Terms & Conditions

1. Who We Are & Acceptance of Terms

VerifiedBizLink ("VerifiedBizLink," "we," "us," or "our") operates verifiedbizlink.co.za and the associated mobile/web application (the "Platform"), a business verification and professional networking service operating in South Africa. By creating an account, browsing business profiles, or otherwise using the Platform, you ("you" or "User") agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions ("Terms"). If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

If you are creating a business account, you confirm that you are authorised to act on behalf of that business and to bind it to these Terms.

2. What VerifiedBizLink Does

The Platform allows registered businesses to:

• Create a public business profile and submit supporting documents (e.g. CIPC registration, SARS tax status) for review by our vetting team
• Display a Trust Score and, where verification is approved, a Verified badge
• Publish posts and updates, connect with other users, and exchange direct messages
• Receive and respond to customer reviews and ratings
• Subscribe to a paid plan for additional visibility, analytics, and features (see Section 5)

Verification is not a guarantee. Our vetting team checks submitted documents against available public records (such as CIPC and SARS status indicators) at the time of review. A Verified badge or Trust Score reflects the outcome of that review — it is not a warranty, certification, or endorsement by VerifiedBizLink of a business's quality, solvency, legality, or ongoing compliance, and we do not continuously re-verify businesses after approval unless a re-review is triggered.

3. Eligibility & Accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.
• Information you provide (personal or business) must be accurate, current, and not misleading. You must promptly update it if it changes.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for all activity under your account. Tell us immediately at info@verifiedbizlink.co.za if you suspect unauthorised access.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that provide false verification documents, impersonate a business or person, or are created for a business the registrant is not authorised to represent.

4. Documents, Vetting & the Trust Score

• Documents you upload for vetting (e.g. registration certificates, tax clearance, ID, proof of address) are stored securely and are only accessible to you and authorised VerifiedBizLink staff performing the review.
• By submitting a document, you confirm it is genuine, unaltered, and belongs to the business or person you represent.
• Vetting outcomes (approved, rejected, or a requested re-submission) and any Trust Score are determined at VerifiedBizLink's reasonable discretion based on our internal review process. We are not a credit bureau, legal advisor, or regulator, and a Trust Score is not financial, credit, or legal advice.
• We may revoke a Verified badge or adjust a Trust Score at any time if we discover submitted information was false, a document expired, or a business's status changes.

5. Subscriptions, Billing & Auto-Renewal

• The Platform offers a free tier and paid subscription tiers (currently billed monthly in South African Rand), described on our Pricing page. Features and prices may change; where a change materially affects an active subscription, we will give reasonable notice before it takes effect at your next renewal.
• Paid subscriptions automatically renew each billing cycle until you cancel. Payments are processed by third-party payment providers (including PayFast, and where enabled, Stripe or PayPal) — we do not store your full card details.
• You can cancel auto-renewal at any time from your account settings. Cancelling stops future billing; it does not automatically refund the current billing period — see our Refund Policy for how refunds and cooling-off cancellations work.
• If a payment fails, we may retry it, downgrade your account to the free tier, or suspend paid features until payment succeeds.

6. Messaging & Connections

The Platform lets Users send direct messages and connection requests to other Users, including business-to-business messaging. When using messaging, you agree not to:

• Send unsolicited bulk messages, spam, chain messages, or unrelated advertising to Users who have not engaged with you
• Harass, threaten, defraud, or send unlawful, deceptive, or sexually explicit content to another User
• Use messaging to phish for payment details, login credentials, or to run financial scams

We may review reported messages to enforce these Terms, and may suspend messaging privileges or an account for violations. We are not responsible for the content of messages exchanged between Users and do not screen messages before delivery.

7. Reviews & User Content

• Reviews must reflect a genuine experience with the business being reviewed. Fake, incentivised (without disclosure), or retaliatory reviews are prohibited and may be removed.
• You retain ownership of content you post (posts, reviews, profile information, uploaded images), but grant VerifiedBizLink a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, display, reproduce, and distribute that content as necessary to operate and promote the Platform.
• You must have the rights to any content you upload (images, logos, documents) and it must not infringe a third party's intellectual property or contain unlawful material.
• We may remove content, reviews, or listings that violate these Terms, applicable law, or that we reasonably believe are harmful, fraudulent, or defamatory.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Scrape, crawl, or systematically extract data from the Platform without our prior written consent
• Attempt to bypass, disable, or interfere with security features, rate limits, or access controls
• Upload malicious code, or use the Platform to attack or gain unauthorised access to any system
• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, or in a way that infringes the rights of others
• Create multiple accounts to evade a suspension, manipulate Trust Scores, or inflate reviews/connections

9. Disclaimers

The Platform, including all business profiles, Trust Scores, verification badges, and vetting outcomes, is provided "as is" and "as available." To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any business listed is trustworthy, solvent, or will perform any transaction satisfactorily — verification reflects document review only, not a guarantee of future conduct.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, VerifiedBizLink shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Platform, any transaction or dispute between Users, or reliance on a Trust Score or Verified badge. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited under South African law, including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 where it applies.

11. Suspension & Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, provided false information, misused the Platform, or if required by law. You may close your account at any time from Settings; some information may be retained where we have a legal or legitimate business reason to do so (see our Privacy Policy).

12. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be flagged on the Platform or by email before they take effect. Continuing to use the Platform after an update takes effect means you accept the revised Terms.

13. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Platform is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts, without prejudice to any right you have to refer a consumer dispute to the National Consumer Commission or another applicable ombud or regulator.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to legal@verifiedbizlink.co.za.