Delivery Policy

This Delivery Policy explains what happens after your Zeko order is dispatched, how to track your parcel, what to do if something goes wrong, and how delivery confirmation affects buyer acceptance, disputes and protected payments.

For information on how shipping fees are calculated and how orders are dispatched, please see our Shipping Policy.

1. How Delivery Works on Zeko

Zeko is a marketplace connecting buyers with independent sellers across South Africa. Orders are packed and dispatched by the individual seller, not from a central Zeko warehouse.

If you buy from more than one seller in a single checkout, your order may be split into separate seller shipments. Each seller shipment may have its own courier booking, waybill, tracking number, delivery confirmation and buyer inspection window.

Zeko may use The Courier Guy, PUDO or other supported courier and delivery services to manage delivery, tracking and delivery confirmation.

2. Estimated Delivery Timeframes

Delivery estimates usually run from the date the seller hands the parcel to the courier, drops the parcel off, or otherwise dispatches the order, not from the date you placed your order.

Each seller is responsible for communicating their expected processing or dispatch timeline on their shop or product listings. This may vary depending on whether an item is ready to ship, handmade to order, personalised, customised or subject to a specific preparation time.

Available delivery options and estimated delivery times may vary depending on the courier service, delivery route, parcel size, seller location, buyer address, selected collection point, public holidays and courier network conditions.

Delivery estimates are not guaranteed delivery dates. Delays caused by courier operations, weather, road closures, strikes, public holidays, peak periods, failed delivery attempts, incorrect delivery details or other events outside Zeko's control may affect delivery timing.

3. Tracking Your Order

Where tracking is available, tracking information will be shown in your order details or sent to you by email or another notification method.

Your order or seller shipment status may include stages such as:

• Payment secured: your payment has been successfully processed or protected, and the seller has been notified.
• Preparing order: the seller is preparing, making or packing your item.
• Courier booked: a courier booking, waybill or delivery instruction has been created.
• Awaiting collection or drop-off: the parcel is waiting for courier collection or seller drop-off.
• In transit: the parcel is moving through the courier network.
• Out for delivery: the parcel is with the local delivery driver or approaching final delivery.
• Available for collection: the parcel is available at a locker, PUDO point, depot or collection point.
• Delivered: the courier, tracking system, seller, buyer, Zeko or another relevant source has confirmed delivery or collection.

Tracking updates are provided by the courier or delivery provider and may not appear in real time.

For multi-seller orders, each seller shipment may have separate tracking.

4. Delivery Address and Collection Details

You are responsible for providing accurate, complete and current delivery information at checkout.

Where applicable, you should include:

• street address;
• unit, apartment, complex or building name;
• suburb;
• city or town;
• province;
• postal code;
• correct contact number;
• any relevant delivery instructions.

If you choose delivery to a locker, PUDO point, depot or collection point, you are responsible for selecting the correct location and collecting the parcel within the required timeframe.

Zeko, the seller and the courier provider are not responsible for failed delivery, delays, additional courier fees or returned parcels caused by incorrect, incomplete or outdated information supplied by you.

5. Signature, Acknowledgement and Safe Drop

Some courier deliveries may require a signature, name acknowledgement, one-time PIN, collection code, locker code or other delivery confirmation.

Please ensure that someone is available to receive the parcel at the delivery address during the courier's delivery window where door delivery is selected.

If a parcel is left at a safe-drop location or received by another person at your address at your request or with your authorisation, the parcel may be treated as delivered. Zeko is not responsible for loss or theft of parcels left unattended at a buyer's request, except where applicable law provides otherwise.

6. Missed, Failed or Uncollected Delivery

If a delivery attempt is unsuccessful, the courier may attempt redelivery, contact you, hold the parcel at a depot or collection point, return the parcel to the seller, or follow its own failed-delivery process.

If you fail to collect a parcel from a locker, PUDO point, depot or collection point within the required timeframe, the parcel may be returned, delayed, cancelled or subject to additional courier rules or fees.

Lockers hold a parcel for a short period only, currently 48 hours from the moment the courier deposits it. This period is set by the locker operator, not by Zeko, and it is much shorter than the 7-day buyer inspection window described in section 8. The two are not the same thing: the inspection window is your time to check the item, while the locker period is your time to physically fetch it. Whichever ends first is your real deadline.

Zeko notifies you when the parcel is deposited and sends reminders before the locker period runs out. If it is not collected in time, the locker operator returns it to the seller. Zeko will then ask you to choose between a redelivery, which you pay for, and a refund of the item price without the original delivery fee. Your payment is held while you decide, and if we do not hear from you within the period given, the order is refunded on those terms. This is set out in full in section 16 of the Refund & Dispute Policy.

If a parcel is returned to the seller because of incorrect delivery details, missed delivery attempts, buyer unavailability or failure to collect, you may be responsible for any reasonable re-delivery, return or additional courier fees, unless applicable law or Zeko's policies require otherwise.

Please monitor your tracking notifications and email Zeko at saskia@zeko.co.za if you need assistance with a delivery issue.

7. Delivery Confirmation

A parcel may be marked as delivered when delivery, handover, collection or availability for collection is confirmed by the courier, tracking system, seller, buyer, Zeko, locker provider, collection point or another relevant source.

Delivery confirmation is important because it may start the buyer inspection window and affect when protected payment can be released to the seller.

For multi-seller orders, delivery confirmation may happen separately for each seller shipment. This means the inspection window and payment release process may also run separately for each seller shipment.

8. Buyer Inspection Window

Unless a different period is shown in your order details or required by law, Zeko's standard buyer inspection window is 7 days from delivery confirmation.

During this period, you should inspect the item and check whether:

• the parcel was received;
• the correct item was delivered;
• the item is not damaged;
• all expected items are included;
• the item is materially as described in the listing;
• there is no obvious defect or serious issue.

During the inspection window, you may accept the order or raise an issue through Zeko.

If you accept the order, or if the inspection window expires without an issue being raised, the order or seller shipment may be treated as accepted and the protected payment may become eligible for release to the seller.

If you raise an issue within the inspection window, payment release may be paused while Zeko reviews the issue with you, the seller and, where applicable, the courier provider or payment provider.

9. Accepting an Order

If everything is correct, you may accept the order through your Zeko order page where this feature is available.

By accepting an order, you confirm that the relevant item has been received and that there is no issue requiring payment release to be paused.

Once an order or seller shipment is accepted, the seller payout process may begin through Zeko's payment or protected payment provider.

Acceptance does not remove any statutory rights that cannot legally be excluded under South African law.

10. Raising a Delivery Issue

If something is wrong with your delivery, you should raise an issue through your order page or email Zeko at saskia@zeko.co.za as soon as possible and within the applicable inspection window where possible.

Delivery issues may include:

• the parcel is marked as delivered but you did not receive it;
• the item arrived damaged;
• the wrong item was delivered;
• an item is missing from the parcel;
• the parcel appears tampered with;
• the item is materially different from the listing;
• the item appears defective or unsafe.

When raising an issue, you may be asked to provide:

• a description of the problem;
• clear photographs of the item;
• photographs of the outer packaging;
• photographs of the inner packaging;
• photographs of the waybill, label or locker information;
• screenshots of tracking information;
• any communication with the courier or seller;
• your preferred resolution.

Prompt reporting helps Zeko, the seller, the courier provider and the payment provider resolve the issue fairly and efficiently.

11. Damaged Goods on Delivery

If your order arrives visibly damaged, please:

• photograph the outer packaging before opening it, where possible;
• photograph the damaged item clearly;
• photograph all inner packaging and protective materials;
• keep the packaging until the issue is resolved;
• note the damage with the courier driver if possible;
• raise an issue through your order page or email Zeko at saskia@zeko.co.za as soon as possible.

Zeko may investigate the damage with the seller, courier provider and payment provider.

Depending on the circumstances, you may be entitled to a replacement, repair, refund, partial refund or another appropriate remedy under Zeko's policies and applicable South African law.

12. Lost or Undelivered Parcels

If tracking has not updated for an unusual period, your estimated delivery window has passed, or your parcel appears to be lost, please email Zeko at saskia@zeko.co.za.

Zeko may open an investigation with the seller and courier provider.

If a parcel is confirmed lost in transit before delivery, Zeko will work with the seller, courier provider and payment provider to resolve the issue. Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, the resolution may include replacement, refund, partial refund, courier claim, cancellation or another appropriate remedy.

You will not be required to pay again for an item that is confirmed lost in transit before delivery.

13. Wrong, Missing or Materially Different Items

If you receive the wrong item, only part of your order, or an item that is materially different from the listing, you should raise an issue through your order page within the inspection window where possible.

Zeko may request evidence from you and the seller, review the listing, check order details, check courier records and decide on an appropriate resolution.

Possible resolutions may include replacement, return, full refund, partial refund, release of payment to the seller, or another outcome depending on the facts.

14. Handmade Variations

Many products on Zeko are handmade, custom-made, artistic or small-batch. Small variations in colour, texture, shape, size, finish, brushstroke, pattern or appearance may be normal and do not automatically mean the product is defective or not as described.

However, handmade variation does not excuse a seller from sending the correct product, accurately describing the item, disclosing important limitations, packaging properly, or complying with consumer protection laws.

15. Returns After Delivery

Zeko's protected delivery process is focused on checking that the item was delivered, correct, undamaged and materially as described.

Returns and refunds are accepted on every product sold on Zeko. Sellers cannot opt out, and no listing may state that returns or refunds are unavailable.

Change-of-mind returns are available within the buyer inspection window where the item comes back unused and in its original condition. Items personalised to you, items made to your measurements or specification, perishables, hygiene-sensitive items and digital products are excluded from change-of-mind returns, and remain fully covered where the item is not delivered, damaged, wrong, missing, defective or materially not as described. The conditions, exclusions and return delivery costs are set out in the Refund and Dispute Policy.

Your statutory consumer rights are not limited by this policy. If goods are defective, unsafe, materially not as described or otherwise fail to meet applicable legal standards, you may have remedies under South African law in addition to the return standard above.

16. Payment Release, Refunds and Disputes

Zeko may use TradeSafe or another protected payment, escrow or payment provider to process payments, hold funds, manage seller allocations, release payouts, process refunds and support disputes.

If no issue is raised within the inspection window, or if you accept the order, the relevant payment may become eligible for release to the seller.

If you raise an issue within the inspection window, payment release may be paused while the issue is reviewed.

Zeko may ask the seller to respond, provide evidence, offer a replacement, agree to a refund, agree to a partial refund or provide other information.

After reviewing the information available, Zeko may decide to:

• release payment to the seller;
• approve a full refund;
• approve a partial refund;
• require a replacement;
• request return of the item before refund where appropriate;
• request more information;
• escalate the matter through the payment provider or another process;
• take another reasonable step to resolve the issue.

Where a refund, partial refund, amendment or payout release is approved, Zeko may need to instruct or notify the relevant payment provider so that the protected funds can be moved correctly.

Refunds and payout releases may take time to reflect depending on the payment provider, bank, card processor, courier provider or other third party.

17. Your Rights Under South African Consumer Law

Nothing in this Delivery Policy limits any rights you may have under applicable South African consumer protection law, including the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008.

Depending on the circumstances, consumers may have rights relating to safe goods, good quality goods, goods that are reasonably suitable for their intended purpose, goods that match their description, and remedies where goods are defective, unsafe or not as described.

This Delivery Policy is intended to explain Zeko's delivery and dispute process. It does not replace or limit any legal rights that cannot be excluded.

18. Courier Claims and Investigations

Some delivery issues may require a courier investigation or claim.

Zeko may ask you or the seller to provide evidence for the courier investigation, including packaging photographs, proof of damage, proof of handover, tracking records, waybill details or delivery communications.

Courier investigations may take time. Zeko will try to keep the buyer and seller informed where possible.

The outcome of a courier investigation may affect whether a refund, replacement, courier claim, seller payout, payment release or other resolution is appropriate.

19. Contact and Raising a Dispute

For any delivery issue, including missed delivery, damaged goods, non-delivery, incorrect tracking, lost parcels, locker problems, missing items, wrong items or delivery disputes, please email Zeko at saskia@zeko.co.za or raise an issue directly from your order detail page where available.

Zeko aims to respond to delivery queries as soon as reasonably possible. Response times may vary depending on weekends, public holidays, courier investigations, seller response times, payment provider processes and the complexity of the issue.

If your issue cannot be resolved through Zeko, you may have the right to approach the relevant payment provider, the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, the National Consumer Commission, a court or another available dispute resolution body.