Terms & Conditions

1. About Garden-Runner

Garden-Runner ("we", "us", "the platform") is an online marketplace that connects private customers ("Customers") with independent gardening professionals ("Gardeners"). Garden-Runner is not a gardening company, employer, agent, or insurer of any Gardener. Garden-Runner only provides the technology that allows Customers and Gardeners to find each other, agree on a job and handle payments.

2. Acceptance of these Terms

By creating an account you confirm that you have read, understood and accept these Terms & Conditions in full. Acceptance is recorded with a date and time stamp and is kept as proof for the entire lifetime of your account. You must accept the Terms to register; if you do not accept them you may not use the platform.

3. Independent contractors — no employment

Every Gardener acts as an independent professional, in their own name and for their own account, with their own VAT number, insurance and tools. There is no employment relationship, partnership, joint venture or agency between Garden-Runner and any Gardener or Customer. The contract for the actual gardening work is concluded directly between the Customer and the Gardener.

4. Pricing

Prices for gardening services are set independently by each Gardener. Garden-Runner does not set, approve, cap or otherwise influence the price a Gardener quotes. Any price range or estimate shown on the platform before a quote is requested is provided for general guidance only, is calculated from historical booking data, and is not an offer, a quote, or binding in any way.

5. How quotes work

When a Customer submits a booking or quote request, it is sent to up to five (5) local Gardeners. Each Gardener may submit a quote itemising the price for each requested service and for transport, typically within 24 hours of the request. The Customer may accept any submitted quote at any time, without waiting for all invited Gardeners to respond. Once a quote is accepted, the request is closed and any other pending or submitted quotes for that request expire automatically.

6. Contract formation

The contract for the performance of gardening services (including price and scope) is formed directly between the Customer and the Gardener at the moment the Customer accepts a quote. Garden-Runner is not a party to that contract. Garden-Runner's role is limited to facilitating the matching, quoting and invoicing process between Customers and Gardeners.

7. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Garden-Runner's liability is limited to the platform's digital services. Garden-Runner does not exclude or limit liability for its own fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or for personal injury or death directly caused by a failure of the platform's system. Garden-Runner acts strictly as an intermediary; physical damage, accidents, or quality issues resulting from the gardening work must be settled directly between the Customer and the Independent Gardener.

8. Insurance

Gardeners are required to maintain valid professional liability insurance covering their activities. Customers are encouraged to maintain their own household and property insurance. Garden-Runner does not provide any form of insurance cover.

9. Payments and service fee

Customers pay the Gardener directly for each job. The Gardener issues the invoice to the Customer and is responsible for collecting that payment. Garden-Runner does not process, hold or transfer any payment from Customer to Gardener.

Each week Garden-Runner issues a separate service-fee invoice to the Gardener for the jobs facilitated through the platform. The Gardener must pay that service fee to Garden-Runner in accordance with the invoice terms.

No payment-provider or transaction fees are charged by Garden-Runner on the direct payment from Customer to Gardener. Garden-Runner is not responsible for, and cannot be held liable for, any costs, losses, delays, chargebacks or disputes arising from the direct payment between the Customer and the Gardener, nor for any bank, payment-provider or other costs incurred by either party.

10. Dispute Resolution & Mediation

If a dispute arises regarding a completed job, users can voluntarily submit the case to Garden-Runner for internal mediation. If both parties agree, Garden-Runner can facilitate a 50/50 settlement of the remaining funds as an amicable resolution. This internal mediation is completely voluntary and does not deprive consumers of their statutory legal rights to pursue a full refund, damages, or legal claims through ordinary judicial channels or via the Belgian Consumer Ombudsman (Consumentenombudsdienst).

11. Right of Withdrawal (Herroepingsrecht)

In accordance with European consumer law, Customers have a 14-day right to withdraw from a service contract concluded online without giving reasons. That contract is concluded when the Customer accepts a Gardener's quote, and the acknowledgment below is captured at that moment. If the Customer asks for the job to be performed within the 14-day window, they expressly request that performance begins during the withdrawal period and acknowledge that they lose the right of withdrawal once the service has been fully performed by the Gardener.

12. Cancellations and no-shows

Cancellation rules are shown on the booking page before you confirm, and the exact cutoff for each booking is shown on that booking in My bookings. Service fees and transaction costs are non-refundable once a Gardener has been dispatched.

If a booking or quote request receives no quotes within the response window, or the Customer does not accept any quote received, no charge applies and the request is automatically cancelled.

13. User conduct

You agree not to use the platform to harass, defraud, discriminate against or harm any other user, and to comply with all applicable laws. We may suspend or terminate any account that violates these Terms.

14. Data and privacy

We process personal data as described in our Privacy Policy, which explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it and how you can exercise your rights. By accepting these Terms you confirm that you have read it.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Belgium. Any dispute arising from these Terms will be submitted to the competent courts of Belgium. For consumers, this choice of law and jurisdiction does not deprive them of the mandatory statutory protections and rights afforded to them by the courts of their own EU country of residence.

16. Changes to the Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version number is shown at the top of this page. Continued use of the platform after a new version takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.