Terms and Conditions
Last updated: 14 November 2026. These terms replace the general terms and conditions of 7 March 2017.
These terms apply to every quotation, proposal, invoice and service from Teacup Technology cc (registration number 2004/052772/23), a South African software company. "We" and "us" mean Teacup Technology cc. "You" means the business we quote or work for.
If a signed quotation, proposal or contract says something different from these terms, the signed document wins for that work.
1. Quotations and proposals
1.1 A quotation or proposal is valid for 30 days from its date, unless it says otherwise.
1.2 You accept a quotation or proposal by signing it, by confirming it in writing (email is fine), or by paying the first invoice for it. Accepting it means you agree to these terms.
1.3 We do only the work described in the accepted quotation or proposal. Anything else is extra work (see clause 3).
1.4 Prices exclude VAT unless the quotation says otherwise. VAT is added at the rate in force on the invoice date.
2. Monthly retainers
2.1 A monthly retainer gives you a set number of hours of our time each month, as stated in the proposal.
2.2 Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance, at the start of each month, and are payable within 30 days of the invoice date.
2.3 Unused hours do not carry over to the next month, unless the proposal says they do.
2.4 Either of us can end a retainer by giving one calendar month's written notice by email. Work already invoiced for the notice month is still payable.
3. Extra work and extra hours
3.1 Work outside the accepted quotation, or hours beyond a retainer's monthly hours, are extra work.
3.2 We tell you before we do extra work and how much it is likely to cost. We only go ahead once you agree in writing.
3.3 Extra work is charged at the hourly rate in the quotation or proposal, or our standard hourly rate if none is stated, and is invoiced at the end of the month in which it was done.
4. Payment
4.1 Invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice date by EFT into the bank account shown on the invoice, unless the quotation or invoice says otherwise.
4.2 If an invoice is more than 30 days overdue, we may pause work, and after written warning, suspend access to the systems we host for you until it is paid. We will not delete your data because of late payment.
4.3 You may not hold back payment of an invoice because of a dispute about other work. Tell us about the dispute in writing and we will sort it out separately.
5. Your data
5.1 Your data belongs to you. This means the information you and your staff put into the systems we build or host for you: customers, suppliers, products, transactions, documents and records.
5.2 We use your data only to provide and support the services you asked for. We do not sell it or share it with anyone else, except where the law requires it.
5.3 If you leave us, for any reason, we give you a full copy of your data in a standard format (such as a database export and spreadsheet files) within 30 days of your written request, once all invoices are paid. If Teacup Technology stops trading, we hand over a full copy of your data within 30 days, whether or not invoices are paid.
5.4 After we have handed over your data, and you have confirmed you received it, we delete it from our servers and backups as the backups expire.
6. Software and intellectual property
6.1 The systems we build on, including Vali and the Teacup website engine, belong to Teacup Technology. Using them gives you the right to use them for your business while you are our client. It does not transfer ownership.
6.2 Work we build specially for you, such as your website's design and content, belongs to you once it is paid for, unless the quotation says otherwise. Improvements we make to our own systems while doing your work stay ours and may be used for other clients, but never with your data or your confidential information.
6.3 You give us permission to use your name and logo on the systems and documents we make for you. We will only name you as a client in public with your permission.
7. Hosting and support
7.1 Support is available on weekdays from 08:00 to 17:00 South African time, except public holidays, by email at help@teacup.co.za, NovaMail messaging, or the Help and Feedback button inside Vali.
7.2 We aim to reply within one hour during support hours. Urgent faults outside support hours are handled as soon as we can.
7.3 How we keep your systems and data safe, backed up and recoverable is set out in our client assurance documents: the Information Security Policy, the Backup and Recovery Procedure, the Dedicated Hosting and System Setup Procedure, and the Software Development and Change Procedure. We will send you the current versions on request.
7.4 We may need to stop a service for a short time for maintenance or updates. We do this outside support hours where possible and tell you in advance when it will take longer than a few minutes.
8. Personal information (POPIA)
8.1 When our systems hold personal information about your customers, staff or suppliers, you are the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and we are your operator. We process that information only on your instructions and for the services you asked for.
8.2 We keep personal information secure as set out in our Information Security Policy, and we tell you as soon as we confirm that personal information in our care has been accessed by someone who should not have it.
8.3 How we handle personal information that you and your staff give us directly, such as contact details, is in our Privacy Policy.
9. Liability
9.1 We do our work with reasonable skill and care. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as loss of profit or business.
9.2 Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim arose.
9.3 Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited.
10. Disputes and law
10.1 If something goes wrong, tell us in writing and we will try to resolve it with you within 14 days.
10.2 These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.
11. Changes to these terms
11.1 We may update these terms. The version on this page on the date you accept a quotation or proposal applies to that work. For retainers, we give you one month's notice by email of any change that affects you.
Contact
Teacup Technology cc · help@teacup.co.za