Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using ChowSpots (the "Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms") and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform. These Terms apply to all visitors, registered users, and business owners who access or use any part of the Platform.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Platform. If you are under 18, you represent that you have your parent or guardian's permission. By using the Platform, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements.

3. User Accounts

• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account.
• You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep it up to date.
• You must notify us immediately at support@chowspots.com if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.
• We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

4. User Content

4.1 Your Content

You retain ownership of reviews, photos, and other content you post ("User Content"). By posting User Content, you grant ChowSpots a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence to use, reproduce, modify, display, and distribute your User Content in connection with operating and promoting the Platform.

4.2 Content Standards

You agree that your User Content will not:

• Be false, misleading, defamatory, or fraudulent.
• Violate any law or regulation, including privacy, intellectual property, or anti-spam laws.
• Contain hate speech, threats, harassment, or content that discriminates based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.
• Include personal information of others without their consent.
• Contain spam, commercial solicitations, or duplicate content.
• Be sexually explicit or violent.

4.3 Review Integrity

Reviews must reflect genuine first-hand experiences. Incentivised reviews (paid, traded, or coerced), reviews of your own business, and reviews of competitors for competitive purposes are prohibited and may be removed.

5. Business Listings

• Business owners may submit listings for free under our Free tier.
• You represent that you are authorised to list the business and that all information provided is accurate.
• All listings are subject to review and approval. We reserve the right to reject or remove any listing at our sole discretion.
• Paid plan features are subject to the plan terms displayed at checkout. Subscription fees are non-refundable unless required by law.

6. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

• Scrape, crawl, or harvest data from the Platform without our written consent.
• Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any regulations.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform or its infrastructure.
• Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Platform.
• Use automated scripts, bots, or other software to interact with the Platform in a way that could overburden our servers.
• Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Upload malicious code, viruses, or any destructive content.

7. Intellectual Property

The Platform and its original content (excluding User Content), features, and functionality are and will remain the exclusive property of ChowSpots and its licensors. Our trademarks and trade dress may not be used in connection with any product or service without our prior written consent.

8. Third-Party Services

The Platform may contain links to or integrate with third-party websites and services (including Google OAuth, Stripe, and mapping services). These third parties have their own privacy policies and terms. We are not responsible for their practices and encourage you to review them.

9. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses. User Content represents the views of individual users and not of ChowSpots. We do not endorse or verify the accuracy of any reviews or business information.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, ChowSpots shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Platform, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Our total liability to you shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) $100 USD.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ChowSpots and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Platform, your User Content, or your violation of these Terms.

12. Termination

We may terminate or suspend your account and access to the Platform at our sole discretion, without prior notice, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms or is harmful to other users, us, or third parties. You may delete your account at any time by contacting us. Termination does not affect any rights or obligations accrued before the termination date.

13. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Delaware.

14. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify registered users by email at least 14 days before material changes take effect. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. Contact