Privacy Policy

The Gr8 Escape ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what information we collect when you use our website (www.thegr8escape.co.za) or book one of our experiences, how we use it, and the rights you have under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA").

1. Who we are

The Gr8 Escape operates premium escape room and murder-mystery experiences from Pineslopes Office Park, Block C, First Floor, Corner Forest Road & The Straight, Fourways, Johannesburg. You can contact us at info@thegr8escape.co.za or 076 362 0765.

2. Information we collect

When you book an experience or contact us, we collect:

• Identity & contact details — your name, email address and phone number.
• Booking details — the room or mystery you selected, date and time, group size, any add-ons, and special requests you choose to share.
• Payment information — payments are processed by PayFast. We never see or store your full card details; we only receive a confirmation that payment succeeded along with the amount and a reference.
• Technical information — basic logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited) collected by our hosting provider for security and reliability.

3. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Confirm, manage and prepare for your booking, including sending you confirmation, reminder and cancellation emails.
• Take payment for your booking and reconcile it with our records.
• Reply to enquiries you submit through the contact form.
• Comply with our legal and tax obligations.
• Improve our website and the experiences we offer.

We do not use your details for marketing unless you have opted in, and we do not sell your personal information to anyone.

4. Who we share information with

We share the minimum information necessary with the service providers that help us run the business:

• PayFast — to take card and EFT payments securely.
• SendGrid — to send booking and enquiry emails on our behalf.
• Supabase — our database and authentication provider.
• Vercel — our website hosting provider.
• Google Calendar — to schedule your booking on our internal operations calendar.

These providers act as our operators under POPIA and are contractually required to keep your information confidential and secure. We may also disclose information where required by law or to protect our legal rights.

5. How long we keep it

We keep booking and payment records for at least five years to meet South African tax and accounting requirements. Contact-form enquiries are kept for up to 24 months and then deleted. You can ask us to delete your information sooner where we have no legal reason to keep it.

6. How we keep it safe

Our website is served over HTTPS. Payment data is handled exclusively by PayFast and never reaches our servers. Access to our customer records is restricted to staff who need it to run a booking. Despite our best efforts, no online service can guarantee absolute security — please contact us immediately if you suspect your information has been compromised.

7. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Ask us to delete information where we have no lawful reason to keep it.
• Object to direct marketing at any time.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@thegr8escape.co.za. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Cookies

Our website uses a small number of essential cookies to make booking and the shopping cart work. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

9. Children

Our experiences are open to children, but bookings are made by an adult. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 18. If you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, please contact us so we can remove it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the latest version. Material changes will be highlighted on the website.