van Wyk for tuition + R800 to HDCC for field and equipment use). The split applies to delivery payments only; cancellation is treated as a single course booking against the R2,000 total.

  • Cancel prior to 7 days of course commencement: Full refund minus a 5% admin fee.
  • Cancellation within 7 days of course commencement: 50% refund.

Course slots cannot be filled within 7 days of commencement — this is the same reservation logic used for accommodation bookings.

9. Event Hosting Cancellation

Event hosting (full and half day facility hire) is governed by a separate event-hosting agreement issued at booking. Standard terms:

  • Cancel 14+ days before the event: Full refund.
  • Cancel 7-14 days before: 50% refund.
  • Cancel <7 days before: No refund (facilities and Landlord notice already committed).

10. Credits, Refunds, and Disputes

  • Credits applied to your account remain on file until you redeem them or close your account.
  • Refunds are processed within 14 business days of acceptance, back to the card the payment was made from through PayFast.
  • If you believe a cancellation was handled incorrectly, email legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za with the session reference. We will respond within 14 business days.
  • You retain the right to lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission or your provincial consumer court.

11. Changes to This Policy

When we change this policy we will email all registered users from legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za (a no-reply address used only for legal notices) with a link to the updated document. The Effective Date at the top will be updated. You will have a 30-day grace period during which subscription cancellations are without penalty.

Add legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za and helderbergdogcoachingcentre@gmail.com to your safe-sender list so notifications reach your inbox.

12. Contact

Helderberg Dog Coaching Centre Email: helderbergdogcoachingcentre@gmail.com Legal Notices: legal-notices@helderbergdogcoaching.co.za (no-reply) Phone (WhatsApp preferred): +27 72 602 3318

Document ID: hdcc-cancellation-2026-08-17 | Version: v5 | Effective: 17 August 2026

Helderberg Dog Coaching Centre · helderbergdogcoachingcentre@gmail.com · +27 72 602 3318