Terms & Conditions

1. Who you are contracting with

These disclosures are provided in accordance with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

2. The repair service

We repair, restring, restore and customise racket sports equipment: padel, tennis, squash and pickleball. A repair is a skilled service applied to an already-damaged item, not the sale of a new product, and that distinction runs through the rest of these terms.

When you submit a booking you are requesting a repair. A contract forms when we confirm we have received your equipment and issued a final price you accept. Everything before that, whether an online estimate, a price range or a conversation, is indicative only.

3. Quotes, prices and payment

• Online estimates are ranges, not quotes. We cannot see hidden damage in a photograph. The binding price is the one we give you after physically inspecting the racket.
• A quote is valid for the period stated on it (normally 14 days). After that, materials pricing may have moved and we may re-quote.
• Deposits. Where a booking deposit is taken, it is credited against the final invoice. If we inspect the racket and conclude it cannot sensibly be repaired, the deposit is refunded in full.
• Additional work. If we discover damage beyond what was quoted, we stop and contact you. We do not carry out unquoted work and then bill for it.
• Payment methods. Card via PayFast, or EFT. Card details are entered on PayFast's own secure page and never reach our systems.
• Payment terms. Invoices are payable in full within 30 days of the invoice date. Equipment is released once payment is received or cleared.
• All prices are in South African Rand and include the cost of standard workmanship. Courier charges, where applicable, are shown separately.

4. Turnaround times

Our standard turnaround is 7 to 12 working days, measured from the day your equipment arrives at our workshop, not from the day you book. Express turnaround is available at additional cost where we have confirmed it in writing.

5. Collection and delivery

• Courier collection and return is arranged through third-party couriers, currently The Courier Guy.
• Package your equipment properly. Damage caused in transit by inadequate packaging is not our responsibility. If you are unsure how to pack it, ask us first.
• Courier timeframes are the courier's, not ours. We track and chase on your behalf but cannot control their network.
• Where the courier loses or damages a parcel, our assistance is limited to supporting your claim against the courier and providing the waybill and evidence needed for it.
• You are welcome to drop off and collect in person by arrangement.

6. The 30-day guarantee

We guarantee our workmanship for 30 days from the completion date. If a repair we carried out fails within that period under normal play, we will re-repair it at no charge, or refund the cost of that repair, at our election after inspecting the failure.

What the guarantee covers

• The specific repair we performed failing: a bond separating, a filled crack reopening, a restring losing tension abnormally fast
• Workmanship defects in what we did

What it does not cover

• New damage: a fresh impact, a different part of the frame, a new crack elsewhere
• Normal wear: grips, strings wearing through play, cosmetic marks
• Damage from misuse, hitting walls or the ground, extreme temperatures, or storing the racket in a hot car
• Areas we specifically identified and warned you about as weak or high-risk before proceeding

To claim, contact us within the 30 days with your reference number and photographs. We may need the racket back to inspect it.

7. Risk, and what repair cannot fix

This section matters and we would rather be plain about it than bury it.

You are asking us to work on an item that is already broken. Repair of composite materials carries inherent uncertainty:

• A repaired racket may not return to its original stiffness, weight distribution or feel. We aim to get as close as possible and will tell you if we expect a noticeable change.
• Opening up a frame sometimes reveals damage invisible from outside: delamination, internal cracking, previous unrecorded repairs. Where that changes the outlook, we stop and speak to you.
• Some rackets cannot be saved. If we conclude yours is one of them, we will tell you honestly rather than take your money for work that will not hold. You pay nothing beyond any assessment fee agreed in advance.
• A racket that has already been repaired before, by us or anyone else, carries higher risk of failure in the same area, and we will say so before proceeding.

8. Our responsibility

We are repairers, and we take real pride in the work. What we do is bring damaged equipment back to playable condition. What we cannot do is make it new again, and we would rather say that clearly at the start than have it come as a surprise at the end.

Occasionally a frame will not hold, however well the work is done. Composite damage is unpredictable, and equipment that arrives already broken carries a risk that no amount of skill removes entirely. When that happens we will tell you honestly rather than pretend otherwise. What we are not able to do in that situation is replace the racket itself, or refund the materials and hours already committed to it.

Beyond the repair, our responsibility ends. We cannot cover missed matches, travel, hire or replacement equipment, or other costs that follow from a racket being out of action, and our liability for any job is limited to the amount you paid us for that job.

If your equipment is lost or damaged through our own carelessness while it is with us, that is a different matter and we will make it right with you directly.

None of this affects your rights under the Consumer Protection Act.

9. Unpaid and uncollected equipment

We exercise a lien over equipment in our possession until the account for it is settled, meaning we may lawfully retain it until payment is made.

1. Invoices are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
2. If an invoice is unpaid 30 days after the invoice date, we will contact you at the details on the invoice.
3. If it remains unpaid, and after we have given you written notice at those details and a reasonable further opportunity to pay, we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the equipment to recover the outstanding repair costs and reasonable storage costs.
4. Any proceeds above what you owe will be refunded to you.
5. Reasonable storage charges may apply to equipment left with us more than 30 days after we notify you it is ready.

If you are having difficulty paying, contact us before the 30 days are up. We would far rather arrange something than take this step, and in practice we always try to.

10. Cancellations and refunds

Before work starts

• Cancel any time before we begin work and any deposit is refunded in full.
• If your equipment is already with us, we will return it. Return courier costs are payable by you.

Once work has started

• Once work has begun there is no refund. A repair is a service performed on your own item. It cannot be handed back, unwound or resold. The skill, time and materials committed to your racket are spent at the moment we start, and the amount payable reflects that work whether or not you are pleased with the result.
• If we have not yet started, you owe nothing beyond any agreed assessment fee.

If the work is not right

• Tell us. Under section 54 of the Consumer Protection Act you are entitled to services performed in a manner and quality reasonably expected. If we have fallen short, we will put it right, or refund that portion of the work. That is your choice, exercised reasonably.
• Raise it within the 30-day guarantee period wherever possible, so we can inspect while the evidence is fresh.

Directory listings and subscriptions

• Listing fees and subscriptions are payable in advance and are not refundable for the period already run. Cancel any time to stop future billing; the listing runs to the end of the paid period.
• If we remove your listing for breach of these terms, no refund is due.

11. Club and coach directory

• Listings are published publicly and may be indexed by search engines. Do not submit information you do not want public.
• You confirm you are entitled to list the business or coaching service, and that the information is accurate.
• You are responsible for your own listing content, including photographs. You must own them or have permission to use them.
• We may edit, suspend or remove a listing that is inaccurate, misleading, unlawful, infringing, or submitted by automated means.
• We do not vet, endorse or accredit the clubs and coaches listed. A listing is not a recommendation. Arrangements you make with a club or coach are between you and them, and we are not a party to them.
• Ratings are submitted by users and reflect their own opinions, not ours. We may remove ratings that appear fraudulent, abusive or unlawful.
• Some listings are created as unclaimed placeholders from publicly available information so that players can find local clubs. If one refers to you and you want it amended or removed, email us.

12. Racket Trader

• Racket Trader is a marketplace. We provide the listing platform; the sale contract is between buyer and seller.
• We are not the seller, we do not take ownership of listed items, and we do not warrant their condition, authenticity or description.
• Sellers are responsible for describing items accurately and for despatching them.
• Listing fees are payable in advance and are not refundable once the listing is live.
• We may remove listings that are misleading, unlawful, counterfeit, or in breach of these terms.
• Disputes between buyers and sellers are for the parties to resolve. We will provide reasonable assistance and any records we hold, but we are not an arbitrator and cannot compel either party.

13. Intellectual property

The site, its design, text, code, photographs of our own work, and the Racket Rescue name and marks are our property or licensed to us, and are protected by copyright. You may not copy, reproduce or reuse them without our written permission.

Photographs of repair work

Photographs you send us of your equipment remain yours, and you grant us permission to use them to carry out and record the repair.

What we photograph is the equipment, not you. We do not publish your name, contact details or address alongside repair photographs, and we do not identify the owner of a racket in our marketing.

If a racket carries something that identifies you personally, such as a name sticker, initials or a club badge you would rather not have shown, tell us when you book and we will either frame the photograph to exclude it or leave that racket out of our marketing entirely. If you would prefer your equipment not be used in marketing at all, tell us in writing before or during the repair and we will honour that.

14. Marketing and communications

When you book a repair, buy or sell on Racket Trader, or list a club or coach profile, you become a customer of Racket Rescue. We may use the contact details you give us to market our own racket repair and related services to you, including new services, seasonal offers, turnaround availability and product news. You do not need to opt in separately for this.

We may contact you by email, WhatsApp, SMS or telephone using the details on your booking.

Opting out of marketing does not affect transactional messages about a job you have booked. Quotes, invoices, repair status updates, collection and delivery notifications and guarantee correspondence are part of the service you asked for, not marketing, and will continue for as long as your job is open.

15. Disputes and governing law

1. Talk to us first. Email repairs@racketr.com. Most complaints are a misunderstanding and we would rather fix it than argue about it.
2. If we cannot resolve it, and you are a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, you may refer the matter to the National Consumer Commission, or to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (cgso.org.za), at no cost to you.
3. These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction.
4. If any clause is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version that applies to your job is the one published when your booking was confirmed. Material changes will be flagged on this page with a new date at the top.

See also our Privacy Policy, which explains what we collect and who we share it with.