AkiAki Community Guidelines
These Guidelines are part of the AkiAki Terms of Use. They apply to everyone who uses the Platform, whether you are asking for help (a Customer) or helping (an AKier). Most people can use one account for both. Breaking these Guidelines can limit, suspend, or permanently end your access as both a Customer and an AKier.
1. The idea
AkiAki works because neighbors trust each other. An AKier is a real person, already out, spending their own money on your behalf. A Customer is a real person opening their door to someone from their community. Treat each other the way you would want to be treated at your own front door.
2. Safety — zero tolerance
Anything that puts another person at risk ends your access to AkiAki, usually permanently. This includes:
- Violence, threats, intimidation, or physical contact of any kind.
- Sexual comments, advances, or contact. Asking overly personal questions.
- Harassment, stalking, or contacting another user outside the app without their invitation (texting, calling, social media, showing up).
- Discrimination or slurs based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military status, or any other protected characteristic. This applies to how you treat other users and to whom you choose to accept or refuse.
- Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while working an order.
- Unsafe driving, biking, or scooting, including using your phone while moving.
- Asking anyone to break the law, transport something illegal, or go somewhere unsafe.
- Exposing an AKier to an unsafe delivery situation (unrestrained aggressive animals, dark or blocked access, hazardous conditions). If you live somewhere hard to reach, meet the AKier at a safe, well-lit spot.
- Sharing another user's personal information (name, address, photo, number, messages) anywhere outside the order.
What happens: we investigate every safety report. We may suspend your account while we do. If we conclude you threatened someone's safety, your account is permanently deactivated. You will be told the reason and may appeal (Section 8). We may report threats or crimes to law enforcement.
3. Honesty
- Use your real name and your own account. One person, one account, one phone number.
- Be accurate about what you need, where it is, and where you are.
- AKiers: buy exactly what was requested or what the Customer approved in chat. Upload a real, complete receipt photo. Never mark an order delivered before it is. Never keep, open, use, or consume anything you were asked to bring.
- Customers: do not claim an order was not delivered when it was, dispute a legitimate charge with your bank, or abuse cancellations, credits, or promotions.
- Do not manipulate ratings, referrals, or promotions, or coordinate with others to do so.
- Do not move a transaction off the Platform to avoid fees, or share payment details in chat.
What happens: fraud results in suspension during investigation and permanent deactivation if confirmed. We will pursue repayment and costs where money was taken.
4. Prohibited items
You may not request, buy, or transport any of the following. AKiers must refuse them; Customers must not ask.
Never allowed
- Firearms, ammunition, firearm parts, explosives, fireworks, or weapons of any kind, including knives not in original retail packaging.
- Illegal drugs, controlled substances, and drug paraphernalia.
- Cannabis and hemp-derived THC products (flower, edibles, vapes, tinctures, Delta-8/9/10, THCA) — prohibited unless AkiAki has expressly enabled a Regulated Goods program in your area under Appendix A of the Terms of Use. It has not.
- Prescription medications and any medication requiring ID logging (for example pseudoephedrine products).
- Alcohol or tobacco/nicotine products, unless both users are 21+, the AKier is enabled for age-restricted items, and ID is checked at hand-off (Section 5).
- Cash, gift cards, prepaid cards, lottery tickets, money orders, cryptocurrency, or anything that works like money.
- Live animals; animal parts; biological or medical waste.
- Hazardous, flammable, toxic, corrosive, pressurized, or radioactive materials (gasoline, propane, solvents, pesticides, batteries beyond ordinary consumer batteries).
- Counterfeit, stolen, recalled, or otherwise illegal goods.
- Sealed packages, envelopes, bags, or containers whose contents the AKier cannot see. AKiers do not transport things they did not buy.
- People, pets, or anything the AKier did not purchase at a retail business on the Customer's behalf.
- Identity documents, credit cards, keys, or other personal items of value.
- Anything else illegal to sell, buy, possess, or transport under federal, California, or local law.
Limited
- Ordinary over-the-counter medication in retail quantities only.
- Large or heavy items only if the AKier agrees in chat before Start Shopping.
What happens: we may cancel any order involving a prohibited item. Requesting or transporting weapons, drugs, or cannabis results in permanent deactivation on the first offense. Other violations result in warning, suspension, or deactivation depending on severity. We may report illegal activity to law enforcement.
5. Age-restricted items
Where AkiAki permits alcohol or tobacco/nicotine requests:
- The Customer must be 21 or older.
- Only AKiers who are 21 or older and enabled for age-restricted items may accept the request.
- The AKier buys the item from a licensed retailer and must follow that retailer's rules.
- At hand-off, the AKier must see the Customer's valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID and must not hand over the item if the ID is missing, does not match, shows under 21, or the Customer appears intoxicated.
- A refused hand-off is treated as a Customer cancellation after Start Shopping: the Customer pays the delivery fee and the AKier keeps the item.
- Never leave an age-restricted item unattended.
6. AKier standards
AKiers keep their access by meeting these standards. Thresholds are shown in the app and may be updated.
- Completion rate. You never have to accept a request. Once you accept, finish it. You may withdraw before Start Shopping if something comes up, but repeated withdrawals lower your completion rate. Withdrawing after Start Shopping, or after paying the store, is a serious violation. Fall below the completion-rate threshold and your AKier access may be deactivated.
- Rating. Customers rate every order. Consistently low ratings (late, wrong items, unprofessional conduct) can lead to deactivation. You are responsible for watching your rating; we may warn you as you approach the threshold.
- Receipts and photos. A clear receipt photo before checkout and a drop-off photo where required are mandatory. Orders without them may not be paid.
- Communication. Reply to the Customer promptly. If you cannot find them, follow the in-app "Can't find the customer" steps and wait a reasonable time before leaving the goods in a safe place or returning them.
- Customer information. Use it only for the order. Do not save it, share it, or use it to contact the Customer afterward.
- Legal and insured. Have any license, registration, and insurance your vehicle and activities require. AkiAki does not provide insurance.
- Independent. You choose when and whether to work. AkiAki does not schedule you, and no one at AkiAki will pressure you to accept a request.
7. Customer standards
- Be reachable during your order and be at the delivery location when the AKier arrives.
- Give accurate access instructions (gate codes, building, unit) or choose a meeting spot.
- Keep pets restrained.
- Tip if you can; it goes entirely to the AKier.
- Report problems within 48 hours, with photos, so we can look at the receipt and timeline.
- Do not ask an AKier to spend beyond your authorization without confirming in chat.
8. Deactivation, suspension, and appeals
Suspension is temporary and usually happens while we investigate a report. Deactivation ends your access to the Platform as both Customer and AKier.
Reasons include: any safety violation; fraud; prohibited items; falling below AKier thresholds; chargebacks on delivered orders; multiple accounts; repeated Guideline violations; or violation of the Terms of Use.
Process. We will notify you at the email or phone on your account with the reason and, where appropriate, evidence such as the order timeline. You may respond and appeal within 14 days by emailing support@akiaki.io with the order number (if any) and your account. A person at AkiAki who was not involved in the original decision will review the appeal and respond within 14 days of receiving it. Safety and fraud deactivations are rarely reversed. Deactivated users may not create a new account.
Money at deactivation. Amounts you are owed for completed orders are still paid, subject to any offset for fraud or amounts you owe. Amounts you owe remain due.
9. Reporting
Report a safety issue, a Guideline violation, or a suspicious request in the app or at support@akiaki.io. In an emergency, call 911 first. Reports are confidential to the extent the law allows, and retaliation against a reporter is itself a violation.
10. Changes
We may update these Guidelines. Material changes will be announced in the app and take effect on the date shown at the top.
AkiAki LLC · support@akiaki.io · legal@akiaki.io