These Terms and Conditions of Use (hereafter the “T&Cs”) are issued by Connecting U (hereafter the “Company”), a simplified joint stock company whose registered office is located at 35 rue Gros 75016 Paris, registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 829108789. 

The Company is the owner and publisher of the Connecting U application (hereafter the “Application”).

All Users declare that they have read and accepted these Terms and Conditions of Use before using the Application. In the event that the User disagrees with one or more of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions, the User is requested not to use the Application. 

1. Applicability of the Terms and Conditions

The purpose of these Terms and Conditions is to define all the conditions under which the Company allows Users to use the Application ( hereafter the “Users”), and to use, order or offer the various services accessible via the Application provided and consumed directly by the Users within the framework of a connection including in particular (hereafter the “Services”): 

– Local advice 

– Language practice

– Meet-Up 

– Homestays

Users are invited to go to the descriptions provided via the Application in order to have more details on the above-mentioned Services or any other additional Service that may be offered to Users via the Application. 

2. ACCESS TO THE APPLICATION

Before using the Application, the User must ensure that they have the technical and IT resources that enable them to use the Application by ensuring that the configuration of their hardware/equipment is in good condition and does not contain any viruses.

The Company takes all necessary actions to ensure that the User have access to the Application under optimal conditions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, under no circumstances may it be held liable in the event of unavailability of the Application due to an Internet outage, bugs or operating errors making it impossible to access the Application. The access to the Application may also be temporarily interrupted for maintenance operations.

In the event of malfunctions noted by the User, the Company will make its best efforts, following receipt of a notification from the User, to provide a solution or a workaround within a reasonable period of time. The Company is entitled to correct malfunctions in the Application by making available an update or a new version of the Application that the User must download if he wishes the malfunction to be fixed. 

The Company shall not be held responsible for any unavailability of the Application due to the actions of a third party outside its intervention.

3. USER ACCOUNT

To be able to use the Application, the User must first register on the Application by creating an account. 

The User is held responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of its login credentials to the Application. The User must immediately inform the Company of any unauthorized use of their identifiers. The Company shall not be held responsible for any loss or damage resulting from a fault or obvious negligence on the part of the User to protect their identifiers. 

The User must also, necessarily, confirm that they are over 18 years of age when creating their account on the Application. 

4. HANDLING FEES CHARGED BY THE COMPANY

The Services available via the Application are entirely offered by the Users, the Society only provides a networking service between the Users. Although the use of the Application is free of charge for Users, certain Services identified within the Application may be subject to handling fees for the benefit of the Company in consideration of its networking services.  

A clear and legible indication of payment will appear on the order confirmation screen to ensure that the User explicitly acknowledges their obligation to pay the handling fees due to the Company prior to any order for Services subject to such handling fees.  

Full payment must be made on the day of the order, by credit card, unless special conditions apply. For any payment made using the Application, the Company acts as an agent on behalf of a service provider specialized in online payment security. Users’ bank details are not stored electronically by the Company. The User certifies that they have the necessary authorizations to use the payment method when placing the order.

In accordance with the article L.221-28 of the Consumer Code, the User acknowledges that the right of retraction is not applicable to the payment of handling fees, fully executed as soon as the User places an order, after prior express agreement of the User waiving their right of retraction. 

5. SERVICES OFFERED BY THE USERS 

The provision of Services by Users is permitted by the Company only after verification of the Services offered by the User and subject to compliance by the User with these Terms and Conditions of Use and any instructions that may be given by the Company, in particular with regard to the Services that may be proposed for sale on the Application.

During their use, the User will be able to communicate with other Users and, if necessary, to book Services with other Users. When ordering Services, the User will benefit from a points system that allows them to order certain Services from other Users. The scale for allocating and using points is communicated by the Company to Users via the Application. 

It is reminded that the Company’s role in the context of any contact made on the basis of the Application is limited to a simple role of intermediation. The amount of the handling fees for the Company’s networking services is communicated to the User when reserving Services on the Application. The Application does not allow Users to carry out transactions with each other via the Application. Any complaint regarding the Services provided by the Users via the Application must be settled directly between the Users. 

6. SERVICE CANCELLATION

Unless stipulated differently on the Application, the Services ordered by the Users from the Users may be cancelled in the following way:

– Language practice

The first two cancellations are tolerated

From the third cancellation within 48 hours of the appointment time, half of the points will be charged to the requesting User to be transferred to the offering User.

– Meet-Up 

The first two cancellations are tolerated

From the third cancellation within 48 hours of the appointment time, half of the points will be charged to the requesting User to be transferred to the offering User.

– Homestay

If the User cancel a booking for an accommodation offer more than one month before the date of the booking, there are no cancellation penalties.

If the User cancel an accommodation booking between 2 and 4 weeks before the date of booking: 25% of the points will be debited from the requesting User to be allocated to the offering User.

If the User cancel an accommodation booking between 1 and 2 weeks before the date of booking: 50 % of the points will be debited from the requesting User to be allocated to the offering User.

If the User cancel an offer of accommodation less than one week before the date of booking : 100 % of the points will be debited from the requesting User to be allocated to the offering User.

7. USER OBLIGATIONS

The User agrees to comply with all the provisions of these Terms and Conditions of Use.

The User agrees that they use the Application only for their personal use or the needs of their professional activity, in accordance with these T&Cs. Therefore, the User shall refrain from :

– Using the Application in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose or in any inconsistent manner with these T&Cs.

– Opening more than one User account or open an account impersonating a third party. 

– Communicating statements or offering Services that are contrary to public order and morality (in particular, apology for crimes against humanity, incitement to racial hatred, child pornography, etc.).

– Publishing advertisements for Services not authorized by the Company in accordance with the instructions given by the Company. 

– Communicating content or offering Services relating to the property rights, in particular intellectual property rights, of third parties. 

– Selling, copying, reproducing, renting, leasing, lending, distributing, transferring or sub-licensing all or part of the content appearing on the Application or decompiling, extracting, disassembling, modifying, displaying in a form readable by the User, attempting to discover any source code or using any software activating or comprising all or part of the Application.

– Attempting to obtain unauthorized access to the Application’s computer system or engaging in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality or interferes with the performance or deteriorates the functionality of the Application.

– Using the Application for abusive purposes by deliberately introducing viruses or any other malicious program and attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Application.

– Infringing the Company’s intellectual property rights.

If, for whatever reason, the Company considers that the User does not comply with these T&Cs, the Company may at any time, and at its sole discretion, remove the User’s access to the Application and take any measures, including any civil and criminal legal action against the User.

8. THE COMPANY’S LIABILITY

In its function as a simple intermediary, the Company may not be held responsible for any prejudice related to the Services offered by Users on the Application and not resulting from its simple networking service. The same applies if a User does not show up for an appointment agreed with another User. 

Furthermore, the Company may under no circumstances be held responsible for any prejudice that may occur during a meeting between Users following a meeting made via the Application, or even for interactions between Users via the Application, as the Company does not exercise any control over meetings between Users and interactions between Users made via the Application. 

In the context of simply providing access to the Application, the Company acts in the capacity of a technical service provider and may not be held responsible for acts of use or exploitation of the Application by the User or for those carried out using the User’s identifiers. 

All Users are reminded that they are solely responsible for the Services that they offer via the Application. The Subscriber hereby agrees, in particular, to use the Application in compliance with the law and to benefit from all authorizations allowing them to offer their Services via the Application. As a result, the User offering Services via the Application undertakes to guarantee the Company against any claim, action or demand for compensation from another User of the Site, a third party or a public authority relating to a Service, information, communication or act taken in violation of the terms of these T&Cs or the legal regulations in force.

The Company shall make every effort to guarantee uninterrupted access to the Application, but shall under no circumstances be held responsible if, in the event of unavailability due to maintenance operations, or due to the failure of the Internet network or for any other reason beyond its control, the user cannot access the Application.

Finally, the Company may not be held responsible for the non-performance of any of its contractual obligations due to the occurrence of an event of unforeseen circumstances. 

9. INSURANCE

The Company does not provide any insurance or civil protection to Users. However, it is recommended that the User takes out insurance to cover travel during their trips after getting in touch with other Users via the Application.  

Likewise, it is recommended that each User hosting another User should check that their home or public liability insurance covers the Hosting Services provided to other Users. 

10. WRITING A REVIEW TO OTHER USERS

Users can write reviews about other Users referenced on the Website after the completion of a Service. Ratings and Reviews are part of a User’s public profile and may also be displayed elsewhere on the Application along with other relevant information, such as number of bookings, average response time and other information.

These reviews reflect the opinion of the User concerned and not the opinion of the Company. The accuracy of the reviews is not verified by the Company. However, the Company may refuse to accept any review that disparages, insults or gives false or inaccurate information. 

Users have the ability to contact the Company in order to contest a review, in particular with regard to its authenticity. Users are prohibited from manipulating the Review system in any way, for example by asking a User or a third party to write a positive or negative review on another User. Reviews remain public on the Website as long as the User remains referenced on the Website from the date of their publication, but may be deleted by the Company in the event of a significant change in the situation of the concerned User.  

The Company does not receive any compensation when a review is posted.

11. PERSONAL DATA 

The User is informed that the Company processes personal data belonging to the User or for which the User is the data controller (the Company then acting as a processor in accordance with the applicable European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). 

The processing of personal data by the Company as well as the rights granted to Users under the GDPR is more fully detailed in its Privacy Policy. 

12. THIRD PARTY WEBSITE

The Application may include internet links to third party websites. The links reproduced to these third party websites do not require any approval of these third party websites by the Company. The Company has no control over the information, products and/or services offered by third parties on the aforementioned websites and therefore assumes no responsibility in this respect.

Finally, the Company assumes no responsibility for the possible collection and transmission of personal data, installation of cookies or any other process for the same purposes, carried out by these third party websites during the User’s consultation of these third party websites.  

13. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The Application and all of its components are protected by copyright, trademark, design and model law and/or any other intellectual property rights. All these rights are worldwide exclusive.

No title or right of any kind to any element or software will be obtained by downloading or copying components of the Application. It is strictly forbidden for the User to reproduce (except for their own personal and non-commercial use), publish, edit, transmit, distribute, display, remove, delete this Application and the components and software it contains, nor to modify it or perform any work based on these protected components.

The Company’s name and trademark, logos, designs, stylized letters, figurative trademarks, and all signs represented on this Application are and shall remain the exclusive property of the Company. Any use by the User of company names, trademarks and distinctive signs belonging to the Company is strictly prohibited unless the Company has given its express prior consent.

The content provided by the User or created by the User during their use of the Application remains their property and remains under their exclusive responsibility. The User nevertheless grants the Company the right to use any content provided through the Application for the entire duration of their registration on the Application and for the entire world. This right of use includes in particular the right for the Company to reproduce, represent, adapt, translate, digitize, use for the purposes of the Services or to sub-license the content published by the registered User on all communication media. 

The registered User expressly allows the Company to modify the aforesaid contents in order to respect its top and/or to make them compatible with its technical performance or the formats of the media concerned. 

The User acknowledges that the content they edit and which will be accessible via the Application will not infringe the rights of third parties, and that they are entitled to reproduce it and/or disseminate it to the public on the Internet. In this respect, the User guarantees the Company against all claims, property claims and judicial or extrajudicial actions relating to the aforementioned contents and undertakes to fully compensate the Company for any costs and losses that may be caused to the Company as a result.

14. CUSTOMER SERVICE

For any request of information, clarification or complaint, the User must contact, as a priority, the customer service of The Company, in order to allow the latter to try to find a solution to the problem.

The Company’s Customer Service can be reached from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm using the following contact details: 

– phone (not surcharged) : +33 (0)625973620

– email : contact@connecting-u.com

– mailing address :  35 rue Gros 75016 Paris

The User acknowledges, however, that the Company is only able to process claims related to the use of the Application. Any complaint relating to a service provided following an interaction between Users must be resolved exclusively between the Users, as the Company has no control over the services provided. 

15. LITIGATION AND JURISDICTION

In the event of a dispute that may occur in the course of the interpretation and/or execution of the present Terms and Conditions or in relation to the present Terms and Conditions, the User may decide to submit the dispute with the Company to a conventional mediation procedure or any other alternative dispute resolution method. 

The User may visit the European platform for the settlement of consumer disputes set up by the European Commission at the following address, which lists all of the approved dispute settlement bodies in Europe: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/.

If this mediation procedure fails or if the User wishes to take legal action, any dispute will be settled before the competent courts.