Terms of Service

Provider

SurvAI by A+R UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Nerostraße 18, 65183 Wiesbaden, Germany, represented by its managing directors Alexander Zimmermann and Robin Schnider, registered with the local court of Wiesbaden under HRB 35365, VAT identification number DE404106592, email info@surv-ai.com, telephone +49 15117781714 (“SurvAI”, “we” or “us”).

Section 1 Scope and contracting parties

1. These Terms apply to all contracts for the use of the platform operated by SurvAI for the AI-assisted analysis of open-ended survey responses, including the web interface, the REST interface (API), the export functions and all related ancillary services.
2. The service is offered to consumers and to businesses. In both cases the contracting party is SurvAI. Provisions that apply only to consumers or only to businesses are marked as such. Consumers must be of full age when concluding the contract. In individual countries outside the European Union, the purchase of credits by consumers may be restricted; the order process indicates this. This currently applies to consumers resident in the United Kingdom; businesses with a valid UK VAT registration number can purchase credits.
3. Whether the customer acts as a consumer or as a business is determined by the objective circumstances at the time the contract is concluded. When registering, or at the latest before its first top-up, the customer must state truthfully in which capacity it acts, in which country it is established and, where applicable, its VAT identification number. The customer must inform us of any changes to these details before its next top-up.
4. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer do not become part of the contract (Section 305 BGB) unless we have expressly agreed to their application in text form. This also applies where we render our services without reservation in the knowledge of such terms.
5. Individually negotiated agreements, in particular framework or enterprise agreements, take precedence over these Terms.

For the purposes of these Terms:

• “Platform” means the software application available at app.surv-ai.com, including the API, the export functions and the chat assistant;
• “Customer” means SurvAI’s contracting party, whether a consumer or a business;
• “User” means the natural person who uses an account on behalf of the customer;
• “Credits” means the prepaid unit of account for the use of chargeable functions;
• “Customer data” means all content that the customer uploads to or generates on the platform, in particular surveys, response texts, metadata, code frames and analysis results;
• “Respondent data” means that part of the customer data which relates to participants in a survey;
• “Consumer” means any natural person who concludes a contract for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession (Section 13 BGB);
• “Business” means any natural or legal person or partnership with legal capacity that acts in the exercise of its trade, business or profession when concluding the contract (Section 14 BGB), as well as legal entities under public law and special funds under public law;
• “Top-up” means the purchase of credits for consideration.

Section 2 Conclusion of contract, registration and account

1. The presentation of the platform on our websites does not constitute a binding offer. By submitting the registration form the customer makes an offer to conclude a free-of-charge usage contract. The contract is concluded as soon as we activate the account or confirm the registration in text form. There is no entitlement to conclusion of a contract. Credits are purchased under separate contracts in accordance with Section 4.
2. Registration requires confirmation of the email address provided. The account cannot be used until it has been confirmed.
3. The information provided upon registration must be true, complete and current. The customer must update any changes without undue delay.
4. An account is assigned to one natural person and is not transferable. Sharing an account between several persons and disclosing access credentials are not permitted. If the customer requires several points of access, a separate account must be created for each person.
5. The customer must keep access credentials, passwords and API keys confidential and protect them against access by third parties. If unauthorised use is suspected, the customer must notify us without undue delay. Until such notice is received, the customer must accept actions taken through its account as its own to the extent that it is responsible for the unauthorised use.
6. We are entitled to refuse a registration and to suspend or close an account temporarily where there are concrete indications of misuse, of incorrect information, of a breach of Section 7 or of default in payment. The right to terminate for cause under Section 11 remains unaffected.

Section 3 Description of services

1. SurvAI provides software with which open-ended survey responses can be analysed using large language models. The functional scope includes in particular the automatic generation of hierarchical category systems (code frames), the assignment and evaluation of individual responses, the inclusion of closed questions and metadata, visualisations, exports to Excel, CSV and PDF among other formats, an AI chat assistant with an analysis environment, and a REST interface with optional webhooks.
2. The results are produced by probabilistic AI models. They are proposals, not established findings of fact. No particular degree of accuracy, completeness, discriminatory power or reproducibility is owed; identical inputs may lead to different results. The customer is obliged to review the results on their merits before using them.
3. What we owe is the provision of the platform with its respective functionality, not any particular analytical or research outcome. Fitness for any particular purpose pursued by the customer is not warranted. SurvAI does not provide market research, legal, tax or other advisory services and makes no statement on the methodological suitability of a research design.
4. The customer must not use the results as the sole basis for decisions that produce legal effects concerning individuals or similarly significantly affect them (Article 22 GDPR).
5. We continuously develop the platform further and may change, extend or discontinue functions as long as the main contractual purpose is preserved. We will announce material reductions in the functional scope in text form with reasonable notice; in that case the customer may terminate the contract with effect from the date on which the change takes effect. Towards consumers, the requirements and rights under Section 327r BGB apply in addition.
6. Functions expressly designated as preview, beta or experimental are provided without warranty and may be changed or discontinued at any time.

Section 4 Purchase of credits, prices and payment

1. Chargeable functions are used on a prepaid basis using credits. Credits are sold at a price of EUR 1.00 net per 100 credits. The customer freely chooses the size of the top-up; the amount payable for it (top-up amount) is shown in the order process. No volume bonus is granted.
2. A top-up comprises at least 1,000 credits (equivalent to EUR 10.00 net, or EUR 11.90 gross for consumers) and at most 1,000,000 credits (equivalent to EUR 10,000.00 net, or EUR 11,900.00 gross for consumers) per transaction. For larger volumes or for settlement by invoice we will make a separate agreement on request.
3. Credits are purchased on the platform. The customer selects the top-up amount and, unless already on file, provides the details under Section 1 paragraph 3. Before placing the order, the customer is shown the total amount payable, the VAT included or added, and the number of credits; until then the customer may correct its entries at any time or cancel the process. By clicking the button “Pay and top up” the customer makes a binding offer to purchase the credits. The contract is concluded as soon as the payment service provider confirms receipt of payment; the credits are credited immediately or, for consumers who have not made a request under Section 6 paragraph 2, after the withdrawal period has expired. Each top-up is a separate contract. The contract language is German.
4. After each top-up we send the customer a contract confirmation by email. It contains the contract terms including these Terms and, for consumers, the withdrawal information and, where applicable, confirmation of the declarations under Section 6 paragraph 2. The current version of these Terms is also available at any time at surv-ai.com/terms.
5. Payments are processed by the payment service provider Mollie B.V., Amsterdam; the payment methods offered there apply. The top-up amount is due for payment when the order is placed.
6. Consumers pay the total price including VAT shown in the order process; it is the same throughout the EU (currently EUR 1.19 per 100 credits) and does not depend on the VAT rate of the country of residence. Which VAT it contains depends on the place of supply; this is usually the member state in which the consumer is established or, under the conditions of Section 3a(5) sentence 3 of the German VAT Act (UStG), Germany. For consumers resident outside the European Union, the total price shown in the order process applies. The VAT rate and VAT amount are shown before the order and on the receipt.
7. For businesses (Section 14 BGB), prices are exclusive of statutory VAT; for intra-Community supplies to customers with a valid VAT identification number, the reverse charge procedure applies. This requires that we were able to confirm the number at the time of the top-up; the VAT is then owed by the customer. If the number cannot be confirmed, we charge VAT. A number provided or confirmed only after the top-up does not lead to a subsequent change in the invoicing of that top-up. If a business is established outside the European Union, we invoice without German VAT; any tax due there is owed by the customer under the law of its country.
8. VAT is charged on the top-up; the later consumption of the credits does not give rise to further VAT. We base the tax treatment on the customer’s details under Section 1 paragraph 3 and on the evidence of its place of establishment collected at payment. If these contradict each other, we may hold the top-up until the matter is clarified.
9. For each top-up the customer receives a document: businesses an invoice, consumers an invoice or receipt, each showing the VAT or referring to the reverse charge. We send the document by email or make it available for download on the platform. The customer agrees to electronic transmission.
10. Consumption depends on the function used. Analyses of open-ended questions are charged at a fixed price per analysed question and per analysed response. Chat and analysis functions are charged on a consumption basis according to the costs actually incurred for the AI models used, plus our margin. The applicable prices are shown on the platform and can be reviewed before execution.
11. Credits are consumed in the following order: first credits granted free of charge, then purchased credits in the order in which they were credited.
12. Credits purchased do not expire and remain usable until they are consumed.
13. Credits are not transferable. Unused credits are paid out in money only in accordance with Section 5; the customer’s statutory claims remain unaffected.
14. If an analysis fails in whole or in part, we automatically credit back the credits charged for it. There is no further claim to reimbursement where the service has been properly rendered.
15. Because the cost of a request in progress is only determined once it has been completed, consumption may in individual cases slightly exceed the available balance. Any resulting negative balance is offset against the next top-up.
16. We may grant new customers an initial credit balance. This is a voluntary benefit, does not create any legal entitlement, is not transferable and is not paid out. We may change or discontinue it with effect for the future.
17. The execution of chargeable functions requires a sufficient credit balance. If the balance is insufficient, we may refuse or suspend execution until a top-up has been made.
18. We will announce changes to the consumption prices under paragraph 10 in text form at least six weeks before they take effect. They apply to usage from the date on which they take effect; credits already purchased retain their nominal value. If the customer objects to the price change within six weeks of receipt of the notice, either party may terminate the contract with effect from the date on which the change takes effect; in that case we refund unused purchased credits in accordance with Section 5.

Section 5 Refund of unused credits

1. We refund unused purchased credits in the following cases: (a) if a consumer validly withdraws from a top-up, in accordance with the withdrawal information and Section 6; (b) if a consumer terminates the contract, at the consumer’s request; (c) if we terminate the contract for convenience; (d) if the customer terminates the contract under Section 3 paragraph 5, Section 4 paragraph 18 or Section 12 paragraph 3, or for good cause for which we are responsible.
2. Credits granted free of charge, in particular an initial credit balance, are not refunded. For the calculation they are deemed to have been consumed first in accordance with Section 4 paragraph 11.
3. Unused credits are allocated to the top-ups in reverse order of purchase, the most recent top-up first. For each top-up we refund the share of the amount actually paid that is attributable to the unused credits, including the VAT contained in or charged on it.
4. For each refund we issue a correction document referring to the original document; the VAT is corrected at the rate at which it was charged on the respective top-up.
5. The refund is made without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days of receipt of the request or of the notice of withdrawal, using the means of payment used for the top-up; where this is not possible, by bank transfer to an account named by the customer. We do not charge any fees for the refund. Upon refund, the credits concerned are removed from the balance.
6. If a payment is charged back or cancelled by the payment service provider, we remove the credits granted from it. The customer must settle any resulting negative balance.

Section 6 Right of withdrawal for consumers

1. Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal for each top-up. The period, exercise and consequences of withdrawal are set out in our withdrawal information, which, together with the model withdrawal form, is available at surv-ai.com/widerruf and is shown before each top-up.
2. If, during the order process, the consumer expressly requests that we begin performance before the withdrawal period expires and confirms their knowledge that the right of withdrawal expires upon full performance of the contract, we credit the credits immediately. Without such a request, we begin performance only after the withdrawal period has expired.
3. In that case the right of withdrawal expires as soon as we have fully performed the contract, i.e. as soon as all credits purchased with the top-up concerned have been consumed (Section 356(4) BGB). If the consumer withdraws earlier, they must pay compensation for the credits of that top-up consumed up to the withdrawal (Section 357a(2) BGB); we refund unused credits in accordance with Section 5.
4. Businesses have no statutory right of withdrawal.

Go to the withdrawal information

Section 7 Customer obligations and acceptable use

1. The customer uses the platform exclusively within the framework of applicable law and these Terms. The customer is itself responsible for the content it uploads and for compliance with the data protection, competition and professional law requirements applicable to it.
2. The customer warrants that it is entitled to process the data it uploads and to make it available to us for processing, that the data subjects have been properly informed and that any required legal basis exists.
3. Respondent data must be anonymised as far as possible before upload, and at least pseudonymised. Direct identifiers such as names, addresses, telephone numbers or email addresses may only be uploaded where this is strictly necessary for the analysis.
4. The upload of special categories of personal data within the meaning of Article 9 GDPR and of data relating to criminal convictions and offences within the meaning of Article 10 GDPR is permitted only subject to prior agreement in text form.
5. In particular, unlawful, infringing, defamatory, harmful or otherwise damaging content, the introduction of malicious software and any use that infringes the rights of third parties are not permitted.
6. Furthermore, the following are not permitted: circumventing technical usage and access restrictions, automated extraction of content outside the API, reverse engineering, decompiling or disassembling the software beyond the limits of Section 69e of the German Copyright Act (UrhG), security or load testing without our prior consent in text form, and the subletting, sublicensing or transfer of the services to third parties without a separate agreement.
7. API keys must be treated like passwords, kept confidential and replaced without undue delay if compromise is suspected. The customer is responsible for all calls made using its keys.
8. Technical limits apply to use, in particular request rates per API key, file and request sizes, and upper limits for imports. These are set out on the platform and in the API documentation. We may adjust them for reasons of operational security and capacity with reasonable notice, and without notice where operations are acutely at risk.
9. In the event of a breach of this Section 7 we may remove or block the affected content and temporarily restrict access. The customer shall indemnify us against third-party claims based on a culpable breach of these obligations, including reasonable costs of legal defence.

Section 8 Rights in data and content

1. All rights in the customer data and in the analysis results generated from it remain with the customer. We acquire no rights of our own in them.
2. The customer grants us the non-exclusive right, unrestricted as to territory and limited to the term of the contract and to the purpose of providing the service, to store, reproduce and process the customer data and to transfer it to the sub-processors engaged to provide the service. This right ends when the respective data is deleted.
3. With respect to respondent data we act exclusively as a processor within the meaning of Article 28 GDPR; the customer is the controller. We make a data processing agreement (DPA) available on request at info@surv-ai.com. It must be concluded before personal respondent data is processed and takes precedence over these Terms in matters of data protection law. Details of the processing are set out in our privacy policy.
4. We do not use customer data to train or improve AI models, nor do we pass it on for that purpose.
5. We record technical consumption data for every chargeable processing operation, in particular the time, the model used, the number of tokens processed and the costs calculated from them. This data serves billing, capacity planning and error analysis; it does not contain any response texts.
6. The rights in the platform, the underlying software and the trademarks remain with us. For the term of the contract the customer receives a non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to use them as intended.
7. If the customer voluntarily submits suggestions or proposals for improvement, we may use them without remuneration to develop the platform further.

Go to the privacy policy

Section 9 Availability and maintenance

1. We operate the platform with the due care of a prudent business and endeavour to keep it available without interruption as far as possible. No particular availability rate is owed; a service level agreement exists only where separately agreed in text form.
2. Where possible we carry out planned maintenance at times of low usage and announce it where it results in a significant impairment. We may carry out urgent measures to maintain operational and data security at any time and without prior notice.
3. Providing the service requires third-party services, in particular data centre and AI services. Disruptions, capacity limits, model changes or shutdowns at those providers may temporarily restrict availability and functional scope. We are liable for this only in accordance with Section 10 and only to the extent that we are at fault in selecting and monitoring those providers.
4. We may replace the AI models used with equivalent models, in particular where a provider retires a model. Results may change as a consequence.
5. In cases of force majeure, in particular natural events, war, strikes, official orders, failures of telecommunications networks or large-scale attacks on network infrastructure, we are released from our obligation to perform for the duration of the disruption.

Section 10 Liability

1. We are liable without limitation for damage arising from injury to life, body or health, for damage based on intent or gross negligence, for defects fraudulently concealed, within the scope of a guarantee assumed, and under the German Product Liability Act.
2. In cases of simple negligence we are liable only for the breach of a material contractual obligation (cardinal obligation), that is, an obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose fulfilment the customer may regularly rely. In that case liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical of this type of contract at the time the contract was concluded.
3. Towards businesses, liability under paragraph 2 is limited in amount to the fees the customer paid to us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the damage, but to no less than EUR 1,000.00.
4. For the loss of data we are liable in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 3 only up to the effort that would have been required to restore the data had it been backed up properly and regularly by the customer. The customer is obliged to back up its data itself at reasonable intervals, in particular using the available export functions.
5. We are not liable for damage arising from the customer using AI-generated results without the review required under Section 3 paragraph 2, nor for decisions the customer bases on such results.
6. Any further liability is excluded. The above limitations of liability also apply for the benefit of our legal representatives, employees and vicarious agents. They do not entail any change in the burden of proof to the detriment of the customer.
7. Towards consumers, the statutory rights in respect of defects in digital products, in particular under Sections 327 et seq. BGB, remain unaffected.

Section 11 Term, termination and deletion of data

1. The contract is concluded for an indefinite period and begins when the account is activated. There is no minimum term and no automatic renewal.
2. The customer may terminate the contract at any time without notice period in text form to info@surv-ai.com. The account is deleted in accordance with paragraph 6.
3. We may terminate the contract with three months’ notice to the end of a calendar month. In that case we refund unused purchased credits in accordance with Section 5.
4. The right of either party to terminate for cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists for us in particular in the event of a serious or repeated breach of Section 7, of incorrect information under Section 1 paragraph 3 or Section 2 paragraph 3, of default in payment despite a reminder, and of a material deterioration in the customer’s financial circumstances, to the extent permitted by law.
5. The customer is obliged to export its data itself before the termination takes effect. The export and interface functions are available to it for this purpose throughout the term. On request we will make the customer data available in a common format within the period set out in paragraph 6.
6. After the termination takes effect we keep the customer data available for retrieval for 30 days (return period). After that period we delete the customer data and the account unless a statutory retention obligation applies. We retain payment, invoicing and accounting data for ten years pursuant to Section 147 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) and Section 257 of the German Commercial Code (HGB).
7. Once deleted, the account and the data cannot be restored.

Section 12 Changes to these Terms

1. We may amend these Terms where there is a legitimate reason to do so, in particular a change in the legal framework or in supreme court case law, a change or extension of the functional scope, changed technical or organisational processes, or the need to close a gap in the provisions.
2. We will notify the customer of the amendment in text form to the email address last provided at least six weeks before the intended effective date. If the customer is a business, it may object to the amendment in text form within that period; if it does not object and we have expressly pointed out in the notice both the period and the fact that silence will be deemed consent, the amendment is deemed approved. If the customer is a consumer, the amendment takes effect only with the consumer’s express consent.
3. If a business objects in time or a consumer does not consent, the previous Terms continue to apply; in that case either party may terminate the contract with effect from the intended effective date. Changes to consumption prices are governed exclusively by Section 4 paragraph 18; changes to the main contractual obligations otherwise require agreement.

Section 13 Final provisions

1. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Towards consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive them of the protection afforded by the mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which they have their habitual residence.
2. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contract is Wiesbaden, provided that the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law. We are also entitled to bring proceedings at the customer's general place of jurisdiction.
3. The place of performance is Wiesbaden.
4. If the customer is a business, it may set off against our claims only with counterclaims that are undisputed or have been established by a final court decision; a right of retention is available to it only in respect of claims arising from the same contractual relationship.
5. The customer may transfer rights and obligations under this contract to third parties only with our prior consent in text form. Section 354a HGB remains unaffected.
6. In relation to businesses, amendments and supplements to this contract must be made in text form. This also applies to any waiver of this text form requirement. Individual agreements always take precedence (Section 305b BGB).
7. Should any provision of these Terms be or become wholly or partly invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected. The invalid provision is replaced by the statutory rules.
8. These Terms were drawn up in German. Translations are provided for information purposes only; in the event of discrepancies the German version prevails.
9. We are neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.