Questions, answered straight

An AI receptionist for your business. It answers customer chats on WhatsApp, on your own business page or website, and on Pro the calls you can't take. It answers from facts you approve (your prices, hours, area and policies), captures the enquiry, and sends it to your phone with the customer's name, number and what they want.

It is not a chatbot that guesses, and it is not a call centre. If it doesn't know something, it says so and takes a message.

You get 7 days free, with no card. Your first invoice is issued when you sign up and is due on the day the trial ends. Nothing is charged during the trial. If you stop before it ends, you owe nothing. One trial per business.

You can pay early from day one if you prefer; that saves your card and starts the paid month.

Usually 3 to 7 days from our first call, and often the same day for the page and WhatsApp link. We build your assistant from your website and Google listing before we speak, so the call is about correcting details, not filling in a form. On Pro, the phone number needs a day or two with the network.

No. If you have no website, every plan includes your own business page at askzuri.co.za/p/your-business with your services, prices, hours, photos and the assistant built in. If you do have a website, we add the assistant with one line of code, or a button or chat bubble, and we can install it for you.

One customer asking on one channel is one conversation, however many messages they send. A WhatsApp chat, a web chat and a phone call each count as one. Months are calendar months, and unused conversations don't roll over.

Nobody is cut off. At 80% and again at 100% you and we are told, with a suggestion for the next plan, and the assistant keeps answering every customer.

If you are over two months in a row, we talk to you about moving up a plan, with 30 days' notice. You can object and agree something else in those 30 days. We never send a surprise invoice for conversations you didn't know were counted.

Pro includes 300 answered call minutes a month. After that it is R5.75 a minute including VAT (R5.00 plus VAT), invoiced on the first of the next month for the month just ended. Minutes are counted from call seconds, so a short call is usually under a minute. You can see the running total on the phone tab in your dashboard.

No setup fee on Essentials or Growth. Pro has a once-off R1,149 including VAT setup for its phone number and the work to set it up, paid with your first month. We sometimes waive it for early clients; your first invoice shows whether it applies, and it can only be changed before that invoice is paid.

Yes. Move up at any time: your next invoice is at the new price. Move down from your next invoice, and you keep the higher plan until then. Anything to or from Pro is set up with us, because of the phone number. Switching between monthly and annual also takes effect at your next invoice.

Yes. Customers reach your assistant through your own link or QR code on AskZuri's WhatsApp line, and the code tells the assistant which business is being asked. Your own WhatsApp stays yours, for you.

On Pro there is an optional extra: the assistant on your own WhatsApp Business number instead. That number can't be used in the normal WhatsApp app at the same time, so we help you choose between a new number for the assistant or moving your existing one over. It takes days, not minutes, and needs its own approval.

Yes, on Pro. The assistant gets its own number, and one code on your phone forwards only the calls you don't answer, decline or can't take. Calls you answer still ring on your phone. You can switch forwarding off at any time from your own phone, and we give you the off-code in writing. Your network may charge its normal rate for a forwarded call.

If they ask, yes: it says it is the business's AI assistant. It never pretends to be a person, and on Pro calls it says the call is transcribed and not recorded.

It says so, offers to take a message, and passes the enquiry to you with the customer's details. It does not invent a price, a policy or a promise. Anything outside your facts, like a custom quote or a medical question, comes to you.

WhatsApp's commerce rules exclude alcohol, vapes, weapons, gambling, adult products and live animals, so we can't run those on the shared line. Spam, bulk messaging and unlawful use are against our Terms, and we can suspend an account immediately if its use puts the shared WhatsApp line at risk.

You do. Your conversations, leads, quotes, invoices and page content are yours. We never sell data, we don't use your customers' details to market to them, and you can export everything. AskZuri is your operator under POPIA; you are the responsible party. The POPIA Operator Agreement sets out exactly what we may and may not do.

We follow POPIA and are registered with the Information Regulator (no. 2026-071481). Data is stored in Cloudflare's database with access controls, and only the people who need it can see it. ID numbers, medical aid numbers, card numbers and account numbers that a customer types are removed automatically before anything is saved.

If you run a medical or dental practice, you stay responsible for health information under POPIA sections 26 and 27; we help with the right notice and consent wording, and the assistant never asks for medical history or gives medical advice. Our privacy policy and trust page give the detail.

On request within 30 days of the end, we export your enquiries, bookings, quotes, invoices and conversations to you, then delete customer data as the Operator Agreement and your retention setting say. We keep only what the law requires us to keep, like invoices for tax.

No, in the way you're worried about. We don't buy contact lists and we don't send bulk email or WhatsApp. If we approach a business, it's one short message asking permission, and anything other than a clear yes ends it for good. Before any outreach we apply the National Consumer Commission's monthly opt-out list; if that list isn't applied, our own system blocks the send.

Your customers' details are yours: the messages they get from your assistant answer what they asked, and nothing else. Our trust page sets out the rule in full.

By card through PayFast. Your first payment saves the card and authorises the monthly charge; we never see your card details. Each invoice is emailed to you, due within 7 days, with reminders before and after. EFT is possible where it is switched on, using the invoice number as the reference.

The first 3 months are the minimum term, so the assistant has time to prove itself. After that it is month to month with 30 days' notice, from your dashboard or by email. During the notice period the assistant keeps working and the final invoice is still due.

Consumers have extra rights that override the minimum term: 7 days after signing up online, 5 business days after a direct-marketing approach, and 20 business days' notice at any time if the Consumer Protection Act applies. Clause 5A of the Terms has the wording, and the Complaints page has a ready-to-send cancellation message.

• Inside 7 days of signing up online: everything you paid, less the direct cost of any work you asked us to start early. Paid within 30 days.
• After a direct-marketing approach (5 business days): full refund of anything paid.
• Annual plan cancelled early: unused whole months, after charging the months used at the normal monthly price.
• If we remove or materially worsen a feature: you may cancel without a minimum-term charge, and any prepaid unused period is refunded.
• Not refundable: Pro's setup fee (except where the Terms say), and a month already used after the minimum term.

We tell you straight away and send the invoice link again. Reminders go out before the due date, on it, and after it. If it is still unpaid, the assistant pauses 7 days after the due date (an unpaid first invoice pauses the morning after the trial ends). Nothing is deleted, and it switches back on by itself the moment the payment clears. After 30 days we may end the agreement, with interest and reasonable collection costs on what is owed.

Yes, with 30 days' notice, and never during a period you have already paid for. If you don't accept a change, you may cancel before it takes effect without a penalty.

WhatsApp +27 66 529 7687 or email hello@askzuri.co.za. We answer Monday to Friday 08:00–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–13:00 (South African time, not public holidays) and reply to every message within one business day. The assistant answers your customers day and night; a person answers you in those hours. Pro clients are answered first.

No. AskZuri answers every enquiry, day and night, and captures the details so nothing is lost. We don't promise sales, Google rankings or a number of enquiries: what happens next depends on your market and on you. If anyone promises you a number of new customers, ask them to put it in writing.

We depend on WhatsApp (Meta), Cloudflare, PayFast, Twilio and AI providers, so we can't promise uninterrupted service. We monitor it, we fix it as fast as we can, and we tell you when something on our side is broken.