Effective September 15, 2026 · Groundwork, Tysons Corner, Virginia
These Terms govern every service Groundwork ("Groundwork", "we", "us") provides to a business customer ("Client", "you"). By paying for a Service at checkout, or by using a Service, you agree to these Terms. There is no separate proposal or signed agreement: the plan you chose at checkout, its price, and the descriptions on our website and in your client portal are the whole deal.
1. Who we serve. Our Services are offered to businesses only, for business purposes. You confirm that the person accepting these Terms is authorised to bind the Client.
2. The Services. Groundwork provides done-for-you operational services powered by software and artificial intelligence, currently: Invoice Follow-Up (payment-reminder messaging to your customers) and No Missed Calls (an AI phone receptionist for your business line). Each Service is described on our website and in the Knowledge Base inside your client portal. We may improve, modify, or replace the software and methods we use at any time, provided the Service continues to do substantially what those descriptions say.
3. Fees and payment — prepaid. (a) Fees are as shown on our website and at checkout: a one-time, non-refundable setup fee and a recurring monthly fee. Pricing is flat; there are no per-minute, per-call or per-message charges. (b) All fees are charged in advance. The first charge (setup fee plus the first month) is taken at checkout when you save a payment method. Each following month is charged automatically to the payment method on file on the monthly anniversary of your start date ("Charge Date"). (c) By saving a payment method you authorise Groundwork to charge it for all fees under these Terms until you cancel. You will keep a valid payment method on file. (d) All fees are non-refundable once charged — the setup fee, because line provisioning, greeting configuration, list tidying and outreach begin on day one, and each monthly fee, because the Service month has begun. See section 5. (e) Prices include any applicable sales tax unless the invoice states otherwise. We may change prices on 30 days' written notice; the new price applies from your next Charge Date after the notice period. If you do not accept a price change, you may cancel before it takes effect. (f) If a charge fails, we will retry it and notify you. If it remains unpaid 14 days after the Charge Date we may suspend the Service; if it remains unpaid 30 days after the Charge Date we may terminate. Suspension does not pause fees for the month already started. Amounts more than 30 days overdue bear interest at 1.5% per month or the maximum lawful rate, whichever is lower, plus our reasonable collection costs.
4. Term, renewal, cancellation. Each Service starts on the day you pay at checkout and renews automatically month to month. You may cancel a Service at any time, online, from Billing & receipts in your client portal (or by writing to [email protected] from the email on your account). A cancellation made before the next Charge Date stops all further charges; the Service runs to the end of the current paid month and then ends. No refunds for the current month. A former Client who returns signs up again at checkout: the one-time setup fee applies again, and the account and its records are reactivated as they were (section 9). Groundwork may terminate immediately on written notice if you breach section 7, fail to pay, or use the Service in a way that risks our numbers, accounts, or reputation.
5. Zero lock-in, no refunds. There is no long-term contract and no cancellation penalty: you may cancel at any time before your next Charge Date and nothing further is charged. Because we provision your line, configure your greeting, tidy your customer list and begin outreach immediately on day one, the setup fee and any monthly fee already charged are not refunded. We do not offer a money-back or satisfaction guarantee; you can hear the receptionist on our demo line and receive a sample reminder from our website before you buy.
6. Your responsibilities. You will (a) provide accurate, current information (customer details, invoices, business hours, transfer numbers, scripts) and update it promptly; (b) review and approve message wording, greetings and rules we prepare before they go live, and after any change you request; (c) respond to our requests for decisions within a reasonable time — we are not responsible for delays caused by decisions we are waiting on; (d) tell us promptly when an invoice is paid, disputed, or should no longer be chased, and when a customer should not be contacted.
7. Consent, compliance and acceptable use. You represent and warrant that: (a) every person we contact on your behalf has an existing business relationship with you and has given you their phone number and/or email for communications about their account or your services; (b) you have all consents required by law (including the TCPA, CAN-SPAM, and state law) for us to send SMS and email on your behalf and to answer and record calls to your business line; (c) you will not ask us to send content that is false, misleading, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, or unrelated to the business purpose; (d) you will not use a Service for debt collection on behalf of others, for regulated lending, healthcare, legal, or financial advice, emergency services, or any purpose that would make Groundwork a debt collector, a healthcare provider, or a regulated entity. We honour every opt-out request immediately and may decline any instruction we reasonably believe is unlawful or harmful, without liability.
8. Calls, recordings and AI disclosure. Calls handled by No Missed Calls are answered by an AI receptionist, may be recorded and transcribed for quality, training of your own configuration, and record-keeping, and are stored on our systems. You are responsible for any notice to callers required in your state (we can add a recording notice to the greeting on request) and for informing your staff. You acknowledge that AI systems can make mistakes; the Service takes messages and books appointments according to the rules you approve, and you remain responsible for confirming appointments and following up with callers.
9. Data. You own your data. We use it only to provide and improve the Service for you, and we keep it confidential. We use sub-processors (telephony and SMS carriers, email providers, speech and language-model providers, payment processors) that are necessary to deliver the Service; they receive only what they need. We do not sell your data. We may use aggregated, anonymised data that does not identify you or your customers to improve our services. After termination we keep your account and its records so that they are intact if you return; we do not run automatic deletions. If you ask us in writing to delete your data, we will, except records we must keep for legal, accounting, or dispute purposes. Card details are handled by our payment processor (Stripe) and never touch our servers.
10. Our property. Everything we bring — software, prompts, scripts, workflows, voices, templates, know-how, and improvements to them — belongs to Groundwork or its licensors. You receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to benefit from the Service during the term. Wording we write for you may be used by you only with the Service. Phone numbers we provision remain ours (a cancelled account's receptionist number is held for 30 days in case you return); numbers you port in remain yours.
11. Reference and publicity. You agree that we may name you as a client (name and logo) and describe results in general terms, unless you opt out by email at any time. We will not publish confidential figures without your written approval.
12. No guarantee of results. We provide the Services with reasonable skill and care. We do not guarantee that any invoice will be paid, any call answered will become a customer, any appointment will be kept, or any particular response rate. Third-party networks (carriers, email providers, telephone lines) may delay or fail to deliver messages and calls; we are not liable for their performance.
13. Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law: (a) neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, business, or data; (b) Groundwork's total liability for all claims arising out of or related to the Services in any 12-month period will not exceed the fees you paid us for the affected Service in the one month before the event giving rise to the claim; (c) these limits do not apply to a party's fraud, wilful misconduct, or your payment obligations and indemnity.
14. Indemnity. You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Groundwork and its owner from any claim, fine, or loss arising from (a) content, instructions, data, or contact lists you provided; (b) any claim that we contacted or recorded a person on your behalf without the consent or notice the law requires; (c) your customers' or callers' claims relating to your goods or services; or (d) your breach of these Terms.
15. Warranty disclaimer. Except as expressly stated, the Services are provided "as is". We disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
16. Independent contractor. Groundwork is an independent contractor. Nothing creates an employment, agency, partnership, or fiduciary relationship, and we have no authority to bind you except to send the communications and take the actions you have approved.
17. Disputes. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The parties will first try in good faith to resolve any dispute by direct discussion for 30 days. Any dispute not resolved will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Fairfax County, Virginia, and each party consents to that jurisdiction, except that either party may bring a claim in small-claims court and Groundwork may seek collection of unpaid fees in any court of competent jurisdiction. Any claim must be brought within one year after it arose. Each party waives trial by jury to the extent permitted by law.
18. General. These Terms, the plan and price you chose at checkout, and the Service descriptions on our website and in your client portal are the entire agreement. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign to a successor of our business. Notices to us: [email protected]. Notices to you: the email on your account. Electronic acceptance and signatures are binding. We may update these Terms on 30 days' notice; continued use after the effective date is acceptance.
Groundwork · Tysons Corner, Virginia, USA · [email protected] · (571) 554-5050