Terms & Conditions

Last updated: May 17, 2026

1. About Quail

Quail provides a payment-confirmation and order-management service for independent restaurants. Customers place orders at participating restaurants via the Quail widget and pay through a bank-to-bank payment app (such as Zelle). Quail confirms the payment, attributes it to the open order, and notifies the restaurant and (optionally) the customer.

2. SMS Program Terms

Quail offers an optional transactional SMS program. The following terms apply to customers who opt in:

  • Program name: Quail Order Updates
  • Program description: Transactional SMS notifications about an order placed at a participating restaurant via Quail — payment confirmation, order acceptance, ETA updates, ready-for-pickup notices, and refund notices.
  • Message frequency: Recurring per-order. Typically 2-4 messages per order. No marketing or promotional messages are sent through this program.
  • Message and data rates: Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier plan. Quail does not charge you for messages; your carrier's standard rates apply.
  • Opt-in: You opt in by affirmatively entering your phone number at checkout in the Quail widget under a clearly labeled SMS-consent field.
  • Opt-out: You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message. You will receive a confirmation message and no further messages will be sent.
  • Help: Reply HELP to any message for support information. You may also contact austin@payquail.com.
  • Supported carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and other major U.S. carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
  • Privacy: Your phone number is used solely for the transactional order updates described above. See our Privacy Policy for details. We do not share your phone number for marketing or with third parties.

3. Customer terms

By placing an order through the Quail widget, you authorize Quail to bind your payment (sent to the restaurant's bank handle) to the order you initiated. Quail does not handle or hold funds — payments move directly from your bank to the restaurant's bank.

If a payment cannot be auto-matched to your order within 48 hours, Quail will flag the payment for owner-initiated refund.

4. Restaurant terms

Restaurants using Quail agree to forward their bank-payment-alert emails to the Quail address provided in their admin panel, accept orders only when they intend to fulfill them, and refund unmatched payments within a reasonable window.

5. Restaurant payment terms (running tab model)

Quail charges restaurants a percentage of confirmed-order revenue, post-pay only. The current rates are 1% for our founding-100 cohort (locked in for life), 1% for restaurants enrolled in the optional Quail Reserve program described in section 6 below, and 5% as the standard rate for restaurants outside both categories. There are no upfront retainers, no monthly minimums, no per-transaction surcharges, and no setup fees. The pricing iteration is current as of the “Last updated” date above; restaurants are notified of any rate changes in advance.

Billing runs monthly. On the first of each month, Quail computes the amount owed based on the prior month's confirmed-order revenue and attempts to auto-charge the payment method on file. Restaurants receive billing reminders by email and (where supported) in-app notification on the following schedule:

  • Two days before the auto-charge: preview of the amount due and the payment method that will be charged.
  • One day before: final reminder with the same preview, suitable for last-minute payment-method updates.
  • Day of: confirmation that the auto-charge has been attempted, with the result.

If the auto-charge fails or the bill remains unpaid, the restaurant continues to receive reminder emails (and in-app notifications) with a direct link to settle the outstanding balance at the restaurant's convenience. There are no daily fines or late penalties — the unpaid balance simply rolls into the running tab described below.

Running tab when payment fails or is delayed. If the auto-charge fails for any reason — insufficient funds, expired card, declined transaction — the unpaid balance rolls forward to the restaurant's running tab. The tab accumulates each billing period the bill goes unpaid. Restaurants always have three payment options:

  • Pay the full outstanding balance at any time, in any frequency. Recommended when cash flow permits — clears the tab immediately and keeps service uninterrupted.
  • Make a partial payment of any amount toward the tab. There is no minimum and no maximum — any payment is welcome and is applied to the outstanding balance. Partial payments demonstrate engagement and keep service active.
  • Pay a $40 quick-extension for 48 hours of guaranteed continued service. The $40 is applied to the outstanding balance AND grants a 48-hour service guarantee. Quick-extensions can be stacked — a restaurant in a tight stretch can pay $40 every 48 hours indefinitely while they sort out their cash flow. This is a flexibility tool, not a fine on top of the bill.

Service continues whenever the restaurant is engaging.Quail does not freeze the widget, disable the kitchen dashboard, or impose daily late fees on restaurants who are making any payment activity. Partial payments, $40 quick-extensions, and communication with Quail all count as engagement. We trust our operators to pay when their own cash flow allows.

The 48-hour window. When an auto-charge fails or the bill is unpaid on the due date, the restaurant has an automatic 48-hour window of continued service. Within those 48 hours, the restaurant should make any payment toward the balance — full payment, partial payment, or a $40 quick-extension for another 48-hour window. Stacking $40 extensions back-to-back is fully supported.

Account-frozen status. If the active 48-hour window expires without any payment of any kind, the restaurant's Quail account moves to a “frozen” state. Important — this is not a lockout. The restaurant keeps full access to its admin account: the dashboard, the balance, the payment options, the communication channel, all of it. The only operational change is that the restaurant cannot accept new orders through Quail while frozen. Existing confirmed orders complete normally. The public menu page displays a polite “account frozen — cannot accept orders at this time” status to customers.

Unfreezing is instant. Any payment of any size unfreezes the account immediately. A $40 quick-extension is the cheapest path back to live service (and grants 48 hours of guaranteed runway). A partial payment toward the running tab also unfreezes. Full payment of the tab unfreezes and clears the balance. There is no waiting period and no application process to unfreeze — it happens the moment the payment is received.

We get it. Running a restaurant looks luxurious from the outside. From the inside, it's often paycheck-to- paycheck. A bad week, a broken fridge, a slow Tuesday — real things happen. The mechanics above are designed for the real running of a small business, not the spreadsheet version of one. Pay what you can when you can. Communicate with us. We are on your side.

What does trigger conversation, not penalty. If a tab grows beyond a reasonable balance or remains entirely unpaid for an extended period, Quail will reach out personally to discuss the situation, including the option of a payment plan, a temporary account pause, or an offboarding window with a clean tab close-out. Quail does not sell collections, does not assess interest, and does not impose late-fee penalties. This is the small-business commitment.

What restaurants agree to. By accepting these terms, the restaurant agrees that confirmed-order revenue generated through Quail is subject to the applicable percentage fee, that the running tab is a real obligation to be paid in good faith as cash flow allows, and that offboarding from Quail does not extinguish the obligation to pay any then-outstanding tab. Restaurants who offboard with an outstanding balance retain the right to a payment plan negotiated with Quail in good faith.

6. Quail Reserve (optional 1% rate)

Quail offers an optional pre-funded balance program, the “Quail Reserve,” that allows restaurants to lock in our reduced 1% transaction rate (versus the standard 2%) by maintaining a $1,000 balance on file. The Reserve is a real, restaurant-owned deposit held by Quail — not a fee — and is fully refundable as described below.

How it works. The restaurant deposits $1,000 into their Quail Reserve. While the balance remains at or above $500, the restaurant is billed at the reduced 1% rate on confirmed-order revenue. The restaurant configures their own auto-replenish preferences — for example, “refill to $1,000 when balance drops to $800” or “refill to $1,000 when balance drops to $600.” Auto-replenish charges the payment method on file.

Late-payment cushion. If the restaurant's monthly bill auto-charge fails, Quail will draw the unpaid amount from the Reserve before rolling the balance forward to the running tab described in section 5. This protects the restaurant from interruption while their primary payment method is being corrected.

Restoration window. After a draw-down that brings the Reserve below $1,000, the restaurant has two calendar days to restore the Reserve to its full $1,000. Restoration may be by auto-replenish, manual top-up, or any combination thereof. If the Reserve is not restored to $1,000 within those two days, the restaurant's 1% privileged rate reverts to the standard 2% rate going forward, on the day after the restoration window closes. The restaurant may rejoin the 1% tier at any time by restoring the Reserve to $1,000 and maintaining it.

Refund and application during active use. The Reserve is the restaurant's money at all times. While the restaurant remains active on Quail, the restaurant may at any time request: (a) a full or partial cash refund of the Reserve balance to the payment method on file; (b) application of the Reserve balance against the running tab or current outstanding invoice; or (c) retention of the Reserve as a credit toward upcoming bills. Quail processes refunds within five business days of request. No portion of the Reserve is forfeit under any circumstance.

Offboarding settlement. When a restaurant chooses to leave Quail, the Reserve is automatically applied to any final outstanding balance — including the running tab, the current billing period's confirmed-order revenue calculation, and any other owed amount. After the Reserve is applied:

  • If the Reserve exceeds the total owed, the difference is refunded to the restaurant's payment method on file. The restaurant receives the excess back — in full, no deductions, no exit fees — within five business days.
  • If the Reserve is less than the total owed, the remaining balance is owed by the restaurant. Quail will work with the restaurant to negotiate a payment plan in good faith, consistent with section 5 above. Quail does not sell collections, assess interest, or impose late-fee penalties at offboarding any more than during active service.
  • If the Reserve exactly matches the total owed, the account closes with a zero balance and no refund or outstanding obligation remains.

In all three offboarding scenarios, the restaurant receives an itemized statement showing the final billing-period calculation, any running-tab balance, the Reserve amount, the application of Reserve to the total owed, and the resulting refund or remaining balance. The restaurant's data ownership rights described in our data-handling commitments remain unchanged at offboarding.

Opt-out while remaining on Quail. A restaurant that wishes to stop participating in the Quail Reserve while continuing to use Quail may deselect the program at any time in their admin settings. On opt-out, the full Reserve balance is refunded to the payment method on file within five business days, and the restaurant's rate reverts to the standard 2% rate effective the day of opt-out. The restaurant continues to use Quail normally under the 2% rate.

Six-month cooling-off period for re-enrollment.A restaurant that opts out of the Quail Reserve is not eligible to re-enroll for six (6) months from the date of opt-out. During those six months, the restaurant remains on the standard 2% rate and cannot rejoin the 1% tier even by re-depositing the Reserve amount. The cooling-off period is designed to prevent rapid in-and-out cycling of the program and to make Reserve enrollment a deliberate commitment rather than a month-to-month optimization tool. After six months from the opt-out date, the restaurant may re-enroll by depositing $1,000 to a new Quail Reserve, at which point the 1% rate resumes.

The freedom principle. Restaurants are never held hostage by Quail. Every commitment described in this section is opt-in by the restaurant's own free-will choice. The Reserve can be funded or unfunded by the restaurant's decision. The 1% rate can be chosen or declined by the restaurant's decision. Offboarding can be initiated by the restaurant at any time. The Reserve balance is the restaurant's money and is fully refundable at all times. The only consequence of opting out of the Reserve is a rate change (from 1% to 2%) and the cooling-off period for re-enrollment — neither of which traps the restaurant in any way. Quail's relationship with every operator is grounded in the restaurant's ongoing free choice to continue using the service, and Quail commits to never using money, data, or contractual mechanisms to retain a restaurant against its will.

Founding-100 cohort. Restaurants in the founding cohort retain their permanent 1% rate without any Reserve requirement. Founding restaurants may optionally fund a Reserve for the late-payment cushion benefit, but their 1% rate is not contingent on the Reserve balance. This is the founding-member commitment and it is not revocable.

Stacking with autopay-via-Zelle. Restaurants who opt into both the Quail Reserve AND auto-scheduled Zelle billing receive both discounts additively: 1% off for maintaining the Reserve, plus an additional 1% off for paying Quail through scheduled bank-to-bank Zelle (Quail incurs no processing fee on Zelle, so we pass the saving back to the restaurant). The combined effect is a 2% reduction off the standard rate. The two programs are independent — opting out of one does not affect the other, and the autopay-via-Zelle discount has no cooling-off period because there is no funded balance involved. Founding-100 restaurants who opt into autopay-via-Zelle also receive the additional 1% off, dropping their effective rate below their already-permanent 1%.

The Reserve is held in a restaurant-owned ledger entry within Quail's accounting system. Quail does not co-mingle Reserve funds with operating funds and does not invest or lend against Reserve balances. Reserve funds remain available for refund or application within standard processing timelines at all times.

7. Acceptable use

Quail may not be used for any unlawful purpose, including but not limited to money laundering, regulated goods sales prohibited by Quail's policies (alcohol-only sales, cannabis, adult goods), or any activity that violates applicable financial regulations.

7. Limitation of liability

Quail provides reconciliation tooling but does not warrant uninterrupted or error-free service. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Quail is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the service.

8. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California. Disputes are resolved in California courts.

9. Contact

Questions about these terms: austin@payquail.com

10. Changes

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be posted here with an updated “Last updated” date.