Effective date: [PLACEHOLDER: date set on counsel sign-off]
1. Who we are
These Terms are an agreement between you and [PLACEHOLDER: legal entity name], a company registered in Ghana under company number [PLACEHOLDER: Registrar-General / ORC number], with its registered office at [PLACEHOLDER: registered address] ("Trellis", "we", "us"). Trellis is an independent company. Contact: info@trellistutors.com.
2. Who can use Trellis
2.1 Accounts are held by a parent or legal guardian aged 18 or over ("Parent"). By creating an account you confirm you are the parent or legal guardian of each child you add, or have their written authority. 2.1A Parent ID check. Before any child's information is collected, the Parent must pass an identity check run by our verification provider, [PLACEHOLDER: ID verification provider]. You'll be asked for a government ID and a selfie. We use the result only to confirm you are an adult who can consent for your child. How we handle this data is set out in the Privacy Policy, section 3. 2.2 Children under 13 never hold their own login. They use Trellis only inside the Parent's account, while the Parent has started the session. 2.3 Students aged 13–17 may be given their own student sign-in by their Parent. The Parent remains the account holder and is responsible for that student's use, and can review or remove that access at any time. 2.4 Tutors use Trellis under the separate Tutor Agreement and Tutor Policies /tutor-policies. 2.5 You must give us accurate information and keep your sign-in details private.
3. What we provide
3.1 Human tutoring. Trellis is the seller of tutoring (merchant of record). You buy lessons from Trellis; Trellis engages and pays the tutors who deliver them. Tutors are independent contractors, not Trellis employees [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. 3.2 The AI Teacher. An automated tutoring tool that your child talks to directly in a session you open, with all reports and alerts sent to you [RECOMMENDED - confirm]; governed also by the AI Teacher Terms /ai-terms. It is not a human, can make mistakes, and does not replace a teacher, school or professional advice. 3.3 Vetting. Before a tutor is approved we check their government ID against a selfie (including an automated face match), check their qualifications and work history, contact two referees ourselves, and require them to pass a subject competency assessment, a live demo lesson and an interview /safety. 3.3A Police checks. Tutors are not police-checked by default. Trellis may, at its discretion, require a police clearance for some tutors or regions, but we do not promise one for any tutor. Don't assume a tutor has been police-checked unless their Trellis profile says so. 3.3B Your part in keeping your child safe. Vetting reduces risk but cannot remove it. Please supervise your child's sessions, especially for younger children, and stay within earshot during online lessons. Online lessons are recorded on our video provider, Daily, when you consent (see 3.4). Tutors' contact details are hidden until a booking is confirmed, and taking lessons off the platform is against our rules. Report any concern straight away to our safeguarding lead (section 7). In an emergency, call 191 (Police) or 112 in Ghana, or your local emergency number. 3.4 Lesson recording. Online lessons with a child are recorded (through our video provider, Daily) only with a Parent's consent, are private to the Parent and Trellis staff, and are deleted after 180 days. See the Privacy Policy.
4. Bookings, prices and payment
4.1 Prices are shown in [PLACEHOLDER: currencies, e.g. GH₵] before you pay and include all taxes and levies [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. 4.2 Payments are processed by Paystack (and, later, Stripe or PayPal). We never see or store your full card details. Paystack's own terms apply to the payment step. 4.3 Subscriptions (for example the AI Teacher plan or Trellis Plus) renew automatically each month [RECOMMENDED - confirm] until cancelled. We tell you the price and renewal date before you subscribe, remind you 7 days before each renewal of an annual plan, and give 30 days' notice of any price change [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. You can cancel at any time in the family portal; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period. 4.4 Free trial. The AI Teacher trial lasts 7 days from your child's first use, with the session limits shown at sign-up. The trial never turns into a paid plan automatically: we don't take a card for the trial and never charge you when it ends. To continue, you choose a paid plan yourself, and the paid period starts only then.
5. Cancellations, complaints and refunds
5.1 Lesson cancellations [RECOMMENDED - confirm]: cancel 24 hours or more before a lesson for a full refund or credit (your choice). Within 24 hours the lesson is charged, once per term we waive this. If a tutor cancels late or doesn't show, you get a full refund or free replacement lesson, your choice. 5.2 Complaints are acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved within 5 working days with a refund, a credit, or a written reason /complaints-refunds. 5.3 Refunds. You are entitled to a refund (not only a credit, unless you choose a credit) where: a lesson was not delivered; it was materially not as described; a tutor was matched to you in breach of our vetting standard; or a complaint is upheld. Unused prepaid lessons are refundable on request, with no admin fee [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. Refunds go back to the original payment method via Paystack within 10 working days [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. 5.3A Subscriptions. Because a trial never converts automatically, you're never charged for a plan you didn't choose. If you cancel a paid subscription, it runs to the end of the period you've paid for. If you were charged for a renewal you didn't intend, tell us within 14 days of the charge and we'll refund it in full if you haven't used the plan since [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. 5.4 Rematching. If a tutor isn't the right fit, we rematch you free of charge. 5.6 Nothing in this section removes any right you have under the consumer law of the country where you live.
6. Acceptable use
You must not: take lessons with a Trellis tutor off the platform; record lessons yourself or share recordings; harass or endanger anyone; try to get the AI Teacher to produce harmful content or to collect a child's personal details; scrape, reverse-engineer or overload the service; or use another person's account.
7. Safeguarding
If we believe a child is at risk we may suspend accounts, preserve records, and report to the appropriate authorities (for example Ghana's Department of Social Welfare or the Police DOVVSU unit, or the relevant authority where the child lives). Report concerns to our Designated Safeguarding Lead, [PLACEHOLDER: name], at [PLACEHOLDER: safeguarding email/phone]. We respond to urgent reports within 24 hours [RECOMMENDED - confirm].
8. Content and intellectual property
Trellis owns the platform, curriculum and AI Teacher content. You keep ownership of what you or your child upload, and give us a licence to use it only to provide the service. We do not use children's content to train third-party AI models.
9. Our liability
9.1 We do not exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited (including statutory consumer rights). 9.2 Subject to 9.1, we are not liable for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable, or for business losses (the service is for private family use). 9.3 Subject to 9.1, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim and (b) [PLACEHOLDER: GH₵ amount equivalent to about US$500] [RECOMMENDED - confirm]. 9.4 We are not responsible for exam outcomes. The AI Teacher's answers are educational support and may be wrong.
10. Suspension and closing your account
You can close your account at any time in the family portal. Deletion completes after a 30-day cooling-off period; see the Privacy Policy for what we keep and why. We may suspend or close accounts for breach of these Terms or a safeguarding concern, and will tell you why unless the law or a child's safety prevents it.
11. Changes
We will give at least 30 days' notice of material changes by email. If you do not agree you may close your account and receive a pro-rata refund of prepaid, unused services.
12. Governing law and disputes
12.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana, and the courts of Ghana have jurisdiction. 12.2 If you live in the UK, Nigeria, Kenya or the USA as a consumer, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer and data-protection laws of your home country, and you may bring proceedings in your home courts where that law allows. Before going to court we both agree to try free mediation under the Ghana Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010 (Act 798) for 30 days, which doesn't stop you using your home-country rights or regulators [RECOMMENDED - confirm].
13. Contact
[PLACEHOLDER: legal entity name], [PLACEHOLDER: registered address]. Email: info@trellistutors.com. Data protection contact: [PLACEHOLDER: DPO / privacy email].