Terms of Service

The service

RootTend helps independent garden centers track plant guarantees on what their customers buy, manage guarantee claims, and send weather alerts and lifecycle emails (care tips, seasonal reminders, review requests, and similar). We provide the software and the infrastructure that runs it; you decide the guarantee terms you offer, the alert and email rules you turn on, and how you handle each claim.

Accounts

• You must provide accurate information when creating an account and keep your login credentials confidential.
• You're responsible for activity under your account, including staff members you invite to your team.
• You must be authorized to act on behalf of the garden center you're signing up.

Subscriptions & billing

• Paid plans are billed through Stripe on the cadence shown at signup (monthly or annual). RootTend never sees your full card number.
• An Admin can close the account anytime from Settings. That stops future billing but doesn't refund the current billing period, except for the season guarantee and a material change to these terms, both described below. You can sign back in for 30 days and keep the account.
• We may change plan pricing going forward — we'll give notice before a price change affects an existing subscription.
• Failed payments may result in a grace period followed by suspension of dashboard access until billing is resolved; customer-facing guarantee data isn't deleted during a billing suspension.

Season guarantee

If your subscription starts on or before June 1, 2027, and you email support@roottend.com by that date to say RootTend has not paid for itself, we will refund every subscription charge you have paid since signup. You decide whether it paid for itself. There is no form and no review. This refund covers RootTend subscription charges only. It does not cover refunds you make to your own customers under your plant guarantee. After June 1, 2027, closing an account stops future billing and does not refund the current billing period.

Your guarantee program & customer data

The guarantee terms you offer, and whether to honor a specific claim, are your decisions — RootTend tracks and helps you manage the process, but we're not a party to the guarantee itself. You're responsible for having the right to collect and use the customer information (names, emails, phone numbers, purchase details) you or your customers enter into RootTend, and for how you represent the guarantee to your customers. Sending weather alerts and other customer emails through RootTend needs to follow applicable law (for example, honoring unsubscribe requests, which RootTend handles automatically once a customer opts out).

Customer data and our role

For customer data you enter or collect through RootTend, you are the controller and RootTend is your processor and service provider. We will: process customer data only on your documented instructions and to provide the service; not sell or share it, and not retain, use or disclose it for any purpose other than performing the service or as permitted by applicable law; require confidentiality of personnel with access; assist you in responding to data-subject requests; maintain the security measures described in our Privacy Policy; and delete or return customer data on termination as described in these Terms. A list of subprocessors is in our Privacy Policy. Before a new vendor begins handling customer data, we will name it on that list and email the address on the account at least thirty (30) days beforehand. If a vendor was already handling data when it is first named, the date it is first named on the Privacy Policy starts those thirty days, and the vendor continues unless you close the account before the period ends.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use RootTend to send spam, unlawful marketing, or messages to people who haven't opted in or have unsubscribed.
• Attempt to access another garden center's data, or probe, scan, or interfere with the platform's security.
• Use the service for anything illegal, or upload content you don't have the right to use.
• Resell or white-label RootTend without a separate agreement with us.

Service availability

We work to keep RootTend available and reliable, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted access — the service is provided "as is" and "as available." Scheduled emails and weather alerts depend on third-party providers (Resend, the National Weather Service) that are outside our direct control; we're not liable for delays or failures caused by those providers being unavailable.

Limitation of liability

Exclusion. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, or lost or corrupted data, whether or not advised of the possibility.

Cap. Each party's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms will not exceed the amounts paid or payable by you to RootTend in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Exceptions. The cap does not apply to your payment obligations, either party's indemnification obligations, or liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

Indemnification

By you. You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless RootTend from any third-party claim arising out of (a) customer data you upload or collect, including any claim that you lacked consent or the right to contact a recipient; (b) the guarantee terms you offer or your handling of any claim; or (c) your breach of these Terms or of applicable law, including the TCPA and CAN-SPAM. We will notify you promptly, give you control of the defence, and cooperate at your expense.

By RootTend. We will defend, indemnify and hold harmless your garden center from any third-party claim that RootTend itself — the software and the content we supply — infringes that party's intellectual property rights. This does not cover any claim arising from customer data or other content you supply, from your guarantee terms or marketing copy, or from use of RootTend in combination with something we did not provide or in a way these Terms do not permit. You will notify us promptly, give us control of the defence, and cooperate at our expense. If such a claim is made, we may at our option obtain the right for you to keep using the affected part of the service, modify it so that it is no longer infringing, or terminate the affected subscription and refund prepaid fees covering the period after termination.

Termination

You can close your account anytime from Settings (Admin). We may suspend or terminate an account that violates these terms, has an unresolved billing issue, or poses a security risk to the platform or other garden centers. When an account closes, we keep data for 30 days so the garden center can sign in and restore the account, or request an export, then delete customer and staff records from the live database. Backup copies can remain after that deletion. Billing identifiers we must retain for tax or accounting are kept either way — the same retention approach described in our Privacy Policy.

Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms. For changes that materially reduce your rights or increase your obligations, we will give at least thirty (30) days' notice to the email on the account before they take effect. If you do not agree, you may terminate before the effective date and we will refund any prepaid fees covering the period after termination. Other changes take effect when posted. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the change.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Each party irrevocably consents to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois, and waives any objection based on inconvenient forum.

Contact us

Questions about these terms can go to support@roottend.com.