Refund Policy
If you paid to unlock a house and it was not as described, we refund you. Here is the whole policy.
01The principle
If you paid to unlock a house and the house was not as described, we refund you. We would rather refund an honest person than argue about 500 francs — and each refund tells us our review process missed something.
This policy covers payments made to Nkwata: unlock fees, seeker bundles, and landlord listing fees. It does not cover money you pay a landlord, which is between you and them.
02When we refund an unlock
We refund the unlock fee where:
- The property was already taken when you unlocked it
- The contact number does not work, or nobody responds within 48 hours
- The property at the location is not the property in the photographs
- The rent demanded is materially different from the rent listed
- The listing turns out to be fraudulent
- You were charged twice for the same listing
Ask within 7 days of unlocking. Tell us what happened — a screenshot or a short description is enough. We do not require you to prove it beyond that.
Refunds are returned to the mobile money account you paid from, normally within 5 working days.
03When we do not refund an unlock
We will not usually refund where:
- You unlocked the listing and simply changed your mind
- You did not like the property when you visited
- You could not agree terms with the landlord
- The property was taken by someone else after you unlocked it
- You unlocked the wrong listing by mistake but the listing was accurate
The unlock fee pays for access to information that was accurate at the time. If the information was accurate, the fee has done its job.
04Seeker bundles
A bundle may be refunded in full within 7 days of purchase if no unlocks have been used.
If some unlocks have been used, we refund proportionally for the unused portion, provided you ask within 7 days.
After 7 days, or once most of a bundle has been used, bundles are not refundable. Unused unlocks expire at the end of the thirty-day period and do not carry over.
05Landlord listing fees
Listing fees are charged only for days a listing is actually live. When you switch a listing off, billing stops the same day and you are not charged further.
If we remove your listing because it breaches our terms, the fee for that period is not refunded.
If we remove your listing in error, we refund the affected period in full and restore the listing.
06Paid photography and verification visits
These are services delivered by people travelling to your property.
- Cancel more than 24 hours before the appointment: refunded in full
- Cancel within 24 hours: half the fee is retained to cover the reserved slot
- Nobody present at the property when our agent arrives: the fee is retained
- Our agent fails to attend: refunded in full, and we rebook at no charge
07How to ask for a refund
- Contact us at [CONTACT EMAIL] or [YOUR PHONE] on WhatsApp
- Tell us which listing, and what happened
- We respond within 2 working days
- Approved refunds are sent within 5 working days to the account you paid from
If we decline a refund we will tell you why. If you disagree, say so — we will look again, and a person rather than a rule will decide.
08What this policy does not cover
Money you pay to a landlord — rent, advance, caution — is not paid to Nkwata and cannot be refunded by Nkwata. We never hold that money at any point. This is why we say, on every listing: never pay for a house you have not stood inside.
If you have been defrauded by someone you met through the platform, report it to us immediately. We will suspend the account, preserve the records, and assist you and the authorities as far as we can.
Questions about this page? Contact us at [CONTACT EMAIL] or [YOUR PHONE].
Nkwata is a noticeboard connecting house-seekers with landlords and their caretakers. We are not an estate agent, we take no commission on any tenancy, and we never hold rent or deposits.