In these General Terms, the definitions listed below shall have the following meaning:
Buddy Guard / Buddy Guard — Buddy Guard Bulgaria Ltd., a trading company registered in the Commercial Register with the Registry Agency with UIC: 206679605, with registered office and management address: Sofia, postal code 1504, Oborishte St. No. 24, entrance A, floor 1, apt. 3, Bulgaria.
Sitter — any natural person who is a User of the Platform and is registered on it as a pet sitter.
Pet — any animal kept by the Client at their home or at another location designated by them, regardless of species, breed, size or other characteristics.
Assignment Agreement — the agreement between Sitter and Client concluded by confirming an Order on the Buddy Guard Platform for the provision of pet care (including care, feeding, walking, visits and entertainment of the animal, activities related to its health and hygiene, as well as additionally agreed activities) with content in accordance with Template Annex No. 1, payment and additional terms agreed by the parties.
Insurance — an insurance contract for insurance events for civil liability (premises and operations), including care, storage and control, concluded between Buddy Guard and Colonnade Insurance S.A. – Bulgaria branch.
Commission — the remuneration payable by Sitter and Client for the use of the Service by Buddy Guard.
Order — use of the order form on the Platform whereby the Client requests that a specific Sitter provide Services under an Assignment Agreement.
General Terms — these General Terms, which may be changed by Buddy Guard at any time.
Platform — the online Buddy Guard platform accessible via the website (www.buddyguard.bg) and the Buddy Guard mobile application.
“Privacy Policy” — the Buddy Guard privacy policy as published in the relevant place on the online Platform/ mobile application of Buddy Guard, subject to change at any time.
User — any person who uses the Platform (including for searching for information or providing access to it), including every visitor to the website (www.buddyguard.bg) and the mobile application (Buddy Guard), as well as anyone who has used the registration, contact or contact form, or has otherwise contacted Buddy Guard in connection with the Services provided through the Platform.
Client — any natural person who is a User of the Platform and is registered on it as a pet owner.
Service — the Service provided by Buddy Guard to Site Users constitutes an information society service within the meaning of the Electronic Commerce Act, i.e. services, including commercial communications, which are for consideration and are provided remotely using electronic means following an express statement by Site Users.
The Service includes:
Access to the information resources/data of the Platform provided via the online platform or mobile application after Registration.
The ability to create and personalize a User profile through registration.
Submission of Requests from Clients to Sitters.
Confirmation of Requests from Sitters to Clients.
Assisting in concluding an Assignment Agreement between Clients and Sitters;
Payment of the price under the Assignment Agreement.
Payment of commission to Buddy Guard.
Receiving email notifications and messages.
Insurance of certain risks related to the performance of the Assignment Agreement in accordance with the Insurance terms.
Buddy Guard is a trading company that provides Users with a Service for providing information resources and access to an online Platform for contact between them in connection with concluding an Assignment Agreement for pet care.
Buddy Guard does not directly provide pet care services, but offers information society services and acts by providing information and assisting in concluding an Assignment Agreement between pet owners and people who can care for them.
The Service provided by Buddy Guard allows Clients to find and arrange for a specific Order a Sitter for their pet through the Platform against payment of a Commission.
The Platform is a web-based application whose use constitutes an information society service provided by Buddy Guard to Users.
The Platform facilitates pet owners in finding a suitable Sitter who, for a fee, will care for their pets in their absence, at the Client’s home or the Sitter’s home.
At the same time, the Platform allows people who have the desire and skills to care for pets to turn their hobby into a source of income and reach more potential clients.
Buddy Guard aims to connect the two parties — Client and Sitter — and facilitate them in ensuring pet care by providing information, means and forms of contact, negotiation and payment processing in connection with the Assignment Agreement.
The General Terms aim to regulate the relationship between Buddy Guard on the one hand and Users of the Platform on the other. The relationship between Buddy Guard and Users of the Platform is limited to the rights and obligations regarding the provision of the Service by Buddy Guard and the use of the Platform by Users. They do not affect individual relationships between Clients and Sitters arising in connection with a concluded Assignment Agreement.
Buddy Guard, its employees and related persons do not directly provide pet care services. Buddy Guard is not in an employment relationship with Sitters; they are not workers or employees of Buddy Guard.
1. By using the Platform you become its User and agree to these General Terms, whether you choose to use the Services provided through it or visit it for informational or other purposes.
2. To provide or use the Service offered through the Platform, registration as a Sitter or Client on the Buddy Guard website or mobile application is required. To register successfully you must be a natural person with full legal capacity (aged 18 or over). During registration you will need to provide certain personal data for your identification and creation/maintenance of your profile on the Platform. The personal data you must provide may vary depending on whether your user profile is a Sitter’s or a Client’s. For more information on why and how we process your personal data, please see our Personal Data Protection Policy.
To complete registration you must have filled in all mandatory fields and declare that you are a natural person with full legal capacity (aged 18 or over), and that you are familiar with and accept the General Terms and the Buddy Guard Personal Data Protection Policy.
By activating your profile via the email you receive, you make an electronic statement confirming the conclusion of a contract with Buddy Guard for use of the Platform under these General Terms. You agree that electronic statements made by you to Buddy Guard and from Buddy Guard to you shall be deemed signed with a simple electronic signature which shall have the effect of a handwritten signature. The authorship of these statements is established in accordance with Art. 13(1) in conjunction with Art. 13(4), sentence 2 of the Electronic Document and Electronic Certification Services Act (“EDECSA”).
All necessary communication between you and Buddy Guard in connection with use of the Platform shall be carried out by electronic statements via the email address you provide. Pursuant to Art. 5 of EDECSA you agree to be the addressee of electronic statements from Buddy Guard in electronic form.
3. After successful registration and activation of your profile, you may use the functionalities of the Platform in accordance with the rules described in these Terms, as well as subject to current capabilities and functionalities.
4. Closure, deactivation or blocking of your user profile may occur under the following conditions:
At your discretion you may at any time request closure or temporary deactivation of your user profile through the Platform’s functionalities;
Buddy Guard may close your user profile after prior notice to you if the user profile has not been used by you for more than 2 years;
Buddy Guard may close or temporarily block your user profile in case of breach of the General Terms, other conditions provided by law, or generally accepted norms of good conduct;
Buddy Guard may close or temporarily block your user profile upon a request from a competent public authority;
Buddy Guard may close or temporarily block your user profile in other cases, at its discretion, after prior notice to you.
Upon closure of your user profile and termination of your contract with Buddy Guard, data stored for you is deleted in accordance with the Buddy Guard Personal Data Protection Policy.
1. Fee for using the platform?
For use of the Service described in these Terms, Users owe Buddy Guard a service fee of 10%. Users give their express and irrevocable consent for Buddy Guard to automatically withhold its due remuneration for providing the Service before processing and paying the remuneration under the Assignment Agreement.
Order cancellation fee
Up to 7 days before the start of the order, the Client may cancel at any time free of charge. Between 7 and 3 days before the start of the order, they will be charged 50% of the total booking amount. If a booking is cancelled after the 72nd hour before the start of the order, the full amount will be charged.
You may be charged additional fees by third parties in connection with your use of the Platform (e.g. your bank when making online payments, your internet provider or mobile operator when accessing the Internet or using mobile data). These fees are your responsibility and are based on your service agreement with them in accordance with your subscription plan.
For each Order placed, the Client selects a specific Sitter for their pet at their own discretion, and each Sitter decides whether to accept the Order or not.
Whenever a Client assigns an Order to a Sitter, with its confirmation a separate Assignment Agreement is concluded between the respective Client and the respective Sitter via the Platform with content in accordance with Annex No. 1 to these General Terms. The Assignment Agreement is a standalone agreement between the Client and the Sitter. They may additionally agree on the type and number of pets, regime and manner of care, activities related to hygiene and health of the animal, period of care, duration and number of visits or walks, location where the animal will be cared for, contact person in emergencies, payment, other conditions regarding care of the animal and additional services agreed between the parties.
Buddy Guard is not a party to the Order and the Assignment Agreement between the Client and the Sitter and has no control over their performance. All rights and obligations under the Assignment Agreement are borne by the Client and the Sitter, insofar as Buddy Guard is not a party to that legal relationship.
Each Client independently, at their own discretion and risk, chooses a specific Sitter for a specific Assignment. Each Sitter independently, at their own discretion and risk, chooses whether to accept a specific Order from a Client.
To use the Platform and the Services provided through it, Users must be adults with full legal capacity (aged 18 or over and without restrictions placed upon them).
To access the Platform you must use an electronic device with compatible software that meets the technical and system requirements for access to the Platform. These factors may affect your ability to use the Platform effectively.
The User may use all contact forms for communication with Buddy Guard provided in the Platform, including on the website (www.buddyguard.bg) and the mobile application (Buddy Guard).
The User has all rights provided for in the Personal Data Protection Policy in connection with personal data processed by Buddy Guard relating to the User.
The User must provide accurate and truthful information both when creating their user profile and when using the Platform and the Services provided through it. The User must update the information in their user profile when any of the circumstances stated therein change.
To use the Services provided through the Platform, the User must register as a Client or Sitter. When registering and confirming your user profile you must use your real names; use of a pseudonym or other name is prohibited.
To create a Sitter user profile, you must not be prohibited from working with people or animals, you must have the right to provide services in Bulgaria, you must not have been convicted with a final judgment of an intentional offence, and at the time of registration you must not be criminally charged.
The User may share the Platform or information available on it through various communication channels, indicating Buddy Guard as the owner of the Platform and respectively the author of the information from it, and in compliance with applicable copyright and related rights requirements.
Such sharing shall be carried out solely in the interest of Buddy Guard and the User undertakes to act in accordance with good ethics and morals without damaging the good name and reputation of Buddy Guard.
You declare that you meet the stated registration conditions and that the information you provide identifying you is complete and accurate.
You undertake to provide true, complete and up-to-date data upon registration and to keep them that way. In case of inaccuracy in the data you have no right to use the Platform or the Service provided through it until the inaccuracy is corrected.
You are responsible for all actions performed through your user profile using your username and password access; if you suspect unauthorized access to your profile you must notify Buddy Guard immediately.
In connection with use of the Platform and the Services provided through it, its Users may gain access to information and personal data of other persons. In such cases Users undertake to use them only for the purposes for which they were disclosed in accordance with the Buddy Guard Personal Data Protection Policy.
Users of the Platform agree and undertake to use only the functionalities of the Platform when making Requests for Services, and to refrain from communicating with other Users for purposes other than those of the specific Order for provision of Services.
In addition to what is described above in the General Terms, Buddy Guard has the following rights and obligations:
Buddy Guard has concluded Insurance that provides insurance coverage for certain risks for Sitters in carrying out pet care activities, in accordance with the conditions stated in the insurance policy.
Buddy Guard may periodically make changes to the Platform, including adding, removing or changing the content, design and functionalities of the Platform, without prior notice to Users.
Buddy Guard reserves the right to refuse or cancel access to the Platform for a User who uses the Platform or the Services provided through it unlawfully, in violation of law, the General Rules or good norms of conduct.
The rules according to which Buddy Guard processes your personal data as natural persons — Users of the Platform — and your rights regarding the protection of your personal data are contained in the Buddy Guard Personal Data Protection Policy, which forms an integral part of these General Terms.
The rules provided here aim to limit or exclude the liability of Buddy Guard and its managers, partners, directors, employees, subcontractors, agents and subsidiaries, as agreed herein.
Buddy Guard is not the employer of persons providing services under an Assignment Agreement concluded through the Platform and does not act as an intermediary between workers and employers providing placement services. All Sitters and Clients are responsible for their due taxes and social security contributions, their declaration and payment.
Buddy Guard is not liable under any circumstances for losses, damages, costs or other compensation suffered or incurred by the User of the Platform through action or inaction, directly or indirectly, in connection with the Services provided through the Platform.
Buddy Guard is not liable and does not guarantee the qualities or qualifications of Users of the Platform.
Buddy Guard is not liable in connection with relationships between Users of the Platform that are not related to an Order for concluding an Assignment Agreement through it, even where Users are registered as Client and Sitter on the Platform, have contacted each other using information on the Platform, or relationships have arisen between Users related to pet care or other activities similar to activities provided as Services through the Platform.
Buddy Guard is not liable if Users are unable to use the Platform if they do not use an electronic device that meets the software, technical and system compatibility and access requirements for the Platform, as these factors are outside Buddy Guard’s control and each User is responsible for them independently.
At its discretion Buddy Guard has the right to request additional information to verify the User’s identity. If Buddy Guard has doubts or cannot establish the true identity of the User or other information necessary in view of use of the Platform or the Services provided through it, Buddy Guard may take measures, including temporarily or permanently cancelling the User’s access to the Platform (by closing or temporarily blocking the user profile), and some Services may be unavailable.
Buddy Guard is not liable for damages or lost profits caused in connection with access to or use of the Platform or inability to use it or access it to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Buddy Guard is not liable for damages or lost profits in connection with the provision of the Service and the Service Agreement between the Client and the Sitter, including but not limited to:
Property or non-property damage caused to the Client
Property or non-property damage caused to the Sitter
Upon termination of the contract for use of the Platform, Buddy Guard is not liable for lost profits and/or damages in connection with inability to use the Services after closure of your user profile.
These General Terms govern the rules for use of the Buddy Guard Platform accessible via the website (www.buddyguardbg.com) and the Buddy Guard mobile application, as well as the rights and obligations of Buddy Guard and Users of the Platform in connection with the Service provided through the Platform for mediation and assistance in concluding an Assignment Agreement for pet care.
By using the Platform you agree to these General Terms and they shall apply to you in regulating your relationship with Buddy Guard and other Users of the Platform in connection with the Services provided through the Platform.
Buddy Guard reserves the right to make periodic changes to the General Terms at its discretion, of which you will be notified. Since the Platform may only be used in accordance with the current General Terms, including the Personal Data Protection Policy attached to them, if you do not agree with the changes in the General Terms, you must notify Buddy Guard before the changes take effect that you wish to terminate your contract with Buddy Guard. In that case your profile will be closed and use of the Platform will cease. If objection is raised to changes to the General Terms, all started but unfinished Services shall be provided on the basis of the General Terms in force at the time they were concluded, until they are completed.
With respect to Users who use the Platform without registration, they are deemed to accept the new General Terms from the moment of use of the Platform after the change is introduced, without express notice of the change from Buddy Guard being required.
Declaration of the invalidity of any provision of these General Terms does not entail invalidity of the entire agreement or the remaining provisions of the General Terms.
For matters not regulated in the General Terms, applicable Bulgarian law shall apply, and any disputes arising between Buddy Guard and Users shall be resolved by the competent Bulgarian court or the Commission for Consumer Protection.
Publication date of the General Terms: 13.02.2024
