Terms of Service

Effective Date: July 6, 2026
Last Updated: July 6, 2026

Welcome to Tell Mel, a service operated by Second Coffee, LLC (“Tell Mel,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Tell Mel’s services, including our website, applications, and AI-powered tools for creating memoirs, legacy books, and biographical archives (collectively, the “Services”). By accessing or using the Services, creating an account, or making a purchase, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

PLEASE READ SECTION 15 (DISPUTE RESOLUTION) CAREFULLY. IT REQUIRES DISPUTES TO BE RESOLVED BY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, SUBJECT TO YOUR RIGHT TO OPT OUT.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction to use the Services. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet these eligibility requirements, that the information you provide is accurate, and that you have the authority to agree to these Terms (including, where you sign up on behalf of another person as a “Narrator,” that you have that person’s permission to provide their contact information, to enroll them, to have us contact them by phone and text message, and to have their interview calls recorded as described in Section 7).

2. Account Registration and Responsibilities

• Account Creation: To access certain features, you must create an account and provide accurate, complete, and up-to-date information.
• Account Security: You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for all activities under your account. Notify us immediately at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized access or use of your account.
• Account Termination: We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or engage in unauthorized use of the Services, as described in Section 17.

3. Use of Services

• Permitted Use: You may use the Services solely for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms.
• Prohibited Activities: You agree not to:
  • Use the Services for any illegal, harmful, or fraudulent activities.
  • Upload or transmit harmful, offensive, infringing, or unauthorized content.
  • Enroll or record any person without their knowledge and permission where required by law.
  • Reverse-engineer, copy, scrape, or modify any part of the Services.
  • Interfere with the operation of the Services or disrupt other users.

4. Subscriptions, One-Time Purchases, and Automatic Renewal

Tell Mel plans are primarily annual subscriptions that renew automatically, and the terms in this section are written for those plans. We also sometimes offer a one-time purchase that is charged once and does not renew. If you have a subscription, the automatic-renewal, renewal-reminder, and cancellation terms below apply to you. If instead you made a one-time purchase, you are charged once at checkout and it does not automatically renew, so those terms do not apply to it.

Subscription interview hours and carryover. Each subscription includes a set number of interview hours for the one-year term. Unused hours roll over into your next term, and any add-on hours you buy are added to your balance. Your total available balance is capped at 30 hours. At each renewal, any balance above the 30-hour cap is not carried into the new term and is not refunded, credited, or paid out. Interview hours have no cash value and cannot be transferred.

One-time purchase interview hours. If instead you made a one-time purchase, it includes a set number of interview hours (and any book or other item shown at checkout), which are added to your balance. A one-time purchase is a single charge that does not recur. Your one-time interview hours are valid for one year from the date of purchase and expire at the end of that period if unused; they are not subject to automatic renewal or the 30-hour carryover cap. Like all interview hours, they have no cash value and cannot be transferred.

Prices are subject to change. We will give you clear advance notice of any price increase by email at least 30 days before it takes effect, along with how to cancel, and the new price will apply only to renewals occurring after that notice period; if you do not want to renew at the new price, you may cancel before it takes effect. If we cannot successfully charge your payment method, we may suspend or downgrade your access and retry the charge in accordance with our processor’s rules.

5. Refunds and Money-Back Guarantee

• 14-day satisfaction guarantee: If you are not satisfied within the first 14 days of your initial purchase, contact [email protected]; if we cannot resolve the issue, we will refund that purchase.
• Renewals: renewal charges and add-on hour purchases are non-refundable and are not prorated, except where a refund is required by applicable law.
• Unused and carried-over hours: included and add-on interview hours are not refundable or redeemable for cash, and any balance above the 30-hour cap that is not carried into a new term at renewal is forfeited without refund (see Section 4).
• Residents of certain jurisdictions may have additional statutory cancellation or refund rights, which these Terms do not limit.

6. Fees, Taxes, and Payment Processing

You agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes associated with your purchases. Payments are processed by a third-party payment processor (currently Stripe), and your use of that processor is subject to its terms and privacy policy. You authorize us and our processor to store your payment method and charge it for amounts you owe, including recurring subscription charges and any add-on purchases you make.

7. Your Content and License to Us

“User Content” means the biographical information, recordings, transcripts, photos, and other materials you or your Narrator provide. You retain ownership of your User Content. You grant Tell Mel a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, store, process, reproduce, adapt, and transmit your User Content solely to operate, provide, secure, and improve the Services and to create the memoirs and related outputs you request, as further described in our Privacy Policy. You represent that you have the rights and permissions necessary to provide the User Content and to grant this license.

Call recording. Interviews are conducted by phone — including using automated and AI-assisted voice technology — and are recorded so that we can transcribe them and create your memoir. At the start of each interview call we disclose that the call is being recorded; by continuing the call, you and your Narrator consent to being recorded. If a Narrator does not consent, they may end the call and it will not proceed. You are responsible for ensuring that any person you enroll as a Narrator understands and agrees to being contacted by phone and text and to having their interview calls recorded.

How we handle recordings. We use recordings and transcripts only to operate, secure, and improve the Services and to create the memoirs and related outputs you request. We do not use recordings to create a voiceprint or other biometric identifier, and we do not use them to clone or synthesize anyone’s voice. We retain your User Content, including recordings and transcripts, for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Services and comply with our legal obligations; you may request access to or deletion of your User Content as described in our Privacy Policy.

Deceased Narrators and legacy access. If a Narrator passes away, the account holder who created the memoir may continue to access and manage the resulting content, subject to these Terms and applicable law. On reasonable proof and at our discretion, we may work with an authorized family member or estate representative to provide access to, or delete, a deceased person’s User Content. Any subscription remains subject to the renewal and cancellation terms in Section 4 unless it is cancelled.

8. Intellectual Property

The Services, including all software, text, designs, logos, and other materials we provide (excluding User Content), are owned by Tell Mel or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Services for their intended purpose. You may not use our trademarks without our prior written permission.

9. AI-Generated Content

The Services use artificial intelligence (including third-party AI providers) to conduct interviews and generate written memoirs and related outputs. AI outputs may contain inaccuracies, omissions, or errors and may not reflect events exactly as they occurred. Outputs are provided for personal, non-professional use and do not constitute legal, medical, financial, or other professional advice. You are responsible for reviewing outputs before relying on or sharing them.

10. Privacy

Your use of the Services is subject to our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, and share information, including for California residents. Please review it carefully.

11. Third-Party Services

The Services rely on third-party providers (for example, for telephony, payment processing, and AI). We are not responsible for the acts, omissions, content, or policies of third parties, and your use of their services may be governed by their own terms.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that outputs will be accurate or complete. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of the above may not apply to you.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Tell Mel and Second Coffee, LLC and their officers, members, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to the Services. Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the amounts you paid to Tell Mel in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law, including liability for fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, or personal injury caused by our negligence (see California Civil Code § 1668). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Tell Mel and Second Coffee, LLC and their officers, members, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of your User Content, your use of the Services, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party (including any person you enroll as a Narrator).

15. Dispute Resolution; Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver

• Informal resolution first: Before starting arbitration, you agree to contact us at [email protected] and give us 30 days to resolve the dispute informally.
• Binding arbitration: Except as noted below, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by a recognized arbitration provider (such as the American Arbitration Association) under its consumer arbitration rules. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section.
• Class-action waiver: Disputes will be arbitrated only on an individual basis. You and Tell Mel waive any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, or representative action.
• Public injunctive relief: Nothing in this Section limits your right to seek public injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to the extent that right cannot be waived under applicable law. Any request for public injunctive relief may proceed in court only for that remedy, while all other claims and remedies remain subject to arbitration to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• Who decides: The arbitrator decides whether a dispute is subject to arbitration, except that a court — not an arbitrator — decides any dispute about the enforceability of the class-action waiver.
• Arbitration costs: The allocation of filing, administration, and arbitrator fees is governed by the administrator’s consumer arbitration rules, and we will pay or reimburse those fees to the extent required by those rules or by applicable law.
• Narrators: A person enrolled by someone else as a Narrator who has not agreed to these Terms is not bound by this arbitration provision or the class-action waiver.
• Exceptions: Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief for intellectual-property misuse. Nothing here waives any non-waivable right.
• 30-day opt-out: You may opt out of this arbitration and class-waiver section by emailing [email protected] within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name and that you opt out of arbitration.

16. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to Section 15, any dispute not subject to arbitration will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Contra Costa County, California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

17. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using the Services at any time and may cancel a subscription as described in Section 4. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Services or other users. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 7–9 and 12–16) will survive.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide reasonable notice (for example, by email or through the Services) before they take effect. Your continued use of the Services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

19. General Provisions

• Entire agreement: These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Tell Mel regarding the Services and supersede prior agreements.
• Severability: If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.
• No waiver: Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment: You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Force majeure: We are not liable for failures or delays caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• Notices: We may provide notices to you by email or through the Services.
• Electronic communications: You consent to receive notices, disclosures, and other communications from us electronically, by email or through the Services, and you agree that electronic delivery satisfies any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

20. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

• Tell Mel — Second Coffee, LLC
• 3559 Mt Diablo Blvd #393, Lafayette, CA 94549
• [email protected]
• (925) 385-8534