Terms · version 1.1 · effective on attorney approval

Terms of service

This is our Website Service Agreement in full, the same one you accept at checkout. It's written in plain English on purpose. Questions before you sign? Call 559-505-5164 or email riley@groundlineweb.com.

1. Who this agreement is between

This agreement is between Riley Arias, doing business as Groundline Web ("Groundline," "we," "us"), Valley Springs, California, and the business named in Schedule A ("you," "the Client").

It starts on the day you accept it (the "Start Date"). You accept it by signing it or by checking the terms box and paying at Stripe checkout.

2. What we do

2.1 Build. We design and build a website for your business and set up the other services in your plan (Schedule A). On the Answer & Book plan we don't build or host a website: we connect the services to your current site and phone number instead, and sections 2.2, 2.3 and 7.3's buyout don't apply. What each plan includes is listed in Schedule B.

2.2 Host and maintain. While this agreement is active, we:

• host the site
• keep its security certificate current
• keep backups
• watch that it stays online
• make the monthly changes your plan includes
• run the other services your plan includes (sections 2.5–2.9)

2.3 Domain. Your web address (domain) is registered in your business's name. If we register it for you, we do it in your name and give you the login on request. If you already own a domain, you keep it and give us access to point it at the site.

2.4 Leads and your lead inbox.

• Messages from your site's form, texts and calls to your business number, and messages from pages you connect (Facebook, Instagram, Google) go into your lead inbox. That's a customer-management (CRM) account we set up and manage for you on HighLevel (LeadConnector).
• You get an alert for each new lead by text, email or the phone app.
• Our providers keep delivery records and message copies as part of their normal service. We use your leads only to provide your services (section 12.1).
• Photos uploaded through a quote form are stored only as long as needed to deliver them to you.

2.5 Business number and texting (all plans).

• We set up a local business phone number for you. Calls to it ring your phone.
• We register it for business texting (the carriers' "A2P 10DLC" registration) in your business's name.
• If you miss a call, the caller gets one text back so the job isn't lost.
• On Answer & Book you keep your current number: you forward calls you don't answer to the business number, and the AI receptionist picks up there.
• Carrier approval usually takes 1–3 weeks. Your site can launch before it's done.

2.6 AI assistant (Answer & Book, Pro and Growth).

• An AI receptionist answers calls you don't pick up, 24 hours a day, in English or Spanish.
• An AI text assistant replies to your site chat, texts and connected social messages.
• Both answer only from the information you approve (section 3). They take the job details and book estimates into your calendar, and send you a summary of every conversation.
• Section 9.7 covers how the assistant behaves.

2.7 Booking and follow-up messages (Answer & Book, Pro and Growth).

• People who book get confirmation and reminder texts or emails.
• Review requests after a job and seasonal reminders to past customers go only to customers who agreed to hear from you (section 3).
• Every marketing text says how to opt out. We honor opt-outs right away and never message that person again.

2.8 Ads (Growth).

• We set up and manage your ads on Google (Local Services Ads, Search) and Meta (Facebook, Instagram), whichever fit your trade.
• Your ad accounts are in your business's name, and Google and Meta bill your card directly for your ad budget (section 5.10).
• You approve your monthly budget and each new ad before it runs.

2.9 Ad creative and AI tools.

• We make ads and posts from your real job photos and our own designs.
• We may use AI tools for design, backgrounds and motion.
• We never use AI to show work you didn't do, people who don't work for you, or equipment you don't have.

3. What you do

• Content: send us your business details, services, prices, service area, logo and photos, and answer questions within 5 business days.
• Accuracy: make sure what's on your site is true: prices, license numbers, service claims. You approve the site before it goes live.
• Licenses: if your trade requires a state license (for example, a CSLB contractor license), give us the license number so we can show it on your site as the law requires.
• Photos: only give us photos you own or have permission to use. If a photo shows a customer's vehicle or property, you're responsible for having their OK. We blur license plates and house numbers where we can see them.
• Your prices: the prices you give us for the site must include every mandatory fee you charge (California SB 478).
• Customer lists: only give us customers who agreed to hear from you by text or email, and tell us about anyone who asks you to stop. Messages you send to your customers are your responsibility.
• Texting registration: give us your legal business name and address. You enter your EIN into the registration form yourself, or give it to Riley directly; it's used only for that registration.
• Your AI assistant's information: give us accurate prices, service area, hours and policies, and tell us when they change. You approve the assistant's answers before it goes live.
• Ads (Growth): keep a working card on file with Google and Meta for your ad budget, keep your license and insurance current for Google's screening, and approve ads before they run.
• Payment: keep a working card or bank account on file for the monthly fee.

4. Timeline

We aim to launch within the time listed in Schedule A. The clock starts once we have your content (section 3). Delays waiting on content or approvals move the launch date by the same amount.

5. Fees and payment

5.1 Setup fee. The setup fee in Schedule A is due when you accept this agreement. It covers designing and building the site and setting up your plan's other services.

• Answer & Book: half the setup fee (the deposit) is due when you accept this agreement, and the other half when your AI receptionist and booking are ready to go live. We switch them on once the second half is paid.

5.2 Setup fee refunds.

• Cancel before we start building (before we send you a first draft): we refund the setup fee minus Stripe's processing fee.
• After the first draft is sent: the setup fee is not refundable, except as stated in section 6.7.
• On Answer & Book, the "first draft" is the first version of your assistant's answers that we send you to approve, and the refund covers the deposit.

5.3 Monthly fee.

• The monthly fee in Schedule A starts 30 days after your site launches (on Answer & Book, 30 days after your AI receptionist goes live), then renews automatically every month on that date until the agreement ends under section 6.
• We charge it to the card or bank account you saved at checkout, through Stripe.
• By accepting this agreement, you authorize these recurring charges. If you pay by bank account, you also agree to the bank-debit authorization shown at checkout.
• Stripe emails you a receipt each month. You can update your payment method at any time through the link in that email.

5.4 Extra work. Changes beyond your plan's monthly included time are billed at $60/hour. We always quote first and only do the work after you approve. Unused included time does not roll over.

5.5 Late payments. If a monthly charge fails:

• we remind you at 3 days and 10 days
• at 30 days past due we may pause the site (it shows a simple "back soon" page), the AI assistant and any ads until you're paid up
• we turn it back on within 1 business day of payment
• a paused site still counts toward the 12-month minimum

5.6 Price changes. We won't raise your monthly price during your first 12 months. After that, we give 60 days' notice by email before any increase, and you can cancel before it takes effect.

5.7 Taxes. Prices do not include any sales tax that may apply. We add it only if the law requires it.

5.8 Record of acceptance. We keep a record of the date you accepted this agreement and the version you accepted.

5.9 Included usage.

• Each month includes up to 1,000 text segments and 1,000 call minutes on your business number.
• Pro and Growth also include up to 300 AI-answered minutes.
• If you go over, we bill the extra at our cost, and we tell you before we charge it.

5.10 Ad budget (Growth).

• Your ad budget is paid by you directly to Google and Meta. It isn't part of our fee.
• Our monthly fee covers managing up to $3,000 a month in ad spend. Above that we charge 10% of the spend over $3,000, added to the next monthly charge.
• We never raise your budget without your written OK (a text or email counts).

6. Term and cancelling

6.1 Minimum term. The first term is 12 months from launch.

6.2 After 12 months. The agreement continues month to month. Either side can cancel with 30 days' notice by email. There is no cancellation fee after the first 12 months.

6.3 Cancelling early. If you cancel during the first 12 months, the monthly fees left in those 12 months become due. We may waive this in writing, for example if you close your business. This doesn't apply if you cancel under section 6.7 because of our breach.

6.4 When we can end it. We can end this agreement with notice if:

• you're more than 60 days past due, or
• you ask us to publish something illegal, false or harmful and won't change it

If we end it for no reason of yours, we refund any monthly fee you paid for time we won't serve, and help you move the site (section 7.3).

6.5 How to cancel. Email us at the address in Schedule A with your business name. We confirm by email within 2 business days.

6.6 Pausing isn't cancelling. A site paused for late payment (section 5.5) stays under this agreement until one of us ends it.

6.7 Ending the agreement for a serious problem. Either of us can end this agreement if the other doesn't fix a serious problem within 15 days after getting written notice of it. If you end it because of our breach, you owe nothing further, and we refund any monthly fee you paid for time we won't serve.

6.8 Stepping down from Growth.

• After your first 90 days of ads, you can switch from Growth to Pro with 30 days' notice by email.
• Ads stop, and the Pro monthly fee applies from the next billing date.
• The 12-month minimum carries on at the Pro fee.

6.9 Upgrading. You can move to a bigger plan any time. You pay the difference in setup fee, and the new monthly fee starts on your next billing date.

7. Who owns what

7.1 Yours:

• your business name, logo, photos, text and other content you provide
• your domain
• your leads, contacts, messages and call recordings
• your business phone number
• your ad accounts and their data
• your Google Business Profile (we're added only as a manager, and we remove ourselves when the agreement ends)
• social posts and videos we make for you, once paid for, subject to any licenses for stock music, images or footage in them

7.2 Ours:

• the code, templates, designs, tools and systems we use to build and run sites
• the AI prompts, automations and workflows we build to run your services

While the agreement is active, you have the right to use the site built for you.

7.3 When the agreement ends:

• We give you a copy of your content (text and photos) and help transfer your domain to any provider you choose.
• Buyout option: after the first 12 months, you can buy the finished site files (the pages as built, to host anywhere) for a one-time fee equal to 2 months of your plan.
  • The buyout includes a permanent, non-exclusive license to use any of our code, templates or design elements built into those files, for your business's site only.
  • You can't resell them or use them to build sites for others.
• We export your contacts and messages for you on request, and port your business number to the carrier you choose.
• We remove ourselves from your ad accounts and Google Business Profile.
• Without a buyout, we take the site offline 30 days after the agreement ends.

7.4 Third-party material. Any stock photos, fonts, icons or music we add are licensed for use on your site or posts. We only use material whose license lets it stay with the site files if you buy them. If anything can't transfer, we tell you before the buyout and replace it.

8. Our portfolio

We may show your finished site (name, screenshots, link) in our portfolio and marketing. If you'd rather we didn't, email us and we'll take it down.

9. What we promise, and what we don't

9.1 We'll do the work carefully and professionally, and fix any bug in the site we built at no charge.

9.2 We design sites with the goal of meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. No website can be guaranteed free of every accessibility issue or legal complaint. If a problem is reported, we'll fix it promptly within your plan.

9.3 We don't guarantee search rankings, a number of calls or leads, a cost per lead, ad results or revenue. Google, Meta and other platforms control their own results.

9.4 Your services run on outside providers:

• hosting (Vercel) and email delivery (Resend)
• payment processing (Stripe)
• your domain registrar
• the CRM, phone and AI platform (HighLevel/LeadConnector and the AI models it uses) and the phone carriers
• Google and Meta

We're not responsible for their outages, but we'll work to restore your services as fast as we reasonably can.

9.5 Except as written in this agreement, the services are provided "as is."

9.6 Review requests. Our review-request materials are built to follow FTC rules and Google's policies. You agree not to:

• offer rewards for reviews
• ask only happy customers for reviews
• post fake reviews

9.7 How the AI assistant behaves.

• It says it's a virtual assistant and never claims to be a person.
• It tells callers the call may be recorded.
• It hands anything it isn't sure about to you, including emergencies, prices you haven't approved and complaints.
• It doesn't make sales calls or send marketing texts to anyone who hasn't agreed to hear from you.
• Each month we review a sample of its conversations and fix wrong answers.
• It can still make mistakes. You're responsible for the prices and promises you give customers.

9.8 Platform rules.

• Google and Meta decide which ads they approve.
• Meta runs home-repair ads under its "Housing" category, which limits targeting.
• Google may require extra screening for some trades.
• If a platform rejects an ad or suspends an account for reasons outside our control, we tell you and help you appeal. That isn't a breach of this agreement.

10. Claims about content

You confirm you have the right to use the content you give us, and that it's truthful. If someone makes a claim against us because of content you provided (for example, a photo you didn't have permission to use, or a false claim about your business), you'll cover our reasonable costs of dealing with it.

Likewise, if someone makes a claim against you because of material we added (for example, a stock image we didn't have the rights to), we'll cover your reasonable costs of dealing with it.

11. Limit on liability

Neither of us is liable to the other for lost profits or indirect, special or consequential damages. Our total liability under this agreement is limited to the fees you paid us in the 3 months before the claim. This doesn't limit anything the law doesn't allow to be limited.

12. Privacy and data

12.1 Your leads and customer data. Leads, messages, call recordings and transcripts are kept in your CRM account while this agreement is active (section 2.4). We don't sell or share them, and we use them only to run your services. When the agreement ends, we export them for you and then delete our access (section 7.3).

12.2 Privacy policy. Your site includes a privacy policy describing the form, business texting, call recording and the AI assistant. You're responsible for anything you do with leads once they reach you.

12.3 No tracking. We don't add tracking pixels, analytics or cookies to your site unless you ask and the privacy policy is updated first. On Growth, ad conversion tracking (Google or Meta tags) is added only after your privacy policy describes it.

12.4 Logins and confidentiality. We keep your account logins and business information confidential, use them only to provide the services, and return or delete them when the agreement ends.

13. General

• Notices: by email, to the addresses in Schedule A.
• Whole agreement: this agreement plus Schedules A and B are the full agreement. Changes must be in writing, and email works.
• Governing law: California law. Any dispute is handled in Calaveras County, California.
• Independent business: we're an independent contractor, not your employee or partner.
• Events beyond control: neither of us is responsible for delays caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, widespread internet outages or provider failures.
• Subcontractors: we may use trusted subcontractors, but we stay responsible for their work.
• If part is invalid: the rest still applies.
• Assignment: you can't transfer this agreement without our OK. We can transfer it only to a buyer of our business, who must honor it.

Schedule A: Client and plan

Schedule B: What each plan includes

Answer & Book ($800 + $297/mo), for clients who keep their current website: