User Terms of Service

TRUSTgrade User Terms of Service

Last Updated: January 24, 2024

This website and review platform located at www.trustgrade.com ("Site" or "Platform") is owned and operated by Trustgrade, LLC ("TRUSTgrade," "we," "our," "us"). By accessing or visiting the Site, you ("you," "your") agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions ("Terms of Service," "Agreement," or "Terms"), including any additional terms, conditions, guidelines, and policies referenced or incorporated herein. These Terms constitute a legally binding Agreement between you and TRUSTgrade.

By visiting or using the Site, you agree to be bound by this Agreement. Please read these Terms of Service carefully before accessing or using our Site. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, then you do not have permission to access or use the Site or any services, and you should exit the Site immediately.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOUR USE OF THIS SITE IS SUBJECT TO A MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER SET FORTH IN THE SECTION OF THIS AGREEMENT TITLED "DISPUTE RESOLUTION BY BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER," WHICH REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES WITH US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, UNLESS YOU OPT OUT.

1. SITE USAGE

You are permitted to access and use the Site only for your personal, non-commercial use. By using the Site or posting a review, you represent and warrant that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, and you agree that you shall not: (a) use the Site for any (i) illegal or unauthorized purpose, or (ii) in any manner that is harmful, deceptive, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, obscene, libelous, or otherwise objectionable in our sole discretion; (b) violate any laws in your jurisdiction or the rights of us or any third party; (c) remove any proprietary notices, labels, or marks on the Site; (d) attempt to derive any source code or underlying ideas or algorithms of any part of the Site; (e) transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature; or (f) use any robot, spider, search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, copy, scrape, or index any portion of the Site, except as expressly permitted by us. You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell, or exploit any portion of the Site, or access to the Site or any contact on the site through which the Site is provided, without express written permission by us. A breach or violation of any of the Terms will result in an immediate termination of your access to the Site.

TRUSTgrade makes no representations or guarantees that information, content, or other materials on the Site are accurate. We ask users who submit content to affirm that any information in the content is accurate, but TRUSTgrade does not verify the accuracy of the information submitted by users. In addition, we provide some businesses the opportunity to flag reviews that it believes are false, and we may automatically flag reviews as "spam" or "profane." Some of these flagged reviews may not be displayed to users. You acknowledge and agree that your access and use of all content made available on the Site are at your own risk.

2. USER ACCOUNT

To take advantage of certain features on the Site, such as leaving a review, commenting, or flagging a review, we may require you to first create a user account. Your user account is personal to you and must not be transferred to anyone else. You are solely responsible for all activity connected with your user account, including any reviews, all comments, and any User Generated Content (defined below).

You may be required to choose a username that will be displayed on our Site whenever you write a review, comment on a review, flag a review, or post any other content created by or originating from you on the Site ("User Generated Content"). Your username will allow you to be identified by, and will be visible to, others. Your username must not:

Contain anything harmful, hateful, discriminatory, defamatory, obscene, or illegal;
Contain characteristics belonging to someone else or a third party, such as the name of another individual, business, or service, other than you;
Impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; or
Invade another's privacy in any way, including posting another's personal details without their prior permission.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to review, refuse to issue, or rescind any username that we deem violates these Terms.

You agree to take full responsibility for controlling who accesses your user account and you should not share your login details, including your email addresses and verification code, with anyone else. If you suspect that your user account has been stolen, misused, or compromised, it is your obligation to inform us immediately by contacting us at support@trustgrade.com.

3. REVIEW GUIDELINES

When posting a review on the Site, you must comply with the following guidelines:

Be truthful and accurate. You may only write a review if you have purchased and used the product or service you are reviewing. You can and should express your own genuinely-held opinions, but you shall not make any false or unlawful statements.
Prohibited conduct. You must not use any illegal, false, obscene, threatening, harassing, defamatory, inaccurate, misleading, offensive language.
Promotions. You shall not include any promotional references, discount or affiliate codes, marketing materials, or promotional links in your reviews.
Multiple reviews. While you are encouraged to post more than one review if you have had more than one experience with a certain business, product, or service, you shall not post repetitive, harassing, or otherwise inappropriate reviews.
Respect others' rights. You may only post original content that belongs to you and does not violate the intellectual property rights of others.
Prominently and clearly disclose connections that you have with any business that you review. You shall prominently and clearly disclose any connection that you have with a business that you review. However, you are prohibited from posting reviews on the Platform if received payment, free products or services, a free sweepstakes entry, or other compensation from a business, or if you own or work for the business that you review.
Final say. We have the final say with regard to the interpretation and application of these review guidelines, and we may update them at any time in our sole discretion.

4. COMPANY FLAGGED REVIEWS

We offer some companies, for a fee, to flag reviews that they believe are false ("Company Flagged Review"). The Flagged False Reviews will still be used in the calculation of that company's star-rating, score, and/or grade. Additionally, companies are permitted to automatically flag reviews containing profanity or spam as "profane" or "spam" ("Automatically Flagged Review"). These Automatically Flagged Reviews will not be used in the calculation of that company's star-rating, score, and/or grade.

We reserve the right to review all flagged reviews and decide in our sole discretion whether the review will remain on the Site.

5. THIRD-PARTY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES; ADVERTISING

We may use, present to you, and/or link to third-party technology, products, and/or services on our Platform. We do not endorse or make any guarantee or promise, and do not assume any responsibility for any such third-party technology, products, and/or services.

We may publicly display advertisements, paid content, and other information nearby or in association with your User Generated Content. You are not entitled to any compensation for such advertisements. The manner, mode, and extent of such advertising are subject to change without notice to you.

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

What TRUSTgrade owns: We own everything on our Platform except content owned by others, like the reviews on our Platform. Our ownership includes all rights in the design, compilation, and look and feel of our Platform, including any logos, graphics, and trademarks (our "Brand"). You agree not to copy, distribute, modify, or otherwise use any of our Platform content or our Brand in any way not expressly permitted by us. This means you are not allowed to use our Brand or any other content on our Platform, including reviews submitted by other users, unless we provide written authorization to you.
What you own: You own, and are responsible for, any User Generated Content you submit to, or transmit through, our Platform. You represent and warrant that you have all the necessary permissions to submit such User Generated Content through the Platform. Unless your User Generated Content is removed by us for violating our Terms or any other reason at our discretion, or removed by you, your User Generated Content will remain publicly displayed on our Platform and any third-party services and networks (like Google) indefinitely.
TRUSTgrade's right to use your User Generated Content: By creating, submitting, posting, or displaying User Generated Content on our Platform, you grant us a license to use, modify, publish, and display such User Generated Content anywhere in the world, in any way, without any restriction and without any payment to you. You agree that this license allows us to make your User Generated Content available to other companies or individuals, including our business customers, for any purpose such as the syndication, distribution, promotion, or publication of such User Generated Content. You also grant us a right of action to bring an action for copyright infringement against anyone who uses your User Generated Content without first receiving permission from you and/or TRUSTgrade.
Feedback: We appreciate any feedback, ideas, and suggestions from you about our Platform and may use such feedback, ideas, and suggestions forever without restriction or payment to you. This means that if you provide any written content or feedback to us, we can use, quote, and/or refer to that content or feedback at our discretion.

7. PRIVACY POLICY AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You understand, acknowledge, and agree that the operation of certain features of the Site may require or involve the submission, use, and dissemination of various items of personally identifiable information, including without limitation, personal contact information. By using the Platform, you agree to TRUSTgrade's Privacy Policy, available at trustgrade.com/privacy (as updated from time to time), which is incorporated herein by reference.

8. NOTICE OF TAKEDOWN PROCEDURES; COPYRIGHT ACT

If you believe that materials or content available on the Site infringes any copyright you own, you or your agent may send us a notice requesting that we remove the materials or content from the Site. If you believe that someone has wrongly filed a notice of copyright infringement against you, you may send us a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices should be sent by e-mail to us at support@trustgrade.com with the subject line "DMCA Notice" or "DMCA Counter-Notice," and the e-mail must include all information and affirmations required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

9. TERMINATION AND SUSPENSION

We may terminate or suspend your access to your user account immediately or filter User Generated Content if we believe, in our sole discretion, that you have breached any of these Terms or our Privacy Policy.

10. DISCLAIMER AND LIABILITY

EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE INAPPLICABLE OR PROHIBITED BY LAW, THE PLATFORM AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS," "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE MAKE NO, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES AS TO THE RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, AND/OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION ON THIS PLATFORM. WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM THAT: (A) THE USE OF THE PLATFORM OR ANY SOFTWARE OR ACCESS TO YOUR CONTENT WILL BE SECURE, TIMELY, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR OPERATE IN COMBINATION WITH ANY OTHER HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, OR DATA, (B) THE PLATFORM OR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS, (C) ANY STORED DATA WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (D) THE PLATFORM WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS, (E) ERRORS OR DEFECTS IN THE PLATFORM WILL BE CORRECTED, OR (F) THE PLATFORM OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKE THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ALL CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

11. DISPUTE RESOLUTION BY BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER

If you have a complaint, dispute, or controversy, you agree to first contact us at support@trustgrade.com to attempt to resolve the dispute or controversy informally. Any controversy, dispute, or claim arising out of or related to the use of the Site, these Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy, and/or your relationship with us that cannot be resolved through such informal process or through negotiation within one hundred and twenty (120) days shall be resolved by binding, confidential arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"). Judgment on the award rendered may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitration will be conducted by a single neutral arbitrator in the English language in the State of Florida, unless both parties agree to conduct the arbitration by telephone or written submissions. Arbitration shall be submitted to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) pursuant to the then-current AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules and the AAA Consumer Due Process Protocol, which you can find here: https://www.adr.org/consumer. The arbitrator shall have the exclusive and sole authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, construction, validity, applicability, or enforceability of these Terms and the Privacy Policy, this arbitration provision, and any other terms incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use. The arbitrator shall have the exclusive and sole authority to determine whether any dispute is arbitrable.

Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA's Rules. In all other respects, the parties shall each pay their own additional fees, costs, and expenses, including, but not limited to, those for any attorneys, experts, documents, and witnesses. The arbitrator shall follow the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16, as amended. In all other respects, the substantive law of the State of Florida shall apply, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following shall not be subject to arbitration and may be adjudicated only in the state and federal courts of the state of Florida: (i) any dispute, controversy, or claim relating to or contesting the validity of our intellectual property rights and proprietary rights, including without limitation, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, or trade secrets; or (ii) an action by us for temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, whether prohibitive or mandatory, or other provisional relief.

You and we agree that disputes will only be arbitrated on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated, on a class-wide, representative basis, or with any other arbitration(s) or other proceedings that involve any claim or controversy of any other party. You and we expressly waive any right to pursue any class or other representative action against each other.

This provision survives termination of your account or relationship with us or the Site, bankruptcy, assignment, or transfer. If the class action waiver is deemed unenforceable (i.e., arbitration is allowed to proceed as a class or representative action), then this entire arbitration provision shall be rendered null and void and shall not apply.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A RIGHT TO LITIGATE THROUGH A COURT, TO HAVE A JUDGE OR JURY DECIDE YOUR CASE, AND TO BE PARTY TO A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. HOWEVER, YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO HAVE ANY CLAIMS DECIDED INDIVIDUALLY AND ONLY THROUGH BINDING, FINAL, AND CONFIDENTIAL ARBITRATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION. YOU AGREE THAT YOU MAY ONLY BRING A CLAIM IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF (LEAD OR OTHERWISE) OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE PROCEEDINGS OR CLAIMS OR OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OPT OUT OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS FROM THE DATE THAT YOU VISIT THE WEBSITE BY WRITING TO US AT TRUSTGRADE, 822 A1A N, SUITE 310, ROOM 342, PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL 32082, WITH COPY BY E-MAIL TO SUPPORT@TRUSTGRADE.COM FOR YOUR OPT-OUT TO BE EFFECTIVE, YOU MUST SUBMIT A SIGNED WRITTEN NOTICE IDENTIFYING ANY USER GENERATED CONTENT THAT YOU PROVIDED TO THE PLATFORM. IF MORE THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS HAVE PASSED, YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO OPT OUT OF THIS PROVISION AND YOU MUST PURSUE YOUR CLAIM THROUGH BINDING ARBITRATION AS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT.

12. INDEMNIFICATION

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the TRUSTgrade, its directors, officers, employees, shareholders, licensors, independent contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, affiliates, parent companies, subsidiaries, successors, assigns, and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, loss, liabilities, damages, expenses, demands, and costs of any kind, including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees and costs of any litigation or other dispute resolution, arising out of, resulting from, or in any way connected with or related to (1) your use, misuse, or attempt to use the Site, (2) information you submit or transmit through the Site, (3) your breach of these Terms, Privacy Policy, any guidelines set forth on the Site, or the representations and warranties provided by you in this Agreement, or (4) your violation of any law or the rights of a third party, negligence, willful misconduct, and/or any infringement or misappropriation of any intellectual property of a third party.

13. NO WAIVER

No failure or delay on our part in exercising any right, power, or remedy under this Agreement may operate as a waiver, nor may any single or partial exercise of any such right, power, or remedy preclude any other or further exercise of such right, power, or remedy, or the exercise of any other rights, power, or remedy under this Agreement. A waiver of any right or obligation under this Agreement shall only be effective if in writing and signed by us.

14. FORCE MAJEURE

We will not be responsible to you for any delay, damage, or failure caused or occasioned by any act of nature or other causes beyond our reasonable control.

15. ASSIGNMENT

We may assign this Agreement or our rights hereunder at any time, without notice to you. Our assignee of this Agreement will have the same rights as we do hereunder. Your rights or obligations arising under this Agreement cannot be assigned without our (or our assigns') express written consent.

16. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

All information communicated on the Site is considered an electronic communication. When you communicate with us through or on the Site or via other forms of electronic media, such as e-mail, you are communicating with the company electronically. You agree that we may communicate electronically with you and that such communications, as well as notices, disclosures, agreements, and other communications that we provide to you electronically, are equivalent to communications in writing and shall have the same force and effect as if they were in writing and signed by the party sending the communication.

17. NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA USERS

With respect to any electronic commercial service offered on or through the Site, California residents are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information. The provider of the Site is: Trustgrade, LLC at 822 A1A N, Suite 310, Room 342, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082. To file a complaint regarding the Site, or to receive further information, send a letter to the attention of "Legal Department" at the above address or contact TRUSTgrade via e-mail at support@trustgrade.com (with "California Resident Request" as the Subject Line). You may also contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at 916.445.1254 or 800.952.5210.

18. CHANGES TO THE AGREEMENT

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change, or replace any part of the Agreement, including the Terms and Privacy Policy, by posting updates and changes to our Site. It is your responsibility to check our Site periodically for changes. Your continued use or access of our Site following the posting of any changes to the Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes.

19. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

These Terms, Privacy Policy, review guidelines, and any policies or operating rules posted by us on the Site or in respect to the Site constitute the entire Agreement and understanding between you and your business and us, governs your access to and use of the Site, and your attempted use of any service or product supersedes and replaces any prior or contemporaneous agreements, representations, communications, and proposals, whether oral or written, between you and us. We may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Site. Such new features and/or services shall also be subject to these Terms and Privacy Policy and any policies, guidelines, or operating rules and additional terms for such services or features posted by us on the Site. Any ambiguities in the interpretation of these Terms and Privacy Policy shall not be construed against the drafting party.

20. CONTACT US

Please contact us with questions or comments about services or these Terms by sending an e-mail to support@trustgrade.com. Notices to you may be made by posting a notice (or a link to a notice) on this web page, by email, by postal mail, or any other means, at our discretion.