Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the AskAndBook platform ("the Service"), you ("the Customer") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service. These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and AskAndBook ("we", "us", or "our").

By subscribing to or using the Service, you confirm that you have the authority to bind the business or entity on whose behalf you are acting.

2. Description of Service

AskAndBook provides an AI-powered voice receptionist platform that allows businesses to deploy AI voice agents to handle inbound phone calls. The Service includes:

• Automated call handling and answering of frequently asked questions.
• Appointment booking and calendar integration.
• Lead capture and qualification.
• Call recordings and transcripts.
• A self-service business portal for configuration and management.

Features available to you depend on your subscription plan. We reserve the right to modify, update, or discontinue features with reasonable notice.

Phone number provisioning: Phone numbers made available through the Service are provisioned via third-party telecommunications providers and remain subject to their policies and availability. AskAndBook does not guarantee the continued availability of any specific phone number. In the event a number is reclaimed or becomes unavailable due to provider policy, we will endeavour to provide reasonable notice and a suitable alternative number where possible.

3. Service Availability & Telecommunications

AskAndBook is a software platform, not a telecommunications carrier. The Service relies on third-party telecommunications and cloud infrastructure providers to deliver call handling and AI capabilities. Accordingly:

• We do not guarantee uninterrupted call delivery or telephony connectivity. Call quality, availability, and routing are subject to the performance and availability of our underlying providers.
• We are not responsible for outages, degradation, or failures caused by third-party networks, telecommunications carriers, or cloud infrastructure providers.
• Planned maintenance or emergency outages may temporarily affect the availability of the Service. Where reasonably practicable, we will provide advance notice of scheduled maintenance.
• Our target uptime is published on our website and is provided on a reasonable-endeavours basis only. It does not constitute a guarantee or form part of any service level agreement unless separately agreed in writing.

4. Accounts & Access

Access to the platform is provided upon successful registration and payment. You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.
• All activity that occurs under your account.
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorised access or security breach at support@askandbook.app.
• Ensuring all information provided during registration is accurate and kept up to date.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that we reasonably believe have been compromised or are being misused.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Engage in any unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive activity.
• Transmit spam, unsolicited communications, or harmful content.
• Violate any applicable law, regulation, or third-party rights (including privacy and data protection laws).
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, its infrastructure, or other customers' use of the Service.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any system or data.
• Use the AI voice agent to impersonate individuals, spread misinformation, or cause harm to callers.
• Resell or sublicense the Service without our prior written consent.
• Use the Service for robocalling, automated telemarketing, harassment, or any other unlawful use of the telephone system, regardless of whether outbound calling functionality is available at the time.

You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service complies with all laws applicable to your business, including consumer protection, telecommunications, and data protection laws (including POPIA and GDPR where applicable). You must ensure that callers are appropriately informed they are interacting with an AI system.

6. Billing & Payments

Subscription fees are billed monthly in advance via Paystack. Your subscription begins on the date of your first successful payment and renews automatically each month unless cancelled.

Overage charges for minutes used beyond your plan's included allowance are billed automatically at the end of each billing cycle at the applicable per-minute rate displayed on our pricing page. Overage charges are processed as a separate transaction charged to your saved payment method. You will receive an email notification detailing the overage amount. If the overage charge fails, your AI agent will be paused until payment is resolved.

Non-refundable: All fees paid are non-refundable except where required by applicable law. If you cancel your subscription mid-cycle, you retain access until the end of the current billing period but no pro-rata refund will be issued.

Price changes: We may update our pricing with at least 30 days' written notice by email. Your continued use of the Service after the notice period constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

Failed payments: If a subscription payment fails, your AI agent will be paused immediately to prevent unpaid usage. You can restore service at any time by updating your payment method in your billing portal. We reserve the right to suspend your account if payment remains unresolved.

Add-on charges: Optional add-on services such as SMS Notifications and WhatsApp Post-Call Assistant are billed at the rates displayed on the relevant add-on configuration page in your portal, either via pay-as-you-go or prepaid bundle packs. Rates may be updated from time to time with reasonable notice.

Payments are processed by Paystack and are subject to their terms and conditions. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and other payment methods supported by Paystack. EFT and bank transfer may be available on request for qualifying accounts.

7. AI Disclaimer & Responsibilities

The Service uses artificial intelligence to handle phone calls on behalf of your business. You acknowledge and agree that:

• AI responses may not always be accurate, complete, or appropriate for every situation.
• You are responsible for reviewing and configuring the AI's knowledge base, booking settings, and responses to ensure they accurately represent your business.
• AskAndBook is not liable for any loss, damage, or complaint arising from incorrect, misleading, or inadequate AI responses resulting from information you have provided (or failed to provide) during configuration.
• The AI should not be used as a substitute for human judgement in complex, sensitive, or emergency situations. You should maintain a mechanism for callers to reach a human agent when required.
• Emergency services: The Service is not intended for emergency communications. AI voice agents deployed through the platform are not a substitute for emergency services or human assistance in urgent situations. Businesses using the Service must ensure that callers have access to appropriate emergency contact channels where necessary.
• Business information responsibility: Customers are responsible for ensuring that all business information, service descriptions, pricing, availability, and booking rules configured in the platform are accurate and up to date. AskAndBook is not responsible for errors in bookings, lead information, or customer interactions resulting from inaccurate or incomplete information provided by the customer.
• Customer indemnity: You agree to indemnify and hold AskAndBook harmless from any claims, losses, damages, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from the content you provide to the platform, the accuracy of your knowledge base, or your use of the AI agent in a manner that causes harm or loss to callers, third parties, or your business.

8. Data & Privacy

Your use of the Service is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. You acknowledge that:

• As the business deploying our AI agents, you are responsible for ensuring callers are informed that calls may be handled by an AI and may be recorded.
• You must have a lawful basis for collecting and processing any personal data captured during calls (including leads and bookings).
• You will not use the Service to collect personal data in violation of POPIA, GDPR, or any other applicable data protection law.
• In the event of a data breach that affects your data or your callers' data, we will notify you in accordance with the timeframes and requirements set out in applicable data protection law (including POPIA and GDPR where relevant).

9. Intellectual Property

All software, technology, branding, and content comprising the Service are owned by AskAndBook or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of our intellectual property to you.

You retain full ownership of your business data, call content, and configuration data. By using the Service, you grant us a limited licence to process and store that data solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• AskAndBook shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, loss of data, or loss of business opportunity, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service.
• Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising under or related to these Terms shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to AskAndBook in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
• We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or entirely secure. The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law, including liability for fraud or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

11. Termination

By you: You may cancel your subscription at any time through your billing portal or by contacting us at support@askandbook.app. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

By us: We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if you breach these Terms, fail to pay fees, or engage in conduct that we reasonably believe is harmful to other users, third parties, or our platform. In non-urgent cases, we will provide 30 days' written notice before termination.

Effect of termination: Upon termination, your access to the platform will cease. Your data will be retained for the period configured in your settings and then permanently deleted in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

12. Add-Ons & Fair Usage

Optional add-on services such as SMS Notifications and WhatsApp Post-Call Assistant are billed separately from your subscription plan. Charges are based on usage (per SMS sent or per WhatsApp conversation initiated) or through prepaid bundle packs, as described on the relevant add-on configuration page.

A WhatsApp conversation is initiated each time a post-call follow-up message is sent to a caller. All messages exchanged within that conversation — including replies, booking changes, and follow-up questions — are included at no additional per-message charge.

Add-ons are subject to a fair usage policy. They are intended for normal business interactions such as customer enquiries, appointment management, and follow-ups. We reserve the right to review accounts where usage significantly exceeds typical patterns, and to apply additional charges, rate limits, or access restrictions in cases of automated, bulk, or abusive messaging. Typical business use is not affected by this policy.

Fair Usage & Service Sustainability

To maintain quality and affordability for all customers, AskAndBook monitors platform usage patterns across all accounts. Certain service features — including but not limited to call transfers, escalations to human agents, and overage minutes — generate infrastructure costs that are absorbed by AskAndBook as part of your subscription.

AskAndBook may, at its sole discretion, suspend, restrict, or adjust service for any account where usage patterns consistently generate disproportionate costs relative to the subscription plan. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Call escalation or transfer rates that are significantly above the platform average for comparable plans
• Persistent failure to pay overage charges or add-on usage fees
• Usage patterns that indicate the service is being used in a manner inconsistent with its intended purpose as a business receptionist

Where practicable, AskAndBook will provide reasonable prior notice via email before taking action under this clause, except where immediate suspension is necessary to prevent ongoing harm to the platform or other customers. Service will be reinstated promptly upon resolution of the underlying issue, such as successful payment of outstanding charges or adjustment of usage patterns.

AskAndBook reserves the right to modify included minutes, overage rates, add-on pricing, and plan features with reasonable advance notice. Continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

13. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict of law principles.

In the event of a dispute, the parties agree to first attempt resolution through good-faith negotiation. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days, either party may refer the matter to binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), or such other dispute resolution body as agreed. Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

If the Service is accessed or used outside of South Africa, the Customer is solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable local telecommunications, consumer protection, and privacy laws in their jurisdiction. AskAndBook makes no representation that the Service is appropriate or legally permitted in any jurisdiction other than South Africa.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or a prominent notice on our website at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

15. Contact

For questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

AskAndBook
Email: support@askandbook.app
Website: askandbook.app