Terms of Service

1. Acceptance and Changes to Terms

Welcome to Hoist. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Hoist Software LTD (“Hoist”, “we”, “us”, “our”) (Company Number: 8842848, NZBN: 9429051507626) governing your use of the Hoist platform, including our website, mobile applications, and all related services (collectively, the “Service”).

By creating an account, accessing, or using Hoist in any way, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.

Changes to Terms: We may modify these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will:

• Notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect
• Post a notice on our website or in the application
• Update the “Last Updated” date at the top of these Terms

2. Who Can Use Hoist

Age Requirement: You must be at least 13 years old to use Hoist. If you're under 18, you need permission from a parent or guardian who must agree to these Terms on your behalf and supervise your use.

Business Users: If you're using Hoist for a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.

Authorization: You must have legal authority to enter into these Terms. You're not permitted to use the Service if:

• You're located in a country embargoed by New Zealand
• You're on any New Zealand government restricted parties list
• You've previously had your Hoist account terminated for Terms violations
• You're legally prohibited from receiving or using the Service

3. What Hoist Does

Hoist is a cloud-based software platform designed for automotive workshops, mechanics, and related businesses. The Service helps you manage:

• Customer relationships and records
• Job cards and work orders
• Vehicle service history
• Parts inventory and stock control
• Invoicing and payments
• Staff scheduling and time tracking
• Workshop calendar and bookings
• Reporting and business analytics
• Document storage and management
• Customer communication
• Supplier management

Subscription Service: Hoist is provided on a subscription basis. Features, pricing tiers, and functionality may vary by subscription plan.

Beta Status: Hoist is currently in beta testing. This means the Service may contain bugs, errors, or incomplete features; features may change, be removed, or not work as expected; data loss or corruption may occur (though we take reasonable precautions); performance and availability may be inconsistent; and you should maintain independent backups of all critical data. Beta status does not excuse us from complying with applicable consumer protection laws.

4. Your Account

Creating an Account:

• Provide accurate and complete information when you register
• Keep your account information current and accurate
• You're responsible for all activity under your account
• Don't share your login credentials with anyone
• Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access

Account Security: You are solely responsible for securing your account. Use a strong password. We will take reasonable steps to secure our systems, but we're not liable for losses resulting from unauthorized account access due to your failure to maintain security.

Terminating Your Account: You can close your account anytime through account settings or by contacting support. Account closure takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You remain responsible for all fees incurred before closure.

5. Subscription and Payment

Pricing: Subscription fees are described on our pricing page and during sign-up. All prices are in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and include GST unless otherwise specified.

Price Changes: We may change subscription pricing. We will provide at least 30 days' written notice of any price increases. Price changes will take effect at your next billing cycle.

Automatic Renewal: Your subscription automatically renews at the end of each billing period unless you cancel before the renewal date. By providing payment information, you authorize us to charge you for each renewal period.

Refunds: Refund eligibility depends on your circumstances. For business customers who have excluded the Consumer Guarantees Act, all fees are non-refundable except where we fail to provide services we've promised, there's a fundamental breach by us, or otherwise required by law.

6. Prohibited Actions - Security and Attacks

The following actions will result in immediate account termination, may result in legal action, and will be reported to law enforcement where appropriate. You absolutely cannot:

• Attempt to hack, crack, or gain unauthorized access to the Service, our systems, servers, databases, or other users' accounts
• Try to bypass, disable, or circumvent any security features, authentication systems, or access controls
• Use password mining, credential stuffing, brute force attacks, or any similar methods
• Launch or participate in denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks
• Introduce, upload, or transmit viruses, malware, ransomware, trojans, worms, spyware, or any malicious code
• Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive source code from the Service

7. Prohibited Actions - Misuse and Abuse

• Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws
• Store, share, or transmit illegal content or materials
• Violate copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other intellectual property rights
• Impersonate any person, business, or entity
• Harass, abuse, threaten, stalk, or intimidate other users or our staff
• Create multiple accounts to evade restrictions or termination

8. Your Data and Content

Ownership: You own all data, content, and information you upload to Hoist (“Your Data”). You retain all intellectual property rights to Your Data. We claim no ownership over Your Data.

License to Us: By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, store, process, display, and transmit Your Data solely to provide and operate the Service, perform technical operations, improve and develop the Service, comply with legal obligations, and enforce these Terms.

Backup: We maintain regular backups for disaster recovery purposes. However, backups may be incomplete, delayed, or fail. You're responsible for maintaining your own backup copies of Your Data.

Data Deletion: If you delete data or close your account, Your Data will be deleted from active systems within 30 days. Backup copies will be deleted within 90 days.

9. Privacy and Data Protection

Your privacy is important to us. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information and data.

We comply with the Privacy Act 2020 and handle personal information in accordance with the 13 Privacy Principles.

Your Privacy Rights: Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have rights to access your personal information, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion in certain circumstances, and complain to the Privacy Commissioner if you believe we've breached the Privacy Act.

10. Intellectual Property

Hoist's Property: The Service and all its components (software, code, technology, designs, graphics, user interface, logos, trademarks, documentation, etc.) are owned by us or our licensors and protected by copyright, trademark, patent, and other intellectual property laws of New Zealand and international treaties.

Your Limited License: We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your internal business purposes in accordance with these Terms and your subscription plan.

11. Third-Party Services

The Service may integrate with third-party services including payment processors, accounting software, parts suppliers and catalogues, diagnostic databases, and communication platforms. We don't control these services and aren't responsible for their availability, functionality, or practices.

12. Service Availability and Modifications

We will use reasonable efforts to provide reliable service availability. However, we don't guarantee 100% uptime. The Service may be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance, emergency maintenance, technical issues or system failures, internet or network failures, circumstances beyond our reasonable control, security incidents, or force majeure events.

If we decide to discontinue the Service entirely, we'll provide at least 90 days' notice, you'll have opportunity to export Your Data, and we'll provide pro-rata refunds for prepaid fees for the unused portion of service after discontinuation.

13. Warranties and Representations

Our Warranties: We warrant that we will provide the Service with reasonable care and skill, the Service will be reasonably fit for the purposes we describe, we have the right to provide the Service to you, and the Service will materially comply with our documentation.

Consumer Guarantees (New Zealand): If you're a consumer under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, nothing in these Terms removes, restricts, or modifies any consumer rights or remedies you have under that Act or other consumer protection legislation.

Business Use Exclusion: If you acquire the Service for business purposes (as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993), you acknowledge and agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply to the supply of the Service.

14. Limitation of Liability

This section applies to the maximum extent permitted by New Zealand law, but does not limit liability that cannot be excluded by law.

Consumer Rights: Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of guarantees under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (if applicable), or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by New Zealand law.

Cap on Liability: Our total liability for all claims arising from or related to the Service in any 12-month period shall not exceed the lesser of: (a) The amount you paid us in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to liability, or (b) NZD $10,000.

15. Indemnification

If you're using the Service for business purposes, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Hoist, its affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses arising from or related to your use or misuse of the Service, your violation of these Terms, your violation of any laws or regulations, your violation of any third-party rights, Your Data or content you submit to the Service, and your business practices and operations.

16. Account Suspension and Termination

Termination by You: You can terminate your account anytime by using the account deletion feature in settings or contacting our support team at accounts@hoist.nz.

Termination by Us: We may suspend or terminate your account with reasonable notice for material violation of these Terms, non-payment of fees, fraudulent or abusive activity, activities that harm other users or our business, or providing false information during registration.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand, without regard to conflict of law principles. You agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand for any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service.

18. Dispute Resolution

Informal Resolution: Before starting formal proceedings, please contact us at accounts@hoist.nz to try resolving the dispute informally. Allow at least 30 days for informal resolution.

Mediation: If informal resolution doesn't work, we both agree to attempt mediation before court proceedings.

19. Contact Information

For different types of inquiries:

• General inquiries: accounts@hoist.nz
• Privacy inquiries: accounts@hoist.nz
• Support: accounts@hoist.nz

Company details:

• Hoist Software LTD
• Company Number: 8842848
• NZBN: 9429051507626
• Website: https://hoist.nz