1. Who we are
PulseSpot is a service for discovering places to go out (nightlife, food and activities) and sharing what is happening there. It is run from Johannesburg, South Africa by its founder, Bongani Ndelu (“PulseSpot”, “we”, “us”). You can reach us through the contact page.
2. You must be 18 or older
PulseSpot is for adults only. Many listed venues serve alcohol and the live chat is public. By using PulseSpot you confirm that you are at least 18. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we will delete it.
3. What PulseSpot is, and what it isn’t
- Most listings come from OpenStreetMap and from our community. Names, addresses, hours and other details can be out of date or wrong. Check with the venue before you go.
- Activity colours are estimates based on a small number of PulseSpot users who chose to share. They do not show how full, safe or open a venue is.
- Venues are independent businesses. Unless a listing shows “Verified owner”, the venue has not confirmed it, and a listing never means that we endorse or are connected to the venue.
- Spots marked “Featured” have paid for, or agreed to, a better position, and may show a deal from the venue. We always label them.
- PulseSpot does not sell alcohol or tickets and is not responsible for what happens at a venue. Venues set their own entry, age, dress and safety rules. When you book a table, your booking is with the venue.
4. Your account
You sign in with Google. Keep your Google account secure: you are responsible for what happens under your account. Other people see your public name (a handle such as @scout123456 that you can change), never your real name or email address. Don’t choose a name that impersonates someone else or looks like PulseSpot staff.
5. What you post
- You keep ownership of your posts and photos. You give PulseSpot a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, show and share them inside PulseSpot for as long as they are kept, and to remove them. Posts can have up to three photos; videos can’t be posted.
- You are responsible for what you post, including replies, @mentions and reactions. It must follow the Community Rules, and you must have the right to share it. Only share photos of other people when they are happy for you to do so.
- Posts show in the live feed for 7 hours and on your profile for 3 days. A reply shows the start of the message it answers while that message is still there. We delete posts, with their photos and reactions, after 30 days. You can delete your own posts at any time.
- We may hide or remove content, warn people, and suspend or close accounts, that break these terms or the Community Rules, or that put people at risk. A warning tells you what was removed and why; repeated violations can lead to suspension. Anyone can report a post with the “•••” button, and you can block accounts you don’t want to see.
6. Location features
Finding nearby spots, checking in, posting from a venue, sharing activity, road reports and navigation use your device’s location. Each one is optional and only works while you allow location. Our Privacy Policy explains what is kept and for how long.
7. Driving and navigation
- PulseSpot shows routes and live traffic from Google Maps. Turn-by-turn guidance for those routes opens in Google Maps or Waze, under their own terms.
- Directions, traffic, speed limits and road reports are guidance only. They can be wrong or out of date. Road signs, traffic officers and the law always come first.
- Don’t hold or operate your phone while driving: mount it and use voice guidance. Only report road problems when you are stopped safely, or let a passenger do it.
- Never drink and drive. If you’ve been drinking, use a ride service or a sober driver.
8. Venues, claims, Featured and table bookings
- Claiming a listing is free. We confirm each claim with the venue, using its own public contact details, before approving it. You may only claim a venue you are authorised to manage. False claims will be rejected and can lead to the account being closed. Venues also agree to the Venue Terms.
- Verified owners are responsible for keeping their venue’s details accurate and for honouring the bookings they confirm.
- A table request is a request until the venue accepts it. The booking is between you and the venue.
- Featured and other paid venue services are covered by the Venue Terms. A club profile (deal, photos, hours) is written by the venue’s verified owner, not by PulseSpot.
- Anyone can suggest a missing spot. Only add public places, never a private home. We check each suggestion before it shows and may edit or remove spots.
9. Deposits
- Some venues ask for a deposit for a table or VIP booking. The amount is shown before you send your request. You only pay after the venue accepts, from your profile, through Paystack, a registered payment provider. Your booking is confirmed once the deposit is paid. If you don’t pay by the time shown, the venue may give the table to someone else.
- You pay the deposit amount and nothing more. Paystack pays it to the venue, and PulseSpot’s service fee is taken from the venue’s share. The venue decides how the deposit counts towards your bill.
- Cancel in your profile at least 24 hours before the booking time for a full refund. If you cancel later, or don’t arrive, the venue keeps the deposit as a reasonable cancellation fee. If the venue cancels, you get a full refund.
- Refunds go back to the way you paid. Banks usually take 5 to 10 working days to show them.
- PulseSpot never sees or stores your card details: Paystack handles them under its own terms and privacy policy.
- If something goes wrong with a deposit, contact us through the contact page. Nothing here limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, including your right to cancel an advance booking.
10. Other services
PulseSpot uses Google Maps. By using PulseSpot’s maps you are also bound by the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy. Listing data and speed limits are © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence. The spot data PulseSpot builds from OpenStreetMap is published at /spots/ under the same licence. Payments are handled by Paystack. Links to Uber, Bolt, inDrive, Waze, Apple Maps and venue websites take you to services we don’t control; their own terms apply.
11. Things you must not do
Don’t misuse PulseSpot. That includes: copying or scraping listings or posts in bulk, using bots or automated access, trying to break or get around security or limits, interfering with other people’s use, sending false reports, using PulseSpot to sell or advertise without our agreement, or using it for anything unlawful.
12. Our responsibility to you
We work hard to keep PulseSpot useful and available, but we provide it “as is”, without promising that it will always be accurate, complete or uninterrupted. As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss caused by venues, other users, third-party services, or by relying on listings, activity estimates, directions or road reports. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under the Consumer Protection Act or other laws that can’t be excluded.
13. Take-down requests
If you believe something on PulseSpot is unlawful, infringes your rights or is about you without your consent, send us a take-down request through the contact page (choose “Take-down request”). Include your name and contact details, the post or listing concerned, what is wrong with it, and confirm that the information you give is true. We act on complete requests promptly.
14. Ending your use
You can stop using PulseSpot at any time and delete your account from your profile (or see how to delete your account). We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms.
15. Changes
We may update these terms. When the change matters, we will ask you to accept the new version in the app. The date at the top shows the latest version.
16. Law
These terms are governed by the law of South Africa, and South African courts have jurisdiction.