Terms of Service

Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and South Florida Faves (“South Florida Faves,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) governing your access to and use of the South Florida Faves website, mobile application (including our progressive web app and native app builds), and related services (collectively, the “Service”). By accessing, browsing, creating an account, claiming a business listing, voting in our awards, subscribing to a paid plan, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, which are incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a business or other organization, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms, and “you” refers to that entity.

Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to create an account or purchase a subscription. The Service is intended for users located in the United States and is not directed to children. By using the Service you represent that you meet these requirements and that all information you provide is accurate and current.

Description of the service

South Florida Faves is a South Florida local-business directory and community platform. The Service may include, without limitation:

• Directory listings of local businesses, including ranked category pages, business detail pages, ratings, and contact information;
• Local news aggregated from third-party outlets, attributed and linked back to the original publisher (see the News aggregation disclaimer below);
• Events and community listings;
• Best-Of awards, including nomination, voting, and results features, with email and SMS notifications about voting, reminders, and results;
• Business tools such as listing claims, lead alerts, and analytics; and
• Paid subscription plans offering enhanced placement, features, and capabilities.

We may add, change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. Some features are offered through our dashboard at dashboard.soflofaves.com and may be subject to additional terms presented at the point of use.

Your account

Certain features require an account. You agree to provide accurate information, keep your login credentials confidential, and remain responsible for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at legal@soflofaves.com if you suspect unauthorized use. We may refuse, suspend, or terminate accounts at our discretion, including for violations of these Terms.

Business owner obligations

If you claim or manage a business listing, you additionally agree that:

• you are authorized to represent the business and to act on its behalf;
• all information you submit (hours, contact details, descriptions, photos, offers) is accurate, not misleading, and lawful, and you will keep it current;
• you hold all rights necessary to any logos, images, and content you upload, and you grant us the license described in “User content” below to display them;
• you will comply with all applicable advertising, consumer-protection, and industry-specific laws (including for regulated fields such as health, legal, and financial services); and
• you will not use the Service to post fake reviews, manipulate ratings or awards voting, or misrepresent your affiliation, endorsements, or credentials.

Acceptable use

You agree not to, and not to permit anyone to:

• violate any law or the rights of others, including intellectual-property, privacy, and publicity rights;
• submit content that is false, defamatory, harassing, hateful, obscene, or otherwise objectionable;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, or bulk-download data from the Service except as expressly permitted, or use the Service to build a competing database;
• upload malware, attempt to gain unauthorized access, probe or test the vulnerability of the Service, or interfere with its operation;
• misuse voting, referral, lead, or notification features (including automated or fraudulent votes, or sending unsolicited messages); or
• impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation.

Subscriptions, billing & refunds

Paid plans are billed through our third-party payment processor, Stripe, Inc. By purchasing a subscription you authorize us and Stripe to charge your chosen payment method for the plan fees, applicable taxes, and any recurring charges, using the payment details you provide. We do not store full card numbers; card data is handled by Stripe under its terms and PCI-DSS obligations.

Auto-renewal

Subscriptions renew automatically. Unless you cancel before the end of the current billing period, your plan will automatically renew for another period of the same length, and your payment method will be charged the then-current rate. We may change plan pricing or features on a going-forward basis; we will provide notice of material price changes before they take effect, and continued use after the change constitutes acceptance.

Cancellation

You may cancel auto-renewal at any time from your account dashboard or by emailing legal@soflofaves.com. Cancellation stops future renewals; it takes effect at the end of the current paid period, and you retain access to paid features until then.

Refunds

Except where required by law, fees are non-refundable, and we do not provide refunds or credits for partial periods, unused features, or downgrades. If you believe you were charged in error, contact us within 30 days and we will review the charge in good faith. Nothing in this section limits any non-waivable statutory rights you may have.

Free trials and promotions

If we offer a free trial or promotional rate, we will disclose its terms at sign-up. Unless stated otherwise, the plan converts to a paid, auto-renewing subscription at the end of the trial unless you cancel beforehand.

User content, reviews & votes

“User Content” means anything you submit to the Service, including reviews, ratings, comments, votes, photos, business descriptions, and event listings. You retain ownership of your User Content. By submitting it, you grant South Florida Faves a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate, display, and distribute that User Content in connection with operating, promoting, and improving the Service, across any media.

You represent that you own or have the necessary rights to your User Content and that it does not violate these Terms or any law. Reviews and ratings must reflect a genuine experience; we prohibit incentivized, fake, or conflicted reviews and reserve the right to remove, edit, or refuse any User Content and to withhold or invalidate votes we believe are fraudulent or manipulated. We are not obligated to monitor User Content but may do so.

News aggregation disclaimer

The Service aggregates and summarizes local news from third-party outlets. For each aggregated story we identify the original source and link to the publisher’s reporting. South Florida Faves is not the original publisher of aggregated news, does not claim ownership of the underlying reporting, and is not responsible for its accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Aggregated summaries may be rewritten or condensed and, where noted, prepared with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team. All trademarks and copyrights in the original reporting belong to their respective owners.

Aggregated content is provided on an “as is” basis for convenience and discovery. For the authoritative version of any story, please follow the attribution link to the original outlet. If you are a rights holder and believe content has been used improperly, see the Copyright / DMCA section below. A standalone Disclaimer page also describes these limitations.

Intellectual property

The Service, including its design, text, graphics, logos, the “South Florida Faves” name and marks, software, and the selection and arrangement of content, is owned by South Florida Faves or its licensors and is protected by intellectual-property laws. Except for User Content and third-party materials, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Service for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or create derivative works from the Service without our prior written permission.

Third-party links & services

The Service links to and integrates third-party websites and services, including business websites, news publishers, mapping providers, social-media platforms, and payment processors. We do not control and are not responsible for third-party content, products, or practices, and your use of them is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. Links and listings do not imply endorsement.

Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE, INCLUDING ALL DIRECTORY LISTINGS, RATINGS, AGGREGATED NEWS, EVENTS, AND AWARDS RESULTS, IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT LISTING, RATING, OR NEWS INFORMATION IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR CURRENT. YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, South Florida Faves AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) US $100. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless South Florida Faves and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to your use of the Service, your User Content, your business listing, or your violation of these Terms or any law or third-party right.

Copyright / DMCA agent

We respect intellectual-property rights and respond to notices of alleged infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent that includes: (1) your physical or electronic signature; (2) identification of the copyrighted work; (3) identification of the allegedly infringing material and its location (URL); (4) your contact information; (5) a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized; and (6) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and you are authorized to act.

Designated Copyright / DMCA Agent:
South Florida Faves
Email: legal@soflofaves.com
# TODO: confirm registered DMCA agent mailing address. We may remove allegedly infringing material and terminate repeat infringers.

Suspension & termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including violation of these Terms. You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including ownership, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnity, and dispute terms) will survive.

Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Palm Beach County, Florida, and you consent to their personal jurisdiction and venue, except where applicable law provides otherwise. # TODO: confirm governing county and whether arbitration/class-action-waiver terms should be added.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above and, for material changes, provide additional notice. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

How to contact us

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at legal@soflofaves.com.