Terms of Service

Retrievly is a platform run by Kenny Trappl, Gänserndorf, Austria (see the Legal notice), that connects people who have lost an item outdoors with nearby hobbyist searchers — metal detecting, magnet fishing and similar. We provide the matching, messaging and coordination tools. We are not a search-and-recovery service, we don't take part in any search or handover, and we don't guarantee that any item will be found.

Using Retrievly is free, for owners and searchers alike. There are no fees, subscriptions or commissions, and we don't sell anything on the platform. That is exactly why the Legal notice says Retrievly is run privately and without commercial intent, charges nothing and holds no trade licence. If Retrievly ever charges for something, we will say so in advance and rewrite the Legal notice too.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, and you may hold only one account. Retrievly is used to arrange in-person meetings between people who don't know each other: you are responsible for your own safety and judgement when you meet another user. Meet in daylight in a public place, tell someone where you're going, and trust your instincts if something feels off.

Retrievly doesn't process payments, tips or rewards. A thank-you mentioned on a request is a non-binding indication, not an offer of a finder's fee: whether and how much is paid is agreed between the two users, settled between them when they meet, and entirely outside the platform. Never pay anything in advance, and report anyone who asks you to.

An owner posts a request with an approximate area; searchers can offer to look; the owner picks one searcher, who then receives the exact location and a chat with the owner. A request stays open for further offers while a search is under way. Either side can step back at any time — a searcher by withdrawing, an owner by cancelling — and should say so rather than go silent, because someone is waiting on them.

You are responsible for what you post: request details, photos, messages, reviews. Post only what is true and yours to share; don't post anything illegal, infringing, threatening, or that reveals another person's personal information without their consent. You grant us the right to show your content to other users as the service requires. We may remove content or restrict accounts that breach these terms or a report we receive.

Be honest about what you lost, where, and what you can do. Don't use the platform to sell, advertise, or contact people for anything other than a search. Ratings must reflect a real search. Blocking and reporting are there for your safety; misusing them to harass someone is itself a breach of these terms.

The location shown publicly is intentionally approximate; exact coordinates are shared with the searcher an owner picks, and are accessible to Retrievly's operator for running and supporting the service, which is logged. Searchers' own positions are never shown. A found item belongs to its owner and is to be handed back to them. Austrian law on found property (§§ 388 ff. ABGB) and the Monument Protection Act (Denkmalschutzgesetz) — which requires archaeological finds to be reported and forbids searching protected sites without a permit — continue to apply; complying with them, and with the equivalent rules wherever you search, is the searcher's responsibility. Retrievly is not a party to the handover.

A request may note that an item lies on public ground, on the owner's own property, or on private property that isn't theirs. Retrievly does not grant, arrange or imply any right to enter private land. If you go searching, obtaining the landowner's permission first is your responsibility, not the owner's and not ours.

Retrievly is provided as it is, free of charge, without any warranty that it will be available, error-free or lead to a find. We are not liable for the behaviour of other users, for the outcome of a search, for anything lost, damaged or paid in the course of a meeting, or for disputes between users. This exclusion does not apply to damage we cause intentionally or through gross negligence, to injury to life, body or health, or to any liability that cannot be excluded by law.

We may change, pause or discontinue features or the whole service at any time; there is no entitlement to its continued operation. Where we discontinue the service, we will give notice and you can export your data beforehand (Settings → Export my data).

You can delete your account at any time in Settings — what happens to your data is described in the Privacy policy. We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these terms, misuse reporting, endanger other users, or stay inactive for a long time; where reasonable, we will tell you why.

These terms are governed by Austrian law, without prejudice to the mandatory consumer-protection rules of the country you live in. The EU Online Dispute Resolution platform is available at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr; we are not obliged to take part in dispute resolution before a consumer arbitration board and don't do so voluntarily. Should any clause be invalid, the rest remains in force.

We may update these terms as the service evolves. Material changes are announced by email or in the app before they take effect; if you keep using Retrievly after that, the new terms apply.