Terms & Conditions

Effective date: January 22nd, 2021

Payment Policy (Last Updated on 22 January, 2021)

This payment policy ("Payment Policy") governs the Payment Services (as defined in the SpeakAmigo Terms) provided by SpeakAmigo to you. Capitalized terms (including the term "SpeakAmigo") used but not defined in this Payment Policy have the meanings ascribed to such terms in our Terms of Service, which is available at https://www.speakamigo.com/termsofservice (the "SpeakAmigo Terms").

1. Key Terms for Payment Services

"SpeakAmigo Credits" means the virtual currency purchased from SpeakAmigo, which can be used solely on the SpeakAmigo Platform to purchase Teacher Services, and does not have any value outside of the SpeakAmigo Platform. All Teacher Services on the SpeakAmigo Platform are paid for with SpeakAmigo Credits.

"Lesson Fees" or "Package Fees" means the amounts that are due and payable by a Student for confirmed language lessons that have been given by a Teacher. The Teacher alone, and not SpeakAmigo, is responsible setting the amount of the Lesson Fees or Package Fees.

"Service Fees" means the fees SpeakAmigo charges to the Teacher when using SpeakAmigo Connection Services.

"Student Wallet" means an account created by a Student to purchase SpeakAmigo Credits that will be spent on the SpeakAmigo Platform. SpeakAmigo Credits in a Student Wallet can be used to pay for Teacher Services provided by Teachers, and other services offered by or through the SpeakAmigo Platform.

"Payment Method" means a method or service available on the SpeakAmigo Platform for a Student to purchase SpeakAmigo Credits, such as credit card, debit card and other third party payment providers.

"Teacher Wallet" means an account created by Teachers to receive payment for Teacher Services.

"Withdrawal Method" means a method or service available on the SpeakAmigo Platform for a Teacher to receive cash in the exchange for SpeakAmigo Credits, such as PayPal, and other third party payment providers.

2. Lesson Contract

Upon confirmation of Teacher Services, time, and price by both the Student and the Teacher, such Student and Teacher shall be considered as entering into a contract, pursuant to which the Student agrees to purchase, and the Teacher agrees to deliver, the Teacher Services (the "Lesson Contract"). You agree not to enter into any contractual provisions that conflict with the SpeakAmigo Terms or other SpeakAmigo Policies. The Student and Teacher each covenant and agree to act with good faith and fair dealing in performance of the Lesson Contract. Furthermore, the Student and Teacher each acknowledge and agree that the value, reputation, and goodwill of the SpeakAmigo Platform depends on their performance of the foregoing covenants and agreements. The Student and the Teacher therefore agree that SpeakAmigo has the right to take such actions with respect to the Lesson Contract, including without limitation suspension, termination, or legal actions, as SpeakAmigo in its sole discretion deems necessary to protect the value, reputation, and goodwill of the SpeakAmigo Platform.

3. Financial Terms for Students

For Students, you must use SpeakAmigo Credits to purchase Teacher Services from a Teacher. SpeakAmigo provides each Student with a Student Wallet to hold the SpeakAmigo Credits.

3.1 Purchasing SpeakAmigo Credits

In order to acquire SpeakAmigo Credits, you may use a Payment Method to pay for the desired amount of SpeakAmigo Credits through your SpeakAmigo Account. By providing SpeakAmigo with the required information for the applicable Payment Method, you authorize us to charge for the amounts you selected on the payment page of your SpeakAmigo Account. Following a successful transaction, your Student Wallet will have the corresponding amount of SpeakAmigo Credits. You acknowledge and agree that the SpeakAmigo Credit you purchased will be used to pay SpeakAmigo or Teacher for the services on the SpeakAmigo Platform. If you are a Company, SpeakAmigo Credit acquired by you may be allocated between the Company Employees’ SpeakAmigo Account.

3.2 No Refunds on Authorized Payments

Authorized payments are final. No refunds will be given for SpeakAmigo Credits purchased.

3.3 Third Party Payment Method Fees

When purchasing SpeakAmigo Credits, you may be charged additional fees by the third party that provides the applicable Payment Method. These fees are not under SpeakAmigo's control, and SpeakAmigo disclaims all liability in this regard. Whatever Payment Method you use may be subject to additional terms and conditions, which we recommend that you review before using such Payment Method.

3.4 Cancelled Lesson Requests

If a Lesson Request is cancelled by the Student, declined by the Teacher, or expires (not confirmed by the Teacher within the request period), you will receive a 100% refund in the form of SpeakAmigo credits to the student’s student wallet.

3.5 Confirmation of Lessons

As a Student, when you confirm a Lesson was successful, you confirm that the Teacher has completed the applicable Teacher Services fully and satisfactorily, and you are instructing SpeakAmigo to transfer the applicable SpeakAmigo Credits from your Student Wallet to the Teacher’s Teacher Wallet.

3.6 Feedback and Ratings on Lessons

As a Student, when you confirm a Lesson was successful, you may be asked to leave feedback and a rating for the Teacher. Leaving feedback or a rating is optional. However, if you do so, you agree that your feedback must be genuine and honest, and will not commit fraud, spam, insult, harass, threaten, or otherwise misuse the feedback system.

You agree to report violations or abuses of our rating and feedback system by contacting Customer Service, and agree not to take any actions that undermine the integrity of the feedback system.

4. Financial Terms for Teachers

For Teachers, you must use SpeakAmigo Credits to receive payment for Teacher Services from Students. SpeakAmigo provides each Teacher with a "Teacher Wallet" to hold the SpeakAmigo Credits and to convert SpeakAmigo Credits to cash.

4.1 Accepting Lesson Requests

Teachers will receive requests for Lessons from Students ("Lesson Requests"). By accepting a Lesson Request, you agree to provide the Lesson to the Student at the date as described in the applicable Lesson Request. You can choose to decline any Lesson Request. If you do not respond, the Lesson Request will automatically expire.

4.2 Cancellations of Lesson Requests

As a Teacher, you acknowledge and agree that SpeakAmigo may in its sole discretion cancel a confirmed Lesson Request pursuant to SpeakAmigo Terms and other SpeakAmigo Policies. You further acknowledge and agree that SpeakAmigo and the relevant Student will not have any liability for such cancellations or refunds.

4.3 SpeakAmigo Commission Fees

SpeakAmigo collects commission fees when successful completion of a Lesson is confirmed by the Student. For each successfully completed Lesson, the commission is 15% of the total cost of such Lesson ("Commission Fee"). The Commission Fee will be deducted upon the transfer of SpeakAmigo Credits to the Teacher's Teacher Wallet.

The balance shown in the Teacher Wallet is the full balance after all fees have been deducted. Amounts may be rounded up or down as described the "Rounding Off" section below.

To the extent any refunds are issued to a Student, no Commission Fees will be charged to the Teacher with respect to SpeakAmigo Credits that are refunded back to the Student.

4.4 No Circumvention of Commission Fees

Teachers shall not to engage in any action or activity meant to circumvent the Commission Fees, with such actions or activities including, but not limited to, the following: (i) suggesting, soliciting, or accepting payment outside of the SpeakAmigo Platform, or by other means other than through the Payment Services; or (ii) reporting or listing an inaccurate price for a Lesson on the SpeakAmigo Platform, or charging a fee for a Lesson that is different from the amount agreed between Student and Teacher.

4.5 Withdrawal of Funds

When withdrawing SpeakAmigo Credits, you may be charged additional fees by the third party that provides the applicable Withdrawal Method. These fees are not under SpeakAmigo's control, and SpeakAmigo disclaims all liability in this regard. Whatever Withdrawal Method you use may be subject to additional terms and conditions, which we recommend that you review before using such Withdrawal Method.

4.6 Withholding or Delaying Disbursement of Funds

If SpeakAmigo determines that a Teacher's actions may have resulted or will result in a significant number of disputes, refunds or other claims from Students who purchased such Teacher’s Lessons, SpeakAmigo reserves the right to delay or stop the disbursement of all funds accrued in such Teacher's Teacher Wallet. If SpeakAmigo reasonably concludes that a Teacher has violated the SpeakAmigo Terms or other SpeakAmigo Policies, SpeakAmigo may refuse to disburse the funds accrued in such Teacher's Teacher Wallet and debit such funds from the Teacher Wallet.

4.7 Rounding Off

SpeakAmigo may, in its sole discretion, round up or round down amounts that are payable from or to Teachers or Students to the nearest whole functional base unit in which the currency is denominated (e.g. to the nearest dollar); for example SpeakAmigo may round up an amount of $101.50 to $102.00, and may round down an amount of $101.49 to $101.00.

5. Lesson Packages

A Teacher may offer Students, and Students may purchase from a Teacher, more than one Lesson in a single package (each such lesson package, a "Lesson Package"). Students are expecting to complete all Lessons in the Lesson Packages within six (6) months of the purchase date (the "Package Expiration Date"). If there are any remaining Lessons that have not been completed on or before the Package Expiration Date, SpeakAmigo will send reminders to both the Student and the Teacher prior to the applicable Package Expiration Date. The Student may extend the Lesson Package on the Student’s SpeakAmigo Account before the applicable Package Expiration Date, but if the Student fails to do so, then all remaining SpeakAmigo Credits in the package will be sent to the Teacher, minus SpeakAmigo's Commission Fees.

6. Taxes

Teachers shall be solely responsible for determining their applicable tax related duties in connection with the income obtained from their Teacher Services, and shall also be solely responsible for remitting to the relevant authority any applicable taxes that need to be paid. SpeakAmigo cannot and does not offer tax-related advice to any Members.

7. SpeakAmigo Credits Policies

7.1 SpeakAmigo Credits are not Bank Deposits

You acknowledge that: (1) SpeakAmigo is not a bank, and Student Wallets and Teacher Wallets are a payment service rather than a banking service; and (2) SpeakAmigo is not acting as a trustee or fiduciary with respect to your funds, but is acting only as an agent and custodian. (3) SpeakAmigo IS NOT A BANK, AND AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED THROUGH OR STORED IN STUDENT WALLETS OR TEACHER WALLETS ARE NOT INSURED DEPOSITS.

7.2 SpeakAmigo Credits Expiration Policy

SpeakAmigo Credits in a SpeakAmigo Account will be valid for so long as the Member remains active on SpeakAmigo. If any Member’s SpeakAmigo Account has been inactive for more than twelve (12) months, the SpeakAmigo Credits will expire. Credits can be reactivated by contacting SpeakAmigo customer support with a reactivation request, with the condition that the credits have been expired for less than 12 months. Credits can be reactivated only one time, and will be valid for 12 months after the reactivation. Any activity in the credits will extend the expiration date of the credits an additional 12 months.

7.3 Foreign Exchange Risk

SpeakAmigo Credits are tied to US Dollars. SpeakAmigo is not responsible for currency fluctuations that occur when billing or crediting a credit or debit card denominated in a currency other than US Dollars, nor is SpeakAmigo responsible for currency fluctuations that occur when receiving or sending payment via third party payment services when purchasing SpeakAmigo Credits or withdrawing an SpeakAmigo Credit balance.

7.4 SpeakAmigo Credits Limitations

SpeakAmigo Credits are valid only when purchased on the SpeakAmigo Platform or through authorized SpeakAmigo partners. SpeakAmigo Credits in the form of SpeakAmigo gift cards or vouchers cannot be resold or redeemed for cash. SpeakAmigo Credits redeemed from gift cards or vouchers purchased through unofficial sources or channels are subject to cancellation without notice.

8. SpeakAmigo's Rights Regarding SpeakAmigo Accounts and Funds

8.1 Security and Financial Fraud

As a security measure, SpeakAmigo may impose transaction limits on some or all Students and Teachers relating to the value of any transaction or disbursement, the cumulative value of all transactions or disbursements during a period of time, or the number of transactions per day or other period of time. We will impose these limits before any services are rendered if we determine it is necessary for security reasons or the prevention of fraud.

SpeakAmigo reserves the right to void SpeakAmigo Credit purchases if purchases are found to be fraudulent. This includes SpeakAmigo Credits that have been redeemed from fraudulent SpeakAmigo gift card purchases.

8.2 Reservation of Rights for Erroneous Transactions

SpeakAmigo reserves the right to seek reimbursement from any Teacher or Student, if SpeakAmigo, in its sole discretion, determines that erroneous or duplicate transactions have occurred. SpeakAmigo may obtain such reimbursement by deducting from future payments owed to such Teacher, by reversing any SpeakAmigo Credits to such Teacher's Teacher Wallet, or by seeking reimbursement from such Teacher by any other lawful means.

8.3 Prohibition on Friendly Fraud

"Friendly Fraud" is when a person initiates a fraud dispute with a payment provider, claiming that their credit card (or other payment method) was not intended to be used. Because SpeakAmigo does not offer refunds, users that disagree with the policy have tried to use Friendly Fraud to receive a refund.

This type of behavior is illegal and prohibited by all payment providers. SpeakAmigo also strictly opposes Friendly Fraud. If Friendly Fraud is discovered, the Student's SpeakAmigo Account and Student Wallet will be deactivated, purchased credits will be confiscated, and the Student will be noted as a financial security risk.

In the case of honest mistakes, SpeakAmigo can reverse the transaction. We strongly advise Students to contact SpeakAmigo Customer Service to resolve any financial disputes.

9. Prohibitions

In addition to complying with the restrictions regarding improper use of the SpeakAmigo Platform described in Section 11 (Restrictions) of the SpeakAmigo Terms, you understand and agree that you are solely responsible for compliance with any applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tax obligations that may apply to you in connection with the use of the Payment Services. In addition, you may not and you agree that you will not:

  1. Violate any local, state, provincial, national, or other law or regulation, or any order of a court, such as money laundering and internet fraud or theft;
  2. Use the Payment Services for any commercial or other purposes that are not expressly permitted by this Payment Policy;
  3. Use the Payment Services to transmit, distribute, post or submit any information concerning any other person or entity, including without limitation, personal contact information or credit, debit, calling card or account numbers, or photographs of others without their permission;
  4. Register any Payment Method or Withdrawal Method with your SpeakAmigo account that is not yours or you do not have authorization to use;
  5. Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any SpeakAmigo system or network or breach any security or authentication measures;
  6. Avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, impair, descramble, or otherwise circumvent any technological measure implemented by SpeakAmigo or any other third party (including another Member) to protect the Payment Services;
  7. Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting, or in any way use the Payment Services to send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information;
  8. Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Payment Services;
  9. Use credit cards or other payment methods fraudulently;
  10. Advocate, encourage, or assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing.

SpeakAmigo has the right to investigate and prosecute violations of any of the above to the fullest extent of the law. In addition, and as set in this Payment Policy, SpeakAmigo may take a range of actions against you, including but not limited to limiting access to your SpeakAmigo Account and any associated Payment Services, for a violation of this Payment Policy.

10. Teacher – Student Dispute

In the event of a disagreement between a Teacher and a Student, SpeakAmigo encourages the Teacher and Student to communicate directly and attempt to resolve the disagreement. If a Teacher and Student are unable to resolve a disagreement and SpeakAmigo is asked to mediate, SpeakAmigo may request that the Teacher and Student both provide communication records regarding the dispute, which should show all key relevant information including the time, date and communication details. Although SpeakAmigo will attempt to evaluate the dispute on an impartial basis, SpeakAmigo will have the authority to resolve the dispute in its sole discretion, and SpeakAmigo’s resolution of the dispute will be final. As a result, SpeakAmigo shall have the right, in its sole discretion:

  1. To transfer credits, offer a refund, or reverse a transaction.
  2. To designate who shall bear the Commission Fee resulting from any such actions.

11. Contacting Customer Service

If you wish to report a violation of this Payment Policy, have any questions or need assistance, please contact SpeakAmigo Customer Service as follows:

Email: support@speakamigo.com