Membership terms & refund policy

Who we are

The AI Animation Academy is run by Digital Characters (Pty) Ltd (registration 2014/164830/07, VAT number 4470279268), The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Mill Park, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa. Contact: info@digitalcharacters.africa · +27 71 595 4780.

Membership and billing

• Memberships are month-to-month. You're billed on the same date each month through PayFast until you cancel.
• All prices include 15% VAT. A tax invoice is emailed for every payment and is always available under My plan.
• The founding-member price (R599/month) stays with you only while your membership remains active. If you cancel and rejoin later, or move to another plan, the price at that time applies.
• What each plan includes is shown on the plans page. Specific software tools taught may change as the technology changes; the curriculum teaches workflows rather than one tool.

Access starts immediately

Before paying, you confirm: “I want access to start immediately, and I understand this means the 7-day cooling-off right under the ECTA does not apply.” Under section 42(2) of the ECTA, the 7-day cooling-off period in section 44 doesn't apply to services that begin, with your consent, before those 7 days end. We record that confirmation with the date and time. Our own voluntary first-payment refund (below) still applies.

Cancelling

• Cancel any time from your dashboard (My plan → Cancel membership) or by emailing info@digitalcharacters.africa.
• No cancellation fee and no notice period. Cancel at least 1 day before your next billing date to avoid the next charge.
• After cancelling you keep access until the end of the month you've already paid for. Your account and certificates remain, and you can rejoin any time.

Changing plans

Upgrades take effect straight away and the new price applies from your next billing date. Downgrades take effect on your next billing date.

Refunds

• First payment — 7-day “try it” refund: if the Academy isn't for you, ask within 7 days of your first payment for a full refund, as long as you have not attended a live class, not watched more than 2 lessons, and not booked a coaching session. Once you've used more than that, the monthly rules below apply. This is a voluntary goodwill offer, separate from the ECTA cooling-off.
• Monthly renewals aren't refundable once the new month has started — cancel before the billing date instead. No refunds for partial months.
• Billing mistakes (double charges, a wrong amount, or a charge after a valid cancellation) are refunded in full.
• Missed live classes aren't refunded. Every class is recorded and available in your library (Academy and Pro).
• 1-on-1 coaching: reschedule free with 24 hours' notice; later cancellations or no-shows use up the session.
• If we cancel a programme or can't deliver what your plan includes, you get a pro-rata refund for the unused part.
• Refunds go back to the original payment method via PayFast, normally within 10 business days. You'll receive a credit note.

To ask for a refund, email info@digitalcharacters.africa from the address you joined with.

Fair use

• Memberships are personal. Sharing logins or redistributing course videos and files can lead to the account being closed without a refund.
• Course videos, notes and files are © Digital Characters and licensed to you for your own learning. The work you make in the Academy is yours. If we'd like to feature it in the showcase or our marketing, we'll ask first — featuring inside the members' showcase is the exception, and you can ask us to remove it at any time.
• Be respectful in live classes and the community. We may remove anyone who harasses others.

Payments and your data

Card payments are processed by PayFast; we never see or store your card details. How we handle your personal information is set out in our privacy notice.

Changes

If we change these terms we'll email members at least 14 days before the change applies. Price changes for existing members are notified at least 30 days ahead, and you can cancel before they take effect.