Terms of service

Overview

Welcome to Mello! The terms "we", "us" and "our" refer to Mello. Mello operates this store and website, including all related information, content, features, tools, products and services in order to provide you, the customer, with a curated shopping experience (the "Services"). Mello is powered by Shopify, which enables us to provide the Services to you.

Mello is a premium pet sleep essentials brand offering luxury orthopedic dog beds and accessories. Mello is owned and operated by Mello Bed (Pty) Ltd (Registration Number:2026/077340/07), a private company duly incorporated in the Republic of South Africa ("Mello", "we", "us", or "our"). Our customer support email address is hello@mellobed.co.za.

The below terms and conditions, together with any policies referenced herein (these "Terms of Service" or "Terms") describe your rights and responsibilities when you use the Services. Please read these Terms of Service carefully, as they include important information about your legal rights and cover areas such as warranty disclaimers and limitations of liability.

By visiting, interacting with or using our Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms of Service or Privacy Policy, you should not use or access our Services.

Section 1 - Access and Account

By agreeing to these Terms of Service, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your province or country of residence, and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use the Services on devices you own, purchase or manage. To use the Services, including accessing or browsing our online stores or purchasing any of the products or services we offer, you may be asked to provide certain information, such as your email address, billing, payment, and shipping information. You represent and warrant that all the information you provide in our stores is correct, current and complete and that you have all rights necessary to provide this information. You are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all of your account activity. You may not transfer, sell, assign, or license your account to any other person.

Section 2 - Our Products and Quality Warranty

We have made every effort to provide an accurate representation of our products and services in our online stores. However, please note that colors or product appearance may differ from how they may appear on your screen due to the type of device you use to access the store and your device settings and configuration. Measurements provided on our website are approximate. Foam softening and compression over time is a natural characteristic of premium orthopedic foam and is not considered a manufacturing defect. These variations are considered normal and do not constitute misrepresentation.

Except for the statutory implied six (6) month warranty of quality provided under Section 56 of the South African Consumer Protection Act (CPA) against genuine manufacturing defects, we do not warrant that the appearance or quality of any products or services purchased by you will meet your subjective expectations. This manufacturing warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear, damage caused by misuse, accidents, improper care, or damage resulting entirely from pet behavior (including chewing, scratching, digging, or tearing). Products must be handled and cared for in accordance with the care instructions provided on the product label.

All descriptions of products are subject to change at any time without notice at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to discontinue any product at any time and may limit the quantities of any products that we offer to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction, on a case-by-case basis.

Section 3 - Orders and Acceptance

The display of products on our website constitutes an "invitation to do business" and not a binding legal offer. When you place an order, you are making an offer to purchase. Mello reserves the right to accept or decline your order for any reason at its sole discretion, including due to stock availability, pricing errors, payment issues, or suspected fraudulent activity.

Your order is not legally accepted, and a binding contract is not formed, until Mello explicitly confirms acceptance by dispatching your product and issuing a shipping confirmation email. We must receive and process your payment through our approved secure payment gateways before your order is processed for dispatch. If payment has already been processed for an order that we subsequently decline or cancel, we will notify you via the contact details provided and refund you in full.

Section 4 - Prices and Billing

Prices, discounts and promotions are subject to change without notice. The price charged for a product or service will be the price in effect at the time the order is placed and will be set out in your order confirmation email. All prices are displayed in South African Rand (ZAR) and include VAT where applicable. Unless otherwise expressly stated, posted prices do not include shipping and delivery charges.

We reserve the right to correct typographic or pricing errors at any time without prior notice, including after you have submitted an order. Confirmed, dispatched orders will not be affected by subsequent price changes. We may offer, from time to time, promotions on the Services that may affect pricing and that are governed by terms and conditions separate from these Terms. If there is a conflict between the terms for a promotion and these Terms, the promotion terms will govern.

You agree to provide current, complete and accurate purchase, payment and account information for all purchases made at our stores. You agree to promptly update your account and other information, including your email address, credit card numbers and expiration dates, so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed. You represent and warrant that you are duly authorized to use your chosen payment method and that all charges incurred will be honored.

Section 5 - Shipping, Delivery, and Risk

Delivery timeframes provided on our website are estimates only and are not guaranteed. While we work with trusted third-party courier partners, we are not liable for shipping and delivery delays caused by shipping carriers or events outside our reasonable control.

In strict compliance with the South African Consumer Protection Act, the risk of loss, depletion, or damage to the products passes to you, the customer, only upon successful physical delivery of the products to your specified shipping address.

Section 6 - Returns, Refunds, and Exchanges

Mello beds are compressed and vacuum-sealed for safe and hygienic delivery. Returns are only accepted where the product remains unopened, unused, and in its original vacuum-sealed packaging. Once the vacuum seal has been broken, the product is considered used and is no longer eligible for return due to hygiene and material expansion reasons.

Returns: You may request a return within 7 days of delivery for a refund, provided the item remains unopened, unused, and in its original vacuum-sealed packaging. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer.

Exchanges and Store Credit: Exchanges or store credit are available within 14 days of delivery, provided the item remains unopened, unused, and in its original vacuum-sealed packaging. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer.

Defects: If you discover your Mello bed has a manufacturing defect, or a structural or functional fault occurs during normal use, please report it to us and we will assess your case. Where a defect is confirmed, we will replace or refund the item at no cost to you, including return shipping. This does not include normal wear and tear, expected material behaviour, or damage caused after delivery. Each case is assessed individually.

Non-returnable items: Items where the original vacuum seal has been opened, sale items, and gift cards are not eligible for return or exchange.

Refunds: Approved refunds will be processed to the original payment method within 10 business days of receiving and inspecting the returned item.

To initiate a return or exchange, please contact us at hello@mellobed.co.za.

Section 7 - Intellectual Property

Our Services, including but not limited to all product designs, trademarks, brands, text, displays, images, graphics, product reviews, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof, are owned by Mello, its affiliates or licensors and are protected by South African and international copyright, trademark, and intellectual property laws.

These Terms permit you to use the Services for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on the Services without our prior written consent. Except as expressly provided herein, nothing in these Terms grants or shall be construed as granting a license or other rights to you under any patent, trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property of Mello, Shopify or any third party. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by Mello.

Section 8 - Optional Tools

You may be provided with access to customer tools offered by third parties as part of the Services, which we neither monitor nor have any control nor input. You acknowledge and agree that we provide access to such tools "as is" and "as available" without any warranties, representations or conditions of any kind and without any endorsement. We shall have no liability whatsoever arising from or relating to your use of optional third-party tools. Any use by you of the optional tools offered through the site is entirely at your own risk and discretion and you should ensure that you are familiar with and approve of the terms on which tools are provided by the relevant third-party provider(s).

Section 9 - Third-Party Links

The Services may contain materials and hyperlinks to websites provided or operated by third parties (including any embedded third party functionality). We are not responsible for examining or evaluating the content or accuracy of any third-party materials or websites you choose to access. If you decide to leave the Services to access these materials or third party sites, you do so at your own risk. We are not liable for any harm or damages related to your access of any third-party websites, or your purchase or use of any products, services, resources, or content on any third-party websites. Please review carefully the third-party's policies and practices and make sure you understand them before you engage in any transaction.

Section 10 - Relationship with Shopify

Mello is powered by Shopify, which enables us to provide the Services to you. However, any sales and purchases you make in our Store are made directly with Mello. By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that Shopify is not responsible for any aspect of any sales between you and Mello, including any injury, damage, or loss resulting from purchased products and services. You hereby expressly release Shopify and its affiliates from all claims, damages, and liabilities arising from or related to your purchases and transactions with Mello.

Section 11 - Privacy Policy and POPIA

All personal information we collect through the Services is subject to our Privacy Policy, which can be viewed on our website, and is processed in strict compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Certain personal information may also be subject to Shopify's Privacy Policy. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read these privacy policies. Because the Services are hosted by Shopify, Shopify collects and processes personal information about your access to and use of the Services in order to provide and improve the Services for you. Information you submit to the Services will be transmitted to and shared with Shopify as well as third parties that may be located in other countries than where you reside, in order to provide services to you. Review our privacy policy for more details on how we, Shopify, and our partners use your personal information.

Section 12 - Feedback and Customer Reviews

If you submit, upload, post, email, or otherwise transmit any ideas, suggestions, feedback, product reviews, photo submissions, proposals, or other content (collectively, "Feedback"), you grant us a perpetual, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute and display such Feedback in any medium for any purpose, including for commercial marketing and advertising use. You also represent and warrant that: (i) you own or have all necessary rights to all Feedback; (ii) you have disclosed any compensation or incentives received in connection with your submission of Feedback; and (iii) your Feedback will comply with these Terms. We are and shall be under no obligation to maintain your Feedback in confidence or to pay compensation for your Feedback. We may, but have no obligation to, monitor, edit or remove Feedback that we determine in our sole discretion to be unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party's intellectual property or these Terms of Service.

Section 13 - Prohibited Uses

You may access and use the Services for lawful purposes only. You may not access or use the Services, directly or indirectly: (a) for any unlawful or malicious purpose; (b) to violate any local, provincial, national, or international regulations, rules, or laws; (c) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others; (d) to harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or harm any of our employees or any other person; (e) to transmit false or misleading information; (f) to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use, or re-use any material that does not comply with these Terms; (g) to transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any "junk mail," "chain letter," "spam," or any other similar solicitation; (h) to impersonate or attempt to impersonate any other person or entity; or (i) to engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone's use or enjoyment of the Services.

In addition, you agree not to: (a) upload or transmit viruses or any other type of malicious code; (b) reproduce, duplicate, copy, extract, sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Services; (c) collect or track the personal information of others; (d) spam, phish, pharm, or pretext the services; (e) use any robot, spider, scraping, data gathering and extraction tools, automatic devices or processes, AI tools (such as agentic AI) or automated or manual means to crawl, scrape, or access the Services; or (f) interfere with, bypass, or circumvent the security or authorization features of the website. We reserve the right to suspend, disable, or terminate your account at any time, without notice, if we determine that you have violated any part of these Terms.

Section 14 - Agents and Automated AI Bots

14.1 This section ("Agent Terms") applies if you use, allow, enable, or cause the deployment of an Agent to access, use, or interact with any Services. "Agent" means any software, bot, scraper, or service that takes autonomous or semi-autonomous action on behalf of, or at the instruction of, any person or entity and that can be executed on behalf of or using a person's device, without direct human supervision.

14.2 No Agent may access, use, or interact with Services unless, at all times, it identifies itself and operates in strict accordance with the requirements in section 14.4 below. In addition, no Agent may access, use, or interact with Services if we have requested that the Agent refrain from accessing, using, or interacting with any service.

14.3 We may limit, including by technical measures, whether and how any Agent accesses, uses, and interacts with Services.

14.4 Agents must: (i) in all HTTP/HTTPS requests, identify that the request is from an Agent and disclose the name of the Agent by including the following in the request's user agent string: "Agent/[agent name]"; (ii) not conceal or obfuscate that any access, use, or interactions are from an Agent, such as by (a) mimicking human behavior and interaction patterns, or (b) completing or circumventing CAPTCHAs or measures intended to distinguish computer use from humans, (iii) respond truthfully to any question or prompt seeking to determine if interactions are coming from a human or a computer, (iv) not circumvent or otherwise avoid any measure intended to block, limit, modify, or control whether and how Agents access, use, or interact with the Services.

Section 15 - Termination

We may terminate this agreement or your access to the Services (or any part thereof) in our sole discretion at any time without notice, and you will remain liable for all amounts due up to and including the date of termination. The following sections will continue to apply following any termination: Intellectual Property, Feedback, Termination, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Severability, Waiver; Entire Agreement, Assignment, Governing Law, Privacy Policy, and any other provisions that by their nature should survive termination.

Section 16 - Disclaimer of Warranties

The information presented on or through the Services is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk.

Except for the explicit statutory warranties mandated under the South African Consumer Protection Act, the Services and all products offered through the Services are provided 'as is' and 'as available' for your use, without any representation, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, durability, title, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee, represent or warrant that your use of the Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free.

Section 17 - Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent provided by South African law, in no case shall Mello, our partners, directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, contractors, service providers or licensors, or those of Shopify and its affiliates, be liable for any injury, loss, claim, or any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages of any kind, including, without limitation, lost profits, lost revenue, lost savings, loss of data, replacement costs, or any similar damages, whether based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, arising from your use of any of the services or any products procured using the services, even if advised of their possibility. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for instances where South African law renders it unlawful to limit or exclude such liability.

Section 18 - Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Mello, Shopify, and our affiliates, partners, officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, licensors, and service providers from any losses, damages, liabilities or claims, including reasonable attorneys' fees, payable to any third party due to or arising out of (1) your breach of these Terms of Service or the documents they incorporate by reference, (2) your violation of any law or the rights of a third party, or (3) your access to and use of the Services.

Section 19 - Severability

In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is determined to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, such provision shall nonetheless be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and the unenforceable portion shall be deemed to be severed from these Terms of Service, such determination shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other remaining provisions.

Section 20 - Waiver; Entire Agreement

The failure of us to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms of Service and any policies or operating rules posted by us on this site or in respect to the Service constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between you and us and governs your use of the Service, superseding any prior or contemporaneous agreements, communications and proposals, whether oral or written, between you and us. Any ambiguities in the interpretation of these Terms of Service shall not be construed against the drafting party.

Section 21 - Assignment

You may not delegate, transfer or assign this Agreement or any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent, and any such attempt will be null and void. We may transfer, assign, or delegate these Terms and our rights and obligations without consent or notice to you.

Section 22 - Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. You and Mello consent to the jurisdiction of the South African courts and applicable consumer tribunals for any disputes arising out of these terms.

Section 23 - Force Majeure

Mello shall not be held liable for delays or failure to perform any obligations under these terms due to events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to electricity grid disruptions (loadshedding), port delays, supply chain disruptions, natural disasters, civil unrest, or regulatory actions.

Section 24 - Changes to Terms of Service

You can review the most current version of the Terms of Service at any time on this page. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to update, change, or replace any part of these Terms of Service by posting updates and changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Services following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Service constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Section 25 - Contact information

Questions about the Terms of Service should be sent to us at hello@mellobed.co.za