Terms, returns and delivery

Last updated 9 October 2026.

Who you are buying from

What we sell

Solid timber furniture and homeware, cut and finished by hand in one Cape Town workshop. We work in oak, European ash, kiaat, iroko, African mahogany, beech and blackwood. Each product page gives the dimensions, the timbers available and the finish.

Timber is a natural material and no two pieces are the same. Colour, grain and figure vary between boards and between trees, and a piece will not be an exact match for a photograph on a screen. Small knots, the occasional filled check and visible grain movement are characteristics of solid wood, not faults. Where a crack or a repair is a feature of a piece, it is left visible because it is part of what the piece is. By ordering, you accept the piece in that condition, which is what section 55(6) of the Consumer Protection Act contemplates.

Wood also moves with the seasons. A piece kept in direct sun, close to a heater, or in a room that is air conditioned to a very dry level may develop surface checking over time. That is the material behaving as the material does, and it is not covered as a defect.

Prices and payment

The price shown on a product page is the full price of that piece in Rand. It includes delivery within the Cape Town metro. It does not include delivery elsewhere, which we quote separately before you pay.

Payment is by card, instant EFT or the other methods offered at checkout, processed by PayFast. We never see or store your card details. Before you place an order you will see a summary of what you are buying and what it costs, and you can change it or leave without ordering.

Making and delivery

Pieces listed as in stock are ready and usually go out within five working days.

Commissioned and made-to-order pieces take six to eight weeks from the day your payment clears, longer for a large or complicated piece, and we will tell you the expected time in writing before you commit. We agree this period with you rather than relying on the thirty day default in section 46 of the ECT Act.

If something is going to be late we will tell you as soon as we know. If we cannot deliver at all, you may cancel and we refund you in full within thirty days.

Delivery in the Cape Town metro is included in the price and is made by us or a courier we arrange. Outside the metro we quote first. Collection from the workshop is free and is usually the best option for a large piece.

Please check your piece when it arrives. If it is damaged in transit, tell us within three days with photographs and we will sort it out. Risk passes to you once you have accepted delivery.

Changing your mind

This is the part worth reading carefully, because it works differently depending on what you bought.

Ready-made pieces bought on this website

You may cancel within seven days of receiving the piece, for any reason or none, and we refund you in full. This is your right under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, and we are not allowed to charge you a penalty for using it.

• Tell us in writing within those seven days.
• Send the piece back unused and in its original condition. The cost of returning it is yours, and nothing else is.
• We refund everything you paid within thirty days of you cancelling.

Standard pieces we build after you order

If you order a piece from the range in a size and timber we already offer, and we simply build it once you have ordered, the same seven day right applies. It is a standard design and we can sell it to someone else, so you are not stuck with it.

Commissioned pieces made to your own specification

This means a piece where you set the dimensions, the timber, the finish or the design: a table built to your room, a board cut to a shape you asked for, anything with a name or a date on it.

The seven day right does not apply to these. Section 42(2)(f)(i) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act excludes goods that "are made to the consumer's specifications", and section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act excludes special-order goods, meaning goods we were required or expected to create specifically to satisfy your requirements.

The reason is practical rather than legal. A table cut to your dimensions, in the timber you chose, is unlikely to fit anyone else's room. Once the timber is cut it cannot be uncut, and we have already bought the material and spent the days.

So, for commissioned work:

• Before we start cutting, you may cancel. We keep five percent of the price to cover the quoting, drawing and material ordering already done, and refund the rest.
• Once we have started, the deposit is not refundable. This is a genuine estimate of what the cancellation costs us, not a punishment.
• If we deliver something that does not match the specification we agreed, that is our problem and we will fix it or refund you. Section 19(5)(b) of the Consumer Protection Act gives you the right to check that it conforms before you accept it.

None of this takes away any right the law gives you. If you were approached by us directly rather than finding us yourself, you may have a five business day cooling-off right under section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act, and that applies to commissioned work too.

If something is wrong with your piece

Separate from changing your mind, and it applies to everything we make, commissioned work included.

For six months after delivery you may return any piece that is defective, unsafe or not of the quality you are entitled to expect. That is section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act. You choose the remedy, not us: we will repair it, replace it, or refund you, whichever you direct. Returning it is at our cost and our risk.

If we repair something and it fails again within three months, you can then ask for a replacement or a refund instead.

What is not a defect: the natural variation described above, damage from misuse, normal wear, or damage from not following the care guidance that comes with the piece.

Looking after solid wood

Oil the surface when it starts to look dry, two or three times a year for a board in regular use. Wipe boards rather than soaking them, and never put one in a dishwasher. Keep furniture out of direct sun and away from heaters. Lift rather than drag.

If you are unhappy

Talk to us first, on WhatsApp or at hello@whyniwood.co.za. We are one small workshop and we would rather fix a problem than argue about it.

If we cannot sort it out between us, you can take it to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud at cgso.org.za, or to the National Consumer Commission. We are not currently a member of an industry accreditation body and we do not subscribe to an industry code of conduct, so the Consumer Goods and Services Code is the dispute resolution route available to you.

Your information

What we collect and why is set out in our privacy policy. In short: we keep what we need to make your piece and get it to you. Payment is handled by PayFast over an encrypted connection and your card details are never stored on our systems or seen by us.

Your order confirmation email is your record of the transaction. You can also see your orders any time by signing in to your account.

Card security

Card payments are processed by PayFast over an encrypted connection using Secure Socket Layer. We never see your card number and it is never stored on our systems. Your contact and delivery details are kept separately from any payment information, which stays with PayFast and the bank.

Where we are, legally

We are based in South Africa and that is where we choose as our address for legal purposes, our domicilium citandi et executandi. Notices and legal documents may be served at the address above.

We sell and deliver within South Africa. We do not currently ship outside the country.

What we are responsible for

We are responsible for making your piece properly and getting it to you in the condition it left the workshop. We are not responsible for damage caused by misuse, by neglecting the care guidance, or by conditions the timber was never meant for. Nothing here limits our liability for anything the law does not allow us to limit.

Keeping a copy

You can print this page or save it as a PDF from your browser, and we will send you a copy on request.

Changes

We may update these terms. The version that applies to your order is the one published on the day you ordered, and the date at the top tells you when this one was last changed.

Law

South African law governs these terms, and the courts of South Africa have jurisdiction. Nothing here limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. Where anything in these terms conflicts with those Acts, the Acts win.