Refund & Cancellation Policy

The principle

• This policy explains what happens to your money if a booking is cancelled, changed, or cannot go ahead. It forms part of our Terms & Conditions and does not remove your rights under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 9 of 2003.
• The guiding principle is fair on both sides: if the cancellation is on your side, a small fee covers our real costs; if the fault is ours, you are made whole.

1. Key definitions

• Order value: The total on your Order Document (rental + services + delivery), before deposit.
• Advance: The 60% (or full amount for short-notice bookings) you paid to confirm.
• Rental Period start: The date and time your booking begins on the Order Document.
• Cancellation fee: 10% of the order value. This is a genuine pre-estimate of our unrecovered costs (processing, staff time, and having held the items unavailable to other customers). It is not a penalty.

2. When you cancel

• 24 hours or more before start: Advance refunded, minus the 10% cancellation fee.
• Less than 24 hours before start: Advance is not refunded (the items were locked and it is too late to re-rent).
• After the Rental Period has started: No refund; the fee is payable because the items were made available to you.
• How to cancel: Contact us on +94 77 718 6500 or hello@rentitem.lk. The cancellation takes effect when we receive your request; please keep the confirmation we send back.

3. When we cancel, or the fault is ours

If we cancel your booking, fail to deliver, or the equipment is unusable on arrival and we cannot replace it in time, you choose either:

• A full refund of everything you paid, including the 10%; or
• Free rescheduling to another available date; or
• A replacement item of equivalent function at no extra cost.
• This also applies if we cannot fulfil the booking because of a force-majeure event (we refund amounts not already spent on your booking, or reschedule). Your statutory rights to redress for a defective service under Sri Lankan consumer law are preserved.

4. Changes and rescheduling

• Date change: Subject to availability. If requested 24 hours or more before the start, we will try to move the booking with no cancellation fee (any price difference for the new date applies).
• Downgrading (removing items): 24 hours or more ahead: we refund the removed portion, less the 10% on the removed portion if the items were already locked.
• Upgrading / adding items: Welcome any time, subject to availability, with the added amount payable under the normal payment terms.

5. Deposits

• Your Security Deposit is separate from the rental payment and is fully refundable. It is returned after the items come back in good condition, minus any late, damage, loss, or theft charges. See the Damage & Deposit Policy for how and when the deposit is refunded.

6. Late returns are not cancellations

• Returning equipment late is covered by the late-return terms (section 9 of the Terms & Conditions), not this policy, and late fees are charged separately.

7. How and when refunds are paid

• Refunds are paid to the original payment method where possible, otherwise by bank transfer to an account in your name. We may ask for bank details and proof to make the refund safely.
• We process approved refunds within 7 to 14 working days. Your bank may take additional time to show the funds.
• Cash payments are normally refunded by bank transfer for traceability. We do not refund to a third party's account unless you give clear written authority.

8. Non-use does not create a refund

• If you booked an item and it was reserved and made available, the rental fee is payable even if you did not end up using it, because the item was held for you and kept from other customers.

9. Disputes

• If you think a charge or refund is wrong, contact us first at hello@rentitem.lk so we can review it. Unresolved disputes follow the dispute-resolution ladder in the Terms & Conditions (direct discussion, then mediation, then the courts of Sri Lanka). You may also raise consumer complaints with the Consumer Affairs Authority.