Terms of Service

1. The Route is a directory + community board

We connect buyers and sellers, residents and visitors, organisers and attendees. We are not party to any transaction between users. We do not hold money in escrow (until v2). We do not deliver, ship, inspect, or guarantee anything listed.

2. Your account

You must be 18+ and provide accurate information. You are responsible for keeping your sign-in secure. One person, one account. Impersonating someone else (including The Route staff) gets your account removed.

3. What you post

• You own your content. You give us a license to display it on The Route.
• You must have the right to post it (no stolen photos, no copied descriptions).
• You must follow South African law (no firearms, no stolen goods, no drugs, no human/animal trafficking, no illegal services, no unregistered medicines).
• No pet sales — pets may only be rehomed/adopted, never sold for profit. Set the price to R0 or a small vet/transport fee.
• No spam, no scams, no harassment, no hate speech, no NSFW content.
• Lost & Found posts that turn out to be scams (asking for money to "deliver" a found pet) will be removed and reported.

4. Buying & selling

• Always meet in public places, ideally with a friend.
• Inspect before you pay. Photograph the item with date/time visible.
• Use bank transfer or cash — never gift cards or crypto for items in this price range.
• We can't recover money lost to a scam. Report scam attempts via the flag button on the listing.

5. Reviews & ratings

Ratings must reflect a real transaction. Fake reviews — whether to inflate your own rating or sink a competitor's — will be removed and may get your account banned. Until our verification pipeline is live, all reviews are marked "unverified."

6. Moderation

We may hide or remove any content that violates these terms. We may suspend or close accounts for repeated violations. We try to be reasonable; we do not have to explain every decision in detail.

7. Disclaimer

The Route is provided as-is. We do not warrant that listings are accurate, that sellers are honest, or that the service will be uninterrupted. To the extent permitted by SA law, we limit our liability to the amount you have paid us in the past 12 months (which, for the founder beta, is zero).

8. Closing your account

You can close your account at any time from Dashboard → Settings → Delete my account. Your listings will be hidden and your profile removed. See the Privacy Policy for what happens to your data.

9. Contact

Questions: info@freedomhub.io. Legal & privacy: info@freedomhub.io.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. Disputes will be heard in the Western Cape Division of the High Court.