Refund Policy

This Refund Policy explains when money paid through AfroRow is returned, how it is returned, and how refunds affect organizers and resellers. It forms part of our Terms and Conditions. All amounts are in Kenyan Shillings (KES) and all refunds are paid to M-Pesa.

In short: tickets are final sales, except where the event is cancelled or we took your money but could not give you what you paid for. If we charged you and didn’t give you what you paid for, that’s on us and you get the full amount back. Any other refund, such as for a cancelled event, is paid less the M-Pesa transaction charges for sending it (see section 5).

• The event is cancelled. Every paid ticket for a cancelled event is refunded, including any amount you paid to upgrade it. See section 4.
• You were charged but no ticket was issued. Occasionally an M-Pesa payment completes but the ticket can’t be issued, for example because your 30-minute checkout reservation expired before payment arrived, the tickets sold out in the meantime, the event was cancelled or ended mid-payment, or a resell listing was no longer available. We never issue a ticket on a guess in these cases: the payment is recorded for our team and refunded in full, because charging you without issuing your ticket is our responsibility.
• An upgrade couldn’t be completed. If you paid to upgrade a ticket but the higher ticket type sold out, changed price, or the ticket was no longer eligible by the time your payment was confirmed, your ticket stays as it was and the upgrade payment is refunded in full.
• You were charged twice or the wrong amount. Any duplicate or incorrect charge we can match to your M-Pesa receipt is refunded. This is our error, so you get the full amount back.

Outside the cases above, ticket sales are final. This includes:

• You change your mind, can no longer attend, or miss the event.
• You are refused entry because you arrived late, broke venue rules, didn’t meet an age limit or condition shown on the event page, or presented a ticket that had already been used, transferred, or resold.
• You shared your ticket or QR code and someone else used it first.
• The event goes ahead but differs from what you expected, such as the line-up, running order, or content, unless the organizer cancels it.
• The event is rescheduled or its venue changes. Contact the organizer in that case; if the event is then cancelled, section 4 applies.

If you can’t attend, you can usually transfer your ticket to someone else or resell it on AfroRow instead (see section 6).

• An organizer can cancel an event themselves only before any paid ticket is sold. Once there are sales, the organizer must submit a cancellation request with a reason, and AfroRow reviews and decides it. If we approve it, the event is cancelled.
• When an event is cancelled, all queue places and checkout reservations are closed, every ticket stops working at the door, and every ticket holder is emailed.
• Each paid purchase is refunded: the ticket price, plus any upgrade payments, with no AfroRow fee deducted. If you bought a resold ticket, you are refunded the resell price you paid. M-Pesa transaction charges apply (see section 5).
• Free and complimentary tickets cost nothing, so there is nothing to refund; holders are still notified.

• Refunds are processed by the AfroRow team and sent to the M-Pesa number the payment came from (or the ticket holder’s number on the purchase), matched to the original M-Pesa receipt.
• You don’t need to apply for a refund caused by a cancellation or a failed ticket issue. They are queued automatically. If you think you are owed one and haven’t received it, contact us with your M-Pesa receipt number.
• We aim to send refunds promptly after they are queued. Timing can depend on the size of the event and on Safaricom.
• Transaction charges. Refunds are subject to transaction charges. Safaricom charges for sending money by M-Pesa, and that charge is deducted from your refund, so you receive the amount you paid less the cost of sending it back. This applies to every refund, including for cancelled events, except one caused on our end.
• Refunds caused on our end. If we charged you but didn’t give you what you paid for, for example no ticket was issued because the tickets sold out while you were paying, an upgrade couldn’t be completed, or you were charged twice or the wrong amount, you get the full amount you paid back and AfroRow covers the charge for sending it. This is the only case in which a refund is paid in full.
• Once a ticket is refunded it is cancelled and can’t be used, transferred, or resold.

• Transfer. You can send a ticket to another person by email. No money changes hands through AfroRow and nothing is refunded.
• Resell. You can list a paid ticket to resell on AfroRow. You can’t charge more than you paid, unless that ticket type is sold out, in which case you can charge up to 20% more. Free tickets, group seats, tickets that were transferred to you, and tickets that have already been resold once can’t be resold. If your listing doesn’t sell, you keep the ticket; a listing is not a refund.
• Resell earnings are held until the event ends, then paid out, less AfroRow’s fee and M-Pesa transaction charges. If the event is cancelled first, the resell buyer is refunded and the reseller is not paid.

• Ticket proceeds are held in your pending balance and become available to withdraw only after the event ends (and, for organizers in their first 30 days, a further 7 days).
• Payouts to organizers and resellers are subject to transaction charges. The M-Pesa charge for sending a payout is deducted from the amount you receive.
• If an event is cancelled, its sales are reversed and you are not paid for them, including any upgrade or resell proceeds tied to that event. Held resell payouts for the event are closed.
• If you had already withdrawn money for sales that are later refunded, your balance may go negative. You won’t be able to withdraw again until it is cleared, and we may recover the amount from future earnings or ask you to repay it.
• Organizers remain responsible to attendees for any costs or claims arising from a cancellation, beyond the ticket refund.

If you think a refund was wrongly refused or the amount is wrong, email us with your name, the event, and your M-Pesa receipt number. We will look into it and reply. This does not affect any rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 or other Kenyan law.

Refund questions: contact@afrorow.com.