Terms of Service

Our services

We offer:

• AI phone receptionists (answering services) that answer calls for your business, answer common questions, take messages, request or book appointments, transfer calls and send you call summaries.
• Website chatbots, either scripted (button-driven answers you approve) or AI-powered, that answer visitor questions and capture leads.
• Restaurant specials boards placed in local restaurants that carry printed ads for local advertisers, sold as yearly placements.

The exact features, setup work, included minutes or conversations, and timeline for your service are described on our website, our price sheet and your quote. We may improve or change how our services work over time, and we'll tell you in advance about any change that materially reduces what you're paying for.

Our services rely on third-party technology providers (for example, for voice AI, phone service, hosting and email). Those providers can have outages or change their products, which may affect our services. We'll work to keep things running and tell you about significant problems.

Quotes, pricing and billing

• Quotes. Prices are listed on our website and price sheet in U.S. dollars. A written quote is valid for the period it states (our price sheet prices are valid 30 days from issue). Custom work is quoted separately.
• Setup fees are due at kickoff, before we start building. Monthly fees are billed in advance. If you choose annual billing, the discount shown on our website or quote applies.
• Usage. AI receptionist plans include a set number of minutes of AI talk time. Minutes beyond your plan are billed at the per-minute rate for your plan. AI chatbot plans include a fair-use number of conversations, and higher volume is quoted. We'll try to alert you before you reach your limit, and you can change plans at any time.
• Taxes and third-party costs. Prices don't include taxes, if any. Third-party software you choose to connect (such as booking or CRM tools) is billed to you by that provider.
• Late payment. If a payment is late, we may pause your service after giving you notice, until the balance is paid.
• Promotions. Promotional offers, such as our Founding Client Offer, are limited, apply only as described on our website or in your quote, and can't be combined with other offers unless we say so in writing.

Term, cancellation and refunds

• Starter term. AI receptionist and chatbot plans start with the starter term shown on our website and in your quote (currently 3 months). After that, service continues month to month.
• Cancelling. After the starter term, you can cancel at any time by emailing us at info@topmethods.com before your next billing date. Your service keeps running through the end of the period you've already paid for, and you won't be billed again.
• Refunds. Unless your quote or a written agreement says otherwise, setup fees cover work that starts right away and are not refundable once work has begun, and monthly or annual fees already paid are not refunded for unused time. If something went wrong on our end, contact us and we'll work with you to make it right.
• Your number and data. If you cancel, we'll help you turn off call forwarding to our receptionist. On request, we'll provide your call summaries and lead information that we still have before we delete them.
• Our right to end service. We may suspend or end a service if you seriously or repeatedly break these Terms, use the service illegally, or don't pay after notice.

Your responsibilities as a client

When we set up a receptionist or chatbot for your business, you agree to:

• Handle call-recording consent and compliance. Our receptionist can record and transcribe calls. You're responsible for making sure recording, transcription and AI answering are lawful wherever you use them, including giving any notices and getting any consent that federal, state or local law requires. Some states require every party on a call to consent to recording. We include a recording notice in the greeting by default; don't ask us to remove it unless you've confirmed that's lawful for you.
• Handle consent for texts and follow-up calls. If you have the service send texts or make follow-up contact, you're responsible for having any permission the law requires (for example, under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act).
• Give us accurate information. You're responsible for the accuracy of the information we train the service on, such as your services, hours, prices and policies, and for telling us when it changes.
• Review and approve. You'll test the receptionist or chatbot and approve it before it goes live, and let us know about any answer you want changed.
• Protect sensitive information. Don't use our standard services to collect health information covered by HIPAA, payment card numbers, Social Security numbers or similar sensitive data. Healthcare practices need a HIPAA-compliant setup that we quote and agree to separately in writing.
• Have your own privacy policy. You're responsible for telling your own customers how you use the information our services collect for you.
• Use the services lawfully. Don't use our services for spam, robocalling, harassment, deception, or anything illegal.

Information about your customers that our services collect for you belongs to you. We use it only to provide the service to you, as described in our Privacy Policy.

AI accuracy and limits

AI receptionists and chatbots are useful, but they aren't perfect. Please understand that:

• The AI can misunderstand a caller, mishear a name or number, give an incomplete or wrong answer, or make a mistake when booking. Transcripts and summaries are generated automatically and may contain errors.
• Answers are based on the information you give us. The service isn't professional advice (legal, medical, financial or otherwise) and shouldn't be relied on as such.
• The service is not an emergency service. It can't call 911 or dispatch help. Anyone with an emergency should hang up and call 911.
• Call transfers, texts, emails and bookings depend on phone carriers, internet services and third-party software, and may sometimes be delayed or fail.

You should review call summaries and important bookings, and follow up with callers directly when something matters. We'll fix problems you report as quickly as we reasonably can.

Restaurant specials board advertising

• Yearly placement. Ad space on our restaurant specials boards is sold as a yearly placement. Ads are custom printed on the board, and new boards are produced each year. The location, ad size and position, price and start date for your placement are set out in your quote or order.
• Ad content and approval. You provide your business name, logo, text and any artwork, or approve artwork we create for you. You confirm you have the right to use everything you provide, and you allow us to print and display it on the board and to show the board in our own marketing. We'll send you a proof to approve before printing. We and the host restaurant may decline ad content that is misleading, offensive, unlawful, or that competes with the host restaurant.
• Changes after printing. Because ads are printed for the year, changes after you approve the proof may not be possible until the next yearly board, or may cost extra.
• No guarantee of results. We don't guarantee any number of views, customers, calls or sales from an ad placement.
• Host locations. Boards are displayed at independent restaurants that we don't control. If a host location closes or removes a board during your placement year, we'll contact you to work out a fair solution, such as moving your ad to another board.

Using our website

You may use our website to learn about our services and contact us. Please don't misuse it, for example by trying to break its security, overload it, or submit false or spam requests. The website, our logo and our content belong to Top Methods Marketing. Links to other websites are provided for convenience, and we aren't responsible for their content.

Disclaimer of warranties

We'll provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, our website and services are provided "as is" and "as available," without other warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don't promise the services will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that they will produce any particular business result.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows:

• Top Methods Marketing won't be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business, missed calls or lost data, even if we were told they were possible.
• Our total liability for any claim relating to our website or services is limited to the amount you paid us for the service involved in the 12 months before the claim arose.

Some laws don't allow certain limits on liability, so some of these limits may not apply to you.

Indemnification

If a third party makes a claim against us because of the content or information you provided, your use of our services in violation of these Terms or the law (including call-recording, consent or texting laws), or your ad content, you agree to cover our reasonable costs and losses from that claim.

Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If we have a disagreement, let's first try to resolve it informally: email us and we'll work with you in good faith. If that doesn't work, any legal action must be brought in the state or federal courts located in Guilford County, North Carolina, and both parties agree to those courts' jurisdiction.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page, and for meaningful changes we'll let current clients know by email. If you keep using our website or services after a change takes effect, the updated Terms apply. If any part of these Terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.

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