Terms of Service

These terms are an agreement between DarSeek Technologies LLC, a Michigan limited liability company at 2222 W Grand River Ave Ste A, Okemos, MI 48864 ("DarSeek", "we", "us", "our"), and the business or independent professional that opens an account ("you", "your"). They include the Privacy Notice, the Acceptable Use Policy and the Text Message Terms, which are part of this agreement. You accept them by checking the box at sign-up or by using the service. If you accept for a company, you confirm you have the authority to bind it.

1. Who may use the service

You may use the service only if all of these are true: you are at least 18 years old; you run a lawful business or work as an independent professional based in the United States; you have a United States bank account in your name or your business's name; you are not on, owned by or acting for anyone on a United States sanctions or denied-party list, and you are not located in a country or region subject to comprehensive United States sanctions; and we have not previously closed an account of yours for breaking these terms. The service is offered only in the United States. We may refuse or end service to anyone, for any lawful reason.

2. What the service is, and what it is not

The service is software. It lets you create payment requests, send them to your customers by text message, email or a link you share, and receive payments by card, digital wallet or bank transfer into your own payment account. It also keeps your records of those requests and payments.

You are the seller and the merchant of record for every payment. The sale, the work and the price are between you and your customer. We are not a party to that sale, we are not a bank, and we do not hold, receive, move or control your customers' money at any time: payments go directly into your own payment account with our payment processor. We do not give legal, tax, accounting or financial advice.

Features being switched on. DarSeek has just launched. Some features depend on approvals from mobile carriers, email providers and other providers that are not in our control, including texts sent by DarSeek on your behalf and some emails (such as password reset links and receipts). Until a feature is approved and switched on, it may be unavailable, limited or delayed, and you can send your requests from your own phone instead; we will show in the app which features are on. We do not promise a date for any approval, and a feature that is not yet switched on is not a failure of the service. Your plan price is the same either way.

3. Your payment account with stripe

Payment processing for businesses on DarSeek is provided by Stripe, Inc. and its affiliates ("Stripe") and is governed by the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Services Agreement and the Stripe terms it refers to (https://stripe.com/connect-account/legal/full and https://stripe.com/legal/ssa), as Stripe may change them from time to time. By accepting these terms, or by continuing to use DarSeek to take payments, you also accept the Stripe Services Agreement. Stripe's disclosure of the banks that sponsor its card processing is at https://stripe.com/legal/acquirer-disclosure.

Because we make Stripe's payment services available to you, you agree to give us accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you authorize us to share that information, and information about your payments, with Stripe. You also authorize us to receive information about your payment account from Stripe, to open that account on your behalf and to manage it as these terms describe.

Stripe decides whether to open, limit, pause or close your payment account, may ask you for more information at any time, and may hold funds under its own terms. We cannot override Stripe's decisions. Stripe is not responsible for the fees we charge you; they are set out in section 9.

4. Your account, your team and security

You must give us true, complete and current information and keep it up to date. After you complete your payment account, the details Stripe verifies (such as your legal name, business address, phone and website) come from Stripe, and changes to them go through our support.

The person who opens the account is its owner. You are responsible for everything done through your account, including by people you add to your team, and you are bound by what they do in it as if you had done it yourself. Keep passwords and sign-in codes private, use a strong password, and tell us at once at the support address if you think someone got into your account. If people disagree about who controls an account, we may rely on the identity Stripe verified for the business, and we may lock the account until it is settled.

5. Your responsibilities to your customers

You are responsible for the goods and services you sell and for everything about them: what you promise, the price, quality, delivery, warranties, licenses and permits, taxes, receipts, and any refund, return, cancellation or complaint. You must describe each payment truthfully, in the words your customer will see, and charge only for what your customer agreed to pay. You must follow the laws that apply to your business and to your sales, and the card network and bank-transfer rules that apply to accepting payments.

You decide whether and how to use the service. Every payment request, message, amount and description is yours; you choose what to send, to whom and when, and you are responsible for that choice.

6. Refunds, disputes and reversals

Customers can dispute payments with their card issuer or bank. Disputes, chargebacks, reversals and refunds, and the fees for them, are taken from your payment account, not from us. You must respond to disputes on time with the evidence you have, and you must not try to avoid a dispute by asking a customer to pay again some other way.

Bank transfers are different from card payments, and you accept these differences when you take one: a bank transfer takes up to 4 business days to clear; a person's bank can reverse a bank transfer from a personal account for up to 60 days, and that reversal is final and cannot be contested; and a bank transfer can be refunded only in full, within 180 days.

If your payment account goes negative, Stripe may recover the amount from you under its terms. If you owe us fees, we may recover them from you, including by charging the payment method on file. If disputes, refunds or reversals on your account are high, or look like fraud, we may limit or close your account.

7. When you get paid

Stripe pays out to your bank account on its schedule, not ours. Card payments usually become available in about 2 business days. Your first payout usually takes 7 to 14 days after your first live payment while Stripe reviews your account. Stripe may hold, delay or reverse payouts under its own terms. Timings we show are typical, not guaranteed.

8. Text messages and other messages you send

The service sends text messages and emails to your customers on your behalf, and in your business's name. For every payment request you send, you confirm and promise all of these: the person asked you for the work, the sale or the payment; they gave you that phone number or email address to reach them about it; the message is about that work or payment and is not marketing; and you have their permission, under the laws that apply, for us to send it on your behalf. You will not send a request to anyone who has opted out, to a number you obtained from a list, or to anyone you do not have a real business relationship with.

Anyone can reply STOP to stop texts, and HELP for help. Once someone opts out, we stop texting that number on your behalf, and you must not try to get around it. We may delay a text so that it arrives during daytime hours where the recipient is, and we may decline to send any message that we believe breaks the law, these terms or a carrier's rules. Text delivery depends on mobile carriers, and we do not promise any message will be delivered or delivered on time.

Text message laws carry large penalties for each message. You are responsible for having consent for the messages you ask us to send, and section 18 applies to any claim about them.

We may also text or email you, at the phone and email on your account, about your account: sign-in and security codes, payment notices, and service messages. These are not marketing. You can stop texts to you by replying STOP, but some account messages are needed to use the service.

9. Plans, fees and the free period

Your plan. The plans and their monthly prices are: Solo $19, Team $49 and Business $99, each shown with what it includes on our pricing page and in Billing. The price of your plan is the price shown in Billing.

Free period and renewal. Your first 30 days are free. When the free period ends, your plan renews automatically each month, and the card or wallet you gave us is charged the plan price at the start of each monthly period, until you cancel. You can cancel at any time by closing your account from your account page; cancel before the free period ends and you pay nothing. Closing your account cancels your plan right away. Plan fees already paid are not refunded, including for part of a month, unless the law requires it.

Our fee on payments. We charge a fee of 1% of each payment you receive through the service, on every plan. On a bank transfer, our fee is capped so that our fee and Stripe's bank-transfer fee together are never more than $50 for that payment. Our fee is taken from the payment when it is made and is not refunded if you refund the payment or lose a dispute, unless we tell you otherwise.

Stripe's fees. Stripe charges its own processing fees, which are taken from each payment and are separate from ours. Stripe's published rates for your account control. Fee amounts we show before a payment are estimates.

Taxes. Our fees do not include taxes; you pay any sales, use or similar taxes on our fees where they apply. You are responsible for the taxes on your own sales and income. Stripe may issue tax forms, such as Form 1099-K, where the law requires.

If a plan payment fails. We will try again and tell you by email. If the plan is not paid within 7 days, your account becomes read-only: you can see your history, but you cannot send new requests until you add a working payment method.

10. Customer-paid card fees

We may offer a setting that adds a fee to a customer's card payment to cover the cost of accepting the card. If you use it, you agree that: it applies only to credit cards, never to debit or prepaid cards; it applies only where state law allows it, and we may turn it off in any state, for any card type or for any payment, at any time; it will never be more than the amount the law and card network rules allow, or more than your actual cost of accepting the card; it is shown to the customer before they pay; and you are responsible for following the laws and card network rules that apply to it, including any notice to the card networks. You will not add a card fee to a payment any other way while using the service.

11. Changes to prices, fees and these terms

We may change our prices, our fees, what each plan includes, these terms, the Privacy Notice, the Acceptable Use Policy and the service itself. For a change that increases what you pay or materially reduces your rights, we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email to the address on your account and in the app before it takes effect. Other changes take effect when we post them. A price change applies from your first monthly period that starts after the notice period ends. When the agreements change, you will be asked to accept the new version before you continue.

If you do not agree to a change, you may cancel before it takes effect, and the change will not apply to you before your cancellation takes effect. If you keep using the service after a change takes effect, you accept it. A change never applies to a payment made, a fee charged or a dispute that arose before the change took effect, and changes to section 20 apply only as section 20 says.

12. Electronic communications and signatures

You agree that we may give you this agreement, notices, receipts, tax and account information electronically, by email, in the app or on our website, and that your electronic acceptance has the same effect as a signature on paper. You need a device with internet access, a current web browser and an email account to use the service and receive these. Keep your email address current; a notice sent to it counts as delivered. You may ask for a paper copy of any agreement by writing to us, and you may withdraw your consent to electronic communications by closing your account, since the service is offered only electronically.

13. How you may not use the service

You must follow the Acceptable Use Policy. You may not: use the service for anything illegal or prohibited, or for any business on Stripe's list of prohibited businesses; send messages that are false, misleading, harassing, defamatory or unlawful; collect payment for anyone other than your own business; copy, resell, rent or offer the service to others; access it with bots or scrapers, test or probe its security, or try to get around its limits; reverse engineer it except where the law allows; or interfere with its operation or with other users.

14. Your content and your name

You keep ownership of the information and content you put into the service, including your business name and logo. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, copy, display and process that content to run the service, including to show your name and logo to your customers on payment pages, receipts and messages, and on a public page about your business. You confirm you have the right to give us that license and that your content does not infringe anyone's rights. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them freely without paying you or owing you anything.

15. Our service and our rights

The service, its software, design, text, logos and our name belong to us or our licensors. These terms give you a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the service for your own business while your account is open. We keep all other rights. We may change, add or remove features. Features marked as early, preview or beta are offered as they are and may change or stop at any time.

We may use information about how the service is used, combined and de-identified so that it does not identify you or any person, to operate, secure and improve the service.

16. Confidentiality

Information we give you that is not public, including non-public pricing, features and security information, is confidential. Use it only to use the service, and do not share it with others without our written permission.

17. Suspension and closing

We may suspend or close your account, pause your payment links or stop sending messages, with or without notice, if: we believe you broke these terms or the law; Stripe or a mobile carrier requires it; we see activity that looks fraudulent, risky or harmful to customers, to us or to Stripe; you do not pay what you owe; or the law, a court or an authority requires it. Where we are allowed to, we will tell you why by email.

You can close your account at any time from your account page. When an account closes: your plan is cancelled right away; everyone on the account is signed out; open payment links stop working; you remain responsible for refunds, disputes, reversals and fees on payments made before closing; and we keep records as the Privacy Notice and the law require. You can ask for a copy of your records before you close.

18. Your promise to cover our losses

You will defend us, our members, managers, employees and agents, and pay any loss, damage, fine, penalty, settlement and cost, including reasonable lawyers' fees, that comes from any claim by anyone about: the goods or services you sell or the work you do; any message we send on your behalf, including any claim under telephone, text message, email or privacy laws; your content; your breach of these terms or of the law; a dispute with your customer; or your Stripe account. We may choose our own lawyer for our defense at your cost. You may not settle a claim that admits fault for us or binds us without our written consent.

19. Disclaimers and limits on our liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE MAKE NO PROMISES OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND WE DO NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICE, ANY MESSAGE OR ANY PAYMENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE OR DELIVERED. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR STRIPE, MOBILE CARRIERS, EMAIL PROVIDERS, BANKS, CARD NETWORKS OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY, OR FOR WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS DO.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS: WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, SALES, DATA, GOODWILL OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE; AND OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THIS AGREEMENT IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF THE FEES YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. THESE LIMITS APPLY TO ALL CLAIMS OF ANY KIND AND ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN US. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW SOME OF THESE LIMITS, SO THEY APPLY TO YOU ONLY AS FAR AS THE LAW ALLOWS.

20. Resolving disputes: arbitration and no class actions

Talk to us first. Before starting a claim, send us a written description of it and what you want at the support address, and give us 60 days to try to resolve it.

Arbitration. If we cannot resolve it, any dispute between you and us about the service or this agreement will be decided by binding individual arbitration, not in court, except that either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court, and either of us may ask a court to stop the misuse of intellectual property or the service. The arbitration will be run by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, by one arbitrator, in Ingham County, Michigan or by video. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. The arbitrator decides all questions about this section, except that a court decides questions about the class action waiver and about mass filings.

No class actions. You and we may bring claims only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated or representative action. The arbitrator may not combine claims of more than one person.

Many similar claims. If 25 or more similar claims are filed against us by or with the help of the same lawyers or organization, they will be handled in batches of up to 25 at a time, with each batch decided before the next is filed, and fees for each batch will be charged as a single case. Time limits for the waiting claims are paused while they wait.

Opting out. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing us at the support address within 30 days after you first accept these terms, with your name, business name and account email, and a statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these terms.

Changes to this section. If we change this section, the change will not apply to any dispute you notified us of before the change takes effect.

If this section does not apply. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable for a claim, this section does not apply to that claim, and it goes to court as section 21 says.

21. Governing law, courts and time limits

This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Michigan and of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any claim that is not arbitrated will be brought only in the state courts in Ingham County, Michigan or the federal courts for the Western District of Michigan, and you and we consent to those courts. Any claim related to the service or this agreement must be started within one year after it arose, or it is permanently barred, unless the law requires a longer period.

22. Notices

We send notices to the email on your account or in the app. You send notices to us at the support address, or by mail to the address at the top of these terms. Legal notices about intellectual property go to the same addresses, marked for our copyright agent.

23. General

Entire agreement: this agreement, with the documents it includes, is the whole agreement between you and us about the service and replaces any earlier agreement or discussion. Order of documents: if these terms conflict with another document, these terms control, except that the Stripe Services Agreement controls on Stripe's services. Severability: if a court finds any part of this agreement unenforceable, that part is limited as little as possible and the rest stays in force. No waiver: not enforcing a part of this agreement is not a waiver of it. Assignment: you may not transfer this agreement without our written consent; we may transfer it, including in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets. Relationship: you and we are independent; nothing here makes either of us the other's partner, employee, agent or joint venturer. No third-party rights: no one else has rights under this agreement. Events beyond control: neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as outages of carriers, processors or hosting, natural disasters, war, labor actions or acts of government, except for paying money owed. Export: you will not use or export the service in breach of United States export or sanctions laws. Survival: sections 5, 6, 9 (for amounts owed), 14 to 16, and 18 to 23 continue after the agreement ends. Headings are for convenience only. These terms are written in English, which controls over any translation.