Terms of Use

Last updated: [DATE — fill in on publish]. These Terms govern your use of Connect Inland Empire ("Connect IE," "we," "us"), a beta, IE-only marketplace connecting residents of the Inland Empire with local service providers across Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Riverside, Redlands, Corona, Moreno Valley, Yucaipa, Temecula, and Victorville. By using the site, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

Contents

• 1. Who we are & what the service is
• 2. Eligibility & accounts
• 3. We are not a party to your service
• 4. Provider responsibilities
• 5. Reviews & community content
• 6. Badges & verification claims
• 7. Pricing & beta terms
• 8. Prohibited conduct
• 9. Content ownership & license
• 10. Disclaimers & limitation of liability
• 11. Indemnification
• 12. Suspension & termination
• 13. Governing law & disputes
• 14. Changes to these Terms
• 15. Contact

1. Who we are & what the service is

Connect IE is a directory and community-review platform. We help residents find local service providers and help providers get discovered — we do not perform, supervise, or guarantee any service booked or performed as a result of using the site. Connect Inland Empire is currently operated as a sole proprietorship doing business as "Connect Inland Empire" (a fictitious business name, not a corporation or LLC) in the State of California. [FOUNDER NOTE: update this paragraph to name the LLC or corporation once you incorporate — and note that under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17910.5, "Inc.," "Corp.," "Incorporated," or "LLC" cannot appear in the business name until that entity is actually on file with the Secretary of State.]

2. Eligibility & accounts

• You must be 18 or older to create a provider listing or submit a review.
• You must reside in, or operate a business serving, the Inland Empire coverage area.
• Information you provide (business details, license numbers, contact info) must be accurate and kept up to date.
• We may refuse, suspend, or remove any account or listing at our discretion, including for violations of these Terms.

3. We are not a party to your service

Connect IE is a venue for residents and providers to find each other — nothing more. Any agreement to perform work, any price quoted, and any work performed is strictly between the resident and the provider. We are not a party to that agreement, we do not employ providers, and we do not supervise, inspect, or control the quality, safety, timing, or legality of any service performed. Disputes over the service itself (quality, pricing, scheduling, damage, injury) are between the resident and the provider — not with Connect IE.

4. Provider responsibilities

• You are solely responsible for holding any license, permit, certification, or insurance required by law to perform your listed service in your operating city/county.
• You represent that all information on your listing (licensing, credentials, pricing, service area) is truthful and current.
• You are responsible for your own tax, employment, and business-compliance obligations. Nothing here creates an employment, agency, or partnership relationship between you and Connect IE.

5. Reviews & community content

Reviews must be honest, first-hand accounts from someone who actually used the provider's service. We prohibit incentivized, purchased, swapped, or fabricated reviews in either direction.

How ratings work

Both residents and providers rate each other across five factors on a simple 1–5 scale. The five factor scores are averaged into a single overall rating. Individual ratings and any written feedback are not shown publicly — other users see only the resulting average score, not the underlying factor breakdown or comments. We use a multi-factor methodology behind the scenes specifically so the resulting average reflects a considered assessment rather than a single impulsive star rating, which helps prevent exaggerated or low-effort reviews from swinging a business's or resident's reputation.

Resident → Provider ratings

Residents rate providers across five factors: punctuality, communication, quality of work, price/value (whether the service delivered matched what was paid for — not simply whether it was the cheapest option), and professionalism — plus an optional written comment (kept private) and up to 3 photos (see Section 9 for photo requirements).

Provider → Resident ratings

Providers rate residents across five factors: clear communication (did the resident specify what they needed?), payment reliability (did they pay as agreed, by the agreed method, without delay?), fair expectations (did the resident clearly describe the actual scope of the request — for example, "fix" versus "replace" — so the service could be rendered properly?), punctuality & readiness (was the resident available at the booked time, without repeated cancellations?), and courtesy & cooperation (did the resident assist the provider where needed — for example, providing access to a gate, garage, or breaker panel?) — plus a simple "would you recommend this resident to other providers?" yes/no, and an optional written comment (kept private).

Anyone can flag a rating that looks fake, abusive, or fabricated. In beta, our team reviews flags directly rather than through an automated system. We may remove a rating that violates these Terms or the law. See Community Guidelines for the plain-language version.

6. Badges & verification claims

Connect IE does not currently operate any independent provider review, inspection, or background-check program. Provider trust signals on the site today come entirely from resident and provider reviews, not from any Connect IE assessment. Any badge or label shown on a listing (for example, a license lookup or ID confirmation) reflects only the specific, narrow fact it describes as of the date it was checked — it is not an endorsement of the provider's overall quality, safety, or conduct, and it does not guarantee future performance. A more formal review or inspection badge program is planned for a later update and is not available today; details are subject to change before launch. [FOUNDER NOTE: keep this section in sync with whatever badge language is actually live on the site — see the copy audit across index.html, about.html, safety-tips.html, how-verification-works.html, and provider_profile.html.]

7. Pricing & beta terms

The service is free during beta for both residents and providers. We take no commission on any transaction during beta. Any future paid feature (for example, an optional badge or premium listing) will be clearly priced and disclosed before you're charged — nothing is billed automatically without your active sign-up.

8. Prohibited conduct

• Posting false, defamatory, harassing, or discriminatory content.
• Misrepresenting your identity, licensing, or credentials.
• Buying, selling, trading, or otherwise incentivizing reviews.
• Scraping the site or using it for any unlawful purpose.
• Uploading images you don't have the right to share, or that depict people without their consent.

9. Content ownership & license

You keep ownership of any review, photo, or listing content you submit. By posting it, you grant Connect IE a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, reproduce, and distribute that content on the site and in related promotional materials, for as long as your content remains posted. You will not be paid or otherwise compensated for this use, now or in the future. Connect IE does not own your images, makes no warranty about their accuracy or authenticity, and is not responsible for verifying that a submitted photo genuinely depicts the work or person described — you are solely responsible for the accuracy of any image you upload, and any false or misleading image is your responsibility, not ours. The Connect IE name, logo, and site design are our property and may not be used without permission.

Photo requirements

• Up to 3 photos per review.
• Maximum file size 10 MB per photo; maximum dimensions 4000 × 4000 pixels. Larger images will be resized or rejected. [FOUNDER NOTE: these are reasonable starting defaults — adjust to whatever your Supabase storage/CDN setup actually supports.]
• Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP.

AI-generated or AI-enhanced images

If a photo has been generated or materially enhanced using AI (for example, to remove clutter, brighten a dark photo, or generate an illustrative image rather than an actual photo of the completed work), you must disclose this at the time of upload. Disclosed images will display an "AI" tag so anyone viewing the review knows the image was AI-generated or AI-enhanced. Submitting an AI-generated or AI-enhanced image without disclosing it is a violation of these Terms.

10. Disclaimers & limitation of liability

The site and all listings are provided "as is," without warranty of any kind. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any listing, the availability of any provider, or the outcome of any service booked through the site. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Connect IE's total liability for any claim arising from your use of the site is limited to the greater of $100 or the amount (if any) you paid Connect IE in the 12 months before the claim arose. This limitation does not apply to fraud, willful injury to a person, or violations of law, which cannot be limited by contract under California Civil Code §1668 regardless of the dollar figure stated here. [FOUNDER NOTE: $100 is a placeholder reflecting that the service is free during beta — revisit the number once paid features exist, but the §1668 carve-out stays regardless of what number you choose.]

11. Indemnification

You agree to defend and hold Connect IE harmless from any claim arising out of your use of the site, your content, your service listing, or your violation of these Terms.

12. Suspension & termination

We may suspend or remove any listing, review, or account at any time, with or without notice, for violating these Terms, the law, or for content we determine in good faith is harmful to the community. You may delete your own listing or account at any time — see Data Deletion.

13. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California.

Step 1 — Informal resolution. Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at legal@connectinlandempire.com and give us 30 days to resolve the dispute informally.

Step 2 — Mediation. If informal resolution fails, the dispute will first go to non-binding mediation before a neutral, independent mediator [FOUNDER NOTE: name a specific service here, e.g. a JAMS or American Arbitration Association mediator, rather than "of Connect IE's choosing" — a company-selected neutral is one of the most common reasons California courts strike these clauses down as unconscionable]. Connect IE will pay the mediator's fees.

Step 3 — Binding arbitration. If mediation does not resolve the dispute, it will be settled by binding arbitration administered by [FOUNDER NOTE: name the same or a comparable neutral provider], rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court instead if it qualifies. The arbitrator must be independent and neutral — not selected unilaterally by either party. Connect IE will pay all arbitration fees and costs that are unique to arbitration, so that you pay no more than you would to file a claim in court.

Class action waiver. Disputes must be brought individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative proceeding.

Venue. Regardless of where you live or where the dispute arose, any arbitration hearing will be held in San Bernardino County, California (or conducted remotely by mutual agreement), and any matter that proceeds in court — including small claims, confirming or enforcing an arbitration award, or emergency injunctive relief — will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Bernardino County, California. You consent to personal jurisdiction there. [FOUNDER NOTE: this stays valid as the site expands to other states, since it's based on where the company is domiciled, not where users log in from — just revisit it if you ever incorporate outside California.]

[FOUNDER NOTE: I structured this with a neutral third-party provider and no cost-shifting to you (as claimant would read it, or to the claimant against you) deliberately — arbitration clauses that let the drafting party pick the arbitrator or shift arbitration-specific costs onto the other side are the single most common reason California courts refuse to enforce them (Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, 24 Cal.4th 83 (2000)). The class-action waiver is generally enforceable under AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (2011), which held the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state rules invalidating them — but confirm the final wording with your own counsel before publishing, especially the choice of arbitration provider and fee allocation.]

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the platform evolves — especially as we build out backend features, paid tiers, or a formal verification program. We'll update the date at the top of this page when we do. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms: legal@connectinlandempire.com. For everything else, see Contact.