Policies

Who we are

Wax Lyrical is the trading name of [registered business name], registration number [registration number], based at [physical address], Pretoria, South Africa. You can reach us through our contact form or 082 524 5375.

These terms

These terms apply to every order placed through this website. By placing an order you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and that you accept these terms, together with our privacy, shipping, returns, and refund policies below.

Our products

• Every candle is handcrafted in small batches. Slight variations in colour, texture, and form are part of the process and are not defects.
• Colours on screen are a close guide, not an exact match. Wax takes dye differently from a monitor.
• A Custom Candle built in the Candle Creator is made to your specification. The size, palette, colours, holder, and stacked forms you choose are recorded on your order exactly as you built them.
• Ready-made designs, tea lights, and celebration candles are made in advance and sold as shown.

Prices and payment

• All prices are in South African Rand (ZAR). Wax Lyrical is not VAT registered, so no VAT is added. Shipping is added at checkout and shown before you pay.
• Payment is processed securely by Payfast. We never see or store your full card details.
• An order is confirmed once payment has cleared, and you will receive an order confirmation and invoice by email. If we cannot fulfil an order (for example because of a pricing error or a material we can no longer source) we will tell you promptly and refund you in full.

Delivery, cancellation, returns, and refunds

Delivery is covered by the shipping policy, and cancellations and returns by the returns policy and refund policy. Ownership of and risk in the goods pass to you on delivery.

Using our candles safely

Candles are an open flame. Please read and follow our candle care and safety guidelines. To the extent the law allows, Wax Lyrical is not liable for loss or damage caused by using a candle contrary to those guidelines.

Intellectual property

The Wax Lyrical name, logo, candle designs, form names, photography, and the Candle Creator are ours. You may share a design code or a photo of your own candle freely; please don't reproduce our designs, images, or copy for commercial use without permission.

Disputes and governing law

South African law governs these terms. If something goes wrong, please contact us first and we will do our best to put it right. You also have the right to refer a complaint to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud or the National Consumer Commission.

Changes

We may update these terms from time to time. The version on this page at the time you place an order is the one that applies to it.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and what your rights are under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The responsible party is Wax Lyrical ([registered business name]), reachable through our contact form.

What we collect

• Order details: your name, email address, phone number, delivery address, and what you ordered, including the design of any Custom Candle.
• Payment: handled entirely by Payfast. We receive confirmation that you paid, the amount and Payfast's payment reference for reconciliation, never your card number.
• Enquiries: the contact form on this site opens your own email app; nothing you type is stored by the website. Emails you send us are kept in our mailbox for as long as needed to help you.
• Mailing list: if you subscribe, we keep your email address (and your name if you give it) to send you our news and offers, and we note whether you have used the welcome code. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying to any of our emails or writing to us through our contact form, and we then stop writing to you.
• Technical data: our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security and troubleshooting. When you check out, this website passes your IP address to our order system so both can limit abusive traffic; neither builds a browsing history from it. Our own error logs are deleted after 90 days.
• Storage in your browser: this site keeps your cart in your browser's local storage and, while you check out, the details you have typed so a page refresh does not lose them. Nothing you type is sent to us until you click Pay. We use no cookies and run no third-party analytics or advertising trackers.
• Usage statistics: so we can see where the shop works and where it does not, this site keeps its own anonymous count of which pages are visited and how far a checkout gets, under a random identifier stored in your browser. It records no name, email address, address or card detail, is never shared or sold, and is deleted after 13 months. When you place an order the steps of that checkout are linked to the order so we can see where orders get stuck. Browsers that send the Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal are not counted at all.

Why we use it

To take and fulfil your order, deliver it, answer your questions, handle returns and refunds, and keep the records the law requires us to keep. We do not send marketing email unless you ask us to.

Who we share it with

• Payfast, which processes your payment.
• Our own order and invoicing system, which records your order, issues your invoice, and books your delivery.
• The Courier Guy, which receives your name, address, and phone number to deliver your parcel.
• Railway, which hosts this website and our order system, Supabase, which hosts the order system's database in the European Union (Ireland), and Google Fonts, which serves the typefaces on these pages.
• Our email provider (Google or SendGrid, depending on how our mailbox is set up), which delivers your order confirmation and invoice.
• AI assistants our staff may use inside the order system (provided by Anthropic, and OpenAI for optional voice transcription). They only see the order details a staff member asks about, and those providers do not use that data to train their models.

We never sell personal information, and we only share what each provider needs to do its job. Some of these providers process data outside South Africa (in the European Union and the United States); each is bound by contractual safeguards, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

How long we keep it

Order and invoice records are kept for five years to meet tax and consumer-protection record-keeping requirements. Payfast's payment notifications are trimmed to the reference and amount after 30 days. An order you start but do not pay for is cancelled after 24 hours and its delivery address removed. Enquiry emails are deleted once they are no longer needed.

Security

This site is served over HTTPS. Payment details never touch our systems. Access to order records is limited to the people who need it to fulfil your order.

Your rights

You may ask us what personal information we hold about you (we can send you a copy), ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Deletion means we erase your name and contact details everywhere, including from past orders; the invoice amounts the law requires us to keep stay, without anything that identifies you. Write to us through our contact form and we will respond within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

Children

This website is not directed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their information.

Where we ship

We ship anywhere in South Africa with Pudo lockers and The Courier Guy. For delivery outside South Africa, email us before ordering and we will quote you.

Cost

Delivery is priced per parcel at checkout and shown before you pay: locker to locker from R60, locker to your door from R99, and door to door courier from R150, depending on parcel size. The 42 cm and 63 cm candle sets each ship in their own parcel, and the 63 cm sets go door to door only because they do not fit a locker.

Dispatch times

• Ready-made designs, tea lights, and celebration candles: dispatched within 3 working days of payment.
• Custom Candles are cast to order. Please allow up to 10 working days for making before dispatch. We will email you if it will take longer.

Delivery times

Once dispatched, parcels typically arrive within 1 to 3 working days in major centres and up to 7 working days in outlying areas; the checkout shows the courier's own estimate for the option you choose. You will receive a tracking number by email when your parcel leaves us.

Packaging

Every candle leaves the studio in a kraft-board tube, cushioned with bubble wrap and natural wood wool, so it arrives exactly as it left us.

If something goes wrong in transit

If your parcel arrives damaged, please email us within 48 hours of delivery with photos of the packaging and the candle. We will replace the item or refund you. If a parcel cannot be delivered because the address you gave was incomplete or incorrect, we may need to charge for re-delivery.

Changed your mind? (ready-made items)

Under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act you may return a ready-made design, tea lights, or celebration candles for any reason within 7 days of receiving them. The candle must be unused, unburnt, and in its original packaging. You are responsible for the cost of returning it to us, and we refund the price you paid within 30 days of receiving the return.

Custom Candles

A Custom Candle built in the Candle Creator is made to your specification, so the 7-day cooling-off right does not apply to it. It is still fully covered by the defect protection below. If you need to change or cancel a custom order, email us as soon as possible; we can usually help if casting has not started.

Faulty, damaged, or wrong items

Under section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act, if a candle is defective, arrives damaged, or is not what you ordered, you may return it within 6 months of delivery for a replacement, a repair, or a full refund. In these cases we cover the return shipping.

What we can't take back

• Candles that have been lit or used, unless they are faulty.
• Items damaged through misuse or contrary to our candle care guidelines.

How to return something

1. Write to us through our contact form with your order number, the item, the reason, and photos if it is damaged.
2. We will confirm the return and send you the return address.
3. Pack the candle carefully in its original tube and cushioning. Please do not ship it in hot weather without protection, as wax can soften in transit.

How refunds are paid

Refunds are paid to the original payment method through Payfast. We process approved refunds within 10 working days of receiving the returned item, or of approving the refund where no return is needed. Your bank may take a few further days to show it.

What is refunded

• Faulty, damaged, or wrong items: the full price plus the original shipping, and the cost of returning it.
• Change-of-mind returns: the price of the item. Original and return shipping are not refunded.
• Cancelled before dispatch: the full amount you paid, including shipping.

Custom Candles

A custom order cancelled before we begin casting is refunded in full. Once casting has started, a Custom Candle can only be refunded if it is faulty or not what you ordered.

Partial refunds

If a change-of-mind return arrives used, damaged, or without its packaging, we may refund a reduced amount that reflects its condition. We will tell you before we do so.

Questions

Use our contact form or WhatsApp 082 524 5375. We typically respond within 24 to 48 hours on business days.