The short version
- Changed your mind? You have 7 days from delivery to cancel an online order and send it back, no reason needed.
- Something wrong with it? You have 6 months to return goods that are defective, unsafe or not fit for their purpose, and you choose whether we repair, replace or refund.
- Filter itself faulty? Every kit carries a 12 month manufacturer guarantee on top of your rights above.
- Starting a return is a message to hello@villagewaterfilters.co.za or a call to 076 484 8162. There is no form to fill in.
If you change your mind
Because you bought online, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives you a cooling-off period: you may cancel the order within 7 days of receiving it and return the goods without giving a reason and without penalty.
Tell us before you send anything back, so we know it is coming and can tell you where to send it. Once the filter reaches us in a condition we can resell, we refund what you paid for it.
The law allows us to ask you to carry the direct cost of returning the goods, and we do. The delivery charge on the original order is not refunded, because that service was already provided.
If something is wrong with it
The Consumer Protection Act gives you 6 months from delivery to return goods that are defective, unsafe, or not fit for the purpose they were sold for. Within that period the choice of remedy is yours, not ours: repair, replacement or a full refund.
You are not charged for the return in this case. We arrange collection or reimburse what it costs you to send it back, and a refund includes the original delivery charge.
Please tell us within 30 days of noticing the problem. Reporting it early is not a condition of your rights, but it does make the fault far easier to work out.
The manufacturer guarantee
Every Village Bucket Filter kit ships with a 12 month manufacturer guarantee. It sits on top of the rights above rather than replacing them, and it covers the filter failing in normal use.
It does not cover a filter that has been dropped, frozen, taken apart, connected to a pressurised mains supply it was not built for, or run so long without backwashing that the membrane has blocked solid. Cleaning the filter is the whole of its maintenance, and the instructions for it ship in the box.
If it arrives damaged
Check the parcel when it reaches you. If the box or its contents are damaged, photograph it before unpacking any further and send us the pictures the same day.
Damage in transit is ours to resolve, not yours to argue with the courier about. We replace the item or refund it in full, including delivery, and we deal with the courier ourselves.
How to start a return
Email hello@villagewaterfilters.co.za or phone 076 484 8162. Tell us your order number, what you are sending back and why.
We reply with the return address and, where the return is our responsibility, arrange the collection. Please wait for that reply before sending anything: a parcel that arrives unannounced is much slower to match to an order and refund.
What condition it needs to be in
For a change-of-mind return, the filter should come back with everything it shipped with, in a condition we could sell it in. You may unpack it and look at it, the way you would in a shop. A kit that has been used to filter water, or is missing its connectors, syringe or manual, is no longer resellable.
For a faulty return, condition is not a barrier. Send it back as it is: we need to see the fault.
How refunds are paid
Refunds go back to the payment method you used, which is a rule of the payment networks rather than a preference of ours. We process them within 10 working days of the goods reaching us, or of agreeing the refund where nothing needs returning.
How long the money then takes to appear is up to your bank, and is usually a few working days more. If a discount code was used on the order, the refund is of what you actually paid. A once-off code that has been redeemed cannot be reissued, so tell us if you intend to reorder and we will sort it out.
What we cannot take back
- A filter that has been damaged by misuse, rather than by a fault
- A change-of-mind return of a kit that has already been used to filter water
- Facility Filter installations already fitted into a building, where we will always come out and put a problem right instead
None of this limits the rights the Consumer Protection Act gives you. Where this page and the Act disagree, the Act wins.
Still stuck
Talk to us. Most of what looks like a fault turns out to be a blocked membrane that a proper backwash clears, and that costs you nothing. Email hello@villagewaterfilters.co.za or phone 076 484 8162 and we will work through it with you before anything gets posted anywhere.
Last updated 2 September 2026.