Terms of Service

1. Agreement to TermsEveryone

We kept these as clear as legal language allows. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) constitute a legally binding agreement between you (“you”, “your”, or “User”) and Merba, operated by Visually Affirmed (“Merba”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), a business operating in Ontario, Canada.

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Merba platform at merba.app, you confirm that you are at least 18 years of age, have the legal authority to enter into this agreement, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you are using Merba on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the platform.

2. Description of ServiceEveryone

Merba is a scheduling and business management platform built for independent service providers — hair, nails, barbering, massage, wellness, cosmetic injectors, and more. Merba offers a free tier with calendar scheduling and map visibility, as well as paid plans with additional features including online booking, notifications, and marketplace tools. The platform provides:

• Online appointment scheduling and calendar management
• Client profile and history management
• Staff and service configuration tools
• Public-facing online booking pages
• Transactional email notifications (booking confirmations, reminders)
• Subscription billing management

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature or the Service as a whole at any time, with or without notice. We will make reasonable efforts to notify registered users of material changes.

3. Account Registration and SecurityEveryone

To access Merba, you must register an account with a valid email address and password. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration
• Maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials
• Accept responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account
• Notify us immediately at hello@merba.app if you suspect unauthorized access to your account

You may not share your account credentials, create accounts for third parties without their knowledge, or use automated means to create accounts. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

4. Subscription Plans and BillingProviders

4.1 Subscription Tiers

Merba offers three subscription tiers: Free ($0/month), Sole Proprietor ($15/month CAD), and Team ($45/month CAD). The Free tier includes calendar scheduling with limited clients and services. Paid plans are billed in Canadian dollars (CAD) on a monthly basis. Current pricing and feature details are published on our pricing page and may be updated with at least 30 days' notice to existing subscribers.

4.2 Free Trial

New accounts may be eligible for a free trial period. At the end of the trial, your account will require a paid subscription to continue accessing the Service. We will notify you before your trial expires.

4.3 Complimentary Access

We may, at our sole discretion, grant complimentary (free) access to specific accounts. Complimentary access may be revoked at any time with reasonable notice. Complimentary accounts are subject to all other Terms.

4.4 Payment Processing

All payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. By providing payment information, you authorize Stripe to charge your payment method on a recurring basis. We do not store credit card data. You are responsible for keeping your billing information current.

For chain bookings, deposit payments are processed via Stripe Connect. Funds are split between the service provider and Merba as described in Section 8.2. By making a chain booking payment, you authorize Stripe to process this split transaction.

For providers: If you enable online booking through your individual booking link (merba.app/book/[your-business]), customer payments are processed directly to your connected Stripe account. Merba does not collect, hold, or take a fee from these transactions. You are responsible for any Stripe processing fees that apply to your account. The Merba facilitation fee applies only to chain bookings.

4.5 Refunds

Subscription fees are non-refundable except where required by applicable law. If you cancel your subscription, you retain access to the Service until the end of your current billing period. We do not provide prorated refunds for mid-cycle cancellations.

4.6 Taxes

Prices listed may not include applicable taxes (e.g., HST). You are responsible for any taxes applicable to your subscription under Canadian federal and provincial law.

4.7 Price Changes

We reserve the right to change the price of any subscription plan, introduce new pricing tiers, or modify the features included in any plan. For existing subscribers, we will provide at least 30 days' written notice of price increases before they take effect on your account. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of a price change constitutes your acceptance of the new price. If you do not accept a price change, you may cancel your subscription before the effective date.

We may also introduce new optional or mandatory add-on features priced separately from your base subscription. We are under no obligation to maintain legacy pricing for accounts that change plans or lapse in payment.

4.8 Usage-Based Fees

Certain features of the Service, including but not limited to SMS notifications sent on your behalf to your clients, may be subject to usage-based fees in addition to your base subscription. Where usage-based fees apply, we will notify you at least 30 days in advance before charging your payment method for such fees.

SMS notifications sent through Merba are delivered via Twilio Inc. and incur per-message costs that we may pass through to you, in whole or in part, depending on your subscription plan. Sole proprietor plan subscribers currently receive a defined SMS allowance as part of their plan. Team plan subscribers may be subject to metered SMS charges based on message volume. Current SMS fee schedules, if applicable, are published in your account settings.

We reserve the right to introduce, modify, or discontinue usage-based fees for any feature with 30 days' notice. Continued use of a feature after notice of applicable fees constitutes your acceptance of those fees.

5. Acceptable UseEveryone

You agree to use Merba only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not:

• Use the Service to engage in any activity that is illegal under Canadian federal or Ontario provincial law
• Upload, transmit, or store content that is defamatory, discriminatory, obscene, or harassing
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service or its underlying infrastructure
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract source code from the platform
• Use the Service to send unsolicited commercial communications (spam)
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with security-related features of the Service
• Impersonate another person, business, or Merba itself
• Scrape, crawl, or harvest data from the platform using automated tools
• Resell or sublicense access to the Service without our written consent

Violation of this section may result in immediate account suspension or termination without refund.

6. Your Data and Your ClientsProviders

You retain ownership of all data you input into Merba, including your client information, appointment records, and business data (“Your Data”). You are responsible for ensuring that your collection and use of your clients' personal information complies with applicable privacy law, including PIPEDA.

By using Merba, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to process Your Data solely to provide and operate the Service on your behalf. We act as a data processor for the personal information of your clients; you are the data controller.

Upon account termination, you may request an export of Your Data within 30 days. After that period, we reserve the right to permanently delete Your Data from our systems, subject to any legal retention obligations.

7. Health Information & Clinical RecordsProviders

If you use Merba’s charting system to store clinical notes, treatment records, or health-related information about your clients (“Chart Notes”), the following terms apply in addition to Section 6.

7.1 Consent and Responsibility

You are solely responsible for obtaining appropriate patient or client consent before creating, storing, or sharing clinical records through the Merba platform. Merba does not obtain consent from your clients on your behalf. You must ensure that your record-keeping practices comply with all applicable laws and professional standards in your jurisdiction.

7.2 Data Controller / Data Processor

For Chart Notes, you are the data controller and Merba acts as a data processor. We process Chart Notes solely to provide the charting functionality of the Service on your behalf. We do not use Chart Notes for any other purpose, including analytics, marketing, or AI training.

7.3 Encryption and Access Controls

Chart Notes are encrypted at rest (database-level encryption) and in transit (TLS). Access to Chart Notes is restricted to authorized staff members at the business that created them, enforced through role-based access controls. No other business on the Merba platform can access your Chart Notes.

7.4 Regulatory Compliance

If you operate in a regulated health industry, you are responsible for ensuring that your use of Merba complies with all applicable privacy and health information legislation in your jurisdiction, including but not limited to:

• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) — Canada
• Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) — Ontario
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) — if you serve clients in the United States
• Any other provincial, state, or national health information legislation applicable to your practice

Merba provides technical safeguards — including encryption, role-based access controls, and audit logging — to support your compliance efforts. However, Merba does not provide legal compliance advice and makes no representation that the platform meets any specific regulatory certification or standard. You should consult qualified legal counsel regarding your obligations.

7.5 Data Export and Deletion

Chart Notes are included in data export requests made under Section 6 and in account deletion processes under Section 16. Upon account deletion, Chart Notes follow the same 30-day grace period as other business data before permanent deletion.

8. SMS CommunicationsEveryone

8.1 Client-Facing SMS

By providing a phone number through a Merba-powered booking page, clients consent to receive transactional SMS messages from the service provider whose booking page was used. These messages include appointment confirmations, reminders, cancellation notices, and post-appointment rating requests.

SMS messages are sent via Twilio Inc. Standard message and data rates may apply. Clients may opt out of SMS notifications at any time by contacting the service provider or replying STOP to any SMS message. Once opted out, no further SMS messages will be sent from that provider.

Merba does not initiate unsolicited marketing SMS. All SMS messages are transactional in nature and directly related to a booked appointment.

8.2 SMS Fees for Business Subscribers

SMS notifications sent to your clients are delivered via Twilio Inc. on your behalf. Depending on your subscription plan and message volume, we may charge you for SMS usage as described in Section 4.8. You are responsible for ensuring your clients have provided valid phone numbers and that you have obtained any required consents under applicable law, including Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and PIPEDA.

We reserve the right to suspend SMS functionality for accounts that generate abnormal message volumes, are associated with STOP opt-outs above industry thresholds, or that we determine are sending SMS inconsistent with the transactional purpose of the Service.

9. Merba Discovery & Chain BookingsCustomersProviders

9.1 How Chain Bookings Work

Merba Discovery allows customers to book services at multiple nearby businesses in a single session (“chain booking”). Each business in the chain is an independent service provider. Merba facilitates the booking and payment process but is not a party to the service agreement between you and any provider.

9.2 Deposits

Chain bookings require a non-refundable deposit of $13.39 CAD per business ($10.00 provider deposit + $3.00 booking facilitation fee + $0.39 HST). Of each deposit, $10.00 is transferred to the service provider, $3.00 is retained by Merba as a booking facilitation fee, and $0.39 is remitted as Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to the Canada Revenue Agency. The remaining balance for each service is due directly to the provider at the time of your visit.

9.3 No-Show Policy & Trust Record

If you fail to attend a confirmed chain booking appointment without cancelling in advance, the provider may mark you as a no-show. Merba maintains a trust record system: three no-show incidents within a 90-day period will result in a temporary block from making new chain bookings. Deposits for no-show appointments are non-refundable.

9.4 Data Sharing Within Chains

By completing a chain booking, you consent to Merba sharing your name and phone number with each business in the chain for the purpose of appointment confirmation and communication. This sharing is limited to the specific chain booking and does not grant businesses ongoing access to your contact information.

9.4.1 Inter-Business Privacy

Each business participating in a chain booking operates independently. Merba enforces strict data boundaries between businesses in the same chain. A business cannot see the names, appointment details, service pricing, or payment information of other businesses in the customer's itinerary. Businesses are informed only that the customer is part of a multi-stop booking and which stop number they represent. This protection ensures competitive fairness and prevents the disclosure of proprietary business information between independent service providers.

Stripe processing fees on chain booking deposits are absorbed by Merba's booking facilitation fee. Service providers always receive exactly $10.00 CAD per chain booking stop, regardless of payment method or processing costs.

9.5 Phone Verification

Chain bookings require phone verification via a one-time SMS code (OTP). By providing your phone number, you consent to receiving this verification message. Standard carrier message and data rates may apply.

9.6 Taxes

Merba's booking facilitation fee is subject to Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) at the applicable rate (currently 13% in Ontario). HST is calculated on Merba's fee portion only, not on the provider deposit. The HST amount is included in the total deposit shown at checkout. Merba is registered for HST purposes and remits collected taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency.

9.7 Fee Structure & Direct Bookings

Chain bookings: Merba charges a booking facilitation fee of $3.00 (plus applicable HST) per business when a customer books through a Merba chain booking. This fee is included in the deposit collected at checkout and is the only circumstance in which Merba collects a fee from the transaction.

Direct-link bookings: When a customer books directly through a provider's individual booking page (e.g., merba.app/book/[business-name]), no Merba facilitation fee is charged. Payment for direct bookings is processed entirely through Stripe to the provider's connected Stripe account. Merba does not receive any portion of direct-link booking payments. Standard Stripe processing fees (set by Stripe, not by Merba) may apply to the provider.

Summary:

9.8 Ad Generation Service

Merba provides a video generation tool that creates promotional videos based on content you provide. You are solely responsible for the accuracy, legality, and originality of all text, images, and other content used in your ads. Merba does not review, endorse, or claim ownership of generated ad content. You grant Merba a limited license to process your content solely for the purpose of generating your requested videos.

9.8.1 Website Content Usage

By providing a website URL, you authorize Merba to access and extract publicly available content from that website — including text, images, and brand elements — for the sole purpose of generating your requested video advertisements. You represent that you have the right to use this content for advertising purposes. Merba does not claim ownership of your content and does not store scraped data beyond the duration needed to fulfill your order.

9.8.2 AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

Merba’s video ad generation service uses artificial intelligence, including third-party large language models provided by Anthropic PBC, to produce creative briefs, advertising copy, scene compositions, and rendered video output. AI-generated content may contain inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. While we employ quality-control measures including automated review and structural validation, we do not guarantee the factual accuracy, completeness, legal compliance, or fitness for purpose of any AI-generated output.

You acknowledge and agree that:

• You are solely responsible for reviewing all AI-generated content — including text, claims, statistics, and visual elements — before publishing, distributing, or using it in any advertising or marketing capacity
• Merba does not verify the accuracy of AI-generated claims, statistics, testimonials, or other factual assertions, even where such content is derived from your website or inputs
• AI-generated market research, competitive analysis, and industry data included in creative briefs are produced by machine inference and may not reflect current or accurate market conditions
• You bear full responsibility for ensuring that any advertisement you publish complies with all applicable advertising standards, consumer protection laws, competition laws, and industry regulations in your jurisdiction, including but not limited to the Competition Act (Canada), the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (Ontario), and any applicable self-regulatory advertising codes
• Merba shall not be liable for any loss, damage, regulatory action, or legal claim arising from your use or publication of AI-generated content without adequate review

Where AI-generated output includes citations or source attributions, these are produced by the AI model based on its training data and may reference sources that are outdated, inaccessible, or inaccurately attributed. You must independently verify any cited source before relying on it in published advertising.

10. Intellectual Property

All software, design, trademarks, logos, and content constituting the Merba platform are the exclusive property of Visually Affirmed and are protected by applicable Canadian intellectual property law. These Terms do not transfer any intellectual property rights to you.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works of any part of the Service without our express written permission.

11. Third-Party Services

Merba integrates with or relies on the following third-party services to deliver its functionality:

Your use of Merba is also subject to the terms and privacy policies of these third-party providers. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or conduct of any third-party service.

12. Availability and Uptime

We aim to keep Merba available at all times but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We may perform scheduled or emergency maintenance that temporarily affects availability. We will make reasonable efforts to communicate planned downtime in advance.

We are not liable for any loss resulting from downtime, data unavailability, or service interruptions beyond our reasonable control, including interruptions caused by third-party infrastructure providers (Vercel, Neon, etc.).

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Merba is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Service will be error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Service or its servers are free of viruses or other harmful components.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Ontario and Canadian law, Merba and Visually Affirmed shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Service, including but not limited to lost profits, lost data, or business interruption.

Our total cumulative liability to you for any claim arising from or related to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the total amount you paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD $100.00).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability. In such cases, our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Merba, Visually Affirmed, and their officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service in violation of these Terms; (b) your violation of any applicable law or regulation; or (c) your infringement of any third-party rights.

16. Fair Use

Merba is designed for normal business use. You agree not to use the Service in a manner that places unreasonable or disproportionate load on our infrastructure, including but not limited to sending abnormally high volumes of SMS or email notifications, importing excessive volumes of client records beyond normal business operations, or using automated scripts to interact with the platform.

We reserve the right to throttle, suspend, or terminate access for accounts that we determine, in our sole discretion, are abusing the Service or adversely affecting the experience of other users. Where possible, we will provide notice and an opportunity to remedy the issue before taking action.

17. Termination

17.1 By You

You may terminate your account at any time by using the “Delete my account” option in Settings, or by contacting us at hello@merba.app. Upon termination:

• Your subscription is cancelled immediately (no refunds for partial billing periods)
• Your business listing is removed from the Merba directory
• Pending appointments are cancelled
• Account data is permanently deleted after a 30-day grace period
• Financial records are retained for 7 years per Canadian tax law

17.2 By Us

Merba reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, if required by law, or if we determine in our sole discretion that continued access poses a risk to the Service or other users. In cases of non-payment, we will provide at least 7 days' notice before suspension.

17.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, your access to the Service ceases. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 10, 13, 14, 15, and 19) shall survive.

17.4 Data Retention After Termination

We retain anonymized financial records for 7 years following account deletion, as required by the Income Tax Act (Canada). All other personal data is permanently deleted within 30 days of account termination.

18. Privacy

Your use of the Service is governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. By using Merba, you consent to the collection and use of your information as described in the Privacy Policy.

19. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall first be addressed by contacting us at hello@merba.app to seek an informal resolution. If we cannot resolve the dispute informally within 30 days, the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Ontario, Canada.

20. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the Service. We will notify registered users by email at least 14 days before material changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after that date constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

If you do not agree with the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service and may cancel your account before the effective date.

21. General Provisions

• Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Merba regarding the Service.
• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
• Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
• Assignment: You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights freely.
• Language: These Terms are written in English. In the event of any conflict between an English version and a translated version, the English version shall prevail.

22. Contact

For questions about these Terms of Service: