Terms of Use

TipTheMaid is a New Zealand-operated service. By using the site or any part of the service, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

• Guests - people staying at a property who scan a QR code to rate, thank and optionally tip a cleaner.
• Hosts and property managers - people who add properties and assign or invite cleaners.
• Cleaners - people who receive ratings, thank-you notes and tips.
• Administrators - the TipTheMaid team, who operate and support the platform.

• Give accurate information when you create an account, and keep it up to date.
• Keep your login details secure and do not share your account.
• Do not impersonate another person or sign up on someone else's behalf without their authority.
• Hosts and cleaners are responsible for activity carried out under their own accounts.
• Tell us promptly if you think your account has been accessed without your permission.

• TipTheMaid helps guests recognise cleaners, leave feedback and optionally send a tip.
• TipTheMaid is not an accommodation-booking service.
• We do not guarantee any particular volume of tips, ratings, bookings or work.
• Ratings and tips are independent: a guest can leave a rating without tipping, and a tip does not require a particular rating.

• Hosts must have the authority to add and manage the properties they list.
• Hosts must have the authority to assign or invite the cleaners they name.
• Cleaners must not claim properties, assignments or work they are not genuinely associated with.
• If an assignment is wrong, contact us and we will help sort it out.

Feedback should be honest, relevant and lawful. When you submit a rating or thank-you note you agree not to include:

• Harassment, threats or abuse
• Discriminatory content
• Spam or advertising
• Impersonation of another person
• Attempts to manipulate ratings, or repeated abusive submissions

We may review, flag, hide or exclude content from statistics where it is reasonably necessary - for example where content appears abusive, fraudulent, duplicated or unlawful.

Hosts and cleaners do not have a unilateral right to delete feedback about them. You can report content to us and we will assess it. Moderation is not perfect, and we do not guarantee that we will find or remove every objectionable item.

• Tipping is always optional.
• A guest can submit a rating or thank-you note without sending a tip.
• Before you pay, Checkout shows the cleaner tip you selected and the separate card/platform fee.
• The full cleaner-tip amount you select is allocated to the cleaner.
• The separately displayed fee contributes to card processing and platform running costs.
• Stripe handles the card payment. We do not receive or store your full card details.
• A tip is only confirmed once payment is successfully confirmed. Starting Checkout and then cancelling does not create a tip.
• The currency and amounts shown at Checkout govern the transaction.

Cleaners receive tips through a Stripe connected account. The payout rules are:

• Eligible confirmed, unpaid tips accumulate as a balance.
• NZ$20 is a threshold, not a guaranteed payment and not a payment cap.
• Once the eligible balance reaches NZ$20, the full eligible balance becomes payable - not just NZ$20.
• A balance below NZ$20 carries forward until the threshold is reached. It is not wiped, expired or reset.
• During launch, TipTheMaid transfers may be reviewed and sent manually.
• Automatic weekly transfers are planned but are not currently active. We will tell cleaners before that changes.
• Once funds reach your connected Stripe account, Stripe separately controls when they reach your bank, according to your Stripe payout schedule.
• Payouts may be delayed for verification, disputes, refunds, fraud concerns, insufficient available platform balance, or technical issues.

• If something has gone wrong with a payment, contact us promptly through the Contact page.
• We assess requests based on the circumstances, Stripe's processes and applicable law.
• Refunding a tip does not automatically delete a rating or comment - they are separate records.
• We may adjust balances where needed to correct refunds, chargebacks, duplicate payments or errors.

We do not apply a blanket “no refunds” rule, and nothing here limits rights you have that cannot lawfully be excluded.

• TipTheMaid does not itself provide cleaning or accommodation services.
• Hosts and cleaners remain responsible for their own arrangements with each other.
• We do not determine whether a cleaner is an employee or a contractor, and we do not determine anyone's tax status.
• You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to you, including any tax obligations on tips you receive.

You keep ownership of the content you submit. By submitting content you give us a limited, non-exclusive licence to store, display, moderate and transmit it so that we can operate the service and show it to the people it is meant for.

That licence is no broader than reasonably necessary to run TipTheMaid.

• Fraud of any kind
• Manipulating payments, tips or payouts
• Manipulating ratings or reviews, including fake or coerced feedback
• Scraping, denial-of-service attempts or other attacks on the service
• Accessing accounts, data or areas you are not authorised to access
• Uploading malware or malicious code
• Posting unlawful content or content that infringes someone else's rights
• Tampering with, copying or misusing QR codes, accounts or payout arrangements

We may suspend or restrict access where it is reasonable and proportionate to do so - for example where we reasonably believe these terms have been breached, or where we need to protect other users, the platform, or ourselves.

In serious security, fraud or legal situations we may need to act immediately. Otherwise we will give you reasonable notice and, where practical, a chance to put things right. You may stop using the service at any time.

The service will change over time, and there may be interruptions for maintenance, upgrades or reasons outside our control. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.

If we make a material change to these terms, we will update this page, revise the “Last updated” date and, where the change significantly affects you, try to tell you through the service.

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986 where they apply to you.

Subject to that, and to the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profits, loss of expected tips or income, or loss caused by matters outside our reasonable control - including the acts of guests, hosts, cleaners or third-party providers such as payment or hosting services.

We are not claiming zero responsibility. Where we are at fault, we will deal with it fairly.

These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and the New Zealand courts have jurisdiction - subject to any rights you have that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Questions about these terms? Please use the Contact & Support page.