Terms of use

What Duam is

Duam is a marketplace. We introduce you to artisans and hold your payment until the job is confirmed. The artisan is paid for the work when you hand over your 6-digit code, when you both agree in the app that the job cannot be finished, or, if there is a problem, when a person at Duam decides it. Some money can go to the artisan before that: the call-out or trip fee when the job does not go ahead (see “What you pay”), and part of the materials when you approve a quote, so they can buy the parts.

The artisan does the work, not us. Artisans work for themselves: they are not Duam’s employees, and we do not supervise how they do the work. We verify them and we step in when something goes wrong, but the work itself is between you and them.

What you pay

Fixed-price services show the artisan’s own price before you book. Quote services take a call-out fee first. If you go ahead with the work, the artisan’s share of it comes off the final bill. If you decide not to proceed after the artisan has come, the call-out is kept for the trip.

No artisan may ask you for money outside the app for work booked through it. If one does, tell us and do not pay.

If a job goes wrong

Report it in the app, from the moment an artisan accepts the job until 48 hours after it ends or is cancelled. Artisans can report a problem too. While it is open, the money for the job stays where it is. A person at Duam hears both sides and decides as soon as possible, and the decision and its reason show on the booking. Customers can also contact the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

If we agree with you, we decide how much to refund, and it goes to your Duam balance the moment we decide. You can send it back to the card or bank account you paid with from Wallet. We may then take it back from the artisan. We are not currently offering a workmanship guarantee beyond that, and we will say so here the day we do.

Who can use Duam

You must be 18 or over, both to book and to work as an artisan. We say so at sign-in, and an account we find belongs to a child is closed and its data deleted.

Safety

Before their first job, a person at Duam looks at every artisan’s details and approves them. If somebody behaves badly, tell us and we will remove them. If you are in immediate danger call the police first, then tell us.

What we are responsible for

We are responsible for doing what these terms say we do: showing you the price, or the hourly rate, before you agree to it, holding your payment, and deciding a problem and refunding you when we agree with you.

The artisan is responsible for their own work and for any damage they cause. For the work, what we do is the problem process above. Beyond that, we are not responsible for the artisan’s work.

If we owe you for anything to do with a booking, the most we pay is what you paid for that booking. This limit does not apply to death or injury caused by our negligence, to our fraud, or where the law does not allow a limit.

If we disagree

Report a problem with a job in the app first (see “If a job goes wrong”). If you are unhappy with how we handled it, or with anything else about Duam, write to support@duam.work and we will try to settle it with you.

If that does not settle it within 30 days of your email, either of us can ask for mediation: one mediator we both agree on helps us reach an agreement. If we have not agreed on a mediator within 14 days, or mediation has not settled it within 30 days of the mediator being chosen, either of us can take it to arbitration under the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023, seated in Lagos. One arbitrator decides, in English, and the hearing can be held online. If we cannot agree on the arbitrator within 14 days, one is appointed under that Act. The arbitrator’s decision binds us both. Either of us can still ask a court for urgent help.

You can still complain to the FCCPC at any time. Nothing in these terms takes away a right the law gives you as a consumer.

The law that applies

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

When these terms change

When we change these terms, we tell you in the app or by email at least 14 days before the change takes effect, unless the law makes us change sooner. A change never alters a booking you already made. The date at the top of this page is the day they last changed. If you keep using Duam after a change takes effect, you accept the new terms. If you do not accept them, you can stop using Duam and delete your account.