Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of nearbyme.org.uk and any related services (together, "Nearby Me", "we", "us"). By creating an account, browsing, booking, or listing a business on Nearby Me, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

2. What Nearby Me is

Nearby Me is a discovery and booking marketplace that connects consumers with local classes, activities and events run by independent businesses ("providers"). We provide the platform that lets providers list their services and, optionally, take bookings and payments; we do not run the classes ourselves and are not a party to the agreement a consumer makes with a provider when they attend a class or event, except where these Terms say otherwise.

3. Accounts

• You must provide accurate, current information when creating an account and keep it up to date.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for all activity under your account.
• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. Nearby Me is not directed at children under 16 (see our Privacy Policy).
• We may suspend or close an account that breaches these Terms, as set out in section 12.

4. Provider (business) obligations

If you list a business on Nearby Me, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, up-to-date information about your business, classes, pricing and availability, and correct it promptly when it changes.
• Hold any licences, qualifications, insurance, DBS checks or other authorisations required by law to run the activity you list.
• Comply with all applicable laws, including consumer protection, health and safety, and data protection law, in how you run your classes and handle attendee information.
• Honour bookings made through the platform, or cancel and notify affected consumers promptly and fairly when you cannot.
• Not use Nearby Me to list unlawful, unsafe or misleading activities.

You remain solely responsible for the classes, activities and services you provide. Nearby Me is a marketplace and is not responsible for the conduct, quality, safety or legality of a provider's classes.

5. Bookings and payments

• Browsing and creating a provider page is free.
• Taking bookings through Nearby Me is free for a provider's first 6 months, then £15/month, plus a 5% fee on a customer's first booking with that provider only — repeat bookings from the same customer are not charged the 5% fee. Current pricing is always shown at nearbyme.org.uk/business/pricing and takes precedence if it differs from a past version of these Terms.
• All payments are processed by Stripe. Providers taking bookings must connect a Stripe account and agree to Stripe's own terms of service as part of that setup.
• Consumers pay for bookings at the time of booking (or as configured by the provider). Funds are collected by Stripe and paid out to the provider, less any applicable Nearby Me fee, on Stripe's standard payout schedule.
• We may change our pricing with reasonable notice; changes will not apply retroactively to bookings already made.

6. Cancellations and refunds

Unless a provider publishes its own cancellation policy on its Nearby Me page (in which case that policy applies), the following defaults apply:

• A consumer may cancel a booking up to 24 hours before the class start time for a full refund.
• Cancellations within 24 hours of the class, or no-shows, are not guaranteed a refund and are at the provider's discretion.
• If a provider cancels a class, affected consumers are entitled to a full refund.
• Refunds are issued via Stripe back to the original payment method and may take several business days to appear.

Because the underlying class is delivered by the provider, not Nearby Me, disputes about the quality or delivery of a class should be raised with the provider first. We may assist in resolving a dispute but are not obliged to issue a refund on a provider's behalf.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use Nearby Me for any unlawful purpose, or to list or book activities that are illegal, unsafe, or misleading.
• Attempt to circumvent our booking or payment system to avoid applicable fees.
• Scrape, copy, or systematically extract data from the platform without our written permission.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the service or other users' accounts.
• Post false, defamatory, or infringing content, including in provider listings, photos or reviews.
• Impersonate any person or business, or misrepresent your affiliation with one.

8. Content and intellectual property

You retain ownership of content you submit (such as business descriptions and photos), but grant Nearby Me a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display and distribute that content as part of operating the platform, including in search results and promotional material for the platform itself. You confirm you have the rights necessary to grant this licence. The Nearby Me name, logo and site design are our property or that of our licensors and may not be used without permission.

9. Third-party services

Nearby Me integrates third-party services, including Stripe for payments. Your use of those services is also subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third-party services outside our control.

10. Disclaimers

Nearby Me is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not guarantee that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any particular provider or class will be available, accurate, safe, or suitable for you. We are a marketplace connecting consumers and providers; we do not vet, endorse or guarantee the quality, safety, legality or fitness for purpose of any class or activity listed by a provider, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

11. Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law. Subject to that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, Nearby Me will not be liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential loss, or for the acts, omissions, or content of any provider or other user, and our total liability to you for any claim arising from your use of the platform is limited to the greater of £100 or the fees you paid to Nearby Me in the 12 months before the claim arose.

12. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold Nearby Me harmless from any claims, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your content, or your use of the platform, including as a provider running a class booked through Nearby Me.

13. Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, if we reasonably believe your account poses a risk to other users or the platform, or if required by law. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including payments already owed, liability, and indemnity) will continue to apply.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the revised Terms on this page and update the "Last updated" date. Continued use of Nearby Me after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms. If a change materially affects your rights, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you in advance.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer protections that apply in your country of residence.

16. Contact us

Questions about these Terms can be sent to: