Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Chester Pet Inc. (“Chester,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), the operator of the Chester platform available on the web and as a mobile app (the “Service”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Acceptance of these terms

By accessing or using Chester, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you are using Chester on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.

2. What Chester is

Chester is software that connects two kinds of users:

• Providers — independent pet-service businesses (dog walkers, sitters, trainers, groomers) who use Chester to manage their schedule, clients, pets, messaging, agreements, report cards, and payments.
• Clients — pet owners, invited by a provider, who use Chester to book services, communicate with their provider, view updates about their pets, and pay for services.

Chester provides the software platform. Chester does not provide pet-care services and is not a party to the service relationship between a provider and a client — see Section 6.

3. Accounts and eligibility

To use Chester you must be at least 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, if higher) and able to enter into a binding contract. You agree to provide accurate information, to keep your login credentials confidential, and to be responsible for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly at privacy@chester.pet if you suspect unauthorized use.

Clients typically join at the invitation of a provider. Providers are responsible for the accuracy and lawful handling of the client and pet information they enter into Chester.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use Chester for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Upload or transmit content that is unlawful, infringing, defamatory, harassing, or harmful.
• Attempt to access accounts, data, or systems you are not authorized to access.
• Interfere with, disrupt, reverse-engineer, scrape, or overload the Service or its infrastructure.
• Misuse another user’s personal information obtained through the Service, or use exported data for any purpose other than your own legitimate business operation.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules.

5. Content and information you provide

You retain ownership of the content and information you submit to Chester (for example, your business details, client and pet records, messages, and uploaded photos and documents). You grant Chester a limited license to host, store, process, and display that content solely to operate and provide the Service to you. You are responsible for having the rights and permissions necessary to submit the content you upload, including any third-party personal information (such as your clients’ details).

6. The provider–client relationship — Chester is not a party to the care service

This section is important. Chester is a software intermediary only. The actual pet-care services — walking, sitting, training, grooming, and any related care — are arranged and performed solely between the provider and the client.

• Chester does not employ, endorse, supervise, train, insure, or vet providers, and does not guarantee the quality, safety, legality, or outcome of any service.
• Chester is not responsible for the acts, omissions, conduct, or services of any provider or client, for any injury to or loss of a pet, for property damage, or for any dispute between a provider and a client.
• Any agreement for services, including pricing, cancellation, liability, and care terms, is strictly between the provider and the client. Service agreements signed within Chester are between those two parties; Chester merely provides the tool to create and record them.

Providers and clients are solely responsible for complying with all laws applicable to their relationship and services.

7. Payments, fees, and payouts

• Payment processing. Payments and payouts are handled by Stripe. By using Chester’s payment features, providers and clients also agree to Stripe’s applicable terms, including the Stripe Connected Account Agreement for providers who receive payouts.
• Payouts to providers. Funds for services flow through Stripe to the provider’s connected Stripe account. Chester does not hold provider funds.
• Client charges. Clients are charged by their provider through Stripe for the services they book. Chester is not responsible for the underlying service, refunds, or billing disputes between a provider and client; those are resolved between them, though our tools may help facilitate refunds.
• Card data. Card details are handled by Stripe. Chester stores only a reference and the card brand and last four digits.
• Tipping. Where a provider enables tipping, clients may add a tip, which is paid to the provider through Stripe.
• Taxes. Providers are responsible for determining, collecting, and remitting any taxes applicable to their services.

8. Subscription plans and cancellation

Chester offers a free plan and paid subscription plans. The current plans are Free, Pro, and Team; the Free plan has no charge, and the paid plans (Pro and Team) can be billed monthly or annually, with annual billing offered at a discounted rate. Current pricing is shown on our website. Prices are shown in Canadian dollars (CAD) for Canadian users and US dollars (USD) for users in the United States. Paid plans are billed in advance on a recurring basis through Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize recurring charges until you cancel.

• You can cancel or change your plan at any time — on mobile through your account settings in the Chester app, and on the web through the Stripe billing portal. There are no cancellation fees. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and you keep access to paid features until then.
• Unless required by law, fees already paid are non-refundable, and we do not provide prorated refunds for partial periods.
• We may change plan features or pricing on a going-forward basis; we’ll give reasonable notice of material changes, and changes won’t take effect mid-cycle for an already-paid period.
• Certain features may be limited to specific plans. If you downgrade, you may lose access to plan-gated features and data tied to them.

9. Intellectual property

Chester, including its software, design, branding, and content (excluding the content you submit), is owned by Chester Pet Inc. and protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or create derivative works from the Service except as expressly permitted.

10. Third-party services

Chester relies on third-party services, including Supabase (database and authentication), Vercel (web hosting), Stripe (payments), Expo (mobile push notifications), Resend (email delivery), and PostHog and Vercel Analytics (product analytics). Your use of those features may also be subject to those providers’ terms. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that it will meet your requirements. Without limiting Section 6, we make no warranties about any provider, client, or pet-care service.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• Chester will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or for injury to or loss of any pet, arising out of or related to your use of the Service or any provider–client relationship.
• Chester’s total liability for any claim arising out of or related to the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid to Chester for the Service in the twelve months before the claim, or (b) one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD $100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Chester and Chester Pet Inc., and its officers, employees, and agents, from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms or any law; (c) your content or information; or (d) for providers and clients, the pet-care services and your relationship with the other party.

14. Termination

You may stop using Chester and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Service or other users. On termination, your right to use the Service ends; sections that by their nature should survive (including ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and indemnification) will survive. Data handling after termination is described in our Privacy Policy.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and you agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located there for any dispute, except where applicable law gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we’ll update the effective date and notify you through the app or by email before they take effect. Your continued use of Chester after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms:

Chester Pet Inc.
Ontario, Canada
privacy@chester.pet