Intwined platform terms

These terms

These platform terms are an agreement between you and Intwined (Pty) Ltd, which operates Intwined. They cover using the website and workspace, not the contract for goods or services between a listed business and its client.

By creating an account or using the marketplace you accept these terms. If you are accepting on behalf of a company, you confirm you are authorised to bind it.

What the platform is

Intwined is two things. It is a public marketplace where visitors discover local businesses and contact them directly. It is also a private workspace where a business manages its storefront, customers, quotes, invoices, bookings, stock, staff and records.

We provide the platform. We are not a party to any agreement between a visitor and a business, and we do not sell the goods or services listed on it.

The business-client agreement

A purchase, accepted quote, booking or service arrangement with a listed business is between that business and its client. The supplying business, not Intwined as marketplace operator, is the seller or service provider for that transaction. Using our messaging, quote, invoice or booking tools does not make Intwined the supplier or guarantor of the business's work.

The business must provide its client with clear and lawful transaction terms before the client commits. These include the supplier's identity and contact details, the agreed goods or scope of work, the full price and applicable taxes or fees, payment arrangements, delivery or service dates, and applicable cancellation, refund, return and warranty terms. It must also explain its handling of client information in its own privacy notice.

Client complaints about the supplied product or service, workmanship, delays, payment disputes, returns or refunds should be addressed directly to the supplying business. That business remains responsible for meeting its contractual and statutory obligations. Intwined's subscription policies do not replace the business's own terms.

You may report misleading listings, abuse or suspected unlawful activity to Intwined. Reviewing a report or helping pass on a message does not mean we take over the seller's contract or promise compensation. We may moderate or remove listings and cooperate with lawful requests. Nothing here excludes obligations that applicable law places on Intwined itself.

Accounts

• Business accounts require a real email address, which must be verified.
• You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for everything done under your account.
• Tell us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.
• You may not share a single account across people who should have their own. Businesses can invite staff with their own logins and permissions.
• Visitors can browse, message a business using their contact details, or report a concern without an account. Sign-in is required for account-based activities such as requesting a quote, placing an order or booking, or leaving a verified review.

Listing a business

New business registrations require the registering owner or authorised representative's own South African ID number and acknowledgement of our identity privacy notice. Do not use another person's ID. We check format and checksum and store it securely for accountability and fraud investigations; this is not independent identity verification or a Home Affairs check. This requirement is for registering a business, not for browsing or contacting one.

Business onboarding may be automatically approved. A published storefront is not a guarantee that Intwined has independently verified every business or what it sells. We may ask for information to confirm the business is real and that you are entitled to act for it, and may review or restrict a listing where necessary.

• Everything you publish must be accurate: your trading name, what you sell, and your prices.
• You must have the right to use every image, logo, banner and description you upload.
• You must comply with the law that applies to your trade, including any licensing, health, safety or consumer protection requirements.
• You are responsible for fulfilling what you sell, for your own tax, and for handling your customers' complaints and refunds.
• We may decline, suspend or remove a listing that breaches these terms, misleads customers, or damages trust in the platform.

Business verification badges

We recommend dealing only with businesses that display an Intwined verification badge and checking which credentials were verified before paying. Registration verified and VAT verified refer only to those details checked and recorded by an Intwined administrator. No badge is shown until one of these credential checks has been recorded; this is not proof of fraud. Not every legitimate business has a company registration number or is VAT registered.

Automatic business approval, a verified email, ID capture, customer reviews and paid featured placement do not verify a business. Credential checks do not guarantee honest conduct, quality, fulfilment or a safe transaction, and do not provide payment protection or a refund promise. Customers should still confirm the supplier, scope of work, payment details and applicable transaction terms. These limitations do not remove consumers' legal rights or Intwined's own applicable obligations.

Understand verification and report a concern

Scams, fraud and marketplace reports

Scams, fraud, impersonation, stolen identities and intentionally misleading listings are prohibited on Intwined. We review listings and suspected-fraud reports as part of marketplace moderation. We may request supporting information, restrict a storefront while investigating, or suspend or remove a business where the evidence supports action under these terms and applicable law.

A report, incomplete profile or missing identity reference does not by itself prove fraud. Moderation decisions require assessment of the available evidence. Businesses may contact Intwined support to respond, correct information or ask for a decision to be reviewed.

Use Report this business on a storefront to raise a concern. Give factual details and never post identity numbers, bank credentials or other people's private information. Identity collection, automated checks and moderation do not guarantee that every listing is genuine or that a transaction is safe; customers should still check the supplying business and its terms before committing.

Fees

Intwined offers a monthly business subscription and optional featured placement. Current prices and payment availability are published on the Services and pricing page and shown before paid checkout. Free-access periods and individual fee waivers may apply; an advertised free period must be honoured. We will tell you in advance of a change to an authorised recurring fee.

Creating an account does not authorise a card debit. While platform billing is switched off, ordinary business accounts cannot start a paid checkout. A paid subscription requires your explicit authorisation of its amount and recurring billing terms. Our platform checkout is for Intwined's digital services, not for goods or services sold by independently listed businesses.

Fees are payable in South African Rand. If a payment fails we may suspend the storefront and workspace until it is settled. Your data is retained during suspension and restored when payment is brought up to date.

You can cancel at any time and the cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid for. We do not pro-rate part periods unless the law requires it.

Services and pricing

How to cancel

Refund policy

Online service delivery

Acceptable use

You may not use the platform to:

• Publish anything unlawful, misleading, hateful, or infringing on someone else's rights.
• Sell goods or services you are not legally permitted to sell.
• Send unsolicited bulk messages, or misuse contact details obtained through an enquiry for anything other than replying to it.
• Attempt to access another business's records, probe the platform's security, or interfere with its operation.
• Scrape or bulk-extract listings or contact details.

Enquiries and customer contact

A visitor can message a business through the storefront without signing in, by leaving contact details. The message and those details are shared with the receiving business so it can respond. Signed-in customer conversations can also be kept in the customer hub.

The receiving business is responsible for its own use of the client's details and must provide appropriate privacy information. Enquiry details must be used to respond and serve that client, not treated as blanket permission for unrelated marketing. Intwined remains responsible for its own handling of the information as described in our privacy policy.

Your content and your data

You keep ownership of everything you upload: your logo, banner, catalogue, documents and records. You grant us the licence we need to host, display and back up that content for the purpose of running the service, and nothing more.

You can export or ask us to delete your data. On cancellation we retain it for a limited window so you can retrieve it, then delete it, except where law requires us to keep it.

Availability

We work to keep the platform available but we do not guarantee uninterrupted service. We may take it down for maintenance, and we will give notice where we reasonably can.

Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Protection Act where it applies.

Subject to that, we are not liable for a dispute between a visitor and a business, for the quality of anything sold through a storefront, or for indirect or consequential loss. Where we are liable, our total liability is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, that is used unlawfully, or where fees are unpaid. Where the breach is capable of being fixed, we will normally give you the chance to fix it first.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed, and we will notify account holders before a significant change takes effect. Continuing to use the platform after that means you accept the updated terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.