These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the design, development, and hosting services provided by GuideAhead Services LLC ("GuideAhead," "we," "us"). By accepting an invitation to our client portal, making a payment, or otherwise using our services, you agree to these Terms.

1. Services

GuideAhead provides website design, development, and hosting services (the "Services"). Services include:

Custom website design and development
Optional logo and brand design
Monthly website hosting with standard cybersecurity and weekly backups
Domain registration and business email (bundled with hosting)
Optional custom modules developed to client specification

2. Fees and Payment

2.1 Website Design Fee

The Website Design Fee is a one-time, non-refundable charge covering the initial design, development, and deployment of a client website. The fee covers: initial design, standard revisions during the 14-day design period, and first-time deployment to hosting. Work beyond this scope is billed separately at prevailing rates.

2.2 Logo & Brand Design Fee (Optional)

The optional Logo & Brand Design Fee is a one-time, non-refundable charge covering initial logo concepts and brand guideline development for a single business.

2.3 No Refunds on One-Time Fees

Design fees, logo & brand fees, and any other one-time fees are non-refundable once work has commenced, except where required by applicable law. By paying, you acknowledge that GuideAhead begins work upon receipt of payment and that substantial resources are committed immediately.

2.4 Monthly Hosting Subscription

Website hosting is billed monthly. The first monthly charge begins after the 14-day design period. Monthly subscriptions automatically renew until cancelled. You may cancel at any time from your billing portal.

2.5 Failed Payments and Grace Period

If a scheduled monthly payment fails, we will attempt to retry the payment and provide a 14-day grace period during which your website and hosting will remain active.

Day 15: If payment has not been successfully processed, the website and hosting associated with the project will be disabled.
Day 45: If payment remains unresolved, all website files, databases, and hosting data for that project will be permanently deleted. This deletion is irreversible.

You are responsible for maintaining a valid payment method and resolving any failed charges within the grace period to avoid service interruption or data loss.

3. Ownership and Intellectual Property

3.1 Client Ownership

You retain full ownership of:

The visual design of your website as delivered
All content, images, text, and data you upload
Your business name, logo, and brand assets

3.2 GuideAhead Ownership

GuideAhead retains full ownership of:

Hosting infrastructure, servers, and deployment tooling
Proprietary APIs, frameworks, libraries, and reusable code
Platform-level functionality (client portal, billing systems, support systems, contract signing)

3.3 Leaving GuideAhead

If you choose to leave GuideAhead, you are responsible for finding a provider capable of hosting the type of application we built for you (typically React or similar modern frameworks). We will provide a reasonable export of your website's static assets and content on request, but we do not guarantee compatibility with any specific third-party hosting provider.

3.4 Custom Modules

For custom modules developed by GuideAhead specifically for one client, upon written request the client will receive the source code as a one-time export.

GuideAhead will not retain the source code after export.
GuideAhead will not provide support, maintenance, debugging, or updates for the exported module in any manner following export.
The exported code is provided "as-is" and all warranties (express or implied) are disclaimed.

4. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Support requests submitted through the client portal will receive:

Response within 24 hours of submission (business day)
Resolution or path-to-resolution within 72 hours of response

Complex issues that require third-party dependencies, client-provided content, or architectural changes may take longer than 72 hours to fully resolve. We will keep you informed of progress.

5. Your Responsibilities

You agree to:

Provide accurate contact, billing, and business information, and keep it up to date
Maintain the confidentiality of your portal credentials and notify us of any suspected unauthorized access
Not use the Services to host illegal content, malware, phishing pages, or content that infringes third-party intellectual property rights
Comply with all applicable laws and regulations in your use of the Services

6. Termination

You may cancel your monthly subscription at any time from your billing portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

GuideAhead may terminate your account for material breach of these Terms, non-payment beyond the grace period, or use of the Services for unlawful purposes.

7. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GuideAhead's total aggregate liability for any and all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services is limited to the total amount you paid GuideAhead in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

GuideAhead is not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, including lost profits or lost data, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

8. Disclaimers

The Services are provided "as-is" and "as-available." GuideAhead disclaims all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, though we target 99.9% uptime on paid hosting.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GuideAhead, its owners, and its employees from any claims, damages, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your content, your use of the Services, or your violation of these Terms.

10. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms or the Services will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Georgia. You consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email to your account email address and posted with an updated "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms? info@guideaheadservices.com