All the terms of service for The SMS Works SMS API.

Please read them before setting up your free account.

1. Overview

  • The SMS Works is a UK company, registered in England and Wales under company number 10663067 and with a registered office at St Brandon's House, 29 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QT
  • By registering with The SMS Works, you warrant that you are legally capable of entering into binding contracts.
  • Sign-up, purchase of The SMS Works services and continued use of The SMS Works shall each constitute acceptance of these terms and conditions by you and shall form a contract (“Contract”) between you and us. These terms and conditions regulate the terms of the Contract.

2. Provision of The SMS Works service

  • We will take all reasonable steps to make The SMS Works service available to you at all times. It is possible the quality and availability of The SMS Works service could be affected by factors outside our control. Occasionally, we need to do maintenance work or upgrade The SMS Works services. This could result in The SMS Works service becoming temporarily unavailable.
  • We may suspend The SMS Works service without notice if we have reason to believe you haven’t complied with one or more of these terms and conditions or if any money owed by you to us remains unpaid.
  • All complaints will be investigated and we reserve the right to suspend your SMS Works service if a complaint has been made against you.
  • If you use The SMS Works service from a country outside the UK you may be subject to different laws and regulations that apply in that other country. We are not liable for your failure to comply with those laws or regulations.
  • We may establish limits concerning the use of The SMS Works service. For example the maximum number of text messages that may be sent or received.
  • You agree that we have no responsibility for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any of your content maintained or transmitted when you use The SMS Works service.
  • We accept no liability for the loss, late receipt or non-readability of any text message sent using The SMS Works service.

3. Delivery Reports

  • We make no guarantee for the provision of delivery reports as the networks are unable to provide us with any kind of guarantee themselves.
  • When no delivery reports are provided by the networks, we cannot refund any text credits that are deducted as we will not know whether or not a message has been delivered.

4. Responsibility for Content

  • We have no control over the content of text messages sent through The SMS Works service. Therefore, we cannot be responsible or liable in any way for the content and do not endorse any goods, services or content offered or mentioned in texts sent through The SMS Works.
  • The SMS Works service may be used by you to access mobile networks worldwide. We accept no responsibility for the services provided by these networks.

5. Use of Keywords, Short Codes and Reply Numbers

  • If you use keywords on a short code purchased through The SMS Works service, and you also use other text message providers, you must not use or mention these short codes or keywords in the text messages sent through any other text message provider.
  • Invoices for keywords and reply numbers are payable quarterly in advance and are due 10 days from the date of the invoice. Invoices can be paid by card or bank transfer. There's also an optional autopay option.
  • Keyword(s) and reply number(s) automatically renew after 3 months and you'll be invoiced for the next quarter.
  • You can cancel the service at any point before the next invoice is generated (but once the invoice has been generated, the invoice amount is due). The same keyword or reply number may not be available if you wish to resume the service.
  • If payment for keywords or reply numbers is not made, the services will be withdrawn without notice.

6. Your Responsibilities

You agree that you will:

  • Not use The SMS Works service for the purpose of spamming either in part or in whole; You are responsible for ensuring that any messages you send via The SMS Works service are compliant with all UK laws and regulations.
  • Not use The SMS Works service for any improper, immoral, fraudulent or unlawful purposes or for the sending of any communication or storing of any information which is offensive, abusive, indecent, obscene or menacing nature.
  • Keep your username and password and API keys safe and notify us immediately if you if you believe they have been lost, stolen or compromised.
  • Not act in any way, whether knowingly or otherwise, such that the operation of The SMS Works service will be jeopardised or impaired.
  • Comply with any reasonable instructions issued by us which concern your use of The SMS Works service and co-operate with us in our reasonable security and other checks.
  • Not send or upload anything which in any way breaches the intellectual property rights of any third party.
  • Tell The SMS Works if you intend to re-sell the texts purchased from The SMS Works.

7. Information supplied by You

  • By registering for The SMS Works service you confirm to us that the name, email address and other factual information which you provide to us are correct.
  • You acknowledge that if we suspect that registration information supplied to us is either inaccurate, false or without the knowledge of the person named on the registration, we may suspend The SMS Works service to you while we investigate further. If our suspicions prove incorrect, we will re-connect The SMS Works service immediately.
  • You acknowledge that you will have no claim against us in respect of any delay or disconnection caused because of the operation of this or any other clause.
  • You must let us know if the details supplied to The SMS Works change.

8. Price and Payment

  • The price of The SMS Works service will be as quoted on our site. Special pricing is agreed on a case by case basis and specified by email.
  • Prices are liable to change at any time, we will post any changes on the website, https://thesmsworks.co.uk
  • Payment for The SMS Works service is prepaid and must be by credit card, debit card or BACS transfer. Cheques are not accepted. Post pay arrangements are made on a case by case basis and invoices must be settled within 10 days from the date of invoice.
  • The SMS Works has the right to charge interest on overdue invoices at the rate of 4% per annum above the base rate at the Bank of England, calculated from the date when payment of the invoice(s) becomes due for payment, up to and including the date of payment, whether before or after judgment.
  • We do not offer refunds under any circumstances and provided you send a minimum of one text message in every twelve month period your account will remain active and will not close. If you fail to send one text message in every twelve month period we will close your account and you will lose all outstanding SMS credits on that account.
  • You are responsible for your own code and how SMS credits are used. We cannot be responsible for credits that are lost due to your code sending multiple texts. Our code samples are there to help customers but we offer no refunds if their use results in credits being consumed unexpectedly. You are responsible for testing your code.
  • Non-delivered text messages outside the UK will not be refunded or recredited to customer accounts.
  • The flooding filter cannot be relied upon to prevent multiple delivery of SMS messages to the same mobile number. No refunds are offered to customers who consume credits in this way.
  • If you have an SMS overdraft arranged and your overdraft is wholly or partially used, you are liable for the used text credits.
  • SMS credit overdrafts must be repaid within 10 working days of an account having less than 0 credits.
  • If your account has sent less than 10 texts a year over a period of 3 years, your account will be closed and you will lose all the outstanding SMS credits on your account.

9. Auto Top-Up

Terms

  • By configuring AutoTop-Up you authorise the SMS Works Ltd to automatically charge the payment method provided for the agreed-upon amount.
  • Customers can cancel the Auto Top-Up service at any time by disabling the facility in their SMS Works account.
  • Auto Top-Up is available at the discretion of the SMS Works Ltd. The facility can be withdrawn from a customer account at any time, without prior notice.

Your Responsibilities

  • A valid credit card must be recorded on file in order to facilitate payments whenever Auto Top-Up is triggered. You are responsible for maintaining a valid payment method. If payment fails, or if the payment record attached to your account expires, we will notify the configured contacts on your SMS Works account.
  • The SMS Works Ltd is not liable for problems arising from failed payment, including but not limited to payment processing errors, delays, or failures caused by third-party payment processors.
  • If a valid payment method is not attached to your account then your SMS credit balance may drop to zero and we will not send any messages via our API for your account. The SMS Works Message API will return an HTTP 402 status (Payment Required) response, should this happen. Your code should accommodate this status response and take applicable action.
  • You are responsible for testing your code prior to putting it into production. The SMS Works Ltd is not liable for situations arising from your code causing identical messages to be sent from your system to us in a loop, and repeatedly triggering payments when the Auto Top-Up threshold is passed. Refunds of text credits or payments will not be offered in this circumstance.
  • You must consider whether your applications can be used to send SMS fraudulently, for example by being vulnerable to SMS pumping. Hijacking of online forms that generate One Time Passcodes (OTP) can be used repeatedly to generate revenue for the fraudster, and result in your credits being depleted and Auto Top-Up being triggered. The SMS Works Ltd is not liable for your applications being used in this way and for any top-up payments taken as a result.

Our Responsibilities

  • For customers with Auto Top-Up enabled on their account, we undertake to notify you of all successful and unsuccessful payments.
  • For unssuccessful payments we will notify everyone who is authorised to access and administer your SMS Works account. You can configure up to 5 people to access your account from your SMS Works profile.
  • For successful payments we will notify the individual who provided the payment method used for the transaction.
  • We will provide VAT-compliant invoices for any payments taken. These will remain available in the Billing section of your SMS Works account for you to download.
  • For configured, valid payment methods, we will notify the primary account email address twice during the month in which this payment method is due to expire, on the 1st and 21st days of that month.

10. Our Liability

  • Our liability for losses you suffer as a result of us breaking this agreement is strictly limited to the price you pay to use The SMS Works service during the course of the Contract.
  • We are not responsible for any loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of profits or contracts, loss of anticipated savings, loss of data, waste of management or office time or damage to reputation or brand, however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable, or any indirect losses which happen as a side effect of the main loss or damage.
  • This does not include or limit in any way our liability:
    • For death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
    • Under section 2(3) of the Consumer Protection Act 1987
    • For fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
    • For any matter for which it would be illegal for us to exclude, or attempt to exclude, our liability.

11. Fraudulent SMS Traffic

  • You are responsible for preventing any web forms and applications maintained by you that generate SMS messages from being used to generate fraudulent SMS traffic.
  • Any fraudulent SMS costs incurred by The SMS Works Ltd will be deducted from your SMS credit balance.
  • Any outstanding costs will be invoiced to you separately. If you pay for your SMS monthly in arrears the additional cost will be invoiced and collected by direct debit, if that has been set up.

12. AI Optimisation

Terms

  • The SMS Works AI Optimisation service seeks to shorten text messages so that fewer credits are charged to customers when they opt into the service from their SMS Works account.
  • The AI Optimisation service uses OpenAI Large Language Models (LLM's) to process the text content of messages. The SMS Works Ltd is not liable for outages to the OpenAI service or any latency incurred in the sending of SMS by the processing of messages before they are sent, although mitigations are in place to ensure SMS service is fully maintained should OpenAI's services not be available for any reason.
  • Whilst The SMS Works seeks to ensure that (1) the vital information contained in your messages and (2) with the tone of voice used by you is preserved, by carefully engineering the prompts used when invoking OpenAI LLM's, we are not responsible for the ultimate content of the SMS that is sent from our platform.
  • Customer should not seek to reverse engineer the service in order to use it for their own benefit. If The SMS Works deems that this is the case then your SMS Works account will be disabled.

GDPR

  • By opting to enable the AI Optimiser service, you agree that the content of select SMS messages (as detailed in the developer documentation) will be passed to OpenAI for processing, and that you will be subject to the policies set out by OpenAI in relation to where it's services, as a sub-processor of The SMS Works.
  • OpenAI's servers are currently solely located in the United States. By opting to enable The SMS Works AI Optimiser service, you agree that the content of your SMS messages may be processed on servers outside of the United Kingdom.

13. General

  • Where we are required to do so by law, you agree to the disclosure to any company, debt collection agency, credit reference agency, credit or fraud monitoring scheme, security agency or credit provider of:
    • Any information relating to your registration, including your financial information and details of how you have performed in meeting your obligations under these terms and conditions.
    • Any disclosure as may be required by the Data Protection Act 2018
    • Any disclosure required as a result of an order of any court of competent jurisdiction or by statutory authority.
  • We will use your information which you provide to us together with other information for administration, marketing, customer services, web use preferences, and profiling your purchasing preferences.
  • We will keep your information for a reasonable period after your contract with us has finished in case you decide to use The SMS Works service again.

14. Data Protection

For the purposes of these Terms of Service “Data Protection Legislation” shall mean:- (i) unless and until the GDPR is no longer directly applicable in the UK, the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) and any national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK and then (ii) any successor legislation to the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018.

  • Both You and The SMS Works agree to comply with all applicable requirements of the Data Protection Legislation.
  • The parties acknowledge that for the purposes of the Data Protection Legislation, You are the data controller for the purposes of any personal data (including but not limited to Contact Details) that you transmit and store in your account and We are the data processor (data controller, data processor and personal data have the meanings as defined in the Data Protection Legislation).
  • You must ensure that you have a lawful reason for processing the personal data used for our Service. We will process personal data to perform the Service.
  • You will ensure that You have all necessary appropriate consents and notices in place to enable lawful transfer of the personal data to Us for the duration and purposes of providing the Service.
  • You expressly consent to Us using any holding, subsidiary or group company, located in the EEA, to assist in the provision of the Services under these Terms of Service and as such agree that these affiliated companies may also process personal data on Your behalf.
  • We shall, in relation to any personal data processed in connection with the performance by Us of our obligations under these Terms of Service:
    • Process that personal data only on Your written instructions unless We are required by the laws of any member of the European Union or by the laws of the European Union applicable to You to process personal data (Applicable Laws). Where We are relying on laws of a member of the European Union or European Union law as the basis for processing personal data, We will promptly notify You of this before performing the processing required by the Applicable Laws unless those Applicable Laws prohibit Us from doing so
    • Ensure that We have in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data, appropriate to the harm that might result from the unauthorised or unlawful processing or accidental loss, destruction or damage and the nature of the data to be protected, having regard to the state of technological development and the cost of implementing any measures (those measures may include, where appropriate, pseudonymising and encrypting personal data, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of its systems and services, ensuring that availability of and access to personal data can be restored in a timely manner after an incident, and regularly assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of the technical and organisational measures adopted by it)
    • Ensure that all personnel who have access to and/or process personal data are obliged to keep the personal data confidential
    • Comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Legislation by providing an adequate level of protection to any personal data that is transferred
    • Comply with Your reasonable instructions notified to Us in advance with respect to the processing of the personal data;
    • Assist You, at Your cost, in responding to any request from a Data Subject and in ensuring compliance with Your obligations under the Data Protection Legislation with respect to security, breach notifications, impact assessments and consultations with supervisory authorities or regulators;
    • Notify You without undue delay on becoming aware of a personal data breach
    • Maintain complete and accurate records and information to demonstrate its compliance with this clause and allow for an annual audit by You or the Your designated auditor.
  • We will not knowingly transfer any personal data outside of the European Economic Area unless You have given us prior written consent and the following conditions are fulfilled:
    • Both You and Us have provided appropriate safeguards in relation to the transfer
    • The data subject has enforceable rights and effective legal remedies
  • You consent to Us using third-party processors to provide the Services.

15. Written Communication

  • Applicable laws require that some of the information or communications we send to you should be in writing. When using our site, you accept that communication with us will be mainly electronic. We will contact you by e-mail or provide you with information by posting notices on our website.
  • For contractual purposes, you agree to this electronic means of communication and you acknowledge that all contracts, notices, information and other communications that we provide to you electronically comply with any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

16. Notices

  • All notices given by you to us must be given to The SMS Works on [email protected]. We may give notice to you at the e-mail address you provide to us when registering for The SMS Works service, or in any of the ways specified in clause 12 (Written Communications) above.

17. Transfer of rights and obligations

  • The contract between you and us is binding on you and us and on our respective successors and assigns.
  • You may not transfer, assign, charge or otherwise dispose of a Contract, or any of your rights or obligations arising under it, without our prior written consent.
  • We may transfer, assign, charge, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of a Contract, or any of our rights or obligations arising under it, at any time during the term of the Contract.

18. Events outside of our control

  • Sometimes things happen that we cannot control. Things such as riots, strikes, wars, fires, floods, earthquakes, changes in government policy and law. If we are unable to meet our obligations due to a Force Majeure event then the Contract is deemed suspended until the event has passed or we are able to find a solution by which our obligations can once again be fully performed.

19. Termination

  • Either party may terminate the Contract immediately.
  • Either party may terminate the contract immediately if the other breaches the terms of the Contract and fails to remedy the same, when requested, within 30 days.

20. Waiver

  • If we fail to insist upon strict performance of any of your obligations under the Contract or any of these terms and conditions, or if we fail to exercise any of the rights or remedies to which we are entitled under the Contract, this shall not constitute a waiver of such rights or remedies and shall not relieve you from compliance with such obligations.
  • A waiver by us of any default shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default.
  • No waiver by us of any of these terms and conditions shall be effective unless it is expressly stated to be a waiver and is communicated to you in writing in accordance with clause 13 (Notices) above.

21. Severability

  • If any of these terms and Conditions or any provisions of a Contract are determined by any competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term, condition or provision will to that extent be severed from the remaining terms, conditions and provisions which will continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.

22. Entire Agreement

  • These terms and conditions and any document expressly referred to in them represent the entire agreement between us in relation to the subject matter of any Contract and supersede any prior agreement, understanding or arrangement between us, whether oral or in writing.
  • We each acknowledge that, in entering into a Contract, neither of us has relied on any representation, undertaking or promise given by the other or be implied from anything said or written in negotiations between us prior to such Contract except as expressly stated in these terms and conditions.
  • Neither of us shall have any remedy in respect of any untrue statement made by the other, whether orally or in writing, prior to the date of any Contract (unless such untrue statement was made fraudulently) and the other party’s only remedy shall be for breach of contract as provided in these terms and conditions.

23. Our right to vary these terms and conditions

  • You will be subject to the policies and terms and conditions in force at the time that you open an account.
  • We have the right to revise and amend the policies and these terms and conditions from time to time to reflect changes in market conditions affecting our business, changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and changes in our system’s capabilities.

24. Law and Jurisdiction

  • Contracts for the purchase of Products through our site will be governed by English law. Any dispute arising from, or related to, such Contracts shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.