Franchise.com Terms of Use

Thank you for visiting this website (this "Website"). The terms and conditions that apply to your access to and/or your use of this Website (and the information, products and services available through this Website), and our use of any communications or User Content (defined below) that you submit to us or post on this Website, are set forth below. By using this Website or submitting communications or User Content to us, you accept and agree to all of the terms and conditions set forth herein (the "Terms and Conditions"), which form a legally binding agreement between you and Franchise Ventures, LLC and/or our applicable business divisions and/or affiliates (collectively, "Franchise Ventures", "us", "our" or "we").

ARBITRATION NOTICE: YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION. WE EXPLAIN SOME EXCEPTIONS AND HOW YOU CAN OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION BELOW.

You are responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your password(s), if any, assigned or otherwise utilized in connection with your use of this Website. PLEASE SEE OUR FOR TERMS APPLICABLE TO OUR DATA COLLECTION AND USE PRACTICES, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

We reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions, and our separate Privacy Policy, from time to time as we deem appropriate by posting such changes on this Website. Any changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon posting unless otherwise indicated. We will not separately notify you that changes have been made, regardless of the scope and importance of the changes, and we encourage you to periodically check back and review these Terms and Conditions so that you always will know what terms and conditions apply to your access to and use of this Website, or our use of any User Content that you have posted on this Website or submitted to us. Your continued use of this Website and/or your submission of any User Content to us after such changes are posted will be deemed to constitute your agreement to and acceptance of such changes. This Website may change, and we may restrict access to, suspend or discontinue this Website, or any portion of this Website, at any time.

We reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, and/or cancel orders at our discretion, including, but not limited to, if we believe that customer conduct violates applicable law or is harmful to the interests of Franchise Ventures or its businesses, or its or their customers, affiliates, licensors or licensees.

This Website and all content displayed on this Website and all software, data and information used to provide this Website, including text and images, method of display and presentation, source code, embedded routines and programs and other materials, as well as all copyrights, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights therein or thereto, are owned by Franchise Ventures or our owners, affiliates, licensors or licensees, and are protected under worldwide patent, copyright, trademark and other applicable laws and treaties, including, without limitation, applicable trade secret laws. We grant you the limited and nonexclusive right and license to access or download a single copy of the content from this Website solely for your personal and non-commercial use and as necessary in connection with the use of any services available through this Website.

Except as expressly authorized in these Terms and Conditions, you may not modify, distribute, reproduce, display, or use this Website or any elements thereof. Furthermore, (i) reproduction, re-transmission or re-presentation in any form, in whole or in part, of any content, programming code, images or graphics included within this Website is strictly prohibited without our prior express written permission; (ii) you may not frame, squeeze back, overlay or employ other techniques to enclose or display this Website, or any trademark, logo, content or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) included on this Website, with any other software or content of a third party; (iii) you may not use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing the names or trademarks of Franchise Ventures or our owners, affiliates, licensors or licensees without our or their express written consent; and (iv) you may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in this Website or the services offered herein.

In addition to and not in limitation of any of the foregoing limitations and restrictions, you are expressly prohibited from using automated means (including but not limited to spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers, deep-links, data-mining, data-gathering or extraction tools and the like), or any other automated methodology, algorithm or device or any manual process, to for any purpose monitor, copy, download or otherwise access data or content from this Website. A limited exception to the foregoing limitations and restrictions is provided to general purpose internet search engines and non-commercial public archives that use such tools to gather information for the sole purpose of displaying hyperlinks to this Website, provided they each do so from a stable IP address or range of IP addresses using an easily identifiable agent and comply with our applicable policies and procedures in effect from time to time. "General purpose internet search engine" does not include a website or search engine or other service that specializes in classified listings or in any subset of classifieds listings such as automobiles, vehicles, jobs, housing/apartments, rentals, services or equipment or which is in the business of providing classified ad listing services.

We provide the material available through this Website for informational purposes only. You may use the content, information, consumer reviews, data and materials from, and the products and services available through, this Website solely for your personal and non-commercial use. Before you act on any such content, information, consumer reviews, data and materials you have found on, or purchase any products or services available through, this Website, you should independently confirm any facts that are important to your decision. IF YOU RELY ON ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCT, OR SERVICE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOU DO SO SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS YOU MAY INCUR THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCT OR SERVICE.

To protect the account information of our Website members, where applicable, Franchise Ventures assigns to each member either a unique user name or password or a unique ad ID number. These unique identifiers are disclosed to the user via email immediately upon becoming a member of this Website. Only members have the ability to modify their personal information and delete their ads as needed.

If you become a member of this Website, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to and accept sole responsibility for any and all activities that occur under your account or password. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or password, or any other breach of security, of which you become aware. However, you may be held liable for losses incurred by us or any other user of, or visitor to, this Website due to someone else using your account or password. Please see our Privacy Policy for further information regarding your account or password.

This Website may provide links or references to third party sites that we do not operate and/or that will allow you to leave this Website or open an additional browser connecting you to the third party site. Any such links to third party sites are provided merely as a convenience to the users of this Website, and such links do not imply endorsement by Franchise Ventures of such other third party sites or the content contained therein. Franchise Ventures disclaims all liability with regard to your access to such linked websites and your use of and access to any other websites linked to this Website is at your own risk. Further, Franchise Ventures has no responsibility for the content of such third party sites and shall not be liable for any damages or injury arising from that content or your use, reliance on or access to such third party sites. For information about such other third party websites, we encourage you to consult the specific terms of use and privacy policies of such other websites.

We have in place what we believe to be reasonable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access of, maintain data security for and correctly use the information we collect online. However, while such reasonable efforts are made to ensure the confidentiality of your private and personal information available as a result of your use of this Website, we cannot and do not warrant or guarantee the absolute safety and security of confidential data on the Internet.

ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU IN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TO FRANCHISE VENTURES IS GOVERNED BY OUR PRIVACY POLICY. FOR A MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF OUR COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND OTHER DATA, PLEASE READ OUR PRIVACY POLICY, THE TERMS OF WHICH ARE INCORPORATED IN THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BY REFERENCE.

You may have the opportunity to post or otherwise submit content and information, including but not limited to consumer reviews, opinions, concepts, inventions, techniques, know-how, data, materials or other postings or communications (collectively, "User Content"), to us via this Website, whether by posting to a public area of this Website (e.g., blogs or message boards) or by other submission to us through email or other means of electronic communication facilitated by Franchise Ventures. By submitting any such User Content to us or posting any such User Content in any public area of this Website, you: (i) grant Franchise Ventures and our owners, affiliates and licensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, aggregate, translate, prepare derivative works from, publicly display, publicly perform and distribute such User Content (in whole or in part) alone or as incorporated into other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed, on a worldwide basis; (ii) grant Franchise Ventures and our owners, affiliates and licensees the right to use the name that you use in connection with such submission or post, if and to the extent any or all of them so choose; and (iii) represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the User Content that you submit or post, the User Content is accurate and the use of the User Content you supply or post does not violate these Terms and Conditions and will not cause injury or damage to any person or entity. You also permit any other user of this Website to access, view, store or reproduce your User Content for that user’s personal use, which such use may include disclosure to third parties. By posting or submitting such User Content, you hereby waive any claim that Franchise Ventures misappropriated any such User Content or any portions thereof.

We may provide a variety of services on this Website through which you can directly interact with others, such as email services, blogging services, chat rooms, communications tools, forums and other public posting areas ("Communications Services"). (For purposes of these Terms and Conditions, all references to this Website generally include all Communication Services available through this Website.) We cannot and do not review every posting made in these Communications Services. You may well read any given posting before anyone on our staff does. You can expect these Communications Services to include information and opinions from a variety of individuals and organizations other than us. We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting, regardless of whether the posting comes from a user, from a celebrity or "expert" guest or from a member of our staff, and we are not responsible or liable for, and do not assume any responsibility in respect of, the views and opinions expressed. We encourage an open exchange of information and User Content, but we want everyone to be able to enjoy these Communications Services.

We do not, in the ordinary course of business, review private electronic messages that are not addressed to us. However, we reserve the right to do so and to use any other forms of information available to us by virtue of your use of this Website and any Communication Services (including, for example, reverse IP address inquiry) in order to comply with the law, to enforce these Terms and Conditions or to protect the rights, property or safety of visitors to this Website and/or users of any Communications Services, our customers, the public or Franchise Ventures and our owners, affiliates, licensors or licensees. We reserve the right (but assume no obligation) to review the content of this Website, including blogs, message boards, chat rooms, listings, forums and other User Content posted to this Website or via any Communications Services to determine compliance with these Terms and Conditions and any other rules established by us, and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. We shall have the right, in our sole discretion, to delete, move, refuse to post and/or edit any messages, listings, postings or other User Content that we consider unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons.

We may disclose any information we have about you (including your identity) if we determine that such disclosure is necessary in connection with any investigation or complaint regarding your use of this Website, or to identify, contact or bring legal action against you or anyone else who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property, or the rights or property of visitors to or users of this Website, including our customers. We reserve the right at all times to disclose any information that we deem necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request. We also may disclose your information when we determine that applicable law requires or permits such disclosure, including exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection purposes.

You acknowledge and agree that we may preserve and store any communication by you with us through this Website or any service offered on or through this Website and may also disclose such data if required to do so by law or if we determine that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to (i) comply with legal process, (ii) enforce these Terms and Conditions, (iii) respond to claims that any such data violates the rights of others, or (iv) protect the rights, property or personal safety of Franchise Ventures and/or our owners, affiliates, employees, users of or visitors to this Website or the public.

Without limiting any other provision of these Terms and Conditions, you agree that we may, in our sole discretion and without prior notice, terminate your access to this Website and/or block your future access to this Website if we determine that you have violated these Terms and Conditions or other agreements or guidelines which may be associated with your use of this Website, including but not limited to our Privacy Policy. You also agree that any violation by you of these Terms and Conditions will constitute an unlawful and unfair business practice, and will cause irreparable harm to us, for which monetary damages would be inadequate, and you consent to our obtaining any injunctive or equitable relief that we deem necessary or appropriate in such circumstances. These remedies are in addition to any other remedies we may have at law or in equity.

YOU AGREE THAT THIS WEBSITE AND ALL INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED BY US ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND THAT YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE AND ALL INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. You understand that there may be delays, omissions, interruptions, inaccuracies and/or other problems with the information, products and services available through, published on or promoted over this Website, including information, products and services referred to, advertised or promoted on or sold through this Website. Neither Franchise Ventures nor our owners, affiliates, licensors or licensees warrant that this Website will be uninterrupted or error free; nor do we or they make any warranty as to the results that may be obtained from use of this Website or as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of content or any information, product or service provided or made available through this Website.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, FRANCHISE VENTURES AND OUR OWNERS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS AND LICENSEES SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

NEITHER FRANCHISE VENTURES NOR OUR OWNERS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR LICENSEES SHALL HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, INACCURACIES, OMISSIONS OR OTHER DEFECTS IN THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS WEBSITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL FRANCHISE VENTURES OR OUR OWNERS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR LICENSEES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES, OTHER THAN DIRECT DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS WEBSITE OR ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE OR OUR USE OF ANY USER CONTENT THAT YOU POST OR SUBMIT TO US. IN ADDITION TO AND NOT IN LIMITATION OF THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, IN NO EVENT SHALL FRANCHISE VENTURES OR OUR OWNERS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR LICENSEES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR SIMILAR DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOST REVENUES OR PROFITS, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS OR DATA), EVEN IF WE OR ANY SUCH OTHER PERSON HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that the entire aggregate liability, if any, of Franchise Ventures and our owners, affiliates, licensors and licensees arising out of any kind of legal claim (whether in contract, tort or under any other legal theory) arising out of your access to or use of, or inability to use, this Website or any information, products or services available through this Website, or our use of any User Content that you post on this Website or submit to us, will not exceed one hundred dollars ($100).

You hereby release and agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Franchise Ventures and our owners, affiliates, licensors and licensees from and against any and all claims, costs, demands, losses, damages and expenses, including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, arising from or relating to (i) your breach of these Terms and Conditions or any matter for which you are responsible or liable under the terms of these Terms and Conditions, (ii) third party claims with respect to our use of any User Content that you have posted on this Website or submitted to us, including, but not limited to, infringement of copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent, proprietary rights or any other claims, or (iii) any dispute between you and any third party, including, without limitation, any other user, any advertiser or any party to any actual, prospective or terminated sale or transaction. If you are a California resident, you hereby waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

Except as provided below, you and we agree that any cause of action, legal claim, controversy or dispute (each, a “Dispute” and, collectively, “Disputes”) between you and us arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions, your use of this Website, your use or purchase of information, products or services available through this Website, or our procurement or use of any User Content that you have posted on this Website or submitted to us, must be resolved by arbitration on an individual basis. Class actions and class arbitrations are not permitted; you may bring a claim only on your own behalf and cannot seek relief that would affect other users or customers. If there is a final judicial determination that any particular claim (or a request for particular relief) cannot be arbitrated in accordance with this provision's limitations, then only that claim (or only that request for relief) may be brought in court. All other claims (or requests for relief) remain subject to this provision.

Instead of using arbitration, you or we can bring claims in your local court, but only if it is a “small claims” court and the rules of that court will allow it. If you don't bring your claims in small claims court (or if you or we appeal a small claims court judgment to a court of general jurisdiction), then the claims must be resolved by binding, individual arbitration. The American Arbitration Association will administer all arbitrations under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. You and we expressly waive a trial by jury. You agree that any and all Disputes shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action.

The following claims don't have to be arbitrated and may be brought in court: disputes related to intellectual property (like copyrights and trademarks), violations of usage restrictions, or efforts to interfere with the service or engage with the service in unauthorized ways (for example, automated ways). In addition, issues relating to the scope and enforceability of the arbitration provision are for a court to decide.

This arbitration provision is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.

You can opt out of this provision within 30 days of the date that you agreed to these Terms and Conditions by accessing and using this Website. To opt out, you must send your name, residence address, username, email address and phone number, and a clear statement that you want to opt out of this arbitration agreement, and you must send them here: Franchise Ventures, LLC, ATTN: Franchise Ventures Arbitration Opt-out, 150 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510.

Before you commence arbitration of a claim, you must provide us with a written Notice of Dispute that includes your name, residence address, email address or phone number, a detailed description of the dispute, and the relief you seek. Any Notice of Dispute you send to us should be mailed to Franchise Ventures, LLC, ATTN: Franchise Ventures Arbitration Filing, 150 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510. If we are unable to resolve a dispute within thirty (30) days after the Notice of Dispute is received, you or we may commence arbitration.

For any Dispute that is not resolved in small claims court or is not otherwise required to be arbitrated, you agree that it will be resolved exclusively in the state and federal courts located in the City of Norfolk, Virginia. You also agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of either of these courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim.

The laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to the extent not preempted by or inconsistent with federal law, will govern these Terms and Conditions and any claim, without regard to conflict of law provisions.

Use of this Website by you for spamming is strictly prohibited. By using this Website, you agree not to use information concerning other users of this Website, or any items such users have listed or searched for on this Website (including listing information, user names, email addresses, telephone numbers and/or other information), for any purpose that is not expressly permitted by these Terms and Conditions. You may not post information directed to or collect personal information from any minor.

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Franchise Ventures as a result of these Terms and Conditions or your use of this Website or the information, products or services available through this Website.

You agree that all notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

You shall use this Website and the information, products and services available through this Website for lawful purposes only. Any conduct by you that in our judgment and discretion restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying this Website or the information, products or services available through this Website will not be permitted.

If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of these Terms and Conditions, or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, all other terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect.

Failure by Franchise Ventures to enforce any provision of these Terms and Conditions will not be deemed a waiver of future enforcement of that or any other provision of these Terms and Conditions.

These Terms and Conditions, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding the subject matter hereof. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that apply when you use or purchase certain other products or services from Franchise Ventures.

If you have any questions, please contact us at Franchise Ventures, LLC, Norfolk, VA 23510 or 888-363-3390.