Terms of use

Who we are

TurOwl (turowl.com) is operated by Serophin, ABN 88 280 015 794, PO Box 330, Annandale NSW 2038, Australia ("we", "us"). These terms are the agreement between you and Serophin whenever you use TurOwl.

These terms apply whenever you open TurOwl, listen to anything in it, or buy access to part of the catalogue. If you do not accept them, please do not use the guide.

How we handle your data is set out in our privacy policy.

Your account

You sign in with Google, with Apple, or with a code or link we email you. There is no password, so anyone who can read your email can sign in as you. Keep that mailbox secure. You are responsible for what happens under your account.

You do not need an account to buy. On the website, a purchase creates the account for the email you enter at checkout, or is added to the account that already uses it, so enter that email carefully. In the iPhone and Android apps, a purchase made without signing in is kept with an anonymous account on that install. If you link Apple, Google or an email to it, your purchases are kept across your devices. Otherwise, deleting the app or changing device can lose them, and the App Store and Google Play cannot restore them.

You must be 13 or older to use TurOwl. In the European Union and the United Kingdom you must be 16 or older, unless a parent or guardian agrees.

You can close your account at any time from your profile. Closing it ends your access to everything you bought, including purchases made through the App Store or Google Play, and they cannot be restored afterwards.

What you are buying

Every purchase is a one-off payment for permanent access to one part of the catalogue: a place, a city or a country. Buying a level unlocks everything beneath it. A city includes all of its places, and a country includes all of its cities.

• You are buying access to listen, not ownership of the recordings.
• Nothing renews and nothing expires. There is no subscription and there are no credits.
• Access is tied to your account, not to a device. You can listen on any device you sign in to the same account on.
• On the website you pay in US dollars, and the price you see includes any tax due.
• In the iPhone and Android apps you pay through the App Store or Google Play, in your store's currency, at the price the store shows.

What is free

Country and city stories are free. Every place's story is free for its first 45 seconds, and one highlight in every place is free in full. You can hear what the guide sounds like before you spend anything.

Refunds

If a purchase does not work, or a recording is missing or broken, we will put it right or refund it. How a refund is paid depends on where you bought.

• On the website. Write to support@serophin.com and we refund it to the card you paid with.
• In the iPhone app. Apple handles refunds for App Store purchases. Ask at reportaproblem.apple.com.
• In the Android app. Google handles refunds for Google Play purchases. Ask through Google Play.

If you live in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you can cancel a website purchase within 14 days of buying it for a full refund. Write to us to do so. App Store and Google Play purchases follow the store's own rules.

Apart from this, we do not refund a purchase because you changed your mind. This section applies only as far as the Australian Consumer Law and your other consumer rights allow.

Your rights under consumer law

Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled to cancel your service contract with us and to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value. You are also entitled to choose a refund or replacement for major failures with goods. If a failure with the goods or a service does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have the failure rectified in a reasonable time. If this is not done you are entitled to a refund for the goods and to cancel the contract for the service and obtain a refund of any unused portion. You are also entitled to compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage from a failure in the goods or service.

Nothing in these terms takes away any of these rights, or any consumer right the law where you live gives you.

How you may use the recordings

The recordings, images, scripts and everything else in the guide belong to us or to the people we licensed them from. You may listen to them for your own use, including offline on a device you own.

• Do not copy, record, re-publish, broadcast or sell any part of the audio.
• Do not use the guide commercially, including on paid tours, without written permission.
• Do not try to extract the catalogue, get around the access controls, or reach parts you have not bought.
• Do not use the guide in a way that breaks the law or the rules of the place you are standing in.

How the stories are made

The stories are written with AI and read by synthetic voices. They may contain mistakes. They are for general interest, not an authority on history, safety or access. If something matters to you, check it with the place itself.

Photos and maps

The photos come from other people and are used under their own licences, such as Creative Commons or the GNU Free Documentation License. Each photo is credited where it appears. Map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, with map tiles from CARTO and Protomaps. The full list is on our licences page.

What the guide is not

The guide tells you about what is in front of you. It does not plan routes, give directions between places, or tell you when somewhere is open. Opening hours, ticketing, access rules and safety are matters for the place itself. Pay attention to your surroundings while listening, especially on the street.

The phone apps

If you got the TurOwl app from the App Store, Apple's standard licence agreement for apps also applies to your use of the app. Purchases made through the App Store or Google Play are also covered by that store's terms.

Changes to the catalogue

We add cities and places over time, and occasionally we correct or replace a recording. We may retire content if a licence ends or the facts change. If we withdraw something you bought and cannot replace it, we will refund a website purchase. For an app purchase, we will help you ask the App Store or Google Play for a refund.

Availability

We try to keep the guide running, but we do not promise it will be available without interruption. Stories and maps you download in the TurOwl app work without a connection. Everything else needs one.

Liability

Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. As far as the law allows, our total liability to you is limited to what you have paid us in the twelve months before the claim, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss.

Ending this agreement

You can stop using the guide whenever you like. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, and where that happens because of serious misuse we may do so without a refund, as far as the law allows.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia, and its courts can hear any dispute about them. If you live in another country, you keep any consumer rights the law of that country gives you that cannot be excluded.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the product changes. The date at the top shows the current version. If a change materially affects what you have already bought, we will tell you by email before it takes effect.

Contact

For questions about these terms, email support@serophin.com or use our contact page.