Terms of Service

This Policy establishes the rules and controls governing HomeAffairs Supermarket's e-commerce operations, including online ordering, product availability, order acceptance and processing, picking and packing, substitutions, payment, delivery, failed deliveries, returns and refunds, customer complaints, customer data and privacy, fraud prevention, and customer and employee responsibilities.

The purpose is to ensure that e-commerce transactions protect customers while safeguarding the Company's revenue, inventory, assets, reputation, and operational interests.

Submitting an online order and making payment does not remove the Company's requirement to verify product availability, price accuracy, order information, payment status, delivery location, applicable promotional conditions, and other operational requirements.

The Company reserves the right to contact the customer before fulfilment where clarification or verification is required. Where an order cannot reasonably be fulfilled, the Company shall communicate the available options to the customer in accordance with this Policy.

All products displayed online are subject to availability. An item placed in a shopping cart is not guaranteed until the order has been successfully processed and accepted for fulfilment.

Where an item becomes unavailable after payment, the customer may be offered an alternative product of equivalent value, an alternative product of higher value subject to payment of the difference, or a refund of the affected item where no acceptable alternative is available.

No substitute product shall be dispatched without the customer's approval. Where the customer cannot be reached within the Company's defined fulfilment period, the unavailable item may be removed from the order and the affected amount processed in accordance with the Company's refund procedure.

The Company makes reasonable efforts to ensure that all online prices are accurate and reserves the right to correct genuine pricing, system, or technical errors.

Where a material pricing error is identified before fulfilment, the Company may contact the customer to confirm whether the customer wishes to proceed at the corrected price, or cancel the affected item or order and process any applicable refund.

The Company shall not be required to fulfil an order where a genuine and material system or pricing error has occurred.

Customers are responsible for reviewing their order before payment and must verify the product selection, quantity, price, delivery address, telephone number, delivery instructions, and other order details.

The Company shall not ordinarily be responsible for errors arising solely from incorrect information supplied by the customer. Where operationally possible, the Company may assist in correcting an error before dispatch.

Delivery shall be available only within locations approved by Management and displayed on the Company's e-commerce platform. The Company may restrict or suspend delivery to areas that are unsafe, inaccessible, outside approved delivery zones, or operationally impractical.

Delivery charges shall be communicated before order confirmation.

The Company's standard delivery target is 45–60 minutes from confirmation of an accepted and fully paid order, subject to product availability, operational capacity, and delivery conditions. This is a delivery target and not an unconditional guarantee.

Delivery may be delayed by traffic, weather, customer location, product availability, high order volume, rider availability, system interruptions, security conditions, or other circumstances outside the Company's reasonable control. Where a significant delay is identified, the customer shall be informed.

The customer shall provide a complete and accurate delivery address, a valid telephone number, reasonable access to the delivery location, and remain available to receive the order.

The customer shall respond to calls from delivery personnel, inspect the order upon delivery where reasonably possible, and report immediately apparent issues in accordance with the Claims Procedure.

The Company shall not be responsible for failed delivery caused by inaccurate customer information, customer unavailability, refusal to receive the order, or inaccessible delivery locations.

An order shall be classified as a Failed Delivery where the customer cannot be reached, the address is incorrect or incomplete, the customer is unavailable, the customer refuses the order without a valid reason, the location is inaccessible or unsafe, or other circumstances attributable to the customer prevent delivery.

The delivery personnel shall contact the customer by phone before delivery. Where the customer is unreachable it will be categorized as a failed delivery.

Following a failed delivery, the Company may reschedule delivery, return the order to the fulfilment branch, or cancel the order. Where the failed delivery results from customer error or unavailability, an additional delivery charge may apply to a subsequent delivery.

Perishable products returned to the store following a failed delivery shall be subject to quality assessment before being considered for resale.

Every completed delivery shall, where technically possible, be supported by an approved Proof of Delivery (POD).

Customers may request cancellation before fulfilment processing or dispatch, subject to the operational status of the order.

Once an order has entered picking, packing, or dispatch, cancellation may not be possible. Cancellation requests shall be assessed based on the status of the order when the request is received.

A customer changing their mind after fulfilment has commenced shall not automatically qualify for a cash refund. This provision is subject to applicable law and mandatory customer rights.

Payments are generally non-refundable once an order has entered fulfilment, except in circumstances permitted by this Policy or applicable law.

Where a refund is approved, Customer Service shall document the reason, verify the relevant order and payment, obtain supporting evidence, obtain approval from the authorised officer, and Accounts shall process and reconcile the refund through the approved payment channel.

Refunds shall be paid within 2 to 5 business days. Customer Service personnel shall not independently authorise refunds. Where a refund cannot be processed immediately, the customer shall be informed of the expected processing period.

The fulfilment team shall take reasonable steps to ensure products are checked and appropriately packed before dispatch and shall record product condition, quantity, packaging, order contents, and dispatch status where applicable.

For high-value, fragile, sensitive, or dispute-prone products, photographic or video evidence should be retained in accordance with internal operating procedures.

A claim that a product was damaged, missing, or incorrect shall be investigated using available evidence.

Customers should report damaged products immediately upon delivery and, where reasonably possible, before the delivery personnel leaves. Missing or incorrect products should be reported immediately upon receiving the order. Other complaints should be reported as soon as reasonably possible and within the period communicated by the Company.

The Company may request the order number, customer name, telephone number, description of the issue, photographs, videos, packaging evidence, and other information reasonably required to investigate the claim.

Failure to provide reasonable evidence may affect the Company's ability to validate a claim.

Customer claims shall be investigated against available records, including the customer order, payment record, picking record, packing checklist, CCTV where available and lawfully used, product photographs or videos, dispatch record, rider information, Proof of Delivery, and customer communications.

A claim shall not be approved solely on the basis of an unsupported customer allegation where Company records provide contrary evidence.

Where damage is alleged to have occurred during delivery, the Company shall investigate whether the damage was caused by customer handling, Company handling, packaging failure, delivery personnel, a third-party delivery provider, or other circumstances. Where responsibility is established, the Company shall take appropriate corrective action in accordance with this Policy and applicable law.

Customers shall not use the platform fraudulently, provide false information, use another customer's account without authority, manipulate prices or promotions, abuse discount codes, submit false refund claims, attempt unauthorised access to Company systems, interfere with website operations, or engage in conduct that exposes the Company or its customers to fraud or security risk.

The Company may suspend, restrict, or terminate an account where fraudulent, abusive, or materially suspicious activity is reasonably identified.

Every significant complaint shall be recorded in the Customer Complaint Register or an approved electronic system. The record shall contain the complaint reference, customer name, order number, date and time received, category, responsible department, evidence, investigation, action, approval where applicable, resolution, and date closed.

Every online order shall have a unique order reference. The order status shall be capable of being tracked through at least: Received → Payment Verified → Accepted → Picking → Packing → Customer Confirmation/Substitution → Dispatched → Delivered → Closed.

Cancelled, failed, and refunded orders shall be separately identifiable.

The fulfilment team shall verify the SKU or product, quantity, selling price where relevant, product condition, expiry or quality where applicable, packaging, and order reference. The person picking the order and the person performing the final verification should be identifiable in the system or approved manual record.

All e-commerce payments shall be processed through Company-approved payment channels. Accounts shall perform a daily reconciliation of e-commerce orders, payment gateway transactions, POS or payment records where applicable, bank receipts, refunds, and cancelled orders.

Unmatched transactions shall be investigated promptly. No employee shall process a customer refund to an unauthorised personal account or alternative payment channel.

Management shall establish a refund approval matrix specifying the refund amount, authorised officer, required evidence, Accounts verification, and escalation threshold.

No employee shall approve their own refund request or override established refund controls without documented Management authority.

The Company shall monitor for repeated refund requests, multiple failed deliveries, suspicious high-value orders, repeated chargebacks, promotional abuse, false damage or missing-item claims, multiple accounts linked to suspicious activity, and unusual payment patterns.

Suspicious transactions shall be escalated to Internal Audit or Management before resolution where appropriate.

Where third-party delivery providers are used, the Company shall maintain appropriate commercial and operational arrangements covering delivery responsibility, product handling, customer information, Proof of Delivery, loss and damage, failed delivery, customer complaints, refund or chargeback responsibility, incident reporting, and financial liability.

The Company should not rely solely on informal arrangements with delivery riders for material commercial transactions.

Customer information shall be collected and used only for legitimate business purposes, including order processing, delivery, payment, customer support, complaint investigation, fraud prevention, business administration, legal or regulatory compliance, and marketing where permitted and appropriately authorised.

Access to customer information shall be restricted to employees and service providers who require the information to perform their duties.

Employees and third-party service providers shall not share customer information for unauthorised purposes, use customer telephone numbers for personal purposes, download or retain customer information unnecessarily, share customer order information through unauthorised channels, or disclose customer information to unauthorised persons.

Any suspected data breach shall be reported immediately to Management and the appropriate responsible function.

Management shall assign clear responsibility for e-commerce administration, order fulfilment, customer service, delivery coordination, refund processing, payment reconciliation, inventory accuracy, complaint management, data protection, and internal control monitoring.

No critical e-commerce process shall operate without an identifiable responsible officer.

The E-commerce function shall maintain a daily control report containing at minimum:

Management shall monitor at least: order fulfilment rate, order accuracy, picking accuracy, packing accuracy, on-time delivery rate, failed delivery rate, customer complaint rate, refund rate, refund turnaround time, payment reconciliation accuracy, stock-out rate, substitution rate, average order value, gross margin per online order, delivery cost per order, customer acquisition or retention where applicable, and e-commerce net contribution or profitability.

No employee shall independently override this Policy because of customer pressure, commercial urgency, or personal discretion.

Exceptions must be justified, documented, approved by the authorised officer, and recorded for management review. Repeated exceptions shall be analysed to determine whether the Policy or operating process requires amendment.

This Policy shall be reviewed at least annually, following a significant customer dispute, material fraud or financial loss, a major system change, significant operational changes, regulatory changes, or whenever Management considers a review necessary.

The approved version shall be communicated to all employees and relevant third-party service providers.

Before payment is completed, the e-commerce platform should require the customer to acknowledge the key terms, including product availability being subject to stock availability, checking product selection and quantities, providing the correct delivery address and telephone number, understanding the delivery target and causes of delay, cancellation and refund conditions, possible substitution or refund, product checks and documentation before dispatch, inspecting the order upon delivery, providing reasonable information or evidence for complaints, and agreeing to the Company's applicable Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Prepared By: Internal Audit Department

Reviewed By: Management

Approved By: Management

Effective Date: Upon Management Approval

Review Frequency: Annually or following significant operational, regulatory, technological, or commercial changes.