Terms of Service

1. Definitions

• Platform / Service: The BuzzMenu software-as-a-service including digital menu, QR ordering, kitchen display (KDS), waiter dashboard, buzzer system, and payment processing integration.
• Merchant: A business (restaurant, cafe, bar, or similar venue) that registers a BuzzMenu account to use the Service with its customers.
• End-User / Diner: An individual who scans a QR code or otherwise accesses a Merchant's menu to view items or place an order.
• Content: Menu items, images, descriptions, restaurant details, and any other information uploaded to the Service.

2. Eligibility and Account Security

You must be at least 18 years old to create a Merchant account. By registering, you represent that you have legal authority to bind the business you are registering on behalf of.

As a Merchant, you are responsible for:

• Providing accurate, current, and complete registration information.
• Maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials, including email, password, and manager PIN.
• All activities that occur under your account, whether authorized or not.
• Notifying us immediately of any unauthorized access.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts showing suspicious, fraudulent, or unauthorized activity.

3. Subscription Fees and Billing

• Plans: BuzzMenu offers tiered subscription plans (Starter, Pro, Enterprise). Plan features and pricing are displayed on our website and may be updated from time to time.
• Billing Cycle: Paid subscriptions are billed monthly in advance. Your subscription automatically renews until cancelled.
• Currency: Subscription fees are charged in New Zealand Dollars (NZD). Customer-facing orders placed through a Merchant's menu may be charged in the Merchant's configured currency (e.g., AUD for Australian merchants).
• Free Trial: New accounts may receive a free trial period on paid tiers. At the end of the trial, your plan will automatically convert to a paid subscription unless cancelled.
• Failed Payments: If a payment fails, we may suspend access to paid features until payment is resolved. Repeated failures may result in account downgrade or termination.
• Price Changes: We may change subscription fees with at least 30 days' notice. Continued use of paid features after the change constitutes acceptance.

4. Cancellation and Refunds

Subscription Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time from your admin settings or the Stripe billing portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period; you retain access to paid features until then.

Refunds: Subscription fees are generally non-refundable except where required by law. This does not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law or the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (NZ).

Transaction Refunds: Refunds for individual customer orders (cafe-mode payments) are the responsibility of the Merchant. BuzzMenu does not process diner refunds directly.

5. Payment Processing (Cafe Mode)

BuzzMenu offers two operating modes for Merchants:

• Full-Service Mode: Customers place orders without upfront payment. Merchants handle billing directly at the end of service. No Stripe Connect account is required.
• Cafe Mode: Customers pay upfront through the Service before their order is sent to the kitchen. Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and Stripe Payments Australia Pty Ltd ("Stripe").

The following terms apply only to Merchants using Cafe Mode:

• Stripe Connected Account Agreement: Merchants enabling Cafe Mode must complete Stripe's onboarding and agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement and Stripe Services Agreement.
• Platform Fees: BuzzMenu charges a platform transaction fee deducted automatically from each Cafe-Mode payment. The fee percentage depends on your subscription tier and is disclosed in your plan details.
• Payout Timing: Funds are settled directly to the Merchant's Stripe-connected bank account according to Stripe's standard payout schedule.
• Chargebacks and Disputes: Merchants are fully responsible for responding to chargebacks, disputes, and fraud investigations. BuzzMenu will not cover losses from chargebacks or fraudulent transactions.
• Compliance: Merchants must comply with all card-network rules, PCI-DSS requirements (handled via Stripe Elements), and any applicable anti-money-laundering laws.

Subscription billing (payment of monthly BuzzMenu fees) is handled separately through Stripe Billing and applies to all paid plans regardless of operating mode.

6. Merchant Responsibilities and Legal Compliance

Merchants are solely responsible for:

• Food safety and hygiene in accordance with applicable laws in New Zealand and Australia.
• Accurate menu information including prices, ingredients, allergens, and dietary claims.
• Alcohol sales: Merchants selling alcohol must hold a valid liquor licence and comply with all applicable alcohol regulations (including the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 in NZ and state/territory liquor laws in Australia). Merchants must verify customer age at the point of service, regardless of any age-verification prompts the Service may display.
• Tax compliance: Including GST/VAT collection, reporting, and remittance in the applicable jurisdiction.
• Accurate fulfillment of customer orders placed through the Service.
• Handling customer data received through the Service in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

7. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Violate any applicable law, regulation, or third-party right.
• Upload inappropriate, offensive, defamatory, or illegal content.
• Upload content infringing intellectual property rights of others.
• Attempt to reverse engineer, circumvent security, or probe the Service for vulnerabilities.
• Introduce malware, viruses, or disruptive code.
• Use the Service to send spam or unsolicited marketing.
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute the Service without our written consent.

BuzzMenu reserves the right to remove non-compliant content and terminate accounts violating this policy without notice.

8. Intellectual Property

Our IP: All intellectual property rights in the BuzzMenu Platform — including software, source code, design, trademarks, and branding — are owned by EGO HERO LTD or its licensors. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Service during your subscription term.

Your Content: You retain all ownership rights to your menu content, restaurant branding, images, and data. By uploading content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, display, and process it solely for operating the Service.

Feedback: Any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you provide may be used by us without obligation or compensation.

9. Termination

By You: You may terminate your account at any time by cancelling your subscription and contacting us. 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, engage in fraudulent activity, or for any reason upon 30 days' notice.

Data after Termination: Upon termination, your access to the Service ends. We will retain your data for 30 days after termination to allow export, after which it will be permanently deleted, except where retention is required by law (e.g., financial records for tax compliance).

Surviving Provisions: Sections relating to intellectual property, indemnification, limitation of liability, and governing law survive termination.

10. Service Availability and Modifications

We strive to maintain high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted access to the Service. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. Scheduled maintenance will be communicated in advance when possible.

We may release new features, deprecate existing features, or change functionality to improve the Service. Material changes affecting paid features will be communicated with reasonable notice.

11. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, and non-infringement.

Except for liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, BuzzMenu will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service.

Our total aggregate liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the fees you paid to us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

Consumer Law: Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer rights under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010), the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (NZ), or any other applicable consumer protection law that cannot be excluded by contract.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless BuzzMenu, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• Your breach of these Terms.
• Your Content or your use of the Service.
• Food safety issues, allergen mislabelling, or fulfillment failures.
• Disputes with diners, customers, or third parties.
• Violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Unauthorized alcohol sales or age-verification failures.

13. Force Majeure

Neither party will be liable for failure to perform due to events outside their reasonable control, including natural disasters, war, terrorism, pandemics, government action, network outages, or failures of third-party service providers (including Stripe, Supabase, or Vercel).

14. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Service will be resolved in the courts of New Zealand.

For Merchants based in Australia, nothing in this clause limits the application of Australian consumer protection laws that apply regardless of choice of forum.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email to the account email address or through an in-app notice at least 30 days before taking effect. Minor changes (such as clarifications or typo corrections) may take effect immediately.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the updated Terms constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service and cancel your subscription.

16. General

• Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and BuzzMenu regarding the Service.
• Severability: If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.
• No Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right does not waive that right.
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Language: These Terms are drafted in English, which is the authoritative version.

17. Contact Us

Questions about these Terms should be directed to:

EGO HERO LTD (trading as BuzzMenu)

Email: buzzmenu.app@gmail.com