Terms of Service

1.1 These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Taste Trail (Pty) Ltd (registration number [COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER]), a company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa with its registered office at [REGISTERED ADDRESS], South Africa ("Taste Trail", "we", "us", "our").

1.2 They govern your access to and use of the Taste Trail websites, mobile applications, dashboards, APIs, MCP server and related services (together, the "Platform").

1.3 By creating an account, or by otherwise accessing or using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of them.

1.4 Additional terms apply depending on how you use the Platform:

• Annex A — Diner Terms, if you search, book, order or review.

• Annex B — Restaurant Partner Agreement, if you list or manage a restaurant.

• Annex C — API & MCP Developer Terms, if you access the Platform programmatically.

Each annex forms part of these Terms. Where an annex conflicts with these core Terms, the annex prevails for the audience it addresses.

1.5 If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Platform.

"Content" means any text, image, review, rating, menu, photograph, message or other material submitted to or displayed on the Platform.

"Diner" means a person who uses the Platform to discover, book, order from or review restaurants.

"Restaurant Partner" means a business that lists a venue on the Platform, and any person acting on its behalf.

"Developer" means a person or organisation accessing the Platform through our API, MCP server or any other programmatic interface.

"Personal Information" has the meaning given in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

"Services" means the functionality made available through the Platform, including discovery, bookings, ordering, payments, messaging, analytics and AI features.

"User", "you" and "your" mean any person using the Platform in any capacity.

3.1 Age. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. The Platform is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect their Personal Information. If we learn that we hold information about a person under 18, we will delete it.

3.2 Accuracy. You must provide accurate, current and complete information when registering, and keep it up to date. Registering with false details, or impersonating another person or business, is grounds for immediate suspension.

3.3 Authority. If you register on behalf of a business, you warrant that you are authorised to bind that business to these Terms.

3.4 Account security. You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and for all activity under your account. Tell us at security@taste-trail.com without undue delay if you suspect unauthorised access. We are not liable for losses arising from your failure to safeguard your credentials, but we will act promptly once notified.

3.5 One account. You may not maintain multiple accounts to evade limits, suspension, or plan restrictions.

3.6 Verification. We may verify your identity, contact details or business registration, and may limit functionality until verification completes.

4.1 We are an intermediary. Taste Trail provides technology that connects Diners and Restaurant Partners. We do not own, operate, manage or control any restaurant, and we do not prepare, sell or serve food.

4.2 Contracts are between you and the restaurant. When a Diner makes a booking or places an order, the resulting agreement is between the Diner and the Restaurant Partner. Taste Trail is not a party to it. We facilitate the transaction and may collect payment as agent for the Restaurant Partner, which does not make us the supplier.

4.3 Restaurant information. Menus, prices, availability, opening hours, dietary and allergen information are supplied by Restaurant Partners. While we require accuracy under Annex B, we do not independently verify this information and cannot guarantee it.

4.4 Allergies and dietary requirements. Our tools help you filter and communicate dietary needs, and we treat declared allergies as hard constraints in our recommendation systems. However, you must confirm allergen information directly with the restaurant before consuming anything. We are not responsible for allergen information supplied by a Restaurant Partner. If you have a severe allergy, do not rely on the Platform alone.

4.5 Availability. We aim to keep the Platform available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. We may modify, suspend or discontinue any feature, and will give reasonable notice where a change materially reduces functionality you pay for.

You must not, and must not permit anyone else to:

• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, or in breach of any applicable law

• Post Content that is false, defamatory, harassing, hateful, obscene, or that infringes another person's rights

• Submit a review for a visit that did not take place, or offer or accept incentives for reviews

• Impersonate any person or business, or misrepresent your affiliation

• Make fraudulent, speculative or automated bookings, or bookings you do not intend to honour

• Interfere with, disrupt, probe or place undue load on the Platform or its infrastructure

• Circumvent security, authentication, rate limits, plan restrictions or access controls

• Scrape, crawl, harvest or bulk-extract data except as expressly permitted under Annex C

• Reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to derive source code, except to the extent that restriction is unenforceable under applicable law

• Use the Platform to send unsolicited commercial communications

• Collect or process another user's Personal Information other than as strictly necessary to fulfil a booking or order

• Use the Platform to train a machine-learning model on our data or Content, without our prior written consent

We may investigate suspected breaches and take any action we consider appropriate, including removing Content, suspending accounts and reporting to authorities.

6.1 You keep ownership. You retain all rights in Content you submit.

6.2 Licence to us. You grant Taste Trail a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, publish and display your Content for the purposes of operating, promoting and improving the Platform. This licence continues for Content that remains relevant to other users — a review of a restaurant, for example — even after your account closes, though we will disassociate it from your name on request.

6.3 Your warranties. You warrant that you own or are licensed to submit your Content, and that it does not infringe any third party's rights or breach any law.

6.4 Moderation. We may review, moderate, refuse or remove Content, including by automated means. We are not obliged to monitor Content, and removal is at our discretion.

6.5 Reviews. Reviews must reflect a genuine experience at the venue reviewed. We may require a verified visit before publishing. We do not remove negative reviews simply because a Restaurant Partner objects.

6.6 Feedback. If you send us suggestions about the Platform, you grant us an unrestricted right to use them without obligation or compensation.

7.1 The Platform, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos and the Taste Trail name and marks, is owned by Taste Trail (Pty) Ltd or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.

7.2 We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Platform for its intended purpose, subject to these Terms.

7.3 You may not use our name, logo or marks without our prior written consent, except that a Restaurant Partner may state that it accepts bookings through Taste Trail using materials we supply.

7.4 All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

8.1 Our Privacy Policy explains what Personal Information we collect, why, how long we keep it and the rights you have. It forms part of these Terms.

8.2 We process Personal Information in accordance with POPIA and, where it applies, the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation.

8.3 Where a Restaurant Partner receives Personal Information about a Diner through the Platform, that Restaurant Partner is a separate responsible party for its own use of that information and must comply with POPIA independently. Annex B sets out its obligations.

8.4 You can exercise your privacy rights at privacy@taste-trail.com or through your account settings.

9.1 The Platform includes AI features such as the AI Concierge, Owner Copilot, the Manager Agent and AI-assisted content generation.

9.2 AI output can be wrong. AI-generated recommendations, summaries, descriptions and replies are produced automatically and may be inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable. You must exercise your own judgement before relying on them, and a Restaurant Partner remains fully responsible for AI-assisted content it publishes or sends.

9.3 Not professional advice. AI output is not legal, financial, medical, nutritional or dietary advice.

9.4 Allergen safety. Notwithstanding any AI feature, clause 4.4 applies. Never rely on an AI response to determine whether a dish is safe for an allergy.

9.5 Autonomy. Where you enable an agent to act on your behalf, you are responsible for the settings you choose and for actions taken within the limits you set. We provide controls to review, approve and reverse actions; using them is your responsibility.

9.6 We may use aggregated and de-identified data to improve our AI features. We do not use the content of your private messages to train third-party models.

10.1 Fees depend on how you use the Platform and are set out in the applicable annex and on our pricing page.

10.2 Using the Platform to discover and book a restaurant is free for Diners. Restaurant Partners pay subscription fees as described in Annex B.

10.3 Prices are shown inclusive or exclusive of VAT as indicated at the point of purchase. Where VAT applies, it is charged at the prevailing rate.

10.4 Payments are processed by third-party providers. We do not store full payment card numbers. Your use of a payment provider may be subject to its own terms.

10.5 Except where these Terms or the law require otherwise, fees paid are non-refundable.

10.6 We may change our fees on 30 days' written notice. If you do not accept a change, you may cancel before it takes effect.

11.1 By you. You may close your account at any time through account settings or by contacting support@taste-trail.com. Closing an account does not relieve you of obligations accrued before closure, including outstanding fees or confirmed bookings.

11.2 By us. We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if:

• you materially breach these Terms;

• we reasonably suspect fraud, abuse, or activity that endangers users or the Platform;

• we are required to do so by law; or

• you fail to pay fees when due.

11.3 Proportionality. Except where the breach is serious or urgent, we will give you notice and a reasonable opportunity to remedy before terminating.

11.4 Effect. On termination your licence to use the Platform ends. Clauses that by their nature should survive — including 6.2, 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15 — continue to apply.

11.5 Your data. You may export your data before closure. After closure we retain and delete Personal Information as described in the Privacy Policy.

12.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Platform is provided "as is" and "as available", and we exclude all warranties not expressly stated in these Terms.

12.2 We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, that defects will be corrected, or that information supplied by Restaurant Partners or other users is accurate.

12.3 We are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality or availability of any meal, venue or service provided by a Restaurant Partner, nor for a Restaurant Partner's acts or omissions.

12.4 Consumer rights. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where such a law applies, our liability is limited to the maximum extent that law permits.

13.1 Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

13.2 Subject to 13.1, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, data or anticipated savings, however arising.

13.3 Subject to 13.1, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of:

• the total fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim; or

• ZAR 5,000.

13.4 These limits apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract, delict, statute or otherwise.

13.5 You acknowledge that these limits are reasonable given the nature of the Platform and that our fees are set on that basis.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Taste Trail (Pty) Ltd, its directors, employees and agents against any claim, loss, liability, cost or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of:

• your breach of these Terms or any applicable law;

• Content you submit;

• your use or misuse of the Platform; or

• any dispute between you and another user.

We will notify you of any claim to which this applies and will not settle it without your consent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.

15.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

15.2 Talk to us first. Before commencing formal proceedings, please contact us at legal@taste-trail.com so we can try to resolve the matter. Most issues are settled this way.

15.3 If we cannot resolve a dispute within 30 days, it may be referred to the courts of the Republic of South Africa, which have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to 15.4.

15.4 Consumers. If you are a consumer, nothing in this clause deprives you of the right to bring proceedings in the courts of your place of residence, or to refer a complaint to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud or the National Consumer Commission.

15.5 Zimbabwe. Where you use the Platform in Zimbabwe, these Terms remain governed by South African law, without prejudice to any mandatory protection available to you under Zimbabwean law.

16.1 We may amend these Terms. The version and effective date are shown at the top of this document.

16.2 Material changes. Where a change materially affects your rights or obligations, we will give at least 30 days' notice by email or in-app notice before it takes effect, and will ask you to accept the new version.

16.3 Non-material changes — corrections, clarifications, formatting — take effect on publication.

16.4 Continuing to use the Platform after a change takes effect means you accept it. If you do not accept it, you must stop using the Platform and may close your account.

16.5 We keep previous versions and will provide one on request to legal@taste-trail.com.

17.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, the applicable annexes and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us on this subject.

17.2 Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest continues in force and the provision is read down to the minimum extent necessary.

17.3 No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

17.4 Assignment. You may not assign your rights without our written consent. We may assign ours on notice, including as part of a merger or sale of business.

17.5 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including load-shedding, network failure, natural disaster or governmental action.

17.6 Notices. We may give notice by email to your registered address or by in-app notification. Notices to us should go to legal@taste-trail.com.

17.7 Language. These Terms are in English. Any translation is for convenience; the English version prevails.

17.8 Electronic communications. You consent to receive communications from us electronically, and agree that electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing.

Taste Trail (Pty) Ltd

Registration number: [COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER]

[REGISTERED ADDRESS], South Africa

General support: support@taste-trail.com

Legal enquiries: legal@taste-trail.com

Privacy and data requests: privacy@taste-trail.com

Security reports: security@taste-trail.com

Developer support: developers@taste-trail.com