Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Tails and Co (the "Platform", "we", "us", "our"), reachable via our website and mobile applications. By creating an account, signing in, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use Tails and Co.

Tails and Co is operated as a South African business. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity (for example, as a Partner Business), you confirm you have the authority to bind that entity.

1. What Tails and Co Is

Tails and Co is a booking marketplace that connects pet parents ("Customers") with independent, third-party pet care businesses ("Partners") - including veterinary clinics, groomers, trainers, and boarding/daycare facilities. Tails and Co makes it easier to discover Partners, schedule appointments, and pay for services in one place.

Tails and Co does not itself provide veterinary, grooming, training, boarding, or any other pet care service. Every Partner listed on the Platform is an independent business, not an employee, agent, franchisee, or representative of Tails and Co. Tails and Co is not responsible for the professional judgment, advice, diagnosis, treatment, or quality of services provided by any Partner.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. If you are a minor, a parent or legal guardian must create and manage the account on your behalf.
You agree to provide accurate, current information (name, email, phone number) and to keep it up to date.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized use of your account.
One account per person. You may not create an account using another person's identity or false information.
You may sign in using an email/password combination or via Google Sign-In. If you use Google Sign-In, your use of that feature is also subject to Google's own terms of service.

3. Using Tails and Co as a Customer

Creating an account, browsing Partners, and booking appointments through Tails and Co is free for Customers. There is no Tails and Co subscription or membership fee.
The price you see for a booking is the price set by that Partner. Tails and Co does not add its own service fee on top of a Customer's booking price.
You are responsible for the accuracy of information you provide when booking (for example, details about your pet's health, behavior, or history) so the Partner can prepare appropriately.
Appointment availability, rescheduling, and cancellation policies are set by each individual Partner and may vary. Please review a Partner's stated policy, shown on their listing, before booking.
Since payment for a booking is collected in full at the time you book (see Section 5), a Partner's no-show or late-cancellation policy does not result in an additional card charge - you have already paid for the appointment. Refund eligibility for a missed appointment is set by the Partner and described in Section 6.
Some Partners also list retail products (for example, food or merchandise available in-store) on their Platform page. These listings are informational only - Tails and Co does not process payment for, or take any commission on, in-store retail purchases; any such purchase is made directly with the Partner, outside the Platform.
By creating an account or booking an appointment, you agree to receive transactional communications related to your bookings and account - for example, booking confirmations, payment receipts, appointment reminders, cancellation notices, and review responses - by email and/or push notification (if you've enabled it on our mobile app). These are operational messages needed to use the Platform, not optional marketing communications.

4. Using Tails and Co as a Partner Business

Partners are independent businesses. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, agency, joint venture, or partnership relationship between Tails and Co and any Partner.
Partners are solely responsible for the services they advertise and deliver, for holding any licenses, registrations, or qualifications required by law to provide those services, and for complying with applicable veterinary, health, and consumer-protection regulations.
Joining Tails and Co as a Partner is free. A commission applies only when a Partner receives a paid booking through the Platform, as described on our Partner Up page and in any separate Partner Agreement or in-app disclosure at the time of signup. Commission terms may include promotional periods (for example, a founding-partner rate) that are communicated separately from these Terms.
Tails and Co may change its commission rates from time to time - for example, to reflect payment-processing costs, platform investment, or general business needs. Where reasonably practicable, Partners will be given at least 30 days' advance notice of a rate change (by email, in-app notice, or an update to the Partner Up page), consistent with how other booking marketplaces handle commission changes. A rate change never applies retroactively to a booking that was already confirmed before the change took effect; it applies only to bookings made from the effective date onward. Continuing to accept bookings through the Platform after a rate change's effective date constitutes acceptance of the new rate.
If a Partner provides Tails and Co with contact information from its own existing client records (for example, via a CSV import) to migrate that client list onto the Platform, the Partner confirms it has the legal right to share that information with Tails and Co and that doing so complies with applicable data protection law, including POPIA (see Section 10). Tails and Co processes this information solely to enable the migration and to match it to that person's account if and when they sign up.
Tails and Co may suspend or remove a Partner account for policy violations, fraudulent activity, or at Tails and Co's reasonable discretion to protect Customers and the integrity of the Platform. Accounts flagged as suspended or removed may lose sign-in access as described in Section 12.

5. Payments

Payments made through Tails and Co are processed by Yoco, a third-party, PCI-compliant payment service provider. Tails and Co does not collect or store your full card details - they are handled directly by Yoco's secure payment infrastructure.
Prices on the Platform are listed and charged in South African Rand (ZAR) unless stated otherwise.
By making a payment, you authorize Tails and Co and Yoco to process the transaction for the booking amount shown at checkout.

6. Cancellations and Refunds

Cancellation and refund eligibility is set by the individual Partner for their own services, since Tails and Co does not control how a Partner schedules or delivers appointments. Where a refund is approved by a Partner (or required by law), it will be processed back to your original payment method via Yoco. If you believe a charge was made in error, contact us using the details in Section 14 and we will help coordinate with the relevant Partner.

7. Pet Health and Medical Disclaimer

Tails and Co is a technology platform, not a veterinary practice. Nothing on the Platform - including provider listings, reviews, appointment reminders, or any general content - constitutes veterinary or medical advice. Always rely on the direct professional judgment of a qualified veterinarian or pet care provider for diagnosis, treatment, or emergency care. If your pet has an urgent medical emergency, contact your nearest veterinary clinic or emergency animal hospital directly - do not rely on the Platform to resolve time-sensitive medical situations.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or to violate any applicable law;
Provide false information about yourself, your pet, or your business;
Attempt to circumvent the Platform to avoid applicable commissions after being introduced to a Partner through Tails and Co;
Scrape, harvest, or copy Platform data without our written permission;
Harass, abuse, or discriminate against other Customers, Partners, or staff;
Interfere with or attempt to disrupt the security or normal operation of the Platform.

Violation of this section may result in suspension or termination of your account.

9. Reviews and User Content

If you submit a review, rating, or other content, you confirm it reflects your genuine experience and does not contain false, defamatory, or unlawful content. You grant Tails and Co a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, reproduce, and distribute that content on the Platform. We may remove content that violates these Terms.

10. Data Protection and Your Information (POPIA)

Tails and Co processes personal information in accordance with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

We collect and use personal information (such as your name, contact details, pet information, and booking/payment history) only as needed to operate the Platform - creating and managing your account, processing bookings and payments, sending the transactional communications described in Section 3, and improving the Platform's security and reliability.
We do not sell your personal information. We share it with a Partner only to the extent needed to fulfil a booking you made with that Partner, and with our payment processor (Yoco) only to the extent needed to process a payment (see Section 5).
If a Partner has migrated their existing client records onto the Platform (see Section 4), Tails and Co processes that information on the Partner's behalf until the person it belongs to creates their own account, at which point it becomes part of that person's account data.
You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, or object to a particular use of it, by contacting us using the details in Section 15. We will respond within the timeframes required by POPIA.

11. Intellectual Property

The Tails and Co name, logo, and the Platform itself (excluding Partner-supplied content such as business names, photos, and service descriptions) are owned by Tails and Co or its licensors. You may not copy, modify, or create derivative works from the Platform without our prior written consent.

12. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using Tails and Co and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access to your account if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or harmful conduct, or if required to do so by law. For Partner (clinic) accounts specifically, a suspended or removed status will block sign-in until the matter is resolved with our support team.

13. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Tails and Co does not guarantee that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Tails and Co is not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Platform, or from services rendered by any independent Partner. Disputes about the quality of a service delivered by a Partner are between the Customer and that Partner; Tails and Co will act in good faith to help mediate but is not a party to that service relationship.

Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited under South African consumer protection law.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time as the Platform evolves. If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and, where appropriate, notify you in-app or by email. Continued use of Tails and Co after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

15. Governing Law and Contact

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. If you have any questions about these Terms, including any request under Section 10, please contact us at support@tailsandco.co.za.