Terms of Service

These terms apply when your business uses Arcela. Please read them carefully. By ticking the box during sign-up, or by using Arcela, you agree to them on behalf of your business.

1. Who we are

Arcela is provided by Arcscribe Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 16921982. Our registered office is 18 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ, United Kingdom.

In these terms:

• "we", "us" and "our" mean Arcscribe Ltd;
• "you" and "your" mean the business that holds the Arcela account;
• "users" means the people you allow to use it.

You can contact us at contact@arcscribe.co.uk.

2. Arcela is for businesses only

Arcela is a business service. By accepting these terms you confirm that:

• you're using Arcela for your trade, business or profession, and not as a consumer;
• you're authorised to accept these terms on behalf of the business named in your account; and
• the information you give us about your business is accurate, and you'll keep it up to date.

3. What makes up our agreement

These terms, together with the documents below, form the whole agreement between us:

• the Data Processing Agreement, covering personal data we handle on your behalf;
• the Acceptable Use Policy, covering what you can and can't do with Arcela;
• the Privacy Policy, explaining how we use personal data as a controller;
• the Cookie Policy; and
• the modules, bundles or plan, prices and usage limits shown in your account or on our pricing page when you subscribe or make a change.

If they conflict, the Data Processing Agreement wins on data protection matters, and these terms win on everything else.

4. Your account

• You're responsible for everything that happens in your account, including what your users do. Make sure they follow these terms and the Acceptable Use Policy.
• Keep sign-in details secure. Each user must have their own login.
• Tell us straight away if you think someone has accessed your account without permission.
• Owners and admins can manage settings, billing, retention and other users.

5. The service

Arcela is a set of modules that work together. You choose them in one of three ways:

Way to buy	What it means
Modules	Each priced on its own. Some, such as Phone, have tiers.
Bundles	A group of modules at a lower combined price.
Plans	Fixed packages with set limits.

Clients and Calendar are free with every account.

Modules may include, depending on what you choose and what we have released:

• Clients: client records, sites, notes, files, tasks, enquiries, forms and reports;
• Calendar: diaries, bookings, reminders, booking pages and calendar feeds;
• Phone: business numbers, call routing, voicemail, texts, call recordings and transcripts, and the AI receptionist on the AI tiers;
• Invoicing: quotes and invoices;
• Jobs: jobs, team scheduling and job records;
• Payments: card payments and payment links (see section 9).

We may improve, change or withdraw features over time. If we remove a feature that's a main part of what you pay for, we'll give you reasonable notice. If the change materially disadvantages you, you can cancel, and we'll refund any fees you've prepaid for the period after the change. Anything marked "coming soon" isn't part of the service until we release it.

6. Free trial

• New accounts get a 14-day free trial of the paid modules, bundle or plan chosen at sign-up. No card is needed to start. A module you switch on for the first time after the trial may get its own 14-day trial once.
• Before a trial ends, we'll remind you. If you haven't added a payment method when it ends, paid features pause and your account continues on the free modules. We don't delete your data because a trial ended.
• We may end trials that are being misused, for example through repeated sign-ups.

7. Fees and payment

• What you pay: the fees for the modules, bundles or plan you choose, plus extras (such as extra users, numbers, texts or AI minutes over your allowance) at the rates shown in your account. You pay per business, not per user, except for extra users beyond those included.
• VAT: fees exclude VAT, which we add at the applicable rate.
• Billing:
  • Subscriptions are billed in advance, monthly or annually, by card or another method we accept, through our payment provider, Stripe.
  • Usage charges, such as AI minutes over your allowance, are billed in arrears.
  • We apply the overage cap you set, so usage charges can't exceed it.
• Renewal: your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period until you cancel.
• Changes: upgrades apply straight away, with any difference charged pro rata. Downgrades and cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period.
• Price changes: we may change our prices by giving you at least 30 days' notice by email. The new price applies from your next billing period after the notice ends. If you don't want to pay it, you can cancel before then. Promotional prices (such as a founding offer) last for the period we stated when you took them.
• Late payment: if a payment fails, we'll tell you and try again. If it's still unpaid 14 days after we first tell you, we may pause paid features until it's paid.
• Refunds: fees aren't refundable except where these terms say otherwise or the law requires it.

8. Usage limits and fair use

Modules, bundles and plans include limits, such as AI minutes, texts, outbound minutes, numbers or users. When a limit or your overage cap is reached, some features may pause or fall back to a simpler option. For example, the AI receptionist may stop answering and a missed-call text may be sent instead. We show your usage in your account. Where something is described as unlimited, the fair use terms in the Acceptable Use Policy apply.

9. Payments module

• Stripe account: Payments uses Stripe Connect. To use it you must open, or connect, a Stripe account and accept Stripe's terms. Stripe, not us, provides the payment service to you, verifies your identity and pays out your money.
• Our fee: for each payment, we charge the fee shown in your account (currently 1%, or 0.5% where your bundle or plan includes the lower rate). We take it automatically through Stripe. This is on top of Stripe's own fees. We may waive our fee for an introductory period, as shown in your account.
• Refunds: our fee is refunded when you fully refund a payment.
• Disputes and chargebacks: these are between you, your customer and Stripe, under Stripe's terms.
• Restricted businesses: you must follow Stripe's restricted businesses rules. Stripe may decide not to support your business.

10. Phone numbers, calls and texts

• Numbers: we provide phone numbers through our telecoms partners. You may use them while your account is active. If you leave, we'll help you move (port) a number to another provider where our partner allows it, within a reasonable time.
• Service communication only: calls and texts through Arcela are for service communication with people who have a reason to hear from you. Marketing calls and texts aren't currently allowed, as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy.
• Emergency calls: Arcela isn't a replacement for a standard phone line for emergency calls. Don't rely on Arcela, or on the AI receptionist, to contact the emergency services. Make sure you and your users have another way to call 999 or 112.
• Call quality: call quality depends on networks and providers outside our control, so we can't guarantee that every call or message will connect or be delivered.

11. AI features

• AI disclosure: the AI receptionist always tells callers it's an automated assistant, and that the call may be recorded and transcribed. You must not change or remove that disclosure.
• AI makes mistakes: it may mishear, misunderstand or summarise something wrongly. Bookings made by the AI are pencilled in, not confirmed, until you confirm them. Check summaries, bookings and messages before you rely on them.
• What the AI says: the AI only gives information you've provided, such as your services, hours, answers to common questions and approved price statements. It must not be used to give professional, legal, medical or financial advice.
• Emergencies: where a caller describes something that may be an emergency, the AI may give general safety guidance and flag the call to you. That guidance isn't a substitute for professional help or the emergency services.
• Training: we don't use your calls, messages or customer records to train AI models, and we configure our AI providers so that they don't use them to train theirs.

12. Things you publish or send through Arcela

Some features publish pages or send messages on your behalf, such as booking pages, enquiry forms, calendar invites, reminders and confirmation emails. You're responsible for:

• the accuracy of what they say about your business;
• giving your customers any privacy information the law requires; and
• making sure you're allowed to contact the people they go to.

Arcela adds a standard consent line and respects "do not contact" and opt-outs automatically.

13. Your data

• It's yours: you own the data you and your customers put into Arcela, such as client records, messages, recordings, transcripts, bookings, files, quotes and invoices ("your data").
• Our role: you're the controller of personal data in your data, and we're your processor. Our Data Processing Agreement forms part of these terms.
• Our permission to use it: you give us permission to host, copy, process and display your data only as needed to provide, secure and support the service, and as the Data Processing Agreement allows.
• Anonymised statistics: we may use anonymised and aggregated information about how the service is used to run and improve Arcela. It will never identify you, your users or your customers.
• Export: you can export your data at any time while your account is open, and for 30 days after it closes.

14. Our intellectual property

Arcela, including its software, design, brand and documentation, belongs to us or our licensors. We give you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use it for your business during your subscription. If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without any obligation to you.

15. Third-party services

Arcela relies on third-party providers, such as telecoms carriers, payment, AI, mapping and hosting providers. Some features let you connect services you choose, such as calendar feeds. Your use of a third-party service you connect is also governed by that provider's terms.

16. Availability and support

• Availability: we aim to keep Arcela available and working well, but we don't promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free. We may carry out maintenance, and we'll try to schedule planned work at quiet times and give notice where we can.
• Support: you can get support at contact@arcscribe.co.uk, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm UK time, excluding bank holidays.

17. Suspension and ending the agreement

• Cancelling: you can cancel at any time in your account settings or by contacting us. Paid features stay active until the end of the period you've paid for.
• Ending by notice: we may end these terms by giving you at least 30 days' notice.
• Ending straight away: either of us may end these terms straight away if the other seriously breaches them and doesn't fix the breach within 14 days of being asked, or becomes insolvent.
• Suspension: we may suspend your account, or part of it, as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy. We'll usually warn you first, but may act straight away for serious issues such as fraud, harm to others or legal risk. We may also suspend for non-payment, as described in section 7.
• After closure: you can export your data for 30 days. After that, we'll delete it as set out in the Data Processing Agreement, unless the law requires us to keep it.

18. Liability

• What we never limit: nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that can't be limited by law.
• Indirect losses: subject to the point above, neither of us is liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill or anticipated savings. This includes missed calls, missed jobs or lost bookings.
• Our overall limit: subject to the first point, our total liability to you in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of:
  • the fees you paid us in that period; and
  • £1,000.
• Skill and care: we provide Arcela with reasonable skill and care. Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, we exclude all other warranties and conditions.

19. Your indemnity

You agree to compensate us for reasonable losses and costs from third-party claims that result from your unlawful use of Arcela, or from breaking the Acceptable Use Policy. Examples include contacting people without a lawful basis, misleading customers, or processing personal data unlawfully.

20. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. For significant changes, we'll give you at least 30 days' notice by email or in Arcela, and we may ask you to accept the new version. If you don't agree, you can cancel before the change takes effect. Minor changes, such as clarifications, take effect when we publish them.

21. General

• Notices: we'll send notices to the email address of your account owner. You can send notices to contact@arcscribe.co.uk.
• Transfer: you may not transfer these terms without our written agreement. We may transfer them to a company that takes over our business, and we'll tell you if we do.
• Events outside our control: we aren't responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as network or provider outages.
• Severability: if any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• Waiver: if we don't enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• Third parties: no one other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms.
• Governing law: these terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.