Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of terms

By creating an account or using Buildbuggy, you agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

2. What Buildbuggy is

Buildbuggy is a trading name of Ari Ventures (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2026/560629/07), a marketplace that connects clients with Buildbuggys and service professionals in South Africa. We facilitate discovery, booking, payment, and communication, but we are not a party to any contract between a client and a Buildbuggy.

A booking is an agreement between the client and the service professional for the agreed work. Buildbuggy supplies its own platform, payment-administration and support services under these terms. Nothing in these terms removes responsibilities imposed on Buildbuggy by applicable law.

3. Accounts

• You must be 18 or older to create an account.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure.
• You must provide accurate information during registration and onboarding.
• Buildbuggys must complete the onboarding and review process before their profile is visible to clients.
• Identity documents and banking details are optional at onboarding. Verification badges describe checks actually completed; they are not a guarantee of identity, qualifications, conduct or work quality. A suitable verified payout bank account is required before a payout can be processed.

4. Bookings and payments

• A quote records the proposed work, fixed job price and schedule. Acceptance creates a booking, but the job is confirmed only after Buildbuggy verifies the required payment. For callouts, a payment authorisation may precede the professional's acceptance; an authorisation is not a completed charge.
• The agreed job price, the client's platform fee and the professional's fee are separate amounts. Clients see their own fee and total charge. Professionals see the agreed job price, their applicable fee and an estimated payout, not the client's added platform fee or gross charge. An estimated payout is not a guarantee of the final amount payable.
• The fee rates applying to a booking are recorded when the booking is created. Published fee changes apply prospectively to future bookings and do not reprice an existing booking. Applicable fees must be reviewed before entering a new booking.
• Payment is held for the booking and is not paid to the professional merely because a quote is accepted or work begins. The professional marks the work finished and the client confirms completion. Payout eligibility normally begins on client confirmation; if the client does not respond, it normally begins two full South African working days after the work is marked finished. Buildbuggy then manually reviews and processes eligible payouts, subject to disputes, lawful adjustments, operational and funding checks. Provider and bank processing can add delay.
• Protected payment is a payment-administration feature, not a guarantee of the work, a guarantee against fraud, an insurance policy or a promise of immediate payout. Disputes, reversals, refunds and lawful reconciliation requirements can affect release and the amount payable. Nothing here limits mandatory payment or consumer rights.

5. Buildbuggy obligations

• Provide accurate information about your services, pricing, and qualifications.
• Carry out agreed work with reasonable skill and care.
• Respond to booking requests and messages in a timely manner.
• Do not request or accept payment outside of the Buildbuggy platform.

6. Client obligations

• Provide clear and accurate job details when requesting a callout or quote.
• Be available at the agreed time for the scheduled callout.
• Confirm job completion promptly once work is satisfactorily completed.
• Do not make payment to Buildbuggys outside of the Buildbuggy platform.

7. Disputes

Either party may raise a dispute if they believe the other party has not met their obligations. Buildbuggy will review the available information, communicate with both parties and record a platform resolution. Depending on the circumstances and applicable rights, a resolution may provide a full or partial client refund, a professional's award, both, or account restrictions. Raising a dispute does not automatically entitle either party to the entire payment.

• The original dispute reason and description are restricted in the platform to the person who submitted them and authorised administrators. The other party receives a neutral dispute notice. A resolution explanation may be shared with both parties, and each party receives role-appropriate financial information. Messages you send directly to another user remain visible to that recipient. Necessary service-provider processing and lawful disclosure are described in the Privacy Policy.
• A client's awarded refund is not reduced by payment-gateway or transfer costs. Buildbuggy bears those costs. A full refund of the original booking charge includes the client's platform fee; a partial refund is the amount awarded, not a promise to return every amount originally paid. Any separate cancellation charge must be lawfully applicable and clearly disclosed, not imposed as an undisclosed gateway-fee deduction.
• Where a resolution awards a refund, Buildbuggy initiates the refund through Paystack. It normally returns through the original payment method. A recorded resolution or refund request does not mean that the provider has processed the refund or that the money has arrived. After provider confirmation, allow an estimated 3–10 working days for it to reflect; payment-method, provider and bank processing can vary. Failed, uncertain or needs-attention refunds require investigation and reconciliation. Contact support if a refund is delayed or its details appear incorrect.
• A professional's award is recorded before the applicable booking fee is deducted to calculate the net payout. Where a client refund is also required, the professional's payout remains held until that refund is confirmed processed. Payout approval does not itself send money: Buildbuggy separately initiates the transfer, subject to verification, funding and bank-processing checks. A builder transfer and a client refund are tracked separately.

Platform resolutions administer the booking and its payments; they are not court judgments and do not waive either party's statutory rights, prevent a complaint to a competent regulator, or remove access to lawful external remedies.

8. Reviews

Both parties may review a completed booking within the review window shown on the project. Reviews remain blind until both parties submit or the review window closes, subject to moderation and dispute rules. Only published reviews are shown to other users.

Published reviews about professionals can appear on public professional profiles. New published reviews about clients may be read by all signed-in professionals where the client acknowledged the review-audience rules introduced on 23 October 2026, including those same rules in this policy release, before that review was submitted. Reviews recorded under the earlier audience rules keep those rules; publication or later acknowledgement does not retrospectively widen their audience. Client reviews are not offered on an anonymous public profile or for search-engine indexing.

Reviews must describe genuine experience and must not contain knowingly false statements, threats, discriminatory abuse, private contact details or information unrelated to the job. Users are responsible for the content they submit. A user cannot selectively hide an unfavourable review, but may submit a permitted reply, report content for moderation, and exercise applicable correction, objection and deletion rights.

Reviews and ratings are user-generated opinions, not findings of wrongdoing, endorsements or guarantees by Buildbuggy. We may moderate content and investigate reports, but cannot verify every statement or guarantee that every misleading or harmful review will be identified. Moderation decisions do not replace a court determination or legal remedy. Consider the context and make your own informed decisions; a rating does not establish that a person is safe, unsafe or suitable.

9. Prohibited conduct

• Posting false or misleading information.
• Harassing, abusing, or threatening other users.
• Circumventing platform payment to avoid fees.
• Creating multiple accounts to manipulate reviews or ratings.

Violations may result in proportionate restrictions, content removal or account suspension. Funds are not automatically forfeited merely because an account is restricted; any withholding, refund, adjustment or release must follow the applicable booking, dispute and payment process and the law.

10. Liability

Professionals remain responsible for performing the agreed work, and clients remain responsible for their obligations. Buildbuggy does not supervise every job, inspect all work or independently verify every statement, photograph or review. Verification checks, ratings and platform access do not guarantee a user's future conduct, qualifications, solvency, safety or work quality.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Buildbuggy is not responsible for loss caused by another user's acts, omissions or inaccurate user-generated content, and excludes indirect or consequential loss arising from use of the platform. Where a limitation of liability is lawful and reasonable, Buildbuggy's aggregate liability arising from a particular booking is limited to the platform fees it actually received for that booking.

These limitations do not exclude or restrict liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted, including any applicable liability for fraud, gross negligence, unlawful processing of personal information or breach of mandatory consumer protections. Nothing in these terms waives rights under POPIA, the Consumer Protection Act or other applicable law, prevents a complaint to a competent regulator, or removes a remedy a court must make available. If a limitation is unenforceable, it applies only to the extent the law permits.

11. Account suspension

Buildbuggy may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or pose a risk to other users.

12. Account deletion

The account-removal option in Settings currently deactivates your account; it is not an automatic erasure of every record or an immediate anonymisation service. Related booking, payment, message, review and audit records may remain in our systems. Before closing your account, contact support about active work, disputes and unpaid amounts. Closing an account does not by itself extinguish a valid payment obligation or your statutory rights.

For a request to erase or correct personal information, or to object to its processing, contact privacy@buildbuggy.co.za. We assess the request under POPIA and applicable record-keeping requirements, explain any lawful retention, and take the appropriate action. We do not promise automatic erasure after a fixed number of days merely because the account was deactivated.

13. Changes to terms

We may update these terms and will give notice of material changes through the platform and, where appropriate, other available channels. Where updated acceptance is required, the platform asks you to accept the current Terms and acknowledge the Privacy Policy before new marketplace actions. Earlier acceptance records are retained as evidence of the document versions acknowledged. Material audience changes do not retrospectively widen legacy client-review visibility under this release.

14. Contact

For questions about these terms, contact Buildbuggy support at support@buildbuggy.co.za. These terms should be reviewed by a South African legal professional before commercial launch.

These terms describe platform operations and do not promise immunity from legal responsibility. The review-audience changes and liability provisions require review by a South African legal professional before commercial release.

Buildbuggy is a trading name of Ari Ventures (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/560629/07, South Africa.