Terms and privacy

Client terms

1. What SimpleMeet does

SimpleMeet lists meeting rooms and conference spaces and passes your booking requests and questions to the venue. We are an introduction service. We are not the venue, and we are not a party to any contract you make with a venue.

2. It's free for you

You pay SimpleMeet nothing. Venues pay us a listing fee and a commission on bookings. We do not add booking fees or a mark-up to the venue's rate.

3. Rates

• Every rate is set by the venue and is fixed for bookings made through SimpleMeet only.
• Day delegate rates (DDR) are per person and include VAT. They cover room hire, refreshments, lunch and AV unless the listing says otherwise.
• Booking without lunch takes 25% off the DDR.
• Every booking is charged for a minimum of 5 delegates.
• Some rooms have minimum numbers. If your group is much smaller than the room's capacity, the venue may charge a larger room supplement, or offer an alternative package or room. The venue will tell you when it responds to your request, before you sign its contract.
• Chargeable parking, where shown, is paid separately at the venue.
• The total shown when you send a request is an estimate. Your contract with the venue sets the final price.

4. “I want to book” requests

• When you send a request, you get a confirmation number and the venue receives your details by email.
• A request does not hold your date. All requests are subject to availability. Nothing is booked until you have signed a contract with the venue.
• The venue contracts with you directly, sets its own terms (including cancellation), and takes payment from you directly.
• SimpleMeet stays copied in to emails between you and the venue until the venue receives your signed contract.

5. Guaranteed venue reply

• Working hours are 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales.
• Requests made outside working hours start the clock at 10am on the next working day. Time left at 4pm carries over to 10am on the next working day.
• The clock starts when your request is sent and stops when the venue confirms or declines by replying to its request email.
• The reduced rate is what goes on your contract and invoice with the venue.
• If the venue declines because the date is unavailable, there is no booking and no discount.
• The guarantee does not apply to questions sent with “I need more details”, or to briefs sent through our contact form.

6. “I need more details” and briefs

Questions and briefs come to the SimpleMeet team. We pass them to venues and come back to you. They do not hold a date and are not covered by the guaranteed venue reply.

7. Listings

Room details, capacities, photos and rates come from the venue. We take care to show them accurately, but the venue is responsible for them. Check anything important with the venue before you sign its contract.

8. Our responsibility

The venue is responsible for providing the room and services in your contract. As far as the law allows, SimpleMeet is not liable for anything the venue does or fails to do. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, or affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

9. Changes and law

We may update these terms. The version on this page when you send a request applies to that request. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Venue terms

1. Listing fee

• £10 + VAT per room listed, per month.
• Billed monthly in advance. You can remove a room or end your listing by email at any time, effective from the end of the current month.

2. Commission

• Commission is charged on the gross pre-booked contract total of each booking made through SimpleMeet:
  • 7.5% + VAT for bookings from an “I want to book” request
  • 10% + VAT for bookings that started as an “I need more details” enquiry we passed to you
• “Gross pre-booked contract total” means the total on the client's contract when it is agreed, including VAT and after any reply-guarantee discount. Anything added after the contract is non-commissionable, and where the contract shows a range of delegates (for example 30–50), commission is charged on the minimum contracted number only.
• Every SimpleMeet booking has its own confirmation number. A booking counts as made through SimpleMeet if it comes from that client's SimpleMeet request for that event, even if the contract is later arranged directly with you.
• No commission is charged on repeat bookings or any other business you win directly.
• We invoice commission based on the client's signed contract. If a booking is cancelled and nothing is payable under the contract, nothing is due. If a cancellation fee is payable, commission applies to that amount.

3. Responding to requests and the guaranteed venue reply

• “I want to book” requests arrive by email with the client's details and a confirmation number. Confirm or decline by replying to that email.
• Keep us copied in: copy grant@simplemeet.co.uk into every email with the client about a SimpleMeet booking until you have received the client's signed contract.
• If your reply comes after 1 working hour, you agree to reduce the client's rate by 10%. After 2 working hours, by 20%. The reduced rate goes on the client's contract and invoice.
• Working hours are 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales. The time of your reply email is the time used.
• No reply charge: failure to honour the guaranteed venue reply on an “I want to book” request will result in a no reply charge of £10 + VAT for that request, invoiced to you by SimpleMeet. You fail to honour it if you:
  • do not reply within 5 working hours, or do not reply at all, or
  • do not apply the 10% or 20% reduction to the client's rate when it is due.
  The fee is payable within 14 days of receiving our invoice. It does not replace the client's reduction, which still applies.
• Enquiries passed on through “I need more details” are not covered by the guaranteed venue reply or the guaranteed venue reply fee.

4. Contracts, payment and commission

• You contract with the client directly, on your own terms, and take payment from them directly.
• You must upload the client's signed contract on the SimpleMeet site, quoting the confirmation number, no later than 3 days after you receive it.
• We then send you our commission invoice, based on the signed contract, before the event takes place. It is payable within 14 days of receipt.

5. Your listing

• You are responsible for the accuracy of your room details, capacities, rates, parking information and photos, and for telling us promptly about any change.
• Rates you give us are fixed for SimpleMeet bookings until you tell us otherwise. Changes do not affect requests already sent.
• If a room has minimum numbers, you may charge a larger room supplement or offer an alternative package or room for a smaller group. You must tell the client when you reply to their request, before they sign your contract. A supplement is part of the contract total, so commission applies to it.
• You confirm you have the right to let us use the photos and content you send, and allow us to display them on SimpleMeet.

6. Client data

You receive client details only to respond to and fulfil their request. You are responsible for handling that data lawfully under UK data protection law.

7. Ending your listing

Either side can end a listing by email. Commission remains due on bookings from requests sent before the listing ended. We may remove a listing that is inaccurate, where signed contracts are not uploaded on time, or where our invoices are not paid on time.

8. Liability and law

As far as the law allows, neither side is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Privacy policy

SimpleMeet (Grant Evans, trading as SimpleMeet, Unit 174305, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL) is the data controller for the information you send through this site. Contact us about your data at grant@simplemeet.co.uk.

What we collect

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

• To handle your request: passing booking requests and questions to the venue, and finding venues from your brief. Lawful basis: taking steps at your request before a contract, and our legitimate interest in running the service.
• To run venue listings and bill commission. Lawful basis: our contract with the venue.
• To keep business and tax records. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

We do not sell your information or use it for marketing without asking you first.

Who we share it with

• The venue you contact, so it can respond to and fulfil your request.
• Netlify, which hosts this site and receives form submissions.
• Google, whose Gmail, Apps Script and Sheets we use to send request emails and keep booking records.

Netlify and Google may process data outside the UK. Where they do, they use safeguards recognised under UK law, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the UK–US data bridge.

How long we keep it

• Booking requests, signed contracts, invoices and commission records: 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to, for tax purposes.
• Questions and briefs that don't lead to a booking: up to 2 years.
• Venue listing details: while the listing is active, then up to 2 years.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, object to or restrict how we use it, or ask for a copy to take elsewhere. Email grant@simplemeet.co.uk. If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.