Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Capital Link Technologies Limited ("Capital Link", "we", "us"), 55 Village Centre Pl, Mississauga, ON L4Z 1V9, Canada — the owner and operator of appricot, the talent business platform comprising our mobile application, web administration portal, and website at appricot.ca (together, the "Services").

By creating an account or using the Services you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle personal information. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

1. Who May Use the Services

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Services. If you use the Services on behalf of a business (for example, a Shop), you confirm that you are authorized to bind that business to these Terms, and "you" includes that business.

The Services support three kinds of accounts:

• Customers — individuals who discover shops and professionals, book services, and communicate through the platform;
• Talents — independent beauty professionals who maintain a profile, work schedule, and portfolio, and may link with one or more Shops;
• Shops — salons and barbershops that manage their business profile, services, prices, promotions, staff, and bookings.

One person may hold more than one role; each role sees only what that role permits.

2. Your Account

You are responsible for the accuracy of your registration information, for keeping your login credentials confidential, and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at privacy@appricot.ca if you suspect unauthorized access. We may suspend accounts to protect the platform or its users.

Each account receives a short public ID code. Sharing your code lets other users find or add you; share it only when you intend that.

3. What Appricot Is — and Is Not

Appricot is a platform that facilitates discovery, booking, and communication between Customers, Talents, and Shops. We are not a party to the service transaction:

• The beauty services you book are provided by the Shop or Talent, not by us.
• We do not process payments. Prices shown on the platform are informational; payment is settled directly between the Customer and the Shop or Talent.
• We do not employ Talents and do not supervise, direct, or control the services they perform.
• A "Verified" badge means a business listing has been claimed and activated by its owner. It is not an endorsement, licence check, or guarantee of quality.

Shops and Talents are solely responsible for the services they offer, including holding any licences or certifications required by applicable law (for example, municipal licensing and health regulations for personal-service settings in Ontario), for the accuracy of their listings and prices, and for their own tax obligations.

4. Bookings

Bookings are made, modified, and cancelled through the Services. Shops manage their own availability, schedules, and booking policies; any dispute about a booked service (quality, price, cancellation, no-show) is between the Customer and the Shop or Talent, though we may, at our discretion, help facilitate a resolution. Booking details are shared with the parties to the booking as described in the Privacy Policy.

5. Your Content

The Services let you submit content: profile details and photos, shop information, service listings, promotions, posts, reviews, messages, and booking media such as before/after photos and videos ("User Content").

• You keep ownership of your User Content. You grant Capital Link a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, and display it as needed to operate, promote, and improve the Services, for as long as it remains on the platform.
• You are responsible for your User Content. You confirm you have the rights to post it — including the consent of identifiable people in photos and videos (for example, a customer appearing in a before/after photo).
• Talent consent. A Talent's portrait, phone number, and gender are shared with a Shop only after the Talent grants consent in the app, as described in the Privacy Policy.
• Reviews must reflect a genuine experience. Fake, incentivized-without-disclosure, or retaliatory reviews may be removed.
• We may remove or restrict User Content that violates these Terms or the law, and we may preserve content where required by law.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• break the law or infringe anyone's rights while using the Services;
• impersonate another person or business, or claim a business listing you do not own;
• post content that is unlawful, deceptive, harassing, hateful, obscene, or that violates another person's privacy;
• scrape, harvest, or bulk-download platform data, or access the Services by any automated means other than our published interfaces;
• misuse QR codes or public ID codes, attempt to access accounts or data that are not yours, probe or disrupt our systems, or circumvent security or access controls;
• reverse engineer, copy, resell, or create derivative works of the Services except as the law allows despite this restriction; or
• use the Services to send spam or messages that violate Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

7. Pre-Listed Businesses

To help customers discover salons and barbershops, we may pre-list businesses using publicly available business information. Pre-listed businesses have no active login until claimed. If you own a pre-listed business you may claim it by contacting us; if you want it corrected or removed, email privacy@appricot.ca and we will act promptly. Claiming a listing you do not own is a violation of these Terms.

8. Intellectual Property

The Services — including the appricot name, logo, apps, portal, design, and software — are owned by Capital Link or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the apps and Services for their intended purpose.

Third-party notices: mapping features are provided by Google Maps, and your use of them is also subject to the Google Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy. Certain business-listing information contains data from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), used under the Open Database License.

If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without obligation to you.

9. Third-Party Services

The Services incorporate third-party services (for example mapping and address services, cloud hosting, and media storage, described by category in the Privacy Policy). Your use of those features may also be subject to the third party's terms. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.

10. Disclaimers

The Services are provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Without limiting the foregoing:

• we do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure;
• distances, locations, opening hours, prices, and availability shown in discovery are approximate or supplied by businesses and may be out of date; and
• we make no warranty about the quality, safety, legality, or licensing of services offered by Shops or Talents.

Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under applicable consumer-protection law that cannot be waived, including under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Capital Link and its directors, officers, employees, and suppliers will not be liable for: (a) indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages; (b) loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, or data; or (c) the acts or omissions of Customers, Shops, or Talents, including the services they provide or fail to provide.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Services will not exceed the greater of (i) the amounts you paid us for the Services in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim, and (ii) CAD $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

12. Indemnification

If you use the Services on behalf of a business, that business will defend and indemnify Capital Link against third-party claims arising from its User Content, its services, or its breach of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.

13. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using the Services and ask us to close your account at any time (see the Privacy Policy for what happens to your information). We may suspend or terminate your access — with notice where practicable — if you materially breach these Terms, create risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or if we discontinue the Services. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 15) survive.

14. Changes to the Services or Terms

We are continually improving the platform and may add, change, or remove features. We may update these Terms from time to time; if a change is material we will notify you through the Services or by other reasonable means before it takes effect. Continuing to use the Services after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Services and close your account.

15. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. You and Capital Link agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario, sitting in Toronto, for any dispute arising out of these Terms or the Services, except where applicable consumer-protection law gives you the right to bring proceedings elsewhere.

16. General

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Capital Link about the Services. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Headings are for convenience only.

17. Contact Us