Shops OS Terms & Privacy

These Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (the "Terms") are a binding legal agreement between Shops OS and the person or business that accesses or uses the application ("you" or the "Shop"). By creating an account, accepting these Terms, purchasing a subscription, or using Shops OS, you agree to these Terms on behalf of yourself and the business you represent. If you do not agree, do not access or use Shops OS.

1. Using Shops OS

You may use Shops OS only if you can legally enter into this agreement for yourself or the business you represent. You are responsible for making sure the shop account information is accurate, your users are authorized, and the app is used for lawful automotive shop, repair, estimating, invoicing, parts, supplier, and business-management purposes.

• Keep account credentials private and notify Shops OS if you believe an account was accessed without permission.
• Use accurate shop, customer, vehicle, tax, labor, invoice, payment, and supplier information.
• Only upload, enter, or send information you have permission to use.
• Review estimates, work orders, invoices, payment requests, AI output, supplier results, and labor guidance before relying on them.

1A. Limited License and Ownership

Subject to these Terms and payment of applicable fees, Shops OS grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to use the app for your internal business operations. Shops OS and its licensors retain all rights in the software, design, branding, workflows, documentation, databases, and other platform materials. You may not copy, resell, lease, sublicense, reverse engineer, circumvent security or plan controls, extract source code, create derivative works, or use the service to build or train a competing product except to the limited extent such a restriction is prohibited by law.

1B. Shop Is Solely Responsible for Automotive Work

Shops OS is business-management software. It is not a repair facility, mechanic, engineer, parts seller, inspector, insurer, accountant, tax adviser, attorney, employer, staffing agency, payment processor, bank, or party to any agreement between a Shop and its customer, employee, supplier, or other provider. The Shop alone is responsible for diagnosis, repair procedures, vehicle safety, parts selection and fitment, labor, estimates, inspections, warranties, disclosures, customer authorization, regulatory compliance, and delivery of all goods and services. Shops OS does not supervise, approve, certify, or guarantee any Shop work.

You assume all risk arising from decisions made using app records, calculations, templates, reminders, status labels, reports, supplier data, labor guidance, AI output, or third-party information. You must independently inspect vehicles, verify information, follow manufacturer procedures, use qualified personnel, and comply with applicable safety, licensing, environmental, consumer-protection, employment, tax, and recordkeeping laws.

2. Plans, Demo Access, Billing, and Cancellation

Shops OS may offer demo access and paid plans such as Starter, Plus, and Platinum. Demo access is intended for trial use, setup, and evaluation. Paid plans unlock full workflows and premium features based on the package selected. Plan names, included features, prices, promotions, and limits may change as the product grows.

Subscription billing may be handled through Apple In-App Purchase on iPhone or iPad, or through an approved web billing provider where available. The shop authorizes recurring charges for the chosen plan until the subscription is cancelled or changed. Apple purchases are also governed by the Apple Media Services Terms. Sandbox and TestFlight subscriptions renew and expire on accelerated testing schedules and do not represent the duration of a production subscription. Unless required by law or provider policy, fees are non-refundable once a billing period starts.

Upgrades may take effect immediately and downgrades may be scheduled for the end of the current billing period, as shown before confirmation. Shops can manage Apple subscriptions through their Apple Account and other subscriptions through the available billing portal. Cancelling or changing a paid plan may remove or lock access to features, locations, employee seats, storage, ordering tools, exports, integrations, or additional photos that are not included in the resulting plan. Shops OS may preserve account data for a reasonable period so the shop can reactivate, export, or request deletion, subject to legal, payment, fraud-prevention, accounting, and backup needs.

2A. Plan Access, Sponsorships, and Endorsements

Feature access is determined by the shop's active plan and any valid sponsorship, endorsement, promotional, administrative, or contractual access granted to that shop. Starter, Plus, and Platinum may have different limits for storage, supplier ordering, locations, employee seats, exports, integrations, photos, reporting, and advanced tools. Configurable shop pricing and labor rates remain controlled by the shop owner. QuickBooks export and additional work-order photos may be limited to Platinum. Current plan details shown inside the app control if they conflict with older marketing descriptions.

Attempting to bypass a plan lock, seat limit, location limit, sponsorship restriction, or App Store purchase validation is prohibited. Losing access to a feature does not transfer ownership of shop data to Shops OS, but the shop may need to restore the qualifying plan before editing or creating records with that feature.

2B. Owners, Employees, Invite Codes, and Permissions

A shop owner may generate an employee code that allows another person to create an individual Shops OS account connected to that shop. Employee codes are confidential invitations and should be shared only with authorized workers. Each person must use their own account. The owner is responsible for deactivating former employees, managing available seats, and assigning appropriate permissions. Employee actions may be recorded under the employee's name for accountability.

Shop owners and authorized administrators may control which employees can view, create, or edit customers, vehicles, work orders, invoices, orders, settings, locations, and other shop records. Employees must follow the shop's instructions and may not use access for another shop or person. Shops OS may suspend an employee account or invitation when it appears compromised, inactive, unauthorized, or inconsistent with the shop's plan.

2C. Google, Apple, and Account Security

Shops OS may allow sign-in or signup through Google or Apple. The provider verifies the identity and may share a verified email address, provider account identifier, and name. Shops OS does not receive the user's Google or Apple password. If a verified social email matches an existing owner or employee account, Shops OS may connect that provider to the account. New social users must finish shop or employee setup and accept these terms.

Shops OS may use trusted-device identifiers, sessions, approximate city and state, IP address, device details, security logs, and risk signals to identify suspicious sign-ins. A login alert is not a guarantee that fraud was detected or prevented. Users must report unauthorized activity and secure their email, Apple, and Google accounts.

3. Shop and Customer Data

The shop keeps responsibility for its customer records, vehicle records, work orders, invoices, estimates, notes, uploaded files, approval links, parts records, and supplier records. Shops OS uses that data to run the service, keep records connected, provide support, protect the platform, and improve the app.

3A. Customer Portals, Approvals, and Communications

Shops may provide customers with public or signed links to request estimates, check active work-order status, review estimates or invoices, approve work, sign authorizations, and make payments. The shop is responsible for verifying customer contact information, deciding what records are shared, and honoring applicable consent, disclosure, recordkeeping, electronic-signature, privacy, and email laws. Customers must not use another person's link or contact information to access shop records.

3B. Notifications

Shops OS may send in-app, push, email, or security notifications about jobs, estimates, invoices, payments, supplier orders, account activity, and important service updates. Device notification permission can be changed in system settings. Marking or clearing an in-app notification removes it from the unread count for that account, but Shops OS may retain the underlying business or security event as part of the shop's records and audit history.

Shops OS does not sell shop customer records. Shops should not use Shops OS to store sensitive personal information that is not needed for the shop workflow, such as medical records, government secrets, unrelated financial documents, or full payment credentials.

4. Customer Payment Terms

Before paying an invoice through Shops OS, customers should review the invoice amount, shop name, vehicle or service details, deposit or balance due, taxes, fees, and any refund or cancellation expectations provided by the shop. By continuing to checkout, the customer confirms they are authorized to make the payment.

Shops OS is not the merchant of record for a Shop's automotive goods or services and does not determine whether a charge, deposit, refund, cancellation fee, tax, or invoice is valid. Any dispute about workmanship, promised services, vehicle condition, refunds, warranties, or customer authorization is between the Shop and customer. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Shops OS has no liability for chargebacks, reversals, holds, reserves, payout delays, fraud, unauthorized transactions, processor decisions, or losses in a connected account.

The shop is responsible for the invoice, service work, refund decisions, customer communication, tax treatment, chargeback response, and payout account. Shops OS may store limited payment records such as invoice IDs, payment link IDs, transaction IDs, payment status, payment amount, timestamps, provider messages, and webhook events so the invoice can update correctly.

5. Payments and Connected Providers

Shops OS may connect with payment processors, email providers, mapping tools, supplier websites, hosting providers, analytics tools, and other third-party services. Those providers may have their own terms, privacy policies, account requirements, fees, identity checks, fraud checks, tax forms, and availability limits.

Customer-payment features may include Stripe Connect, online invoice checkout, Tap to Pay on iPhone, external card readers, and connected payout accounts. Availability depends on device capability, region, provider approval, shop configuration, and the active plan. Shops must not use a shop-owned payment account to create prohibited self-payments or misuse assigned cards. Digital card funds and supplier payments must be used only for authorized shop purchases and linked records.

Shops OS does not guarantee that any connected provider will approve a shop, keep an account active, support every payment method, or provide uninterrupted service. If a provider is down or rejects a request, the related Shops OS feature may be delayed or unavailable.

5A. Platform-Paid Processing Fees

Accepting Stripe customer payments is optional. A Stripe merchant account is not required for a Shops OS subscription. Your existing Stripe connection is retained when you accept updated terms or save payment settings.

Shops OS pays Stripe processing fees on new customer invoice payments processed through the platform. Shops OS does not add a processing fee to the customer's invoice payment. Selecting a previously offered customer-paid fee preference does not enable customer surcharges.

The shop remains responsible for applicable account, refund, dispute, and negative-balance charges under its payment-provider agreement. Shops OS absorbs processing fees for new platform-processed invoice payments. Refunds return customer funds from the shop; cancellation does not automatically issue a refund.

Shops OS subscription prices cover Shops OS's own subscription-processing costs. Customer invoice payments and subscription charges are separate.

For any earlier payment that included a surcharge, historical payment records and applicable refund obligations remain unchanged.

Payment terms do not block account creation, sign-in, tutorials, or ordinary app use. Shops OS records the account, shop, terms version, and acceptance time. Acceptance does not authorize charging a customer without that customer's payment authorization.

6. Parts Search, Supplier Results, and Ordering

Parts search and supplier workflows may display live supplier data, saved catalog data, scraped or indexed result details, configurable part options, stock signals, prices, images, lead times, shipping notes, or supplier links. Supplier data can change quickly. Prices, stock, images, lead times, fitment, and availability must be verified before the shop quotes, orders, installs, or bills a customer.

Any purchase order, payment instruction, digital card use, shipping address, or supplier communication created through Shops OS is initiated and authorized by the Shop. Shops OS is not responsible for counterfeit, defective, delayed, recalled, incompatible, unavailable, incorrectly described, or improperly installed parts, or for supplier insolvency, shipping loss, customs, duties, taxes, warranties, returns, or refund decisions.

Shops OS is not the seller of third-party supplier products unless a separate written agreement says otherwise. The shop is responsible for final supplier selection, fitment confirmation, product safety, customer approval, tax treatment, warranty expectations, returns, and installation decisions.

7. Labor Help, Guides, and AI-Assisted Features

Labor Help, guide notes, AI assistant output, build-plan suggestions, part-package suggestions, supplier summaries, and similar features are decision-support tools. They are not official repair manuals, legal advice, tax advice, accounting advice, safety certification, or a guarantee that a procedure, estimate, part, labor time, or diagnosis is correct.

Shops must review all AI output and guide material before using it. Shops OS may send prompts, context, and relevant shop data to AI or automation providers when those features are used. Do not enter secrets or unrelated sensitive information into AI prompts.

8. Support and Administrative Access

If a shop requests help, Shops OS support may review account records, logs, invoices, work orders, payment connection status, supplier settings, and configuration needed to troubleshoot the issue. Support should only change data when needed to fix a problem, complete a shop request, protect the platform, investigate abuse, or comply with legal or payment processor requirements.

9. Acceptable Use

• Do not use Shops OS to commit fraud, send deceptive invoices, violate payment rules, or mislead customers.
• Do not attack, overload, scrape, reverse engineer, or bypass app security or plan restrictions.
• Do not upload malware, unlawful content, stolen data, or information you do not have permission to use.
• Do not use the app to harass people, violate privacy rights, or interfere with another shop or provider.

10. Privacy Policy

Shops OS collects and uses information to provide the app, protect accounts, support shops, process payments, improve features, and communicate with users. The table below summarizes the main data categories.

Cookies and Tracking

Required cookies keep users signed in, protect sessions, remember security settings, and operate the app. Optional preference, analytics, and marketing cookies may be used only based on the choices saved in the browser. Marketing tools may receive limited event and browser information to measure ads or reach similar audiences if marketing cookies are accepted.

Financial Provider Data and Sensitive Credentials

Stripe powers supported customer-payment features. Shops OS uses provider-hosted or provider-tokenized collection where available. Full card numbers, CVCs, bank usernames and passwords, SSNs, EINs, and dates of birth entered in those secure provider flows are not stored by Shops OS. Shops OS may store masked identifiers and operational records described in Section 5 so the correct shop can see status, balances, cards, transactions, and support information.

How Information Is Shared

Shops OS may share information with service providers that help run the app, including hosting, database, payment, email, analytics, AI, error logging, security, and support providers. Shops OS may also share information when required by law, to protect rights and safety, to investigate abuse, with a shop's direction, or during a business transfer such as a merger, financing, or sale of assets.

Shops OS does not sell shop customer records. Some privacy laws define certain advertising or analytics activity as "sharing." You can avoid optional marketing sharing by declining marketing cookies or clearing browser data and choosing a different cookie setting.

Retention and Deletion

Shops OS keeps information while an account is active and as needed for support, security, legal, payment, accounting, tax, fraud-prevention, backup, and business purposes. A shop may request deletion or export of account data. Some records may need to be retained when required for legal compliance, payment disputes, fraud prevention, backups, or legitimate business records.

Security

Shops OS uses administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect account and shop data. No online service is perfectly secure. Shops should use strong passwords, limit account access, review user permissions, and report suspected unauthorized activity quickly.

Your Privacy Choices

• Update shop profile and account information inside the app where settings are available.
• Change cookie choices by clearing browser data and selecting new consent options when prompted.
• Contact Shops OS to request access, correction, export, deletion, or review of account data.
• Use browser or device controls to limit cookies, tracking, or advertising identifiers.

11. Disclaimers and Limits

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SHOPS OS AND ALL CONTENT, OUTPUT, DATA, INTEGRATIONS, AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," "AS AVAILABLE," AND "WITH ALL FAULTS." SHOPS OS DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, AND OTHER WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, SECURITY, AVAILABILITY, AND RESULTS. SHOPS OS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETE, CURRENT, SECURE, OR SUITABLE FOR ANY REPAIR, VEHICLE, CUSTOMER, BUSINESS, PAYMENT, TAX, LEGAL, OR SAFETY DECISION.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SHOPS OS, ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, AND PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, RELIANCE, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OPPORTUNITY; VEHICLE DAMAGE; PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE ARISING FROM SHOP WORK; SUPPLIER OR EMPLOYEE CONDUCT; CUSTOMER CLAIMS; PAYMENT DISPUTES; SECURITY INCIDENTS CAUSED BY THE SHOP; OR INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF ACCESS, EVEN IF ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF SHOPS OS FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE SUBSCRIPTION FEES ACTUALLY PAID TO SHOPS OS BY THE CLAIMING SHOP DURING THE THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS. THESE LIMITS APPLY EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITS, SO ONLY THE LEGALLY PERMITTED PORTION WILL APPLY.

11A. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Shops OS and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, licensors, and providers from claims, demands, proceedings, liabilities, losses, judgments, penalties, fines, damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees arising out of or relating to: (a) your use or misuse of Shops OS; (b) your automotive goods or services; (c) diagnosis, repair, installation, inspection, vehicle operation, or safety decisions; (d) any customer, employee, supplier, tax, payment, privacy, data, or regulatory dispute; (e) content or records you enter, send, or expose through a link; (f) your violation of law, third-party rights, provider terms, or these Terms; or (g) fraud, negligence, willful misconduct, unauthorized account access, or acts and omissions by your owners, employees, contractors, customers, or agents. Shops OS may control the defense and settlement of a covered claim, and you will reasonably cooperate.

11B. Service Changes, Outages, and Force Majeure

Shops OS may modify, suspend, restrict, or discontinue any feature, integration, supplier, plan, or service at any time. Shops OS is not responsible for delay, failure, data unavailability, or interruption caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including internet or hosting failures, provider outages, cyberattacks, labor disputes, equipment failure, natural disasters, government action, war, terrorism, epidemic, fire, utility failure, App Store action, or supplier and payment-network interruption.

12. Termination

Shops may stop using Shops OS at any time. Shops OS may suspend or terminate access if a shop violates these terms, creates risk, fails to pay required fees, abuses the service, violates payment or supplier rules, or if continued access could harm Shops OS, customers, providers, or other users.

13. Changes to These Terms

Shops OS may update these Terms & Privacy rules as the product, providers, features, pricing, or legal requirements change. The latest version will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of Shops OS after an update means the shop accepts the updated terms.

13A. Apple App Terms

For the iOS or iPadOS app, the license is limited to Apple-branded products you own or control as permitted by the Apple Media Services Usage Rules. Apple is not responsible for maintenance, support, warranties, product claims, legal compliance, or intellectual-property claims relating to Shops OS. If the app fails to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple may refund the purchase price, if any, as required by its rules; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce the Apple-related provisions upon your acceptance. You must also comply with applicable third-party terms when using the app.

13B. General Legal Terms

These Terms, together with policies and provider terms expressly incorporated by reference, are the entire agreement regarding Shops OS and supersede prior statements about the service. If any provision is unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum lawful extent and the remainder will continue in effect. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without written consent; Shops OS may assign them in connection with a merger, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, or transfer of the service. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination, including ownership, payment obligations, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification, and general legal terms, will survive.

14. Contact

Questions about terms, privacy, account access, or data requests can be sent to support@shops-os.com.