Terms of Service

Effective and last revised: September 1, 2026

These terms apply to AnswerOtter, a service of Black Hills, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA. By using AnswerOtter, you agree to these terms.

Service description

AnswerOtter provides managed AI phone-overflow support for veterinary clinics during agreed after-hours, lunch, weekend, busy, or unanswered-call periods. It may collect caller details, take appointment and refill requests for staff review, follow clinic-approved urgent-call instructions, and log conversations for clinic review. The managed service does not include direct booking or practice-management-system write-back, SMS, human-receptionist fallback, caller payment collection, web chat, or outbound reminders. A secure setup or status experience, when provided, does not imply a live call-analytics dashboard.

Clinic fact verification

When you submit a service-fit request, AnswerOtter may retrieve a bounded set of public pages from the exact clinic website you provide to verify the submitted clinic identity and standard-service fit. The fetcher identifies itself, honors applicable robots instructions, does not execute page scripts or load subresources, and stops when site terms prohibit this use. AnswerOtter also includes Google Maps Platform features and content, including the Places API, to compare submitted public clinic facts with a current business listing. Your use of those Google Maps features and content is subject to the then-current Google Maps End User Additional Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy. We do not treat a website or provider result by itself as proof of signer authority, agreement, payment, or readiness to launch.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for giving us accurate clinic information, keeping your own systems and calendars current, reviewing messages and logs, and deciding how your clinic responds to clients. You must not use AnswerOtter for unlawful, abusive, deceptive, or emergency-only operations.

No medical advice

AnswerOtter does not provide veterinary medical advice, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, or clinical judgment. It answers approved practice questions, gathers information, takes requests for staff confirmation, and follows the clinic's written instructions when a caller uses emergency-sounding language. It does not decide whether an animal is experiencing a medical emergency.

Fees and cancellation

Submitting a Start service inquiry or asking a question does not start service or billing. Under a signed clinic agreement, a one-time $199 activation covers implementation and the first 30 live days for one clinic, one phone line, and the clinic's configured overflow schedule. The live period starts only after the written forwarded-line acceptance criteria pass. There is no per-minute or usage billing during those first 30 live days. We measure call volume for service operation and reporting. If volume materially exceeds the approved overflow scope, we notify the clinic and correct the forwarding configuration or agree to new terms in writing; we do not apply a retroactive charge or automatically cut off calls because of volume. An activation refund is limited to an AnswerOtter-controlled inability to meet the written go-live criteria, subject to the signed agreement and applicable law. Only an exact verified duplicate charge or a separately approved pre-implementation refund may be automated. Payment disputes, service-quality refund requests, and ambiguous provider outcomes require review.

We send a continuation reminder on service day 23 and a follow-up on day 27. Service continues only if the clinic then opts in affirmatively in writing; silence stops service on day 30. After that written opt-in, Pat creates one private, clinic-bound Stripe Checkout Session in subscription mode for the disclosed flat $249 monthly price and the same configured overflow scope. An opt-in, Checkout return, or unpaid Invoice does not authorize initial monthly continuation. For the next 14 clinic-local calendar days, the clinic may reactivate the same approved scope without another activation fee, subject to availability. Initial continuation and reactivation require AnswerOtter's exact verification that the corresponding $249 Stripe Invoice is paid. Public Payment Links, the Customer Portal, and automated continuation remain deferred from the operator-assisted first-clinic service. Measured volume is included in the clinic's service report. If sustained volume materially exceeds that scope, any adjustment requires at least 14 days' written notice and new written terms; no usage charge is retroactive.

After the clinic affirmatively begins paid continuation, it renews monthly until canceled. If a later recurring renewal Invoice remains unpaid, AnswerOtter sends immediate notice and one follow-up before the end of day 3 if exact provider readback still does not prove payment. Service stops at the end of that three-day grace period unless exact provider readback proves settlement. The clinic may cancel through the documented human support path and choose paid-period-end cancellation or immediate service stop. Paid-period-end cancellation stops the next renewal and service continues through the paid period. Immediate cancellation stops live service as soon as the route can be safely disabled. Neither choice creates a partial-period refund. The $249 monthly price is locked for 12 months from verified go-live for the approved scope. The signed agreement controls if it differs from these general terms.

Support

Routine support hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Pacific, excluding holidays. We target acknowledgement of routine requests within one business day and active service issues within two business hours during support hours. These are acknowledgement targets, not resolution deadlines, uptime commitments, or service-level guarantees. Automated monitoring outside support hours does not represent round-the-clock human staffing.

Availability and changes

We aim to provide dependable service, but no online or phone-connected service is available every minute. We may update AnswerOtter to improve reliability, security, compliance, or functionality.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, Black Hills, Inc. and AnswerOtter are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount paid for AnswerOtter in the three months before the claim.

Confidentiality and ownership

We treat clinic setup information and service conversations as confidential business information. AnswerOtter, its software, prompts, workflows, designs, and documentation remain the intellectual property of Black Hills, Inc. Your clinic retains ownership of its own business information and client records.

Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to pat@answerotter.com.