Terms of Service

Hootling provides on-demand information about taxi fare estimates and tipping customs for international destinations. Fare estimates are calculated using publicly available rate data combined with routing information from Google Maps. Tipping guidance and scam awareness content is generated by an AI assistant.

The Service is a travel reference tool only. It is not a taxi dispatch, booking, or metering service, and has no affiliation with any taxi company, driver, or transportation authority.

Access to full query results costs $0.99 USD per query. Payment is processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your payment card details — all payment handling is performed by Stripe, Inc.

Each payment grants you a single-use access token valid for 30 minutes. Tokens are non-transferable and cannot be shared between sessions or devices.

Due to the instant digital nature of the Service, all sales are final. Refunds are not provided once a query result has been delivered. If you experience a technical failure that prevents result delivery, contact us at legal@hootling.com and we will review your case within 5 business days.

Taxi fares, tipping norms, and travel safety conditions change frequently. While we strive to keep our data current, we make no warranty that any information provided is accurate, complete, or current at the time of your query.

Fare estimates are a reference range only. Actual fares may differ due to traffic, route changes, surcharges, local regulation changes, currency fluctuations, or driver discretion. Always confirm the fare directly with your driver before beginning a journey.

AI-generated content (scam warnings, tipping advice, driver phrases) is produced by a third-party artificial intelligence model and reflects general training data. It may contain errors, hallucinations, or outdated information. This content is not a substitute for local knowledge or professional travel advice. Exercise your own judgment when travelling.

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose
• Attempt to reverse engineer, scrape, or systematically extract data from the Service
• Resell or redistribute query results without written permission
• Circumvent payment controls or exploit access tokens beyond their intended use
• Submit false or misleading information to influence query results

All content, design, and software comprising the Service is owned by or licensed to Hootling. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from any part of the Service without our express written permission.

Query results delivered to you are for your personal, non-commercial travel use only.

The Service relies on the following third-party providers, each with their own terms:

• Google Maps Platform — routing, distance calculation, and location autocomplete. Mapping results are provided by Google Maps. Use of Google Maps features is subject to the Google Maps Terms of Service.
• Anthropic Claude — AI-generated travel safety and etiquette content
• Stripe — payment processing
• Vercel — hosting and privacy-first analytics

We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or conduct of these third-party services.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Hootling and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Service.

Our total liability for any claim arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid for the specific query giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any right, remedy, guarantee, warranty, or other term implied or imposed by legislation that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)).

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Hootling and its operators from any claims, losses, or damages (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your use of the Service or violation of these Terms.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The “Effective” date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent revision. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, Australia.

If you are an Australian consumer, you may also have rights and remedies under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) that cannot be excluded by these Terms.

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at legal@hootling.com.