Terms of Service

1. The Service

Polele helps businesses (“Merchants”) sell and get paid. Depending on the features you use, the Service lets you manage a catalog of products, services, memberships and digital downloads, sell in person with a mobile point of sale, run an online store, take bookings, accept payments, send messages to customers, and track stock, expenses and sales.

We may add, change or remove features over time. Some features may be offered in beta or as previews and may change or stop without notice.

2. Accounts and store members

• You must provide accurate information and keep it up to date. You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, to open an account.
• You sign in with your phone number (verified by a one-time code, including over WhatsApp) or with Google or Apple. You are responsible for keeping access to your phone and accounts secure and for all activity under your account.
• A store owner can invite team members and assign them roles. The owner is responsible for the actions of their team members in the Service and for removing access when it is no longer needed.
• Tell us promptly at hello@polele.co if you believe your account has been compromised.

3. Your responsibilities as a Merchant

You are the seller of the products and services you offer through Polele. You are solely responsible for:

• Your catalog: accurate descriptions, photos, prices, stock and availability
• Fulfilment: delivering products, providing services, honouring bookings and memberships, and handling returns, refunds and customer complaints in line with your own policies and the law
• Taxes, licences and any registration your business requires
• Selling only lawful products and services, and having the rights to the content you publish
• Using customers' personal information only to serve them and in line with applicable privacy laws

You must not use the Service to sell or promote illegal, counterfeit, dangerous or prohibited goods or services, to mislead or defraud customers, or to send spam.

4. Credits and fees

Polele has no subscription. Using certain features consumes credits from your store's credit balance, at the prices shown on our pricing page (currently 1,000 credits = 1 US dollar). Examples include recording a payment and sending a WhatsApp message.

• You can top up credits in Polele Studio. Credits are linked to your store, have no cash value and cannot be transferred or exchanged for money, except where required by law.
• Recording sales and payments is never blocked: your balance may go below zero up to the limit shown in the app, and the next top-up settles it. Other features, such as messages and exports, pause until you top up.
• Promotional credits (for example, free credits when you open your first store) are offered at our discretion, may expire and may be withdrawn if they are misused.
• Credit prices may change. We will show current prices on our pricing page and in the app before they apply.
• Orders placed by customers through the Polele marketplace app carry a 2% fee on the order amount. Sales you make yourself (in person, on your own online store or through payment links) carry no commission beyond credits.

5. Payments and payouts

Payments from your customers by Mobile Money or card are processed by third-party payment providers. By accepting payments through Polele, you also agree to the terms of those providers where they apply.

• Funds collected through the Service are credited to your Polele balance and can be withdrawn to your Mobile Money account. Payouts may be subject to verification, limits and provider or operator fees.
• We may delay, hold or reverse payments or payouts that we reasonably suspect are fraudulent, unauthorized or in breach of these Terms, or when required by a payment provider or by law.
• You are responsible for refunds and chargebacks relating to your sales, including any associated fees.
• Payment links are tied to a specific order and may expire. A paid link cannot be paid again.

6. Your customers and their data

Your customers buy from you, not from Polele. We process customers' information on your behalf to provide the Service, such as completing orders and sending receipts, confirmations and reminders, as described in our Privacy Policy. You must have a lawful basis to contact your customers and must respect their requests to stop receiving marketing messages.

7. Marketplace and affiliates

Where available, you may list your store on the Polele marketplace and allow people using the Polele app to recommend your products in exchange for a commission you set. Commissions are due only on confirmed sales. You can manage or remove affiliates from Polele Studio. We may remove listings that breach these Terms.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Break the law or infringe the rights of others
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, or try to access accounts, systems or data without authorization
• Copy, resell or reverse engineer the Service, except as allowed by law
• Use the Service to send unsolicited messages or harmful content
• Create accounts using false information or to avoid a suspension

9. Content and intellectual property

You keep ownership of the content you add to the Service, such as your logo, products and photos. You give Polele a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, display and process that content to operate and promote your store and the Service, for as long as it is in the Service.

The Service, including our software, design, brand and the Polele name and logo, belongs to Polele and is protected by law. These Terms do not give you any right to use our brand without our permission.

10. Availability and changes

We work to keep the Service available and reliable, including offline features in the app, but we do not guarantee that it will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free. We may carry out maintenance and make changes to the Service.

11. Suspension and termination

You can stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or close your account, or remove content, if you breach these Terms, if we are required to by law or by a payment provider, or to protect customers, other users or Polele. Where reasonable, we will tell you why and give you a chance to fix the issue. Sections that by their nature should survive termination, such as fees owed, liability and governing law, continue to apply.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, Polele disclaims all warranties not expressly stated in these Terms.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Polele will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for lost profits, revenue or data. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in credits and fees in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

You agree to indemnify Polele against claims arising from your products, services, content, dealings with your customers or breach of these Terms.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When changes are significant, we will notify you, for example in the app or by email, before they take effect. If you continue to use the Service after the changes take effect, you accept the updated Terms.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any dispute informally. Otherwise, disputes will be brought before the competent courts of Kinshasa, unless the law of your country gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere.

15. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Email: info@polele.co