Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Stella AI concierge ("Service") operated by Tongo Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 1401 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78704 ("Tongo," "we," "us").

The Service is offered through Tongo's web application, interfaces embedded on hotel websites and applications, WhatsApp, and text messaging including SMS, MMS, RCS, and iMessage (the "Channels").

These Terms do not apply where Tongo acts as a service provider processing personal data on behalf of a hotel or hospitality customer — for example, where a hotel has deployed Stella for its guests. Our use of that data is governed by our agreement with that hotel, and the hotel's own privacy notice describes its practices.

Geographic scope. The Service is offered to residents of, and for use within, the United States.

1. Acceptance of Terms

Using Stella means agreeing to these rules. You must be 18 or older.

1.1 By accessing, messaging, or otherwise using the Service through any Channel, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, incorporated by reference.

1.2 Acceptance occurs through an affirmative action before your first interaction on each Channel: a confirmation in our web application, a pre-chat consent gate on hotel-embedded interfaces, an opt-in at enrollment for WhatsApp, and consent captured at enrollment for text messaging, with a link to these Terms in the first message you receive.

1.3 The Service is for individuals 18 or older. You represent that you are at least 18.

1.4 You consent under the federal E-SIGN Act and the Texas Uniform Electronic Transactions Act to transact electronically and to receive notices, disclosures, and agreements electronically, including via the Channels.

1.5 Your relationship with the hotel, its property, and its own booking systems is governed by that hotel's separate terms and privacy notice, which we do not control.

2. The Service and its limitations

Stella is an AI. It is confidently wrong sometimes. It is not a doctor, lawyer, or emergency service.

2.1 The Service is a conversational AI assistant providing hospitality information, recommendations for dining, activities, tours, and local services, and referral to third-party booking providers.

2.2 You are interacting with AI. The Service uses large language models supplied by third parties. Responses are machine-generated. Humans may review conversations for quality and safety, as described in Section 5.5.

2.3 Outputs may be wrong. You acknowledge that:

(a) AI outputs are probabilistic, not factual retrievals. The Service may generate statements that are inaccurate, outdated, or entirely fabricated — including invented business names, addresses, hours, prices, and URLs.

(b) The same question may produce different answers at different times.

(c) Information about third-party businesses comes from sources we do not control and may be wrong.

(d) You are solely responsible for verifying any information before relying on it, particularly anything affecting travel plans, money, transportation, health, or safety.

2.4 No professional advice. The Service does not provide medical, health, dietary-medical, legal, financial, tax, insurance, or other professional advice. Statements about allergens, dietary suitability, accessibility, or health and safety are informational only and are not a substitute for confirmation with the provider or a qualified professional.

2.5 Not an emergency service

The Service may be unavailable, delayed, or unmonitored at any time.

2.6 Bookings are referrals. Tongo is a referral intermediary. We are not the merchant of record, we are not the buyer or seller, we are not a party to the transaction, and we do not process or store payment card information. Where the Service refers you to a booking provider, the contract is between you and that provider, and confirmation, pricing, taxes, fees, changes, cancellations, refunds, and delivery are governed exclusively by that provider's terms. Disputes about the transaction are between you and that provider.

2.7 Availability. The Service may be modified, suspended, degraded, or discontinued at any time without notice. We commit to no uptime for guests.

2.8 Human handoff. Requests may be escalated to hotel staff. We do not guarantee escalation, response time, or resolution.

2.9 Early access and beta features. The Service, or features within it, may be offered on a limited-release, pilot, or beta basis. Such features are provided "as is," are voluntary to use, and may contain errors, defects, or inaccuracies that could cause failures or loss of data. Use is at your sole risk, and we may modify or withdraw them at any time.

3. Permitted use and prohibited conduct

3.1 Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to use the Service for your personal, non-commercial hospitality purposes.

3.2 You will not:

• Use the Service unlawfully or in violation of any third-party right
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code, model weights, system prompts, or retrieval corpora of the Service
• Use Outputs to train, fine-tune, distill, or benchmark any AI model, or to build a competing product
• Use prompt injection, jailbreaking, or adversarial inputs to circumvent safety controls, extract system instructions, or induce out-of-scope behavior
• Scrape, crawl, or systematically extract content, or use bots or automated agents
• Submit unlawful, defamatory, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, violent, or infringing content
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent affiliation
• Interfere with or attempt unauthorized access to the Service
• Resell or sublicense the Service
• Submit another person's personal information without authorization
• Represent that Outputs were human-generated

3.3 Information the Service is not designed to handle. Do not submit the following:

We employ automated detection and redaction but cannot guarantee interception.

3.4 Health-adjacent information — the Stay Vault. Where you share allergies, dietary restrictions, mobility limitations, or accessibility needs in order to receive a recommendation, that information is placed in the Stay Vault.

Information in the Stay Vault is used only to fulfill your request during your stay. We do not use it to train or improve any AI model, do not use it to build preference profiles, do not use it for advertising of any kind, and do not share it with third parties for their own purposes. It is deleted at the end of your stay.

Washington and Nevada residents should also see our Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice.

3.5 We may throttle, limit, or require verification.

3.6 We may investigate suspected violations, suspend or terminate access, remove content, and cooperate with law enforcement.

4. Intellectual property

4.1 The Service — including software, models, system prompts, retrieval corpora, curated hospitality content, knowledge bases, interfaces, designs, trademarks, and documentation — is owned by Tongo or its licensors. No rights are granted except as expressly stated.

4.2 You retain the rights you hold in content you submit ("Inputs"), subject to the license in Section 5.

4.3 Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Tongo assigns to you such right, title, and interest as it may hold in content generated in direct response to your Inputs ("Outputs").

4.4 Outputs are not unique. Identical or substantially similar Outputs may be generated for other users, including because the same or similar input was provided. You acquire no exclusivity.

4.5 Under current United States law, material generated without sufficient human authorship may not be eligible for copyright protection. We make no representation that any Output is protectable, original, or non-infringing.

4.6 Outputs may describe or incorporate third-party content, marks, menus, and listings. Ownership remains with the respective owners.

4.7 Suggestions, corrections, and ratings you provide are assigned to Tongo, without attribution or compensation.

4.8 Diagnostic, technical, and usage data generated by your interaction with the Service is owned by Tongo and may be used and shared in de-identified or aggregated form for any lawful purpose.

5. Your content

We need permission to run the service and share with your hotel. We do not currently use your conversations to train AI models.

5.1 Operational license. You grant Tongo a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, process, transmit, and display your Inputs and the resulting conversation records solely as necessary to operate, secure, support, and deliver the Service — including transmission to third-party model providers, booking providers, and the hotel at which you are staying.

5.2 Sharing with your hotel. Your conversations, stated preferences, requests, and booking activity are shared with the hotel you are staying at or inquiring about, so it can serve you. The hotel's privacy notice governs its use of that information. Stay Vault information is shared only as needed to fulfill a specific request and is not added to your hotel guest profile.

5.3 We do not currently train AI models on your conversations. We do not use your Inputs or Outputs to train, fine-tune, or improve artificial intelligence models, and we contractually require our AI model providers not to use your data to train theirs. If this changes, we will update these Terms, provide advance notice, and offer you a choice before doing so. Any such change will apply only to content collected after the change takes effect.

5.4 Your representations. You own or have the rights to your Inputs, they infringe no third-party rights, and you have authority to grant these licenses.

5.5 No confidentiality; human review. Do not submit information you consider confidential. Conversations may be reviewed by Tongo personnel, hotel personnel, and service providers for quality assurance, safety, and support. Such access is role-restricted and logged.

5.6 Removal. We may remove or refuse to process any Input at our discretion.

6. Third-party services

6.1 The Service depends on AI model providers, cloud hosting, messaging platforms, mapping providers, booking and ticketing platforms, and analytics vendors. A list of our service providers is available on request at hello@letstongo.com.

6.2 We do not control third-party services and are not responsible for their acts, omissions, availability, accuracy, pricing, content, security practices, or terms. Outages, deprecations, rate limits, policy changes, model version changes, and account suspensions may degrade the Service without liability to us.

6.3 Messaging is additionally governed by our SMS, RCS & WhatsApp Messaging Terms and by your carrier's and platform's terms. Message and data rates may apply.

6.4 See Section 2.6 regarding booking providers.

6.5 Commissions. We receive commissions or referral fees from booking providers when you book through the Service, and we share that compensation with hotel partners. Recommendations may be influenced by these commercial relationships.

7. Data practices

7.1 We collect your conversations, contact and device identifiers, stay and booking details, and usage data. We use it to deliver the Service, personalize recommendations, share with your hotel, and secure the platform. We do not currently use it to train AI models. Full detail and your rights are in our Privacy Policy.

7.2 Messaging is governed by the SMS, RCS & WhatsApp Messaging Terms, which form part of these Terms.

7.3 Health-adjacent data is covered by Section 3.4 and our Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice.

8. Disclaimer of warranties

8.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service, all Outputs, and all content are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranty of any kind, express, implied, or statutory.

8.2 We disclaim all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and accuracy.

8.3 We do not warrant that: (a) Outputs will be accurate, complete, current, or free of fabrication; (b) the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, or secure; (c) defects will be corrected; (d) recommended third parties will be open, available, safe, licensed, accessible, or suitable; or (e) the Service will meet your requirements.

8.4 We do not warrant, endorse, or guarantee any product or service offered by a third party through the Service, and we are not a party to, and do not monitor, any transaction between you and a third-party provider.

8.5 The laws of certain states, including New Jersey, do not allow limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion of certain damages. If those laws apply to you, some or all of the above may not apply and you may have additional rights.

9. Limitation of liability

9.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, Tongo and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or travel, lodging, event, or vacation expenses or enjoyment, however caused, even if advised of the possibility.

9.2 Without limiting Section 9.1, we have no liability for: (a) inaccurate, fabricated, or offensive Outputs; (b) your reliance on any Output; (c) missed, cancelled, double-booked, or incorrect reservations; (d) recommendations to businesses that are closed, relocated, unsafe, unlicensed, inaccessible, or unsuitable; (e) dietary, allergen, accessibility, or health-related statements; (f) delayed, failed, or misdirected messages; or (g) acts or omissions of any hotel or booking provider.

9.3 Tongo's total aggregate liability will not exceed the greater of (a) amounts you paid Tongo in the six (6) months preceding the claim, or (b) USD $100. This limitation applies even if the stated remedy fails of its essential purpose.

9.4 Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct, or any liability that cannot be excluded by law.

9.5 Some states do not allow certain limitations; this section applies to the maximum extent permitted.

10. Indemnification

10.1 You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Tongo, its affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees, and agents from all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your Inputs; (b) your use or misuse of the Service; (c) your breach of these Terms or of any law; (d) your violation of any third-party right; (e) your submission of another person's personal information without authorization; and (f) your negligence or willful misconduct.

10.2 We will notify you of any claim. You may control the defense with counsel reasonably acceptable to us, provided that no settlement imposing obligations on us is entered without our consent. We may participate at our own expense.

11. Governing law and dispute resolution

11.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of Section 11.3. The English version controls.

11.2 Informal resolution first. Before initiating arbitration, send a Notice of Dispute to hello@letstongo.com describing the dispute and the relief sought, and negotiate in good faith for 60 days. This is a condition precedent to arbitration.

11.3 Binding arbitration. Disputes not resolved informally will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator. The seat is Travis County, Texas, provided that you may elect telephonic, video, or documents-only proceedings, or arbitration in your county of residence.

11.4 Class action waiver. You and Tongo may bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, private attorney general, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims or preside over a representative proceeding. If this waiver is held unenforceable as to a claim, that claim is severed and proceeds in court.

11.5 Coordinated filings. If 25 or more similar demands are filed by or with coordinated counsel, the parties will work with the administrator to sequence them in batches, with a bellwether process and tolling for unfiled claims.

11.6 Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual action in small claims court, and may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property, confidential information, or data security. Public injunctive relief may be sought to the extent authorized by law.

11.7 30-day opt-out. You may opt out of Sections 11.3 through 11.5 by sending written notice to hello@letstongo.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name, the number or account used, and that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out affects no other provision. If you opt out, Tongo is also not bound by them.

11.8 Jury waiver and venue. If arbitration is found inapplicable, you and Tongo waive any right to a jury trial, and the exclusive venue is the state and federal courts located in Travis County, Texas.

11.9 Time limit. Any claim must be filed within one (1) year of accrual or be permanently barred, except where a shorter period is prohibited by law.

12. Changes to these Terms

12.1 We may modify these Terms by posting an updated version with a new "Last revised" date.

12.2 For material changes, we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice by email, in-product notice, or message on the relevant Channel. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

12.3 If you do not agree to a modification, stop using the Service and terminate under Section 13.

12.4 Amendments to Section 11 do not apply to any dispute of which we had actual notice before the amendment's effective date.

12.5 Updates will not diminish your rights with respect to content you submitted before the update takes effect. A change to how we use data for AI training will not be applied to previously collected content.

13. Termination and suspension

13.1 You may stop using the Service at any time. Reply STOP on messaging Channels. To request deletion of your data, see Privacy Policy Section 8.

13.2 We may suspend or terminate your access, in whole or in part, immediately and without notice if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, if required by law or by a third-party provider, if your use creates risk or legal exposure, or if we discontinue the Service.

13.3 Termination of a hotel's agreement with Tongo terminates guest access to the Service at that property.

13.4 On termination, your license ends immediately. We retain and delete data as described in the Privacy Policy and as required by law.

13.5 Sections 3.2, 4, 5.1, 5.5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13.4, 13.5, and 14 survive termination.

14. General

14.1 These Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Messaging Terms, and the Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice constitute the entire agreement between you and Tongo.

14.2 If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the remainder continues in effect. If Section 11.4 is held unenforceable in its entirety, Section 11.3 is void as to the affected claims.

14.3 Failure to enforce is not a waiver.

14.4 You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

14.5 We are not liable for failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages of third-party AI, cloud, carrier, or platform providers.

14.6 We may give notice via the Channels, email, or in-product. Notices to us go to hello@letstongo.com, or Tongo Inc., 1401 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78704.

14.7 There are no third-party beneficiaries, except that hotel partners and AI model providers are intended beneficiaries of Sections 3, 8, 9, and 10.

14.8 You represent that you are not located in, or a national of, an embargoed jurisdiction and are not on any United States restricted-party list, including the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals.

14.9 The Service is commercial computer software under 48 C.F.R. §227.7202 and 48 C.F.R. §12.212. Government users receive only the rights granted to all other users.

14.10 These Terms are published in English only.

14.11 California residents. In accordance with Cal. Civ. Code § 1789.3, you may report complaints to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

14.12 Contact. Tongo Inc., 1401 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78704 · hello@letstongo.com