PRIVACY POLICY - Woodbuilt Furniture

At Woodbuilt Furniture, we respect the privacy of our customers, website visitors and other individuals who interact with our business.

This Privacy Policy explains how Woodbuilt Furniture collects, uses, stores, protects and shares personal information when customers:

Visit our website;
Browse our products;
Create an account;
Place an order;
Request a quotation;
Make a payment;
Contact our customer service team;
Receive a delivery;
Submit a return, refund or warranty claim;
Subscribe to marketing communications; or
Otherwise interact with Woodbuilt Furniture.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms & Conditions, Shipping & Delivery Policy, Returns & Refund Policy, Warranty Policy and Care & Maintenance guidelines.

Woodbuilt Furniture processes personal information in accordance with applicable South African law, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”).

Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to remove or restrict any privacy right available under applicable law.

1. WHO WE ARE

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, Woodbuilt Furniture is the business responsible for determining how and why personal information is processed in connection with our website, customer orders and business activities.

References to:

“Woodbuilt Furniture”, “we”, “us” or “our” mean Woodbuilt Furniture.

“Customer”, “you” or “your” means a customer, prospective customer, website visitor or other individual whose personal information we process.

“Personal information” has the meaning given to it under applicable South African privacy legislation.

2. OUR COMMITMENT TO PRIVACY

Woodbuilt Furniture is committed to processing personal information:

Lawfully;
Fairly;
Transparently;
For legitimate and clearly defined purposes;
Only where reasonably necessary;
In a manner that is relevant and not excessive;
With appropriate security safeguards; and
In accordance with applicable South African privacy legislation.

We do not intentionally collect customer information through false or misleading representations.

3. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT

Depending on how you interact with Woodbuilt Furniture, we may collect information including:

Full name;
Email address;
Telephone or mobile number;
Billing address;
Delivery address;
Province;
City or town;
Postal code;
Order number;
Invoice number;
Purchase history;
Products purchased;
Product preferences;
Payment status;
Payment reference information;
Communication history;
Customer-service enquiries;
Return and refund information;
Warranty claim information;
Delivery instructions;
Photographs or videos submitted for return or warranty claims;
Website account information;
IP address;
Device information;
Browser information;
Website usage information;
Cookie information; and
Marketing preferences.

We aim to collect only information reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is processed.

4. PAYMENT INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture may collect information necessary to identify and reconcile customer payments.

Depending on the payment method used, this may include:

Payment reference;
Payment date;
Payment amount;
Bank or payment method information reasonably required to verify a transaction; and
Proof of payment supplied by a customer.

Where payments are processed through a bank or third-party payment service, certain payment information may be processed directly by that provider.

Woodbuilt Furniture does not intentionally request customers to provide confidential online-banking passwords, PINs or similar authentication credentials.

Customers should never send passwords or banking PINs to Woodbuilt Furniture.

5. HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect personal information:

Directly From You

This may occur when you:

Place an order;
Create an account;
Complete checkout;
Request a quotation;
Contact us;
Subscribe to marketing;
Submit a return;
Request a refund;
Submit a warranty claim;
Provide delivery information; or
Communicate with our staff.

Automatically Through Our Website

Certain technical information may be collected automatically when you use our website, including through cookies and similar technologies.

From Service Providers

Where appropriate and lawful, information may be received from providers involved in services such as:

Payment processing;
Website hosting;
Website security;
Analytics;
Email communications; and
Fraud prevention.

We only process information received from third parties where there is a lawful basis for doing so.

6. WHY WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture may process personal information for legitimate business purposes including:

Processing customer orders;
Confirming payments;
Issuing invoices;
Preparing orders;
Communicating order updates;
Scheduling deliveries;
Completing nationwide deliveries;
Providing customer support;
Responding to enquiries;
Processing cancellations;
Processing returns;
Processing approved refunds;
Managing warranty claims;
Arranging repairs or replacements;
Preventing fraud;
Maintaining business records;
Improving our website;
Analysing website performance;
Securing our website and systems;
Complying with legal obligations; and
Sending marketing communications where permitted by law.

7. ORDER PROCESSING

When a customer places an order, we process information necessary to complete the transaction.

This may include:

Customer name;
Contact details;
Delivery address;
Billing information;
Products ordered;
Order value;
Payment information; and
Delivery requirements.

This information may be used throughout our standard order fulfilment process.

As stated in our Shipping & Delivery Policy:

Handling time: 0–5 working days
Delivery time: 1–14 working days after handling
Delivery days: Monday to Friday
Saturday deliveries: No
Sunday deliveries: No
South African public holiday deliveries: No
Delivery coverage: Nationwide throughout South Africa

Personal information required for delivery may therefore be retained and used while an order is being prepared, scheduled and delivered.

8. DELIVERY INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture provides nationwide delivery throughout South Africa through our in-house Woodbuilt Furniture delivery service using our own Woodbuilt Furniture trucks.

We use customer information such as:

Name;
Telephone number;
Delivery address;
Delivery instructions;
Order details; and
Other relevant delivery information

to schedule and complete delivery.

Only information reasonably necessary for the delivery should be made available to members of our delivery team.

9. RETURNS AND REFUNDS

Where a customer submits a return or refund request, Woodbuilt Furniture may process information including:

Customer name;
Order or invoice number;
Product information;
Delivery information;
Reason for return;
Photographs;
Videos;
Payment details required for the refund; and
Communications relating to the claim.

Our standard change-of-mind return request period is 7 calendar days after delivery, subject to our Returns & Refund Policy and applicable law.

Approved refunds are processed within 1–7 working days after approval and completion of applicable return or assessment requirements.

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and South African public holidays.

10. WARRANTY CLAIMS

Woodbuilt Furniture provides a 24-month commercial warranty on qualifying products as described in our Warranty Policy.

Where a warranty claim is submitted, we may process:

Customer details;
Order and invoice records;
Product information;
Delivery records;
Photographs;
Videos;
Description of the alleged defect;
Inspection information;
Repair information;
Replacement information; and
Refund information where applicable.

This information is used to assess and resolve legitimate warranty claims.

11. LAWFUL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

Woodbuilt Furniture processes personal information only where permitted by applicable law.

Depending on the circumstances, processing may be necessary:

To perform or prepare to perform a contract with the customer;
To comply with a legal obligation;
To pursue a legitimate business purpose;
To protect legitimate interests;
With the customer’s consent; or
On another lawful basis recognised by South African law.

Where consent is the appropriate legal basis, customers may withdraw that consent where permitted by law.

12. MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Woodbuilt Furniture may send marketing communications where permitted by applicable law.

These communications may include:

Product announcements;
Promotions;
New furniture collections;
Special offers;
Sales;
Website updates; or
Similar Woodbuilt Furniture products and services.

Where consent is required, marketing communications will only be sent after the appropriate consent has been obtained.

Existing customers may receive marketing concerning similar Woodbuilt Furniture products or services where permitted by law and where they have been provided with an appropriate opportunity to object.

Every electronic marketing communication should provide a reasonable method for customers to unsubscribe or request that marketing communications stop.

Customers may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time.

POPIA places specific restrictions on unsolicited electronic direct marketing, including consent and opt-out requirements.

13. ORDER AND SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent Woodbuilt Furniture from sending necessary operational communications relating to an existing transaction.

These may include:

Order confirmations;
Payment confirmations;
Delivery arrangements;
Delivery updates;
Return communications;
Refund updates;
Warranty communications;
Security notices; and
Important customer-service messages.

These communications are necessary for managing the customer’s relationship or transaction with Woodbuilt Furniture and are not necessarily marketing messages.

14. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies.

Cookies may be used to:

Keep the website functioning;
Remember customer preferences;
Maintain shopping-cart functionality;
Support checkout;
Improve website performance;
Analyse website traffic;
Detect security risks; and
Support marketing where legally permitted.

Some cookies may be necessary for the website to function correctly.

Where consent is legally required for optional cookies, customers should be provided with an appropriate choice.

15. WEBSITE ANALYTICS

Woodbuilt Furniture may use website analytics tools to understand how visitors interact with our website.

Analytics information may include:

Pages visited;
Device type;
Browser type;
General geographic region;
Visit duration;
Traffic source; and
Website interaction information.

Analytics information is used to improve the website, customer experience and business operations.

16. GOOGLE SERVICES

Woodbuilt Furniture may use Google services in connection with its website, advertising, analytics or online store.

Depending on the services enabled, certain website information may be processed by Google in accordance with Google’s own privacy terms and applicable settings.

These services may include, where actually used:

Google Analytics;
Google Ads;
Google Merchant Center;
Google Tag services; and
Other Google website or advertising tools.

Woodbuilt Furniture should only describe Google services in this Privacy Policy where those services are genuinely used on the website.

17. THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS

Woodbuilt Furniture may use legitimate service providers to assist with business operations.

These may include providers responsible for:

Website hosting;
Website maintenance;
Email services;
Payment processing;
Accounting;
Analytics;
Website security;
Fraud prevention;
Cloud storage; or
Other necessary business services.

We may provide these parties with information reasonably necessary for them to perform their services.

Service providers should process information only for authorised purposes and in accordance with applicable privacy and data-protection obligations.

18. WE DO NOT SELL PERSONAL INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture does not intentionally sell customer personal information as a product or commodity.

We do not intentionally disclose customer information to unrelated third parties solely so that those parties can independently market unrelated products to customers without an appropriate lawful basis.

19. WHEN INFORMATION MAY BE DISCLOSED

Woodbuilt Furniture may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary:

To fulfil an order;
To process a payment;
To provide website functionality;
To resolve a customer complaint;
To investigate suspected fraud;
To enforce or defend legal rights;
To comply with a lawful request;
To comply with a court order;
To comply with applicable legislation;
To protect customers or our business; or
To use an authorised service provider.

Information will not intentionally be disclosed for purposes unrelated to the reason it was collected unless another lawful basis applies.

20. SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

Loss;
Unauthorised access;
Unlawful processing;
Destruction;
Alteration;
Disclosure; and
Misuse.

Measures may include, where appropriate:

Secure website technology;
Access controls;
Password protection;
Restricted staff access;
Secure service providers;
Software updates;
System monitoring;
Secure payment processing; and
Appropriate internal procedures.

No electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but Woodbuilt Furniture will take reasonable steps appropriate to the information and risks involved.

21. WEBSITE SECURITY AND HTTPS

Woodbuilt Furniture aims to operate its online store using appropriate website security measures, including secure HTTPS connections where applicable.

Customers should check that they are using the genuine Woodbuilt Furniture website before entering personal or payment information.

Woodbuilt Furniture will not intentionally create misleading pages designed to impersonate another business or collect information under false pretences.

22. DATA BREACHES AND SECURITY INCIDENTS

If Woodbuilt Furniture becomes aware of a security compromise affecting personal information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate and contain the incident.

Where required by applicable law, Woodbuilt Furniture will notify:

The appropriate regulatory authority; and/or
Affected individuals

in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

23. RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for:

The purpose for which it was collected;
Fulfilling customer orders;
Managing returns;
Processing refunds;
Administering our 24-month warranty;
Customer-service purposes;
Accounting;
Tax requirements;
Fraud prevention;
Resolving disputes;
Legal compliance; and
Other lawful business purposes.

Information may be retained for longer where required or permitted by applicable legislation.

When personal information is no longer reasonably required, it may be securely deleted, destroyed or de-identified as appropriate.

24. CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

Customers who create an online account are responsible for keeping their login information confidential.

Customers should:

Use a secure password;
Avoid sharing passwords;
Sign out when using shared devices; and
Notify Woodbuilt Furniture if they reasonably believe their account has been compromised.

Woodbuilt Furniture will never intentionally ask customers to disclose their password by email or telephone.

25. CHILDREN’S PERSONAL INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture’s online store is intended for customers who are legally capable of entering into purchases.

We do not intentionally collect children’s personal information for marketing purposes without an appropriate lawful basis.

Where information relating to a child must legitimately be processed, Woodbuilt Furniture will process that information in accordance with applicable South African law.

26. CUSTOMER PRIVACY RIGHTS

Subject to applicable law, customers may have rights to:

Ask whether Woodbuilt Furniture holds personal information about them;
Request access to personal information;
Request correction of inaccurate information;
Request deletion or destruction where legally applicable;
Object to certain processing;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
Object to direct marketing;
Request that marketing communications stop; and
Lodge a complaint with the appropriate South African regulatory authority.

Some requests may be subject to legal limitations or record-retention obligations.

27. CORRECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

Customers should ensure that information provided to Woodbuilt Furniture is accurate.

If information changes, customers may contact Woodbuilt Furniture to request correction or updating.

This is particularly important for:

Telephone numbers;
Email addresses;
Billing information; and
Delivery addresses.

Incorrect delivery information may affect the successful fulfilment of an order.

28. REQUESTING ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

Customers may contact Woodbuilt Furniture to request access to personal information held about them where permitted by law.

Woodbuilt Furniture may require reasonable information to:

Confirm the identity of the requester;
Locate the relevant records; and
Prevent unauthorised disclosure.

We will not intentionally provide one customer’s personal information to another unauthorised person.

29. OBJECTIONS AND DELETION REQUESTS

Customers may request that certain information be corrected, deleted or no longer processed where they have a lawful right to make that request.

Woodbuilt Furniture may be required to retain some information even after a deletion request where the information is needed for:

Legal compliance;
Tax or accounting requirements;
Existing contracts;
Fraud prevention;
Warranty administration;
Dispute resolution; or
The establishment, exercise or defence of legal rights.

30. DIRECT MARKETING OPT-OUT

Customers may opt out of Woodbuilt Furniture marketing at any time.

An opt-out request will apply to marketing communications but will not normally stop necessary communications relating to:

Active orders;
Deliveries;
Returns;
Refunds;
Warranty claims;
Payments; or
Customer-service matters.

Woodbuilt Furniture will not intentionally charge a customer for exercising a lawful right to object to direct electronic marketing.

31. CROSS-BORDER PROCESSING

Some technology or service providers used by Woodbuilt Furniture may store or process information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, Woodbuilt Furniture will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer is handled in accordance with applicable South African data-protection requirements.

32. FRAUD PREVENTION

Woodbuilt Furniture may process personal information to detect, investigate and prevent suspected:

Fraud;
Identity misuse;
Payment fraud;
Unauthorised transactions;
Website abuse; or
Other unlawful activity.

Where reasonably necessary and legally permitted, relevant information may be shared with:

Banks;
Payment providers;
Law-enforcement authorities;
Regulatory authorities; or
Other appropriate parties.

33. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

The Woodbuilt Furniture website may contain links to third-party websites.

Woodbuilt Furniture is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites that we do not control.

Customers should review the privacy policies of those websites before providing personal information.

34. SOCIAL MEDIA

Where customers interact with Woodbuilt Furniture through social media platforms, the relevant social-media provider may also process personal information under its own privacy policy.

Woodbuilt Furniture may process information provided through these platforms for legitimate customer-service, enquiry or marketing purposes where permitted.

35. INFORMATION OFFICER AND PRIVACY ENQUIRIES

Woodbuilt Furniture will manage privacy enquiries in accordance with applicable South African privacy legislation.

Customers wishing to:

Request access to information;
Correct information;
Object to processing;
Request deletion where applicable;
Withdraw marketing consent; or
Submit a privacy complaint

may contact Woodbuilt Furniture using the official contact details published on our website.

Where legally required, privacy matters will be handled by the responsible Information Officer or authorised representative.

36. INFORMATION REGULATOR

Customers may have the right to lodge a privacy complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa where permitted under applicable law.

Customers are encouraged to first contact Woodbuilt Furniture so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve the concern.

Nothing in this section prevents a customer from exercising a legal right to contact the Information Regulator directly.

37. CONSISTENCY OF BUSINESS INFORMATION

Woodbuilt Furniture aims to ensure that its business identity and contact information are presented accurately and consistently across:

Our website;
Contact Us page;
Checkout;
Customer communications;
Policy pages;
Merchant accounts; and
Other official business channels.

Customers should use the official contact information published on the Woodbuilt Furniture website when communicating with us.

Woodbuilt Furniture does not intentionally use false business names, contact information or misleading identities to obtain customer information or payments.

38. CONSISTENCY WITH OUR CUSTOMER POLICIES

This Privacy Policy forms part of the Woodbuilt Furniture customer-policy framework.

For clarity, our established customer-facing terms include:

Handling: 0–5 working days
Delivery: 1–14 working days after handling
Delivery days: Monday to Friday
Weekend deliveries: No
South African public holiday deliveries: No
Delivery coverage: Nationwide throughout South Africa
Delivery service: In-house Woodbuilt Furniture delivery trucks
Change-of-mind return request: Within 7 calendar days after delivery
Approved refund processing: 1–7 working days
Woodbuilt commercial warranty: 24 months from delivery

The Privacy Policy does not change these operational terms.

It explains only how personal information connected with those services is processed.

39. GOOGLE MERCHANT AND ONLINE SHOPPING TRANSPARENCY

Woodbuilt Furniture aims to provide customers with accurate and transparent information regarding its business, products, payments and customer policies.

We do not intentionally collect personal or payment information through false, unclear or deceptive representations.

Customers should be able to access our Privacy Policy and other important customer policies without being required to make a purchase.

Our published privacy practices must reflect our actual handling of customer information.

40. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

Woodbuilt Furniture may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect:

Changes in legislation;
Changes to our website;
Changes to services;
Changes to technology;
Changes to service providers; or
Changes to our privacy practices.

The latest version will be published on our website together with the date on which it was last updated.

Material changes will not be used retrospectively to remove privacy rights already available under applicable law.

41. CONTACT WOODBUILT FURNITURE

For questions about this Privacy Policy or the processing of personal information, please contact Woodbuilt Furniture using the official contact information displayed on our Contact Us page.

Our contact details should remain clear, accurate and consistent with the business information displayed elsewhere on our website and through our official business channels.

42. APPLICABLE LAW

This Privacy Policy is governed by applicable laws of the Republic of South Africa, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, where applicable.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy should be interpreted as limiting any mandatory privacy or consumer right available under South African law.

Where this Privacy Policy conflicts with a mandatory legal requirement, the applicable legislation will prevail.

Woodbuilt Furniture is committed to protecting personal information, maintaining transparent online business practices and processing customer information responsibly, securely and in accordance with applicable South African law.

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