This document was last updated the 15th of July 2018.

The Terms of Use define the conditions to which you must adhere and your rights if you decide to use eikaiwaNOW. We want to offer you an amazing English Learning experience, and for this we must ensure it is clear for everyone how things work.

The acceptance of these Terms of Use constitutes a valid and binding agreement between eikaiwaNOW and you for the use of our Services.

1. Scope of Terms

1.1 eikaiwaNOW reserves the right to change this Terms of Use at any time without prior notice. It is your responsibility to check this document regularly to confirm that you consent to the terms and conditions listed here.

1.2 If you do not agree to the terms and conditions defined in this document, you must stop using our Mobile Application, Website and all its related Services.

1.3 In addition, you shall be subject to any additional terms that eikaiwaNOW may deem appropriate, including without limitation to the eikaiwaNOW Privacy Policy.

1.4 You hereby agree to comply with the Terms of Use of third party services used in eikaiwaNOW’s Services, such as PayPal and Google.

2. Definitions

2.1 In these Terms of Use, the following capitalized terms shall have the following meanings:

  1. Account” means an account created through the Mobile Application by any User in order to access and use certain parts of the Services.

  2. Student” means any person (whether or not such person is a User) who is a participant in any eikaiwaNOW Lesson.

  3. Teacher” means any person who offers a Lesson through eikaiwaNOW Services directly to Students  as a Private Contractor.

  4. User” or “you” means any user of the Mobile Application, Website and/or the Services. This includes Students, Teachers and users without a registered Account.

  5. Intellectual Property Rights” means all intellectual property rights including but not limited to copyright, designs, trademarks, rights protecting goodwill and reputation, service marks, patents, database rights, geographical indications, domain names, layout design rights and trade or business names and rights under any international convention, registered or unregistered.

  6. Lesson Schedule” is a set of requirements that a Student sends to a Teacher when they request an English Conversation Lesson via the Mobile Application which include the lesson date, time and location. The Lesson Schedule is only confirmed when both the Student and Teacher agree on the details and the Student submits payment.  

  7. eikaiwaNOW Lesson” means the English Conversation lesson offered by a Teacher through the Mobile Application, for which one Student alone or as a representative of a group of participants including him or herself has paid through the Services, and pursuant to which the Teacher agrees to provide and conduct such English Conversation lesson for such Student(s).

  8. User Content” means any content provided by any User by means of the Service, including but not limited to any profile information, messages and comments.

  9. Personal Information” means any data or information that relates directly or indirectly to a natural person, including any User, and that can be personally or non-personally identifiable information.

  10. Services” means all services, information and functionality provided or made available by eikaiwaNOW at or through the Mobile Application and Website.

  11. Mobile Application” means all mobile software applications created for use on mobile platforms, iOS or Android, owned or licensed by eikaiwaNOW.

  12. Website” means all websites, domains and all underlying pages thereof, owned or licensed by eikaiwaNOW, including eikaiwaNOW.com.

  13. Terms of Use” means these Terms of Use that apply to any and all use of the Services, Mobile Application and/or the Website.

  14. PayPal” means PayPal Inc., a company incorporated in the United States, performing payment processing for eikaiwaNOW, and includes its related corporations and affiliates.

  15. Google” means Google Inc., a company incorporated in the United States, providing Google Maps API(s) services for eikaiwaNOW, and includes its related corporations and affiliates.

  16. Lesson Fee” is the amount of money required by a Teacher in order to carry out an eikaiwaNOW English Conversation lesson. This amount is set by the Teacher as an hourly rate and can be changed at any time by the Teacher.

  17. Teacher Service Fees” means the amount of money collected from the Teacher when an eikaiwaNOW Lesson is scheduled.

  18. Teacher Reward” means the amount of money to be received by a Teacher for an eikaiwaNOW Lesson with respect to any Student. The Teacher Reward equals the Lesson Fee set by the Teacher less the Teacher Service Fees.

  19. “Lesson Credits” means the amount of money that Student or Teacher has received through the eikaiwaNOW Referral Program, Refund Program, Point Program or PrePaid Point Program.  Lesson Credits are only available for use towards discounting Lesson Fees and reducing the Teacher Service Fees.  Lesson Credits expire 365 days after issuance.  Lesson Credits can be renewed by purchasing additional prepaid plans. Lesson Credits are non-transferable to other users or accounts.

  20. Lesson Change Fee” means the amount of money that is collect from the Student, when the Student confirms a change in the the Lesson Schedule that was previously confirmed and paid.

  21. “Trial Lesson Fee” is the amount of money required by a Teacher in order to carry out an eikaiwaNOW English Conversation lesson as a newly registered or existing Teacher, who has not yet received a Review from a Student. This amount is set automatically by the system.  Once the Teacher receives their first Student Review, the Trial Lesson Fee requirement is removed.

2.2 Unless otherwise stated, all references to time in these Terms of Use shall be to the time in Tokyo (UTC + 9).

2.3 In these Terms of Use, the words “include” or “including” shall be deemed to be followed by “without limitation” or “but not limited to” whether or not they are followed by such phrases or words of like import.

3. Using the Mobile Application, Website and Services

3.1 eikaiwaNOW is a GPS based smart matching communication platform, operating on mobile devices, iOS and Android, designed to match people offering English Conversation lessons (Teachers) and people looking to speak and learn English (Students).

3.2 Teachers will create a Teacher Profile in the Mobile Application and enable real-time GPS location services on their mobile device.  Users will be able to perform a map-based or list-based Teacher Profile search relative to the Teacher’s GPS location or preset Preferred Lesson Area location, when the Teacher’s GPS location services are turned off.   

3.3 If a User finds a Teacher, who meets their English Conversation lesson requirements, the User will be prompted to create a Student Profile on the Mobile Application before he or she can request an English Conversation Lesson (an eikaiwaNOW Lesson) from the Teacher.

3.4 You are responsible for your use of this Mobile Application and any eikaiwaNOW Lesson transacted with a Teacher or Student (as the case may be) as a result. eikaiwaNOW is not involved in any transaction or eikaiwaNOW Lesson between Users and/or Students and Teachers, but only provides the relevant communication platform and tools to enable a User to transact with a Teacher.

3.5 eikaiwaNOW does not have control over the quality, timing or legality of Scheduled Lessons provided by Teachers. eikaiwaNOW does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of this information or any information provided through the Service.

When interacting with other Users you should exercise caution and common sense to protect your personal safety and property, just as you would when interacting with other persons whom you don't know.

3.6 eikaiwaNOW grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Mobile Application, Website and use its Services in accordance with these Terms of Use. You acknowledge and agree that the creation of an Account in accordance with the terms of Section 4 is necessary to access parts of the Services.

3.7 Any records maintained by eikaiwaNOW or its licensors relating to or connected with the Services shall be conclusive evidence of any information and/or data transmitted between eikaiwaNOW and you. You hereby agree that all such records are admissible in evidence and that you shall not challenge or dispute the admissibility, reliability, accuracy or the authenticity of such records merely on the basis that such records are in electronic form or are the output of a computer system or mobile device, and you hereby waive any of your rights, if any, to so object.

4. User Content

4.1 By submitting, posting or displaying any content on or through the Mobile Application and/or Website, you agree to give eikaiwaNOW an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, display and distribute any such content.

4.2 You acknowledge and agree that eikaiwaNOW and has no obligation to and may not pre-screen or review User Content posted on the Mobile Application or Website or transmitted by means of the Service. Therefore, eikaiwaNOW is not liable and/or responsible for the User Content. You certify that all of the User Content posted or submitted by you does not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights or any other rights of any third party.

4.3 Notwithstanding Section 4.2, eikaiwaNOW has the right, in its sole discretion, to review, edit, remove, limit or refuse any User Content and/or to limit, refuse access or use of the Service to any User.

4.4 The use of the Service is at your own expense and risk. You are responsible for meeting the technical and functional requirements that are necessary to access and use the Mobile Application, Website and/or Services. The risk of loss, theft or damage to any of your data will at all times be borne by you.

5. Unauthorized Use of the Mobile Application, Website and Services

5.1 You shall not act in any manner, in your use of the Services, which may be unlawful or harmful for eikaiwaNOW in any way whatsoever. This includes:

  1. the use of any software or scripts that can damage eikaiwaNOW’s or third parties’ infrastructure (including servers), Services or functionality directly or indirectly;

  2. bypassing security measures of eikaiwaNOW’s infrastructure or third parties which may be used in the provision of the Services;

  3. performing "web-crawling", "web-spidering" or collecting large amounts of information made available or provided by eikaiwaNOW by means of the Services;

  4. using eikaiwaNOW’s infrastructure or Services to send unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk, spam, bulk e-mail, scam and/or phishing;

  5. involving the Services in the committing or carrying out of any unlawful, inappropriate or immoral activities, including posting any User Content which may be offensive, defamatory, libelous, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable;

  6. providing to eikaiwaNOW any false or misleading information;

  7. attempting to gain User personal contact details such as Email, Phone Number and Social Network usernames at anytime online or offline;

  8. sharing your personal contact details with other Users such as Email, Phone Number and Social Networking username at anytime;

  9. posting links to other websites on or through the Mobile Application and/or Website.

6. Account

6.1 In order to access and use certain parts of the Services, you are required to create an Account in the manner required by eikaiwaNOW and prescribed on the Mobile Application. Your creation of an Account is conditional upon you agreeing to provide and maintain at all times accurate, up-to-date and complete information about yourself as required by the Account creation procedure(s)on the Mobile Application. All information provided by or relating to you are governed by our Privacy Policy. No User shall be permitted to create, maintain and/or use more than one Account at any time, unless eikaiwaNOW expressly consents. The purchase and sale of Accounts is expressly prohibited.

6.2 You are responsible for anything done under and in the name of each Account created by you. eikaiwaNOW is not liable for any losses or damages resulting from unauthorized access to or use of any Account, by any person.

6.3 In order to create an Account, you must be at least 18 years old.

7. Fees and Payments

7.1 The download of the Mobile Application and use of our Website is free of charge. eikaiwaNOW reserves the right to introduce a fee for the download of the Mobile Application and/or the use of our Website. If eikaiwaNOW decides to introduce such a fee, eikaiwaNOW shall inform Users accordingly and allow Users to either continue or terminate the Agreement.  eikaiwaNOW functions as a online conduit connecting English Conversation Students and Teachers.  The Lesson Schedule and Lesson Fee is at the discretion and an agreement between the Teacher and Student.  eikaiwaNOW provides a payment function for the Teacher and Student via PayPal Merchant Services, allowing a Teacher to collect payment from a Student.  eikaiwaNOW only collects a Teacher Service Fee and/or Lesson Change Fee from the Lesson.

7.2 If you request an eikaiwaNOW Lesson, the relevant Teacher will need to approve the Lesson Schedule. Once the teacher approves the Lesson Schedule you will be sent a notification message via the Mobile Application and you will be asked to provide your payment information to confirm the Lesson Schedule. The payment transaction, including verifying the payment information, will be handled by PayPal or a similar payment processing service. You will be charged the total amount at the time the Lesson is scheduled and confirmed.  

7.3 When you confirm an eikaiwaNOW Lesson, service or administrative fees may be asked to the Student in addition to the amount listed in the Teacher’s profile (Lesson Fee) related to this eikaiwaNOW Lesson. eikaiwaNOW reserves the right to change the service or administrative fees at its sole and absolute discretion (but will not change service or administrative fees for eikaiwaNOW Lessons whose booking process is ongoing).

7.4 If there was any problem concerning the eikaiwaNOW Lesson you scheduled and would like to dispute its payment, as a Student or as a Teacher, you must notify eikaiwaNOW within 24 hours after the starting time of the eikaiwaNOW Lesson. eikaiwaNOW may at its sole discretion (but shall not be under any obligation to) take such steps as it considers appropriate to facilitate the resolution of such dispute. In case your notification about the disputed eikaiwaNOW Lesson does not reach eikaiwaNOW within 24 hours after the starting time of the eikaiwaNOW Lesson, no refund will be available for the Student.  In order to notify eikaiwaNOW, please contact us via the Mobile Application, navigate to the Account Menu and select “Report User” and select what you would like to report.

7.5 eikaiwaNOW will use reasonable endeavors to make remittance of the Teacher Reward to the Teacher between 24 and 48 hours after the finishing time of the eikaiwaNOW Lesson. The Teacher will be solely responsible for any taxes and levies under any applicable law which may be imposed in connection with the eikaiwaNOW Lesson. All Merchant Payments due to a Teacher will be paid in accordance with the payment information provided by the Teacher to eikaiwaNOW. The Teacher will be solely responsible for registering a valid PayPal account that is capable of receiving payments.  Failure to register a valid PayPal account will result in a denied payment. In the event that the Teacher does not claim the remitted Teacher Reward within 30 days of remittance, the remitted Teacher Reward will be be voided by PayPal or a similar payment processing service. eikaiwaNOW is not responsible for denied or voided payments by PayPal.

7.6 eikaiwaNOW will collect a Teacher Service Fee to the Teacher when making remittance of the Teacher Reward. The Teacher Service Fee will be a percentage of the total Lesson Fee and will be noted in the lesson request and confirmation.

7.7 Prices displayed on the Mobile Application after lesson calculations may be rounded minutely to avoid uneven or unsightly numbers. In this case, the difference from this rounding will be added to or subtracted from the Teacher Reward.

7.8 You may be subject to income taxes for your eikaiwaNOW earnings. Please contact a tax professional or consultant for advice about your tax status and reporting requirements.

7.9 Lesson Credits for Students will be automatically applied to the Initial Lesson Request at maximum amount noted in the Lesson Fee section of the App.   

7.10  A Lesson Change Fee will be automatically applied to any Change Requests that affects the Total Lesson Fee for the changed Lesson Schedule which requires payment such as changing the Lesson Duration or Number of Students.  If Lesson Credits are able to cover the full amount of the change in Lesson Fee, then a Lesson Change Fee will not be applied.
7.11 Available Lesson Credits for Teachers will be automatically applied only to discount Teacher Service Fees.   

7.11 Available Lesson Credits for Teachers will be automatically applied only to discount Teacher Service Fees. 

7.12 Newly registered Teachers or existing Teachers, who do not have any Student Reviews are required to offer a Trial Lesson Fee of 1500 JPY per hour until that Teacher receives their first Student Review. We reserve the right to change the Trial Lesson Fee at anytime without prior notice.

8. Cancellation and Refunds

8.1 A Student may cancel an eikaiwaNOW Lesson by means of the cancellation functions made available on the Mobile Application. A cancellation is only deemed effective after eikaiwaNOW issues a confirmation of cancellation, which will be sent to the Student(s) and the Teacher.

8.2 If a Student cancels an eikaiwaNOW Lesson, no refund of payment will be performed no matter of the time remaining to the start of the eikaiwaNOW Lesson.

8.3 A Teacher may cancel an eikaiwaNOW Lesson by means of the cancellation functions made available on the Mobile Application. A cancellation is only deemed effective after eikaiwaNOW issues a confirmation of cancellation, which will be sent to the Student and the Teacher.

8.4 If a Teacher cancels an eikaiwaNOW Lesson, eikaiwaNOW will bear the refund transaction costs of refunding the Student’s total payment related to the eikaiwaNOW Lesson being cancelled.

8.5 If a Student cancels a paid Lesson, the Lesson Credits will not be returned to the Student's Lesson Credit Balance and Teacher's Lesson Credit Balance.

8.6 If a Teacher cancels a paid Lesson, the Lesson Credits ARE returned to the Student's Lesson Credit Balance and NOT returned to the Teacher's Lesson Credit Balance.

8.7 In the event of a Teacher cancellation where the Total Lesson Fee was paid partially with Lesson Credit, the same amount will be returned to the Student's Lesson Credit Balance.  The remaining paid amount will be refunded to the Student. 

 

9. Intellectual Property Rights

 

9.1 You acknowledge and agree that eikaiwaNOW retains all rights, title and interest, including the Intellectual Property Rights, in and to the Services and any content [Some Image(s) used under license from Shutterstock.com] in the Mobile Application and/or Website as well as any modifications, adaptations or translations thereof and accordingly you shall not under any circumstances acquire any rights therein, express or implied.

9.2 Except as may be expressly authorized by eikaiwaNOW, any reproduction, modification or distribution of the Mobile Application and/or Website materials or content, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.

10. No Warranties

10.1 The Mobile Application, Website and/or Services provided by eikaiwaNOW are "as is" with no express or implied warranty for accuracy, quality or accessibility.

11. Legal Responsibility and Liability

11.1 All eikaiwaNOW Lessons offered by each Teacher through the Mobile Application, Website and/or Services are offers made available to other Students directly by the relevant Teacher and not eikaiwaNOW. The Teacher is responsible for providing the eikaiwaNOW Lesson for which you have requested, as well as the legality, quality and safety thereof. eikaiwaNOW has no responsibility for providing any eikaiwaNOW Lesson on behalf of any Teacher and makes no representations or warranties in relation thereto.

11.2 Any dispute, complaint or claim which you may have in connection with any Experience is a matter to be resolved solely between you and the relevant Teacher. eikaiwaNOW will use reasonable endeavors to amicably discuss and facilitate the resolution of any complaint, dispute or claim between you and a Teacher, but shall not be made a party to any dispute resolution proceedings relating thereto. In the event of a dispute between you and any Teacher or any other User, you hereby agree to release, remise and forever discharge eikaiwaNOW, its directors, officers, and employees from any and all claims, complaints, demands, action and proceedings of any nature whatsoever, whether known or unknown, which now or may hereafter arise from, relate to, or are connected with such dispute.

11.3 If you are a Teacher, you are the issuer of the offer of each Lesson Schedule made available under your Account through the Mobile Application, Website and/or Services. Each Teacher hereby represents, warrants and undertakes that he/she shall honour, perform and carry out each eikaiwaNOW Lesson, and in each case shall be solely and fully responsible for any and all losses, damages, claims, liabilities, injuries, illnesses, costs and expenses of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any Student relating to or in connection with:

  1. any eikaiwaNOW Lesson between the Teacher and such Student;

  2. the conduct or carrying out of any activity or experience under any eikaiwaNOW Lesson between the Teacher (or the local Teacher represented by the Teacher, as the case may be) and such Student;

  3. any breach or default by the Teacher of any term of these Terms of Use.

12. Indemnity

12.1 You hereby agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless eikaiwaNOW, its officers, directors and employees from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses or expenses (including legal costs) as a consequence of or arising from your access or use of the Mobile Application, Website and/or Services;

13. Termination

13.1 You are entitled to terminate your agreement with eikaiwaNOW on these Terms of Use at any time by terminating the Account.

13.2 For any reason, including inactivity for an extended period of time or ownership and/or employment in a competing service, eikaiwaNOW shall be entitled, at its sole and absolute discretion, to take any of the following actions at any time without prior written notice or explanation and without any liability to you:

  1. terminate, cancel or suspend your Account and/or your use of the Mobile Application, Website and/or Services;

  2. ban any User from using the Services and prevent banned Users from creating a new Account

14. Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

14.1 This Agreement shall be interpreted pursuant to the laws of Japan.  Any dispute arising out of this Agreement shall be resolved in the Tokyo District Court, and the parties hereto submit to the jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court.

15. Special Promotions

15.1 eikaiwaNOW may from time to time provide certain promotional opportunities, sweepstakes and contests to Users. All such promotions will be run at the sole discretion of eikaiwaNOW, and can be activated, modified or removed at anytime by eikaiwaNOW without advance notification and the liability of any of eikaiwaNOW’s partners pursuant to such promotional opportunities, sweepstakes and contests shall be limited pursuant to Section 11 of these Terms of Use.

16. No Agency

16.1 No agency, partnership, joint venture, employer-employee or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement.

17. Final Provision

17.1 The English text of these User Terms constitutes the sole authentic text. In the event of any discrepancy between the English text and a translation into a foreign language, the English text shall prevail.