”You” or ”your” is a reference to a consumer of the services provided by ValueStar (the ”ValueStar Service” or a person accessing or using the ValueStar website and the information and services provided therein. ”We,” ”us” or ”our” shall refer to Service Ratings, LLC d/b/a ValueStar (”ValueStar”) with corporate offices located at 1 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 310, Chevy Chase, Maryland. ValueStar provides its services and information to you subject to the following Terms and Conditions (”Terms and Conditions”) Therefore, please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before accessing or using the ValueStar website or registering with the ValueStar Service.

Your access or use of the ValueStar Service, including the ValueStar website and the information and services provided therein, and/or your registration on, or submission of information to, the ValueStar website, constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. ValueStar reserves the right to change any of the Terms and Conditions contained herein at any time and your continued use of the ValueStar Service or the ValueStar website signifies your acceptance of the Terms and Conditions in effect at the time of your use. Changes to the Terms and Conditions will always be made available on the ValueStar website. For purposes of these Terms and Conditions, a ”ValueStar Consumer” shall mean a party that has registered with the ValueStar Service as a consumer.

I. Website Registration

1. You agree to:
   • provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the ValueStar Service's registration form(s) (such information being the "Registration Data") and
   • maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.
   
   
   
2. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or ValueStar has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, ValueStar has the right to refuse any and all current or future use of the ValueStar Service (or any portion thereof) by you.



3. Upon registration, ValueStar may obtain your credit card number from you along with other personal information such as your name and address. ValueStar will only use this information for purposes of providing you the ValueStar Service and will disclose and use personal information solely in accordance with our privacy policy. For example, in order to match credit card numbers against purchases with service providers that are currently authorized to use the "ValueStar Customer—Rated Gold" or "ValueStar Customer—Rated" designations (each a "ValueStar Customer—Rated Service Provider"), we will have to disclose your credit card number (but not your name or address) to the entities processing your credit card charges. You acknowledge that the ValueStar website is the only location for determining whether a service provider is currently a ValueStar—Customer Rated Service Provider. We may also have to provide your name, address and account information (but not your credit card number) to our partners involved in the "ValueStar Rewards Points" program so that we can have such partners ship the rewards that you earn for rating service providers through ValueStar. As stated in our privacy policy, these companies act on our behalf and are obligated to keep the information that we provide to them confidential. We do not permit these companies to contact you for non—ValueStar related business nor market any product or service directly to you. We would never make a charge to your account, so please note that when you register, we do not collect (or store) the expiration date of your credit card. No one from ValueStar is authorized to ask for an expiration date. Please let us know immediately if someone purporting to be from ValueStar contacts you seeking that information. Always guard all information about your credit card carefully.

II. ValueStar Content

1. You understand that you use and access the Internet and the ValueStar website at your own risk. ValueStar provides its website and information as is and does not make any express or implied warranties, representations or endorsements whatsoever with regard to any information, service or product provided through ValueStar. You understand that by using the Internet, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, objectionable or inaccurate. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content.
   
   
2. The information contained at the ValueStar website consists in part of:
   • information and opinions provided by registered members of ValueStar concerning the products or services they have used and
   • information obtained from other third party sources which ValueStar believes to be reliable.
   
   
   However, ValueStar does not guarantee and hereby disclaims the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information presented on its website, including without limitation any representation as to the ownership, price, genuineness, origin, condition or other factual statement about any product or service referenced on the ValueStar website. The website may contain views, reviews, opinions, summaries, suggestions and recommendations with regard to a variety of products or services. ValueStar does not endorse or approve any such views, reviews, opinions, summaries, suggestions and recommendations made by third parties. ValueStar does not endorse or advocate the purchase of any particular product or service except as expressly stated in these Terms and Conditions.
   
   
3. You understand that ValueStar does not have control over the content of any other website, including without limitation any website that links directly to ValueStar or which is accessible via a link directly from the ValueStar website.
   
   
4. The ValueStar Service is provided to help you make your buying decisions and is not provided for any other purpose. No one may, without ValueStar's prior written consent:
   • use any spiders, robots, scripts or any other automated means to collect any information from the site or
   • frame the site, place pop—up windows over our pages, otherwise affect the display of our pages or the information contained therein or collect the data to build a database or mailing list.

III. Ratings Points

A ValueStar Consumer has the opportunity to participate in points, rewards, or other promotional programs offered by ValueStar or its affiliates. You should review the terms and conditions of any specific program at the time it is offered prior to registering for it. ValueStar benefits such as points and rewards programs shall be awarded on the basis of verifiable transactions with ValueStar Customer—Rated Service Providers. ValueStar reserves the right to cancel such programs or modify the terms and conditions related to such programs in its sole discretion. ValueStar attempts to verify transactions without requiring a ValueStar Consumer to submit documentation. However, ValueStar reserves the right to request that a ValueStar Consumer submit proof of a transaction prior to the awarding of any benefit, including rewards and points, and failure to submit such proof may result in the denial of any or all ValueStar benefits related to the transaction.

IV. Consumer Comments

1. If you rate a service provider and, in addition, provide comments, your comments, but not your name or other personally identifiable information, will be displayed on the website. Your act of posting a comment grants ValueStar a non—exclusive, royalty free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, and/or distribute your comment. You acknowledge that:
   • your comments are subject to applicable state and federal laws, including libel and defamation,
   • if you knowingly post false or misleading statements about a business or person, you may be subject to legal action from that person or business, and
   • you will be solely responsible for such actions or damages. ValueStar will not be responsible for any such actions or damages.
   
   
2. ValueStar reserves the right to:
   • verify comments before publication,
   • not display false, defamatory or libelous comments (or remove such comments if they have been displayed), or
   • take such other action as may be necessary to protect ValueStar from loss relating to your comments.
   
   
3. In order to protect ValueStar in the event of legal process, and to demonstrate that comments have in fact been made, comments will be stored along with the identity of the party making the comment. However, such identifying material will not be disclosed without permission unless deemed necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, governmental demands or other legal process. In the event of any legal action seeking the identity of any person making comments, a commercially reasonable effort will be made to contact the commenting party prior to any disclosure to give that party a chance to object to disclosure of any identifying information.

V. Privacy

ValueStar may monitor your use of the website, and may disclose any information and materials received from you or collected through your use of the website for any lawful reason or purpose. However, it will do so only in accordance with ValueStar's privacy policy.

VI. Trademark, Copyright and Intellectual Property Notices

The content of the ValueStar website is protected by U.S. and foreign intellectual property laws.

1. ValueStar owns all copyright in and to the content of the ValueStar website, including without limitation any text, graphic, software and/or code. The sale, publication, reproduction, modification, broadcast, transmission, posting and/or distribution of any content on the website is prohibited, provided that you may print or download selected portions of the website solely for your personal use.
   
2. VALUESTAR® and the ValueStar logo are registered marks and trademarks of ValueStar. All rights are reserved. You acknowledge ValueStar's exclusive rights to use its marks and agree not to display or use ValueStar's marks in any manner. Any use of any of ValueStar's marks, without the prior, express, written consent of ValueStar is prohibited.
   
3. Other names and marks referenced in the website are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. Unless otherwise instructed, any other use of the materials on this website is strictly prohibited.
   

VII. Consumer Benefits

1. Dispute Resolution. Eligible ValueStar Consumers may contact ValueStar to attempt to resolve problems arising out of a "qualified transaction" anytime within three (3) months after the transaction date. A "qualified transaction" is a transaction by a ValueStar Consumer with a ValueStar Customer—Rated Service Provider. An "Eligible ValueStar Consumer" is a consumer who has (i) registered with ValueStar no later than 3 days after the transaction for which mediation is being sought and (ii) has submitted a rating to ValueStar regarding the qualified transaction he or she wishes to have mediated within ninety (90) days of the qualified transaction. If the Eligible ValueStar Consumer's efforts to resolve the problem with the Customer—Rated Service Provider have been unsuccessful, the Eligible ValueStar Consumer may make a dispute resolution request via ValueStar's designated toll free phone number, designated fax number, online dispute resolution request form or mail to such address as ValueStar may specify for such purposes. ValueStar will acknowledge its receipt of the request within three (3) business days after receipt of the information necessary to begin the resolution process. ValueStar will then contact the ValueStar Customer—Rated merchant and attempt to mediate a resolution that the ValueStar Consumer finds acceptable.
   
   
2. Satisfaction Guarantee. If, after good faith participation in the dispute resolution process described above and at least ten (10) business days after the date of ValueStar's acknowledgement of the start of the process, the Eligible ValueStar Consumer does not believe an acceptable solution has been reached, the ValueStar Consumer should promptly notify ValueStar of the situation. If ValueStar, in its sole discretion, determines that the dispute has not been resolved, ValueStar shall issue a credit to such Eligible ValueStar Consumer on his or her credit card or will forward to such Eligible ValueStar Consumer a check. The amount of the credit or check will be the amount of the transaction, which ValueStar, in its sole discretion, determines remains in dispute, after the application of all credits and refunds by the Customer—Rated Service Provider up to a maximum amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000). In the event the Eligible ValueStar Consumer is not available to, or does not respond to ValueStar's customer care staff, the foregoing periods for resolution of issues and disbursement of the credit shall be extended on a day by day basis.

VIII. Disclaimer Of Warranties

1. You understand and agree that the VALUESTAR WEBSITE AND INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND INFORMATION IS AT YOUR SOLE DISCRETION AND RISK. ValueStar expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non—infringement except as expressly contained in these Terms and Conditions.
   
2. VALUESTAR DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR ANY HARM OR ALLEGED HARM RESULTING FROM ANY CONTENT OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT PROVIDED ON THE VALUESTAR WEBSITE.
   
3. Downloading or otherwise accessing information and material is done at your own discretion and risk. You are solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from downloading of or otherwise accessing any such material or information.
   
4. VALUESTAR DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE WEBSITE AND INFORMATION. VALUESTAR MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE VALUESTAR WEBSITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS OR THAT IT WILL BE ERROR—FREE. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, VALUESTAR MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE CONTENT, INFORMATION, MATERIALS OR PRODUCTS OBTAINED THROUGH THE VALUESTAR WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE OR AVAILABLE.
   
5. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from ValueStar or your use of the website shall create any warranty not expressly stated in the Terms and Conditions.
   
6. You understand that ValueStar does not do background checks on individuals, whether employees or owners, of a rated business, and bears no responsibility for the actions of such individuals or businesses.
   
7. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties. In such jurisdictions, the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they concern such warranties.

IX. Limitation of Liability

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT VALUESTAR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER CHARACTERIZED AS DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF VALUESTAR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY MATTER RELATING TO USE OF VALUESTAR WEBSITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED, OBTAINED OR RECEIVED THROUGH THE USE OF THE VALUESTAR WEBSITE.

The Parties acknowledge and agree that the disclaimers, exclusions and limitations of liability set forth in Sections VIII and IX form an essential basis of these Terms and Conditions, and that, absent any of such disclaimers, exclusions or limitations of liability, these Terms and Conditions, including, without limitation, the economic terms, would be substantially different.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for certain damages, including incidental or consequential damages. In such jurisdictions, the foregoing limitations may not apply to you insofar as they concern such damages.

X. Termination of Service

ValueStar may terminate your use of the ValueStar Service at any time and for any reason and may delete any and all communications, postings, or other content placed on the website by you, without notice, for conduct violating these Terms and Conditions or other restriction on use contained on other pages of this site. ValueStar also may decline to offer services to you in the event that you decline to permit ValueStar to disclose your information as ValueStar deems necessary to provide our services to you. Please see the Privacy Policy for more details on the use of information.

XI. Indemnification

By accessing or using the ValueStar website, you agree to indemnify ValueStar, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, co—branders and other partners, and hold them harmless from any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from your use of or connection to the ValueStar website, or arising out of content you upload, email, submit, post or transmit to or from the ValueStar website, or arising from your violation of the Terms and Conditions, or arising from your violation of any rights of another. The Terms and Conditions will inure to the benefit of ValueStar's successors, assigns and licensees.

XII. Complete Agreement

These Terms and Conditions constitute the only and complete agreement between ValueStar and you.

XIII. Attorney Fees/Venue

In the event of commencement of a lawsuit by either party to enforce the provisions of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to receive attorney's fees and costs in addition to any other relief granted. Venue for any suit arising out of this contract shall be proper only in Montgomery County, Maryland. The laws of the State of Maryland, excluding those laws allowing the choice of the laws of another state, shall apply to this contract.

XIV. No Waiver

The failure of ValueStar to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms and Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the ValueStar Service or the Terms and Conditions must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

XV. Miscellaneous

Any reference herein to ValueStar shall also include ValueStar's parent and subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, investors, business partners and co—branders.

Headings. The section titles in the Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Governing Law. THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE GOVERNED BY AND INTERPRETED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND, WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICTS OF LAW PRINCIPLES THEREOF. FOR PURPOSES OF ALL CLAIMS BROUGHT UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, EACH OF THE PARTIES HEREBY IRREVOCABLY SUBMITS TO THE NON—EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS LOCATED IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND.

Assignment or Transfer. You may not assign, transfer, or sublicense your rights or delegate your duties under these Terms and Conditions without the prior written consent of ValueStar. Any attempted assignment or delegation will be null, void, and of no effect.

No Third Party Beneficiaries. The parties to these Terms and Conditions acknowledge that the covenants set forth in these Terms and Conditions are intended solely for the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns. Nothing herein, whether express or implied, will confer upon any person or entity, other than the parties, their successors and permitted assigns, any legal or equitable right whatsoever to enforce any provision of these Terms and Conditions.

Severability. In the event that any term or provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be held to be invalid, void or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Terms and Conditions shall not be affected, and each such term and provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Entire Agreement. These Terms and Conditions contain the entire understanding between them with respect to the subject matter of these Terms and Conditions. The express terms of these Terms and Conditions control and supersede any course of performance and/or usage of trade inconsistent with any of these Terms and Conditions.

Force Majeure. Both parties hereto shall be excused from performance hereunder for any period and to the extent that it is prevented from performing any services pursuant hereto, in whole or in part, as a result of delays caused by the other party or an act of God, war, civil disturbance, court order, governmental action, laws, orders, regulations, directions or requests, or as a result of events such as acts of public enemies, earthquakes, fires, floods, strikes or other labor disturbances of the other party or any third party, or other cause beyond its reasonable control and which it could not have prevented by reasonable precautions, and such nonperformance shall not be a default hereunder or a ground for termination hereof.

Survival. This entire Section XV shall survive termination or expiration of these Terms and Conditions.