Terms of Service

Effective date: 22 October 2026 · Version 1.0 · These Terms form a binding agreement between Influx Online and each Client.

1. Parties and acceptance

1.1 These Terms of Service ("Terms") are between Influx Online ("Influx", "we", "us"), an independent marketing automation consultancy operating in the Republic of South Africa, and the business identified in the order form, PayFast subscription or onboarding email ("Client", "you").

1.2 You accept these Terms by doing any of the following: ticking the acceptance box at checkout, completing a PayFast subscription payment, signing or e-signing an order form, or giving us access to your systems for onboarding. The person accepting warrants that they are authorised to bind the Client.

1.3 These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any order form, form the entire agreement. If an order form conflicts with these Terms, the order form prevails for that conflict only.

2. Definitions

• "Location" means one Google Business Profile listing for one physical or service-area business location.
• "Go-Live Date" means the date on which the first automated review request is sent from the Client's connected system, as recorded in our platform.
• "Served Customer" (previously "Served Customer") means a paid invoice, completed booking or fulfilled order recorded in the Client's connected system for a customer with a valid mobile number or email address.
• "Messaging Costs" means the per-message charges levied by SMS, WhatsApp and email gateway providers for messages sent on the Client's behalf.
• "New Google Review" means a review published on the Client's Google Business Profile for the Location after the Go-Live Date, regardless of star rating, as shown on the live profile.
• "Guarantee Period" means the 45 consecutive days beginning on the Go-Live Date.
• "Retainer" means the monthly fee in clause 4.1.

3. The Services

3.1 Subject to these Terms, Influx will provide for each subscribed Location:

1. Automated Review Engine — connection of the Client's invoicing, booking or POS system (for example Xero, Jobber, QuickBooks, Shopify, Stripe, Sage, ServiceM8 or another system via webhook) so that each Served Customer triggers a compliant dual-path review request by email and, if unopened after 48 hours, by SMS or WhatsApp.
2. Negative Feedback Firewall — a private feedback route in every request that delivers unhappy-customer feedback to the Client's nominated manager in real time instead of to a public platform.
3. Monthly Competitor Velocity Reports — a monthly report comparing the Location's review count, rating and review velocity against up to five local competitors nominated by the Client.
4. Unlimited Software Integration Support — reasonable assistance connecting, maintaining and re-connecting the Client's supported systems for the duration of the subscription.

3.2 Influx may improve, modify or replace features provided the core Services in 3.1 are not materially reduced.

3.3 Influx does not write, post, purchase, incentivise, filter or remove reviews. All reviews are written and published solely by the Client's customers on Google's platform, over which Influx has no control.

4. Fees and billing

4.1 Retainer. The Retainer is ZAR 2,950.00 per month per Location, exclusive of VAT where applicable. If Influx becomes a registered VAT vendor, VAT will be added at the prevailing rate from the date of registration, with notice.

4.2 Messaging at cost. Messaging Costs are passed through to the Client at the gateway provider's rate with no mark-up, reported monthly and billed in arrears together with the next Retainer, or deducted from a messaging float where agreed. Indicative rates are published in the Client's onboarding pack and may change if the gateway changes its pricing.

4.3 Billing method. The Retainer is billed monthly in advance by recurring subscription through PayFast (card or Instant EFT where supported). The first Retainer is charged on subscription and subsequent Retainers on the same calendar day each month. By subscribing you authorise PayFast to charge the recurring amount until the subscription is cancelled under clause 6.

4.4 Failed payments. If a payment fails, PayFast will retry up to three times over 7 days. If payment remains outstanding, Influx may suspend the Services on 48 hours' notice; automated requests stop and the Negative Feedback Firewall is paused until payment is received. Suspension does not extend the Guarantee Period.

4.5 No set-up fee. There is no set-up or onboarding fee for supported systems. Custom integrations outside the supported list may be quoted separately and are only commenced on written approval.

4.6 Price changes. Influx may change the Retainer on 30 days' written notice; the Client may cancel before the new price takes effect.

4.7 No cash refunds. All fees are non-refundable. No refund, credit note or cash equivalent is payable in any circumstances, including under the Guarantee in clause 5, on cancellation under clause 6, or for unused portions of a month.

5. 45-Day Performance Guarantee ("+10 Google Reviews or We Work For Free")

5.1 The promise. If, at the end of the Guarantee Period, the Location has received fewer than ten (10) New Google Reviews, Influx will continue to deliver the full Services for that Location at no Retainer fee ("Free Period") until the Location has received a cumulative total of ten New Google Reviews since the Go-Live Date.

5.2 Mechanics.

1. On the 46th day after Go-Live, Influx will count New Google Reviews on the live profile and email the result to the Client.
2. If the count is below ten, the next scheduled Retainer charge is paused in PayFast and remains paused during the Free Period.
3. Messaging Costs under clause 4.2 remain payable during the Free Period, as they are third-party pass-through costs.
4. When the cumulative count reaches ten, Influx will notify the Client and the Retainer resumes from the next billing date. No Retainer is back-charged for the Free Period.
5. The Guarantee applies once per Location, to the first Guarantee Period only.

5.3 Conditions. The Guarantee applies only if, throughout the Guarantee Period, the Client:

1. connects a supported system, or provides the data and access needed for Influx to connect it, within 7 days of subscribing;
2. records at least 40 Served Customers per calendar month in the connected system with valid customer contact details;
3. does not pause, suppress, delete, edit or otherwise interfere with the automated requests, workflows or contact lists, other than honouring individual customer opt-outs;
4. maintains an active, verified Google Business Profile for the Location that is not suspended or restricted by Google;
5. has not breached clauses 7, 8 or 9; and
6. remains current on all Messaging Costs.

5.4 If any condition in 5.3 is not met, the Guarantee lapses for that Location and the Retainer continues as normal. If Google removes reviews, suspends the profile or changes its policies during the Guarantee Period for reasons outside Influx's control, the Guarantee Period is extended by the number of affected days rather than lapsing.

5.5 Nature of the remedy. The Free Period is the Client's sole and exclusive remedy under the Guarantee. It is delivered only as additional service time. It can never be converted into a refund, credit, discount or cash payment. The Guarantee does not apply to reviews on any platform other than Google, or to star ratings, ranking positions or revenue outcomes.

6. Term, cancellation and suspension

6.1 Month-to-month. The agreement begins on subscription and continues month to month. There is no minimum term and no early-termination fee.

6.2 Cancellation by the Client. You may cancel at any time by giving 14 days' written notice by email to [email protected]. Cancellation takes effect 14 days after we acknowledge receipt. If a Retainer falls due within the notice period it remains payable in full, and the Services continue until the effective date. No pro-rata refund is given for any part of a paid month.

6.3 Cancellation during a Free Period ends the Free Period; no amount is payable for the Free Period already delivered.

6.4 Cancellation by Influx. We may cancel on 14 days' written notice for convenience, or immediately if you materially breach these Terms (including clauses 7–9), fail to pay within 7 days of a reminder, become insolvent, or if Google or a gateway provider restricts the Services for reasons attributable to you.

6.5 Effect of termination. On the effective date we disconnect your systems, stop all automated requests and, within 30 days, delete or return your customers' personal information in accordance with clause 10 and the Privacy Policy. Clauses 4.7, 5.5, 10–15 and 17–18 survive termination.

7. Client responsibilities

You agree to:

1. Accurate data. Ensure the customer names, numbers and emails in your connected system are accurate, current and belong to the customer who received the service.
2. Lawful consent and notice. Have a lawful basis under POPIA (and GDPR where applicable) to send review requests to your customers, including an appropriate privacy notice at the point of sale, and to honour any opt-out we relay to you.
3. No gating or incentives. Not ask us, and not yourself, to filter requests by expected sentiment, offer discounts, gifts or rewards for reviews, write reviews on customers' behalf, or solicit reviews from staff, family or suppliers.
4. Google compliance. Keep your Google Business Profile accurate and comply with Google's Business Profile policies, Prohibited and Restricted Content policy and Fake Engagement policy.
5. Access. Provide and maintain the integrations, API keys, admin access and a nominated manager email and mobile number needed for the Services, and tell us promptly of changes.
6. Respond to private feedback. Handle negative feedback routed to you with reasonable promptness; Influx does not respond to customers on your behalf unless separately agreed.
7. Authority. Confirm you own or are authorised to manage each Location you subscribe.

8. Prohibited uses

You may not use the Services to: send messages to people who are not your genuine customers or who have opted out; send content that is unlawful, misleading, defamatory or infringes third-party rights; upload purchased or scraped contact lists; attempt to manipulate, scrape or reverse-engineer our platform or operators; use the Services for any business in the floristry sector or any other sector we notify as excluded for conflict reasons; or resell the Services without our written consent.

9. Review platform compliance

9.1 Our request templates present the public Google review option and the private feedback option neutrally and with equal prominence, and do not selectively solicit reviews, consistent with Google's policies. We will not modify templates in a way that gates reviews, even at the Client's request.

9.2 Influx is not affiliated with Google LLC. Google may change its policies, algorithms or review handling at any time; such changes are outside our control and do not constitute a breach by Influx.

10. Data protection and operator clause

10.1 For your customers' personal information, you are the Responsible Party (POPIA) / Controller (GDPR) and Influx is your Operator (POPIA s20–21) / Processor (GDPR Art 28). This clause constitutes the written contract required by POPIA s21(1).

10.2 Influx will: process customer personal information only on your documented instructions, which are the Services described in clause 3; keep it confidential; apply the security safeguards in section 10 of the Privacy Policy; notify you immediately on becoming aware of any actual or suspected unauthorised access (POPIA s21(2)); engage sub-operators only as listed in the Privacy Policy, with equivalent obligations, and give you 14 days' notice of changes; assist you with data-subject requests; and delete or return the information within 30 days of termination.

10.3 You warrant that you have complied with POPIA sections 18 and 69 in collecting your customers' details and authorising requests, and you indemnify Influx against claims arising from a breach of this warranty.

10.4 Personal information may be processed by operators outside South Africa as described in the Privacy Policy; you authorise those transfers under POPIA s72.

11. Intellectual property

11.1 Influx retains all rights in its workflows, templates, reports, software configurations, know-how and branding. You receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use them for the Location during the subscription.

11.2 You retain all rights in your customer data, branding and content. You grant Influx a licence to use them solely to deliver the Services.

11.3 With your prior written consent, Influx may name you and describe aggregate results as a case study. You may withdraw that consent at any time for future use.

12. Confidentiality

Each party will keep the other's non-public business information confidential, use it only for this agreement, and protect it with at least reasonable care, for the term and three years after. This does not apply to information that is public, independently developed, or required to be disclosed by law (with notice where lawful).

13. Warranties and disclaimers

13.1 Influx warrants it will perform the Services with reasonable skill and care.

13.2 Except for clause 13.1 and the Guarantee in clause 5, the Services are provided "as is". Influx does not warrant any particular number of reviews beyond the Guarantee, any star rating, any ranking position on Google Maps or Search, any revenue outcome, or uninterrupted availability of third-party platforms (Google, Meta, PayFast, HighLevel, messaging gateways, your software vendor).

13.3 Response rates vary by industry, customer base and message timing. Historical results quoted on our website are from specific client accounts and are not a promise of identical results.

14. Limitation of liability

14.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, Influx is not liable for any indirect, consequential, special or punitive loss, loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, data or business opportunity, or for any loss caused by third-party platforms or by your breach of clauses 7–10.

14.2 Influx's total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with this agreement in any 12-month period is limited to the Retainers actually paid by you for the affected Location in that period.

14.3 Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for fraud, gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

15. Indemnity

You indemnify Influx against all claims, fines, penalties and costs (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your breach of clauses 7, 8, 9 or 10.3, from content you supply, or from any claim by your customer that they were contacted without a lawful basis.

16. Consumer Protection Act

The Services are supplied to businesses for business purposes. The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("CPA") does not apply to transactions where the Client is a juristic person with an asset value or annual turnover at or above the threshold set under section 5(2)(b) (currently R2 million). Where the CPA does apply to you, nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under it that cannot be waived, and clauses 4.7, 5.5 and 14 apply only to the extent the CPA permits. In particular, the 14-day cancellation right in clause 6.2 is intended to be at least as favourable as section 14 of the CPA.

17. Governing law and disputes

17.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

17.2 The parties will first try to resolve any dispute by good-faith negotiation between senior representatives within 14 days of written notice. Failing that, either party may refer the dispute to mediation and then, if unresolved after a further 30 days, to arbitration under the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), seated in Johannesburg, in English, before a single arbitrator. Either party may approach a court for urgent interim relief or to recover undisputed fees.

17.3 The parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Courts for claims within their jurisdiction, without prejudice to either party's right to approach the High Court.

18. General

• Notices must be in writing and sent by email: to Influx at [email protected]; to the Client at the billing email on file. Email notices are deemed received on the next business day.
• Changes to these Terms. We may amend these Terms on 30 days' email notice. Continued use after the effective date is acceptance; you may cancel before then under clause 6.2 without penalty.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delay caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including load-shedding, network outages and third-party platform failures, provided it takes reasonable steps to mitigate.
• Assignment. You may not assign without our consent. We may assign to a successor of our business on notice.
• Severability, waiver, no partnership. Invalid provisions are severed; a waiver must be in writing; nothing creates a partnership, agency or employment.
• Electronic communications. The parties agree that this agreement may be concluded and performed electronically under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

19. Contact

Influx Online is an independent marketing automation consultancy and is not affiliated with Google LLC. See also our Privacy Policy.