Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern the use of the HermesAi™ service ("Service") provided by HermesAi, a sole trader registered in the United Kingdom ("HermesAi", "we", "our", "us"), correspondence address 169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London W1W 5PF. By accessing askhermesai.com or subscribing to the Service, you ("Customer", "you") agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms are intended for businesses only. The Service is not directed at consumers and is not sold to consumers within the meaning of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

1. The Service

HermesAi is an AI-powered concierge service for boutique hospitality properties, delivered through the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta. The Service is configured against each property's specific information and operational preferences to handle guest messages — including FAQs, bookings, transfers, in-stay requests, dining and local recommendations — and to escalate to human staff where appropriate.

The Service is provided on a subscription basis under the plan and pricing selected by the Customer at sign-up. Features included in each plan are described at https://askhermesai.com and may be updated from time to time without reducing the core functionality of an active subscription.

2. Eligibility and account

To subscribe you must (a) be at least 18 years old, (b) have authority to bind the business on whose behalf you are signing up, and (c) be acting in the course of a trade, business, craft or profession.

You are responsible for keeping account credentials secure and for the actions of anyone you authorise to access the Service. Notify us promptly at legal@askhermesai.com if you suspect unauthorised access.

3. Founding Partner Programme

If you sign up under the Founding Partner Programme:

• You receive the Founding Partner monthly rate shown for your selected tier for as long as your subscription remains active and uninterrupted.
• An annual subscription billed in advance entitles you to a "Pay 10, get 12" arrangement — twelve months of Service for the price of ten.
• If you cancel and later resubscribe, the then-current public rate will apply.
• Founding Partner places are limited; we may close the Programme at any time without affecting existing Founding Partners.

4. Setup, onboarding and calibration

Each subscription includes a one-time setup fee starting at €599, which covers:

• WhatsApp Business configuration for the Customer's property;
• Hermes Knowledge Base build, drawing on information the Customer provides;
• Guest journey calibration; and
• Dedicated launch and onboarding support.

The Customer agrees to provide accurate and complete information about the property, partners, policies and offers, and to keep that information up to date. The quality of AI responses depends on the quality of this information.

5. Fees, payment and refunds

Fees are payable in the currency stated on your invoice, in advance, by the payment method nominated at sign-up. Late payments may be charged interest at 4% above the Bank of England base rate per annum, accruing daily, in line with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

VAT or other applicable taxes will be added where required.

30-day money-back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the Service within the first 30 days of your initial subscription, contact legal@askhermesai.com and we will refund the subscription fees paid for that period. The money-back guarantee applies to the subscription only; setup fees are non-refundable once setup work has commenced. The guarantee applies once per Customer.

After the first 30 days, monthly subscriptions can be cancelled with at least 14 days' notice before the next renewal date. Annual subscriptions do not auto-refund mid-term but will not renew if cancelled before the renewal date.

6. Customer responsibilities and acceptable use

You agree that you will:

• Comply with all laws applicable to your use of the Service, including UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), and the laws of any country where your guests are located;
• Comply with Meta's WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and Commerce Policy, as updated from time to time;
• Provide your own privacy notice to end-guests describing how you use HermesAi, and obtain any consents required for guests to receive non-transactional messages on WhatsApp;
• Only use the Service to communicate with guests who have opted in or otherwise have a lawful basis to be contacted;
• Not use the Service to send spam, unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, harassing, threatening, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable content;
• Not attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape or resell the Service, nor use it to build a competing product;
• Not use the Service in ways that could damage, disable, overburden or impair our systems or those of our sub-processors;
• Promptly review and act on escalations sent to your team channel (e.g. Slack), particularly those flagged as urgent or sensitive.

We may suspend or terminate the Service immediately if you breach this section, if Meta restricts or removes our or your access to WhatsApp, or if continued provision of the Service exposes us to legal or reputational risk.

7. AI limitations

You acknowledge that the Service uses large language models and other AI components that:

• can produce inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or otherwise unsuitable output ("hallucinations");
• are not a substitute for human judgement, professional advice, or emergency response;
• are not designed for medical, legal, financial or safety-critical use cases.

You are responsible for human oversight of the Service in your operation and for ensuring guests are directed to appropriate human assistance when needed. Where the Service offers human-handoff features, you must staff them with reasonable diligence.

8. Data protection

Each party will comply with its obligations under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

For data we process in operating the Service on your behalf — typically the content of guest WhatsApp conversations and related booking information — you are the data controller and we are the data processor. The Data Processing Agreement at Schedule 1 to these Terms is incorporated by reference and governs that processing.

For data we process about you and your staff (account details, billing data) we are the controller. Our Privacy Policy at https://askhermesai.com/privacy describes that processing.

9. Intellectual property

We retain all rights, title and interest in the Service, including the HermesAi brand, software, prompts, models we have developed, system architecture and documentation. You receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service during your subscription.

You retain all rights in your content — your property information, knowledge base content, brand assets, and the content of your guests' messages. You grant us a limited licence to use that content solely to provide and improve the Service for you, and to comply with these Terms. We will not use the content of your guests' conversations to train third-party AI models.

10. Confidentiality

Each party will keep the other's non-public information confidential and use it only to perform these Terms. This does not apply to information that is already public, independently developed, lawfully received from a third party, or required to be disclosed by law (with prompt notice where permitted).

11. Warranties and disclaimers

We will provide the Service with reasonable skill and care. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all other warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, uninterrupted operation and absence of errors.

The Service depends on third-party infrastructure — including Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, AI model providers, hosting providers and integrations — over which we have no control. We do not warrant that the Service will be available at all times or that messages will always be delivered without delay.

12. Liability

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under English law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Subject to that, and to the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Neither party is liable for indirect, consequential, special or punitive damages, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, business opportunity, or anticipated savings, whether or not foreseeable.
• Our total aggregate liability to you in connection with the Service, in any 12-month period, is limited to the fees you paid us for the Service in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the liability.

You acknowledge that these limits are reasonable given the price of the Service and the risks involved.

13. Indemnity

You will indemnify and hold us harmless against any third-party claim, loss, damage or expense arising from (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) your breach of applicable law, including data protection law and Meta's platform policies, (c) the content you supply or instruct us to send, or (d) your failure to obtain guest consents where required.

14. Term and termination

These Terms apply from the date you first use the Service and continue until terminated. Either party may terminate for material breach not remedied within 30 days of written notice, or immediately on written notice if the other party becomes insolvent or ceases to do business.

On termination: (i) the licences granted under these Terms end; (ii) you must stop using the Service; (iii) we will, on request made within 30 days, return or delete your data in accordance with Schedule 1; and (iv) sections that by their nature should survive (including 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 17) will survive.

15. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for failure or delay caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, civil unrest, strikes, sanctions, government action, internet or telecommunications failures, or the unilateral acts of Meta or other third-party platforms.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version is always available at https://askhermesai.com/terms. Material changes will be notified to active customers by email at least 30 days before they take effect; continued use of the Service after that date constitutes acceptance.

17. General

• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and the order form constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede all prior representations.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign them as part of a reorganisation, sale or transfer of the business.
• No partnership. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency or employment relationship.
• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remainder will continue in force.
• No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.
• Third-party rights. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce them.
• Notices. Notices to us go to legal@askhermesai.com; notices to you go to the email address on your account.

18. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of them (including non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, save that we may bring proceedings to protect our intellectual property in any competent jurisdiction.

Schedule 1 — Data Processing Agreement

This Schedule forms part of the Terms and applies whenever HermesAi processes personal data on the Customer's behalf.

1. Roles. The Customer is the controller and HermesAi is the processor.

2. Subject matter, duration, nature and purpose. Processing of personal data of the Customer's end-guests and staff, for the duration of the Service, for the purpose of operating the HermesAi concierge service.

3. Types of personal data. WhatsApp identifiers and profile information; message content; booking details (name, contact details, dates, guests, references); service requests and outcomes; conversation summaries.

4. Categories of data subjects. End-guests of the Customer; staff of the Customer.

5. Processor obligations. HermesAi will:

• process personal data only on the Customer's documented instructions, including these Terms;
• ensure persons authorised to process the personal data are bound by confidentiality;
• implement appropriate technical and organisational measures, taking into account the state of the art, costs and risks;
• assist the Customer in responding to data-subject requests and in meeting its obligations under Articles 32–36 UK GDPR;
• notify the Customer without undue delay of any personal data breach;
• on termination, return or delete personal data at the Customer's choice, save where retention is required by law;
• make available information necessary to demonstrate compliance and allow reasonable audits, on at least 30 days' notice and no more than once per year, at the Customer's cost.

6. Sub-processors. The Customer authorises the sub-processors listed at https://askhermesai.com/privacy. HermesAi will give at least 30 days' notice of any addition or replacement, during which the Customer may object on reasonable grounds; if the parties cannot resolve the objection, the Customer may terminate the affected Service.

7. International transfers. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, HermesAi will rely on an appropriate safeguard (UK IDTA, UK Addendum to the EU SCCs, or an adequacy decision).

8. Liability. Liability under this Schedule is subject to the limitations in clause 12 of the Terms.

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