Hiwmate Terms of Service

These Terms ("Terms") form an agreement between you and Hiwmate, operated by [legal entity name · registration number · address — registration pending] ("we"). By signing up for, accessing or using the Hiwmate app, the hiwmate.com website and related services (the "Service"), you confirm that you have read and accept these Terms together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. If you do not accept them, please do not use the Service. The Thai version prevails if the two versions conflict.

1. What Hiwmate is

Hiwmate is an intermediary platform that lets "customers" ask "carriers" (people who are already travelling to a mall, an event or another country) to buy items on their behalf. We are not the seller of any item, not a courier, and not a party to the purchase between you and the other user. The purchase and carrying arrangement is made directly between the customer and the carrier. We provide tools to publish trips, place orders, pay safely, communicate, and help resolve problems.

2. Eligibility and accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into contracts.
• One person may hold one account. The same account can both order and carry. Creating extra accounts to get around limits, suspensions or system rules is not allowed.
• You must provide accurate, up-to-date information and are responsible for everything done through your account, including keeping login codes, login links and receive codes confidential.
• We may refuse a sign-up, limit features or suspend an account if we see a risk to other users or to the Service.

3. Carrier identity verification

• Before carrying, a carrier must complete identity verification with a Thai national ID card or a passport plus a face check, through our identity verification provider (see the Privacy Policy).
• The name on the payout bank account must match the verified document. A newly added payout account can receive transfers 48 hours after it is added.
• If details do not match, documents are forged, or there are signs that someone else is using the account, we may suspend carrier status immediately.

4. Trips and orders

• Carriers set their own rates, carrying fee, delivery round, cut-off time, weight or quantity limits and trip rules, and must follow what they publish.
• Customers choose items, give complete details and pay the bill prepared by the system within the time shown. Unpaid orders are cancelled automatically. A customer may have at most 3 unpaid orders open at the same time.
• Prices for items abroad may be estimates. After the actual purchase the system issues a new bill to collect or refund the difference automatically. Issued bills are never edited; a new version is issued instead.
• Both parties must communicate and pay through the Service only. Payments arranged outside the Service are not protected and may lead to account suspension.

5. Fees

• Customers pay a protection fee of 7% of the total (items + carrying fee + delivery), minimum THB 19, maximum THB 1,490, VAT included, shown as a separate line before every confirmation.
• Carriers are not charged any fee on their carrying fee or item amounts.
• The protection fee is calculated on the final bill. If an order is cancelled before purchase or the item is never received, we refund the protection fee together with the rest of the payment in full.

6. Payments, holding and releases

• All payments are processed by a payment service provider licensed by the Bank of Thailand. We do not store full card or bank account details.
• Customer funds are held and released to the carrier in stages shown in the app, mainly: (1) an advance, a portion of the item cost based on the carrier's trust tier and the system cap, so the carrier can buy the items; (2) the remaining item cost once the carrier uploads purchase proof; (3) the carrying and delivery fees once the customer confirms receipt with the receive code.
• The advance percentage can be agreed between customer and carrier for each trip, but never above the system cap for the carrier's tier. The total outstanding limit for each tier is shown in the app.
• A carrier who has received an advance must upload purchase proof within 48 hours. Otherwise the system suspends carrier status and starts refunding the customer. Money a carrier received for an order that is later cancelled becomes a debt to the platform and is deducted from the carrier's next payout. We may take legal action to recover it.

7. Cancellations, problem reports and refunds

• Customers can cancel with a full refund before the carrier starts buying. After that, cancellation depends on the trip rules and item status.
• If some items are sold out or cannot be bought, the system recalculates the bill and refunds the difference automatically.
• If you did not receive an item, or received something materially different from what you ordered, report the problem in the app with evidence within 72 hours of the order being marked delivered. If no problem is reported in that time, the order closes and the remaining funds are released to the carrier automatically.
• When a problem is reported, held funds are frozen while we review evidence from both sides, then we refund or release the funds as we consider fair. Our decision is final as to funds held in the Service, without affecting your legal rights against the other party.
• Refunds go back to the original payment method. Timing depends on the bank or payment provider.

8. Carrier obligations

• Buy items as described by the customer, keep receipts, photograph items and update statuses truthfully.
• Handle customs declarations, duties and import taxes as required by law, and never import more than personal allowances or any prohibited goods.
• Deliver on the published round and check the receive code before every handover. Handing over without checking the code is at the carrier's own risk.

9. Prohibited items and conduct

You may not use the Service to order or carry: narcotics and psychotropic substances; weapons and parts; counterfeit or infringing goods; medicines and medical products that require a licence; e-cigarettes and other goods Thai law prohibits importing; alcohol and tobacco beyond personal allowances; animals, plants and food that require permits; cash, securities or high-value gift cards; hazardous materials; perishable goods; stolen or fraudulently obtained goods; or anything illegal in the origin country, destination country or Thailand.

You may not deceive others, forge evidence, provide false information, harass other users, send spam, scrape the Service, run security tests against it, or interfere with its operation.

10. Content and communication

You own the content you post (messages, photos, evidence, reviews) and grant us the rights needed to operate the Service, resolve disputes and comply with the law. We may review order chats and evidence when a problem is reported. Reviews must come from real orders and be truthful.

11. Suspension and termination

We may warn you, limit features, suspend or permanently close your account for breach of these Terms, fraud risk, government orders, or to protect other users. Held funds are handled according to the outcome of the orders concerned. You can close your account yourself when you have no open orders or outstanding balances. Some data is kept as required by law (see the Privacy Policy).

12. Limitation of liability

• The Service is provided "as is". We work to keep it available and secure but do not guarantee it will be error-free or uninterrupted.
• We are not responsible for the quality, authenticity, suitability or delay of items or of a carrier's travel, beyond the holding and refund mechanisms in these Terms.
• To the extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for any order is limited to the protection fee you paid for that order, and we are not liable for indirect damages or loss of opportunity.
• These limits do not apply to damage caused by our wilful misconduct or gross negligence and do not affect your statutory consumer rights.

13. Intellectual property

The Hiwmate name, logo, design, software and content belong to us or our licensors. Do not copy, modify or use them without our written permission.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. For material changes we will notify you in the app or by email at least 7 days in advance. Continuing to use the Service after the effective date means you accept the new version.

15. Governing law and contact

These Terms are governed by Thai law, and unresolved disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the Thai courts. Contact us at hello@hiwmate.com.

Pilot note: this is a draft that has not yet been reviewed by legal counsel. Legal entity details will be added once registration is complete.