Booking & Payment Terms

1. Who you are booking with

Houses, tours, restaurants, rides, rentals, services and events on WatamuPulse are offered by independent local businesses and people. WatamuPulse is not the provider. We show their offers, take your payment through M-Pesa, pass your booking to them and pay them after the service.

2. What you see before you pay

Before every payment you see a confirm screen with: what you are paying for, the amount you pay now, anything you still pay the business later (for example the rest of a house price at the house), WatamuPulse's fee, and the refund rules for that booking. Those details are part of these terms. Nothing is charged until you tap "Confirm and pay" and enter your M-Pesa PIN.

Prices are in Kenyan shillings (KSh). The amount does not change after you confirm.

3. Deposits, fees and commission

Depending on the booking you pay the whole price (houses), a deposit (part of the price) or a small booking fee online. WatamuPulse keeps a commission or fee from that payment; the business receives the rest. When the money is passed on to a business, organiser or driver (houses, tours, rides, rentals, event tickets, food), you also pay a small service fee on top: KSh 55 up to KSh 4,999, KSh 110 up to KSh 19,999 and KSh 220 above that. It covers the cost of sending the money and is never refunded. The confirm screen shows the exact amounts.

When the rest of the price is paid directly to the business (at the house, on the day of the tour, at the end of the ride, at pick-up), that part is between you and the business.

4. The business must accept

Most bookings must be accepted by the business within a set time (shown on the confirm screen). If the business declines or does not answer in time, you get your money back in full.

5. If you cancel

The refund rules shown on the confirm screen apply. In general: for holiday houses, cancelling 7 or more days before arrival refunds everything except the commission, closer to arrival refunds half, and on or after the arrival day refunds nothing; for tours, rides and rentals WatamuPulse keeps its commission and refunds the rest of your deposit; booking fees for tables, services and deal codes are not refunded; event tickets are not refunded unless the organiser cancels the event.

6. Refunds

Refunds are sent back to the M-Pesa number you paid with, as soon as the WatamuPulse team has processed them.

7. Problems

If something is wrong with a booking, use "Report a problem" on the booking in your dashboard as soon as possible, and before the service date where you can. Businesses are paid out after the service date, which gives us time to look into problems before money is released.

8. Messages and contact

You can message a business on WatamuPulse once your booking is paid. Phone numbers are shared only where needed to complete a confirmed booking. Please keep payments for WatamuPulse bookings on WatamuPulse: we cannot help with money paid outside it.

9. Test mode

While WatamuPulse is being tested, payments may be in test mode. The site then shows "Test mode: no money is taken" and no M-Pesa payment is made. Test bookings are deleted before launch.

10. Your data

We use your name, phone number and email to run your booking, send confirmations by SMS and email, and process refunds. See our Privacy Policy.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. The version you agreed to applies to bookings you already made.