Terms of Service

Welcome to Local Hours ("we", "our" or "Platform"), a personal project operated by a private individual based in Italy. Local Hours is currently in beta phase and is not operated by a commercial company.

By using the Platform, you fully accept these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not accept these Terms, you are not authorized to use our service.

Local Hours is a technology platform that connects:

• Locals: People who organize and offer authentic local experiences
• Participants: People who book and participate in these experiences

To use Local Hours you must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Provide truthful, accurate and complete information
• Maintain the security of your account (strong password, not shared)
• Promptly update your data in case of changes
• Not create multiple or fake accounts
• Not impersonate other people or entities
• Comply with applicable local, national and international laws

4.1 Services Provided

Local Hours provides exclusively:

• Technology infrastructure to publish and discover experiences
• Booking system and secure payment management
• Communication tools between Locals and Participants
• Public review and rating system
• Customer support for Platform technical issues

4.2 What We DON'T Do (Liability Exclusions)

5.1 Creating and Managing Experiences

Locals must:

• Provide accurate, complete and truthful experience descriptions
• Upload real and representative photos (no misleading stock photos)
• Clearly specify: final price, duration, meeting place, physical requirements, inclusions/exclusions
• Comply with all applicable local laws (licenses, permits, health regulations, taxes)
• Not publish illegal, dangerous, discriminatory or indecent experiences
• Keep availability and calendars up to date
• Respond to booking requests within 24 hours

5.2 Safety and Participant Protection

Locals are solely and personally responsible for:

• The physical safety of all participants during the experience
• The suitability and safety of locations, equipment, vehicles and materials used
• Obtaining adequate insurance (general liability, professional liability, injuries)
• Informing participants in advance of specific risks or hazards
• Verifying age, health status, allergies or other requirements when required
• Providing safety devices (helmets, life jackets, etc.) if necessary
• Following health and hygiene protocols (e.g. food handling, COVID-19)

5.3 Tax and Administrative Compliance

• Locals are responsible for declaring income from experiences
• Opening VAT registration if required by your country's tax regulations
• Issuing receipts/invoices to participants if mandatory
• Payment of taxes, social security contributions and other applicable taxes
• Local Hours issues receipts as an intermediary for commissions withheld

💡 Advice: Consult an accountant to verify your specific tax obligations.

Participants must:

• Read carefully and completely experience descriptions before booking
• Communicate to the Local in advance any special needs (food allergies, mobility disabilities, relevant medical conditions)
• Respect the house rules, instructions and guidelines provided by the Local
• Be punctual at the agreed place and time
• Behave in a respectful, civil and non-discriminatory manner towards the Local and other participants
• Not damage property, equipment or Local materials
• Not consume illegal drugs or abuse alcohol
• Follow safety rules and properly use protective devices

7.1 Booking Process

1. Participant selects an experience, chooses date/time and number of guests
2. Sends a booking request to the Local (with optional message)
3. Local confirms or declines within 24 hours
4. If confirmed, payment is immediately charged to the Participant's card
5. Both parties receive confirmation emails with full details
6. Final details (exact location, contacts) are shared via private message

💡 Note: If the Local doesn't respond within 24 hours, the booking is automatically canceled and the Participant receives a full refund.

7.2 Prices and Fees

⚠️ Fees may be changed with 30 days notice.

7.3 Payment Methods

We accept:

• Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
• PayPal
• SEPA bank transfer (only for amounts over €100)

Payments are processed through Stripe and PayPal, PCI-DSS Level 1 certified gateways (maximum security).

7.4 Payments to Locals

Locals receive payment (85% of total amount, net of 15% commission) within 7 business days after experience completion, via bank transfer to the registered bank account.

💡 Payment is held until completion to protect Participants in case of cancellations or issues.

8.1 Cancellation by Participant

💡 Refunds are credited to the original card/account within 5-10 business days.

8.2 Cancellation by Local

If the Local cancels the experience for any reason, the Participant receives a full refund (100%) within 5-7 business days.

8.3 Extraordinary Circumstances (Force Majeure)

In case of exceptional and unforeseeable events that make it impossible to conduct the experience (natural disasters, pandemics, wars, earthquakes, floods, national strikes, etc.), Local Hours reserves the right to:

• Temporarily modify the cancellation policy
• Offer platform credits as an alternative to refunds
• Evaluate refund requests on a case-by-case basis

By using the Platform, you expressly accept these liability limitations and acknowledge that Local Hours acts exclusively as a technology intermediary.

All Platform content (logo, "Local Hours" trademark, graphic design, source code, interfaces, institutional texts, algorithms) is the exclusive property of the Local Hours operator and protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.

It is prohibited to copy, modify, distribute, resell or create derivative works without written authorization.

User-Generated Content

Users retain ownership of uploaded content (photos, videos, descriptions, reviews) but grant Local Hours a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, transferable and royalty-free license to:

• Publish, reproduce and distribute content on the Platform
• Use it for promotional and marketing purposes (social media, newsletters, advertising)
• Modify it for technical purposes (image resizing, compression)

By uploading content, you guarantee that you have the rights and are not violating third-party copyrights.

After each completed experience, Locals and Participants can leave mutual reviews (within 14 days).

Review Guidelines

• Reviews must be honest, accurate and based on real experience
• Offensive, discriminatory, defamatory or threatening language is not allowed
• Do not publish personal information (phone numbers, private addresses)
• Do not write fake reviews or in exchange for money/favors

Local Hours reserves the right to remove inappropriate reviews without notice, but does not modify the content of legitimate reviews.

Local Hours may suspend or permanently close your account, without notice and without refund obligation, if:

• You violate these Terms or applicable laws
• You provide false, incomplete or misleading information
• You receive repeated negative reviews or reports
• You engage in fraudulent, abusive or harmful behavior
• You fail to meet payment obligations (commissions, refunds)
• You create multiple accounts or try to circumvent restrictions

You can voluntarily close your account at any time from profile settings. Closure does not exempt from pre-existing obligations (confirmed bookings, payments due).

The processing of your personal data is governed by our Privacy Policy, compliant with EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR).

We collect and process data for: account management, bookings, payments, communications, service improvement, legal obligations.

You have the right to: access, rectify, delete, limit, export your data, object to processing and withdraw consent. Contact privacy@localhrs.com.

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Changes will be:

• Published on this page with update date
• Communicated via email to registered users (for substantial changes)
• Effective 30 days after publication (except legal urgencies)

Continued use of the Platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the new Terms. If you don't accept, you must stop using and close your account.

These Terms are governed by and interpreted according to Italian law.

For any dispute arising from or connected to these Terms, the exclusive competent court is that of the place of residence of the Local Hours operator, except for consumer rights provided by the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005).

💡 EU residents can access the ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) platform: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr