Terms & Conditions
Welcome to BuuQ — a beauty services marketplace connecting service seekers with independent beauty technicians and parlours across Africa — and the world beyond. BuuQ is owned and operated by Carano Group. By creating an account or using the BuuQ app, you agree to these Terms.
Note on v1.2. Sections have been renumbered and new sections added (at-location services, subscriptions, your content, messaging, rewards, disputes). If you have previously referred to a numbered clause, check the number again — it may now point elsewhere.
1. Accounts & Eligibility
- You must be at least 18 years old to use BuuQ.
- You agree to provide accurate information and to keep your credentials secure.
- One person or business is responsible for each account.
2. Roles
- Seeker — books and pays for beauty services.
- Independent Technician / Parlour — lists and delivers services. Provider accounts require dual-channel (phone + email) verification and remain in review until approved by BuuQ before appearing in discovery.
3. Identity Verification (KYC)
Before booking, scheduling, or escalating to a provider account, you must verify both your phone number and email address. Providers must additionally submit identity documents for review. BuuQ may suspend access where verification fails or fraud is suspected.
4. Bookings & Payments
- Prices are set by providers and shown in full before you confirm.
- Payments are processed by third-party providers — currently Paystack (card) and M-Pesa (mobile money). BuuQ does not store your full card details. Your payment data is handled by those processors under their own terms.
- A payment is only treated as settled when BuuQ receives confirmation from the payment provider. A message in the app is not confirmation of payment.
- BuuQ deducts a platform commission from each successful transaction. The rate depends on the provider's plan and is shown to providers before they list.
- Provider payouts are released after a settlement period following completion. Earned funds are not the same as available funds.
5. Cancellations & Refunds
- The cancellation window and any charge are shown at booking time and form part of your agreement with the provider.
- Where a service is not delivered, you may raise a dispute (section 11).
- Refunds are returned by the original payment method. Timing depends on the payment provider and is outside BuuQ's control.
6. At-Location Services
Some bookings — including Instant BuuQ — involve a provider travelling to an address you supply, or you travelling to a provider's premises.
- You choose whether to share your location. Sharing an address for a booking discloses it to the matched provider for that booking.
- Either party may decline or cancel a booking they consider unsafe, without giving a reason.
- BuuQ does not supervise, attend or control what happens during a service. Section 12 applies.
- Report any safety concern to support@buuq.co.ke immediately, and to the police where a crime may have occurred.
7. Subscriptions & Plans
- Providers may subscribe to a paid plan. The price, billing period and included entitlements are shown before you subscribe.
- Paid plans renew automatically for the same period unless cancelled before the renewal date.
- You may cancel at any time. Cancellation stops future renewals; it does not refund the current period unless required by law.
- BuuQ may change plan pricing or entitlements on reasonable notice. Continued use after the change takes effect is acceptance of it.
8. Your Content
You keep ownership of what you upload — your photographs, service descriptions, brand name and reviews remain yours. By uploading, you grant Carano Group a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, resize, display and distribute that content for the purpose of operating and promoting BuuQ. This licence ends when you delete the content or close your account, except where we must retain a copy to meet a legal obligation or resolve a dispute. You confirm that you own or are licensed to use everything you upload, and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights. Do not upload photographs of another person's work as your own.
9. Messaging
Messaging is available between a seeker and a provider once a booking is confirmed, and exists to coordinate that booking. Messages are subject to automated and manual moderation, may be retained, and may be reviewed where a dispute or safety concern is raised. Do not use messaging to arrange payment outside BuuQ.
10. Ratings & Reviews
Mutual ratings are collected after completed bookings. Reviews must be honest and must not contain unlawful, defamatory, or discriminatory content. BuuQ may remove a review that breaches these Terms; provider averages are recalculated when it does.
11. Disputes Between Users
If a service is not delivered as agreed, raise a dispute in the app. BuuQ will review the booking record, payment record and any messages, and may refund in full or in part, or decline. BuuQ's role is to assess the record available to it; it is not an arbitrator and its decision does not affect your legal rights.
12. Rewards & Points
Points, streaks and badges are a loyalty feature. Points have no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and may expire or be withdrawn. Points earned through abuse, fake bookings or self-dealing may be removed, along with the account.
13. Conduct
You agree not to misuse the platform, harass other users, post unlawful content, or attempt to circumvent BuuQ's payment or communication systems.
14. BuuQ's Intellectual Property
The BuuQ name, the BuuQ logo, the BuuQ brand and visual identity, the app, its software, interfaces and design are the exclusive property of Carano Group (or its licensors) and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual-property laws. All rights are reserved. This section covers BuuQ's own property — content you upload is dealt with in section 8.
15. Acceptable Use & Restrictions
You are granted a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to use the BuuQ app for its intended purpose. You may not:
- copy, clone, reproduce, decompile, disassemble, reverse-engineer or create derivative works of the BuuQ app or any part of it;
- use, imitate or register the BuuQ logo, brand, name or trademarks without Carano Group's prior written consent;
- scrape, crawl, spider, harvest, or use bots or any automated means to access or extract data, listings or content from BuuQ;
- reuse, republish, redistribute, resell or otherwise commercially exploit any content, listings, images or data obtained from BuuQ;
- remove, obscure or alter any proprietary or copyright notices. Breach of these restrictions may result in immediate suspension or termination and may give rise to civil and/or criminal liability.
16. Liability
BuuQ is a marketplace facilitator. Services are delivered by independent providers who are not employees or agents of Carano Group. BuuQ is not liable for the acts or omissions of providers or seekers beyond the limits permitted by Kenyan law. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
17. Termination
We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these Terms or applicable law. You may close your account at any time; closure does not cancel bookings already confirmed or payments already due.
18. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms. The current version and date are always shown at the top of this document and at buuq.co.ke/legal. Where a change materially affects your rights we will give notice in the app. Continued use after a change takes effect is acceptance of it.
19. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kenya. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Kenyan courts.
20. Contact
BuuQ is operated by Carano Group, Nairobi, Kenya. Questions: support@buuq.co.ke · Legal: legal@buuq.co.ke