Customer Terms & Conditions

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to create an account and book sessions on SeeCave. If you are booking on behalf of a minor (for example, language or cultural sessions for your child), you confirm you are the minor's parent or legal guardian and remain responsible for their conduct during the session. SeeCave designs its service with the best interests of children who may be indirectly involved (for example, as session participants under parental supervision) as a primary consideration, consistent with the Basic Online Safety Expectations.

SeeCave is a marketplace platform that connects Customers with independent service Providers offering native-language conversation practice and culturally familiar support. SeeCave does not itself deliver sessions and is not the employer of any Provider. Providers are independent contractors responsible for the content and quality of the sessions they deliver. SeeCave verifies Provider identity and approves provider profiles before they go live, but does not guarantee the outcome, quality, or suitability of any individual session, without limiting any consumer guarantee that applies under the Australian Consumer Law in relation to services acquired through the platform.

A booking is requested when you select a service and time slot and complete payment. Your booking is confirmed once payment is processed and the Provider accepts the request.

Payment is collected securely through SeeCave's payment processor (Stripe) at the time of booking. SeeCave does not store your full card details.

If a Provider declines your booking request, you will be notified and refunded in full for that booking.

Where a Provider is located overseas, your payment may be converted or transferred across borders as part of processing the booking; this does not change the price you are charged in your selected currency, and any currency-conversion margin is applied by SeeCave's payment processor, not by SeeCave.

Session delivery happens via an external video-call link (e.g. Zoom or Google Meet) attached to your confirmed booking. SeeCave is responsible for facilitating booking, scheduling, and link handoff, not for hosting or guaranteeing the technical quality of the call itself.

More than 24 hours before the scheduled session: you may cancel a confirmed booking for a full refund, processed back to your original payment method within 5–10 business days depending on your card issuer or payment provider.

Within 24 hours of the scheduled session, or after it has started: the booking is non-refundable, and the Provider is paid in full for the reserved time, since the Provider has held that slot and is unable to offer it to another Customer on short notice. This mirrors the standard cancellation window used across established language-tutoring marketplaces.

Rescheduling: you may reschedule a booking to a different available time at no charge if you do so more than 24 hours before the original session time, subject to the Provider's availability. Rescheduling within 24 hours is at the Provider's discretion.

Provider no-show: if a Provider fails to attend a confirmed session, you are entitled to a full refund for that booking, credited automatically or on request within 2 business days of the missed session being reported.

Session-quality disputes: if a session was substantially not delivered as described (for example, a technical failure prevented the session from taking place, or the Provider left the session early without reasonable cause), you may raise a complaint through the Complaints feature in your dashboard within 72 hours of the session. SeeCave will review the complaint and may issue a full or partial refund at its discretion, in addition to any other rights and remedies you may have.

Nothing in this clause limits your rights under the consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law, including the guarantee that services are provided with due care and skill — a cancellation or refund outcome under this clause does not affect any separate statutory remedy you may have where a service was not provided as guaranteed.

After a completed session, you may be prompted to leave a rating and review. Reviews must reflect your genuine experience and must not contain harassment, discriminatory language, or content unrelated to the session. SeeCave may remove reviews that violate these standards.

You agree to treat Providers respectfully and not to use the platform for any unlawful, harassing, or discriminatory purpose. SeeCave may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these standards, or for attempting to arrange payment with a Provider outside the platform.

Consistent with the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) and the Basic Online Safety Expectations, SeeCave takes reasonable steps to minimise unlawful and seriously harmful material on the platform, including through profile and content moderation and the Complaints feature referred to in these Terms. You can report a review, message, or piece of content you believe breaches these Terms or applicable law using the "Report" option next to that content or by contacting us at the address in clause 12. SeeCave will acknowledge and review reports within a reasonable time and may remove content, warn, suspend, or terminate an account in response, without limiting SeeCave's other rights under these Terms. Nothing in this clause affects your right to make a complaint directly to the eSafety Commissioner.

Content in the Culture & Stories section and on Provider social feeds is a mix of user-submitted, admin-moderated content and, for Current Happenings, an automated feed of AI-summarized, curated positive/developmental news sourced from third-party news providers with attribution and links to original sources. This content is provided for community and informational purposes; SeeCave does not independently verify facts submitted by users and is not responsible for the accuracy of user-submitted content, though it is moderated before publication. If you submit content, you confirm it is your own or content you have the right to share, and you grant SeeCave a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display it on the platform.

SeeCave will send you transactional and service messages relating to your account and bookings (for example, booking confirmations, reminders, and complaint updates) by email or in-app notification; these are necessary to operate the service and are not promotional, so they are sent regardless of any marketing preference. If SeeCave also sends you marketing or promotional messages (for example, new-feature or provider-recommendation emails), it will only do so with your consent, in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) — given either when you opt in or inferred from your existing relationship with SeeCave, and no more broadly than that relationship reasonably supports. Every marketing message will clearly identify SeeCave as the sender and include a functional unsubscribe facility that takes effect within 5 business days; you can also manage your communication preferences in your account settings at any time.

SeeCave's handling of your personal information is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and SeeCave's Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms by reference. This includes the protections introduced by the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024, such as the statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy (in force since June 2025) and the criminal offences for doxxing. Where SeeCave uses any automated process to make a decision that could reasonably be expected to significantly affect your rights (for example, an automated account-integrity decision), SeeCave's Privacy Policy will describe the personal information used in that process, consistent with the transparency requirements coming into effect under the Privacy Act reforms. Nothing in this clause limits any further right you have to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

SeeCave's liability under these Terms is limited only to the extent, and in the manner, reasonably necessary to protect SeeCave's legitimate business interests. Subject to that limit, SeeCave is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the platform, including loss arising from a Provider's conduct or the quality of a session delivered by a Provider, since Providers are independent contractors and not SeeCave employees, except to the extent caused by SeeCave's own breach of these Terms or negligence. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other law that cannot lawfully be excluded, including the statutory consumer guarantees regarding services, and nothing in this clause is intended to constitute an unfair contract term under the Australian Consumer Law.

SeeCave may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified to Customers with at least 14 days' advance notice before taking effect. If you do not agree to a material change, you may close your account before the change takes effect. Continued use of the platform after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Questions about these Terms, or reports of content or conduct that breaches them, can be directed to onseecave@gmail.com.