The agreement between you and Plaza. Plain English where possible. Last updated June 1, 2026.
Effective: June 1, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Plaza website and all services we provide. By submitting a booking form, paying an invoice, or using a site we host or maintain, you agree to these Terms in full. If you do not agree, do not use our services.
"Plaza," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Plaza, a design studio operating in California, USA. "You" and "your" refer to the business or individual purchasing services from us. Our primary contact email is [email protected].
We offer two one-time builds and three recurring maintenance plans. Specific deliverables for your project are confirmed in your kickoff brief. If something is not explicitly listed below or in your brief, it is not included — we will quote any additional scope separately before doing the work.
Available at checkout on Build. Billed at launch with the final balance unless otherwise noted.
When you add a Care, Care+, or Grow plan at Build checkout, the first month is discounted: Care is free, Care+ is 30% off, Grow is 50% off. For Plaza Pro builds, the first month of whichever plan you choose is free. The discounted amount is charged at the same time as your downpayment. Regular full-price billing at your locked rate begins on day 31. This deal is only available at Build or Pro checkout — it cannot be applied retroactively.
Build is $799 total, paid in two parts: a $300 downpayment at booking, and the $499 balance charged automatically at launch on Day 3 (or the actual launch day if the timeline has extended due to revisions). If you added a rush ($99), extra revision ($49), or strategy call ($100) add-on, those amounts are added to the launch-day charge.
Plaza Pro is $1,499 total, paid in two parts: a $650 downpayment at booking, and the $849 balance charged at launch on Day 5 (or the actual launch day if the timeline has extended).
Sales representatives may issue discount codes that reduce the final invoice by $100 (Build) or $175 (Plaza Pro). These codes are issued and managed by Plaza and have no cash value. One code per order. Discount codes issued to sales representatives are separate from customer referral codes (see §7).
Care, Care+, and Grow are billed monthly via Stripe at your locked rate, automatically on the same date each month. Payment failures are retried by Stripe for up to 7 days. If a payment remains unresolved after 7 days, we will email you before pausing service.
Refunds and cancellations are governed by our Refund and Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
Care, Care+, and Grow are price-lock plans. You choose a term — 1, 2, 3, or 5 years — and we lock that monthly rate for both of us for the entire term. The longer the term, the lower your rate.
If you need a temporary break, you may request a pause of up to 90 days at no charge. Your site stays online during the pause, billing stops, and your price-lock term extends by the exact number of days paused — you do not lose any committed months. Regular billing resumes automatically when the pause ends; there is no back-billing or lump-sum charge on return. This option is available once per 12-month period per plan.
If you cancel during or after a pause, your buyout is calculated against your original term length minus the months already billed and paid. Paused months are deferred, not forgiven — they remain part of your commitment. See our Refund and Cancellation Policy for the full pause cancellation example.
The Build base timeline is 3 calendar days. Plaza Pro's base timeline is 5 calendar days. Weekends count. The clock starts the moment Plaza receives your complete content package — all business details, photos, copy, and any existing assets we asked for in the intake form.
Each revision round may extend the timeline by up to 1 business day. The clock pauses any time Plaza is waiting on you — whether for the initial content package or for revision feedback. Days where we are actively waiting on your response do not count against our timeline.
If you add the Rush add-on ($99), the base build compresses to 2 days. Rush does not shorten revision days.
Build (3-day base):
Plaza Pro (5-day base):
If we miss our committed launch date due to our delay (not waiting on you), you receive $50 per calendar day late, credited against your account or refunded to your original payment method, at your choice. If you are on a Care, Care+, or Grow plan, the credit can alternatively be applied as free service days at your locked rate. This compensation is in addition to any other remedy in our Refund Policy.
This guarantee does not apply when delays are caused by: your content or revision feedback not arriving on time; scope changes you request mid-build; third-party service outages outside our control (domain registrars, hosting providers, DNS); or force majeure events.
Once your final invoice is paid in full, you own:
Plaza retains rights to:
We will ask for your written permission before displaying your finished site, screenshots, or any client-identifying details in our portfolio, case studies, or marketing materials. If you grant permission, you may revoke it at any time by emailing [email protected] and we will remove the content within 5 business days. We may reference anonymized, non-identifying outcomes ("we helped a local business improve search rankings") without permission.
If you supply us with content (logos, photos, copy, brand assets), you represent that you own it or have a valid license to use it, and that using it does not infringe any third party's rights. You grant Plaza a non-exclusive license to use that content solely to build and maintain your site. This license ends when our engagement ends.
If your Build includes a domain Plaza registers on your behalf, the following applies. The domain is always yours — Plaza's only role is paying the annual registration fee while you are an active client.
The domain is registered in your name as the legal registrant from Day 1. You are listed as the owner with the registrar (typically Cloudflare Registrar). Plaza acts solely as the billing party.
Plaza covers the annual domain registration fee at no extra charge for standard .com / .net / .org / .co domains where the registrar fee does not exceed $20/year. Premium domains, elevated-pricing TLDs, and domains with marketplace fees are not covered and will be quoted separately before purchase.
To keep free domain coverage, you must be on a paid Care or Grow plan for at least one full calendar month within each rolling 12-month period from the most recent renewal date. If you go 12 consecutive months without a paid plan, you are no longer eligible for free domain coverage going forward.
You may transfer the domain to your own registrar at any time with no fee or restriction from Plaza. We will provide the transfer authorization code within 5 business days of a written request to [email protected]. This is the cleanest path and we recommend it for any client not planning to return to a paid plan.
We will email you at least 30 days before the renewal date with three options: (a) resume a paid plan and we cover the renewal as usual; (b) transfer the domain to your own registrar; or (c) authorize Plaza to renew on your behalf and pay us the renewal cost (no more than $20).
If you do not respond to the 30-day notice and do not take any of the three options, Plaza may let the domain expire or renew it at our own expense. If we renew it, you may reclaim the domain at any time by paying a buy-back fee of $120 per year (prorated to the nearest month) for each year Plaza has covered the renewal beyond your lapse date.
If Plaza holds a lapsed domain, we will not sell, transfer, lease, or point it to any third party for the first 3 years after your lapse date. After 3 years, if the domain has not been reclaimed, Plaza may release it. We will email a final 30-day notice to your last known address before the 3-year window closes.
None of the above applies if you own your domain independently. It remains entirely yours, you pay the registrar directly, and Plaza only assists with DNS configuration as part of the Build.
Plaza operates a customer referral program. These are the binding terms of that program.
Every Plaza account holder receives a unique referral code (format: PLAZA-XXXXXX) accessible in their account dashboard. Referral codes are personal and non-transferable.
A referred customer may apply one referral code at Build or Plaza Pro checkout. The referral code reduces the final invoice (launch-day balance) by $100 on a Build or $175 on a Plaza Pro. The discount cannot be combined with a sales rep discount code. One referral code per customer, applicable to their first Build or Pro only — the code cannot be applied to a second build, plan renewals, or add-ons.
The referring customer receives one free month of their current Care, Care+, or Grow plan, credited to their account after the referred customer pays their final (launch-day) invoice in full. If the referrer is not on a plan at the time the reward is triggered, they receive a credit redeemable as one free month on any 1-year or longer plan they sign up for within 2 years of the reward being issued. Credits expire if unused after 2 years and have no cash value.
Plaza Pro includes a marketplace built into your site. When you use this feature, you — the Plaza client — are the seller of record for all transactions. Plaza's role is limited to building and hosting the marketplace infrastructure. Plaza is not a party to any transaction between you and your customers, does not take possession of goods, and does not set or enforce your pricing or fulfillment practices.
Marketplace payments are processed through Stripe. Payouts go directly from Stripe to your connected bank account. Plaza does not handle, hold, or remit funds on your behalf. You are responsible for setting up and maintaining your own Stripe account, complying with Stripe's terms of service, and any tax obligations arising from your sales.
You are solely responsible for fulfilling orders, handling customer complaints, and resolving disputes with your buyers. Plaza has no obligation to mediate, arbitrate, or otherwise intervene in disputes between you and your customers. If a buyer contacts Plaza directly about a fulfillment issue, we will refer them to you.
You set your own refund policy for your customers. Plaza does not impose a minimum refund standard on marketplace transactions. However, Plaza reserves the right to reverse or refund any transaction — without prior notice — where there is evidence of fraud, identity theft, a valid chargeback, or a violation of these Terms. In such cases, the reversal amount will be deducted from your Stripe balance by Stripe directly.
You may not use the Plaza marketplace to sell:
Plaza reserves the right to disable your marketplace immediately and without prior notice if prohibited items are listed. Repeated violations may result in termination of your Plaza account per §12.
Plaza is not liable for any loss, damage, or claim arising from marketplace transactions, including but not limited to: non-delivery of goods, product defects, buyer fraud, chargebacks, or any dispute between you and your customers. The liability limitations in §13 apply in full to marketplace-related claims.
Sites on Care, Care+, or Grow are hosted on third-party infrastructure (currently Render, Cloudflare, and similar reputable providers). The exact hosting stack may change as we improve our infrastructure. We will notify you of any change that materially affects your site's performance or availability.
We target 99.9% monthly uptime but do not guarantee it. Uptime depends on these third-party providers and on factors outside our control including DDoS attacks, DNS outages, and force majeure events. We monitor uptime continuously and will notify you proactively of any significant outage affecting your site.
We perform routine backups of site content and databases (where applicable) on a daily basis. Backups are retained for a minimum of 7 days.
Your Build or Plaza Pro purchase includes managed hosting for the first year at no additional charge. After that, an active Care, Care+, or Grow plan is required to keep your site online. No month-to-month or standalone hosting option is available.
Around your 11-month anniversary, Plaza will reach out to help you choose a plan. If no plan is started before your first year ends, we will send a formal 30-day notice — the notice period begins no earlier than 30 days before your first-year hosting anniversary. After that 30-day window, Plaza will take your site offline. You will receive a full export of your site files before the site goes down, at no charge.
You agree not to use our services to host or distribute:
We reserve the right to remove violating content or terminate service. We will provide reasonable notice where possible. Egregious violations (illegal content, active malware) may result in immediate termination without notice.
You may cancel Care, Care+, or Grow at any time per our Refund and Cancellation Policy.
Plaza may terminate service for: non-payment after 7 days of notice; violations of these Terms; or if we discontinue a service line (with 30 days' written notice to active clients).
Upon termination for any reason, you will receive a final export of your site files and database (if applicable) at no charge, available for 30 days after termination. After 30 days, we may delete your data from our active systems in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
No guarantee of results. Services are provided "as is." We do not promise specific search rankings, leads, conversions, or revenue. SEO results are inherently uncertain. We follow current best practices, document our work, and report transparently on outcomes.
Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Plaza's total cumulative liability for any claim arising from these Terms or our services is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. Plaza is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data caused by third-party providers, or business interruption.
Exceptions. Nothing in these Terms limits liability where such limitation is prohibited by applicable law — including liability for gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Please contact us before filing a chargeback with your card issuer. Most issues can be resolved directly within 1–2 business days, and a chargeback costs both parties time and money regardless of outcome. Full chargeback terms are in our Refund and Cancellation Policy (§10).
If you file a chargeback without first attempting resolution with us, we will respond to your bank with documentation of all work delivered, all communications, and a copy of these Terms. If the chargeback is decided in our favor, we may suspend or terminate your account. If the chargeback is decided in your favor on a payment for a site that was delivered and launched, your access to that site, its files, and any associated Plaza services may be revoked.
We may update these Terms to reflect changes in our services, the law, or operational realities. If changes are material (affecting your rights or obligations), we will notify you by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of our services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
Non-material changes (typo fixes, formatting, clarifications that do not change rights or obligations) may be made at any time without notice.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflicts-of-law principles. Any legal dispute arising from these Terms or our services will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Alameda County, California, and both parties consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.
Before filing any legal claim, both parties agree to first attempt informal resolution by emailing [email protected] with a clear description of the issue. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of that email, either party may pursue formal legal remedies. Nothing in this section limits either party's right to seek relief in small claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdiction.
No class actions. All disputes must be brought in an individual capacity. You agree not to bring or participate in any class action, collective action, or representative proceeding against Plaza arising from or related to these Terms or our services.
Questions about these Terms? Email [email protected] or use our contact form. We aim to respond within 1 business day.