Terms of service

HQAV is a marketplace. Clients post what an event needs; audio-visual professionals accept the work; we handle discovery, scheduling, messaging and payment. The service contract for the event itself is between the client and the pro. We do not employ pros, do not supervise the work, and do not guarantee any particular outcome on site.

Using the site means you accept these terms, our cancellation and refund policy and our privacy policy.

• You must be 18 or older and able to enter a contract.
• Give real information. A pro’s profile — skills, rate, location, availability — must describe what you can actually deliver.
• One person per account. Keep your password to yourself; you are responsible for what happens under your login.
• Pros are independent contractors running their own business. You are responsible for your own licences, insurance, taxes and equipment safety. HQAV does not withhold tax and does not provide insurance.

• A client sends a request. Nothing is committed and nothing is charged by sending one, and a request can be cancelled freely until a pro accepts it.
• A pro who accepts is holding that time, and the booking is confirmed at that moment — no payment is required to lock a date. Their published availability for that window is blocked so nobody else can book it.
• The pro marks the event delivered once the work is done. That is what makes the agreed price payable: the client is invoiced then, and the pro is paid after the client settles.
• Either side can propose a new date; the booking moves only when the other side accepts, and only if the pro is actually free then. Terms are in the policy.
• Either side can cancel. What happens to the money depends on how close to the event it is — full refund 14+ days out, 50% from 7 days, none inside that, and always a full refund if the pro cancels. The cancellation policy is the binding version.
• Repeatedly cancelling accepted work, or not turning up, is grounds for us to suspend an account. Crews and clients both plan around these commitments.

• Prices are set by the pro and shown to the client before they commit, in Canadian dollars unless stated otherwise. Payment is taken through Stripe; card details never reach HQAV.
• Payment for people is due after the event, once the pro marks it delivered. The only money taken before an event is a gear-rental deposit, where the owner of that gear has set one.
• The price a client is charged is the price stored on the booking at the moment the pro accepted. It cannot be changed after that by either side.
• A client who cancels owes the share of the fee set out in the cancellation policy. Those amounts are invoiced directly rather than charged automatically. Where money has already been taken, refunds follow the same table and are returned to the original payment method.
• Both sides are responsible for their own taxes on the work. Pros should keep their own records; the dashboard’s earnings and payment history are a convenience, not a tax document.
• Arranging payment off-platform to avoid fees also removes every protection here, and may get both accounts closed.

• Gear is listed, owned and handed over by the pro who lists it. HQAV does not inspect, certify or insure anyone’s equipment.
• An owner may require a security deposit — a fixed amount or a share of the rental charge, per item. Where one applies it is shown on the listing before a renter requests anything, and it is charged when the owner accepts, because the gear leaves their hands.
• The renter is responsible for the gear from pickup or delivery until it is returned, and for returning it in the condition it left in. A deposit marked refundable comes back on a clean return; the owner may keep it against loss or damage. A deposit an owner has marked non-refundable is labelled as such on the listing.
• Owners must describe condition and quantity honestly and have the gear ready for the dates they accepted.
• Disputes about damage are between the owner and the renter. We will share the order record with both sides.

Don’t do these, and the platform stays useful for everyone:

• Harassment, discrimination or threats — toward anyone, in messages or on site.
• Fake profiles, fake reviews, or reviews traded for anything.
• Scraping, reverse-engineering, or automated access beyond normal use of the site.
• Uploading anything unlawful, or anything you don’t have the rights to.
• Using the messaging system for unsolicited marketing.

You keep ownership of what you upload — your photos, portfolio and listings. By posting them you give us permission to display them on the platform for the purpose of running it.

The platform is provided as-is. We work hard to keep it accurate and available, but we do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we are not responsible for the quality, safety or legality of the work a pro performs or the gear they rent out.

To the extent the law allows, HQAV’s total liability to you for any claim connected to the platform is limited to the fees we earned on the booking that the claim relates to. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

These terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia, Canada.

We may change these terms; if a change is material we will say so in the app before it takes effect, and the date at the top of this page always tells you when it last changed. Continuing to use HQAV after that means you accept the new version.

You can close your account at any time from Settings. We can suspend or close an account that breaks these terms. Any booking already accepted and paid is still governed by the cancellation policy. Questions: support@hqav.ca.