Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what these Terms cover

3 Towns (“3 Towns,” “we,” “us”) is a local deals and rewards service for Plainfield, Shorewood and Joliet, Illinois, operated by , . These Terms of Service (“Terms”) apply to the 3 Towns website and related emails and social posts (together, the “Service”).

By browsing, creating an account, clipping a deal, redeeming Rewards, entering a giveaway or listing a business, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

2. Eligibility

Anyone can browse deals. To create an account, clip or redeem deals, earn points, redeem Rewards or enter giveaways, you must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. Giveaways have additional eligibility rules in the Official Giveaway Rules. Rewards are governed by the Rewards Terms.

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

If you want teens (13–17) to use 3 Towns, add a parental-consent rule here and in the Privacy Policy.

3. Your account and emails

• Signing up takes an email address and your town (your name is optional). There's no password in the current version; your account is tied to your email and the device you use.
• Please give us a real email you control, and keep it up to date. One account per person.
• We'll email you about your account, clipped deals, Rewards and giveaway entries, and (if you opt in) a weekly deals digest. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time with the link in each email.
• You're responsible for activity on your account. Tell us right away if you think someone else is using it.
• In the current version, points, streaks and clipped codes are saved in your web browser. Clearing your browser data or switching devices may reset them.

4. Deals are offered by local businesses

Deals on 3 Towns are created and offered by independent local businesses (“Businesses”), not by 3 Towns. The Business making an offer is solely responsible for it, including honoring it, the quality and safety of its goods and services, and its own terms.

We try to keep listings accurate, but we don't guarantee that any deal will be available, honored, or as described, and 3 Towns is not responsible for a Business's products, services, prices, conduct or refusal to honor a deal. Any issue with a purchase is between you and the Business. If something seems wrong, please tell us so we can follow up and, if needed, remove the listing.

5. Clipping and redeeming deals

• When you clip a deal you receive a code (for example, TRIO-1234). Show it at the Business to redeem.
• Unless the deal says otherwise: one redemption per person, per deal; no cash value; not transferable; can't be combined with other offers; valid only during the stated dates; and subject to the Business's fine print.
• Codes are void if copied, sold, altered or obtained through fraud, and void where prohibited or restricted by law.
• A Business may decline a code it believes is invalid or misused. Businesses or 3 Towns may end or change a deal at any time (but Businesses must honor codes properly clipped before a change, as described in Section 9).
• Sales tax, tips and other charges are your responsibility unless the deal says otherwise.

6. 3 Towns points and Rewards shop

• You can earn points for things like signing up, redeeming deals when a business verifies your code, redeeming in a new category, daily check-ins and referrals. Clipping or saving a deal alone does not earn points. Current point values and caps are shown on the site.
• Points have no cash value, are not your property, and can't be sold, transferred, exchanged for cash or combined between accounts.
• Points are spent in the Rewards shop on rewards donated by participating businesses. Details are in the Rewards Terms.
• Points never create giveaway entries and never improve your odds of winning the monthly giveaway.
• Unused points expire after 12 months of account inactivity, unless the Rewards Terms say otherwise.
• We may change how points are earned or spent, the rewards catalog, or end the Rewards program, at any time. Where practical, we'll give notice on the site or by email.
• We may correct points awarded by mistake and remove points or vouchers earned through fraud, abuse or violations of these Terms.

7. Giveaways

Monthly giveaways are governed by the Official Giveaway Rules, which are part of these Terms. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. Each eligible member may enter once per monthly Entry Period. Points, clips, referrals and Rewards activity do not create additional entries.

8. Fair play: fraud and abuse

To keep 3 Towns fair for neighbors and Businesses, you agree not to:

• create multiple or fake accounts, use someone else's email, or use bots, scripts or automation;
• manipulate points, streaks, referrals, codes, Rewards vouchers or giveaway entries, or exploit bugs (please report them instead);
• sell, trade or publish deal codes, or redeem a deal in a way the Business didn't offer;
• post or send anything unlawful, harassing, misleading or infringing; or
• interfere with, scrape, reverse-engineer or overload the Service.

We may remove points, cancel codes, vouchers and entries, disqualify giveaway entrants, and suspend or close accounts that we reasonably believe are involved in fraud or abuse.

9. Business listing terms

These terms apply if you list a business on 3 Towns (“you” in this Section means the Business).

Who can list

You must be authorized to act for the Business, and the Business must operate lawfully in or near Plainfield, Shorewood or Joliet, Illinois. We may decline or remove any listing at our discretion.

Subscription and billing

• A listing is a paid subscription, billed in advance through our payment processor, Stripe. 3 Towns does not see or store your full card number.
• Founding member pricing: $/month or $/year, available while founding spots remain (limited per town and per category) and until . Your founding rate stays locked for as long as your subscription stays continuously active. If you cancel or your subscription lapses, the founding rate ends and returning later is at the then-current regular price.
• Regular pricing: $/month or $/year, plus any applicable taxes.
• Subscriptions renew automatically each month or year until canceled. You authorize us (through Stripe) to charge your payment method on each renewal date.
• Cancel anytime, no contracts. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and your listing stays live until then. Except where required by law, we don't give refunds or credits for partial periods. [Confirm refund policy, e.g. annual plans refundable within 14 days]
• We may change regular prices with at least 30 days' notice before your next renewal. Founding rates won't change while your subscription stays continuously active.
• If a payment fails, we may pause your listing until the payment is resolved.

What's included

Each listing includes your deal on the 3 Towns website, a half-page ad in the 3 Towns Magazine once per month (emailed as a PDF, not posted on the website), 1 flash deal per month that runs for 24 hours (one featured flash deal at a time), the ability to post events in the Events tab (see Section 10), featured in the weekly 3 Towns deals email, and a post on 3 Towns' Facebook page. Weekly deals email and social timing is at our discretion [e.g. at least one feature per quarter]. We don't guarantee any number of views, clips, redemptions or customers. Dashboard stats are estimates and may change as we improve tracking.

Your deals

• Your offers must be accurate, lawful and clearly stated, including any limits and end dates.
• You must honor valid codes clipped while your deal was live, through the stated end date (or 30 days after you change or remove the deal if no end date was shown).
• You are responsible for your goods and services, your compliance with laws (including pricing, advertising, licensing, alcohol, health and consumer protection rules), and customer service.

Content you upload, and our license to display it

You keep ownership of the business name, logo, photos, text and other content you provide (“Business Content”). You grant 3 Towns a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, store, copy, resize, crop, format, display and distribute your Business Content in the Service, 3 Towns emails and newsletters, 3 Towns social media (including Facebook) and other 3 Towns promotion, for as long as you're listed and for a reasonable period afterward for content already sent or posted (for example, past newsletters and posts).

You confirm that you own or have permission to use all Business Content, including permission from anyone identifiable in a photo, and that it doesn't infringe anyone's rights.

Prohibited content and offers

No content or offers that are illegal, false or misleading; adult or sexually explicit; hateful, harassing or violent; related to weapons, illegal drugs, cannabis or tobacco/vaping [adjust to your policy]; gambling; infringing; containing malware or someone else's personal information; or that require customers to pay a fee to use a "free" offer. We may edit for length and clarity, or reject or remove content or listings that break these rules. Serious or repeated violations may lead to termination without refund.

10. Event posting rules

Businesses with an active, paid listing may post events in 3 Towns' Events tab, such as live music, game-day specials, trivia or karaoke nights, happy hours and food or drink specials, tastings, classes, and sales (including sidewalk sales). By posting an event you agree that:

• It's your event. The event is hosted or run by your Business, at your location or a location you clearly state, and you're authorized to promote it.
• The details are accurate. The title, date, start and end times (Central Time), recurrence, price or cover, location, photo and any linked deal are correct and not misleading. If anything changes or the event is canceled, you'll update or take it down promptly.
• No free community-event promotion. The Events tab is for events and promotions of the listed Business. It is not a community calendar: free community events, fundraisers, festivals, meetings or events hosted by others may not be posted unless 3 Towns agrees in writing. [Adjust if you later add a community calendar]
• Same rules as deals. The prohibited content rules in Section 9 apply. Events involving alcohol must follow Illinois law and your license (for example, no promotions prohibited for on-premises retailers), and must be clearly 21+ where required. Game-day posts may mention teams and games but may not use team logos or imply sponsorship or endorsement by any team or league.
• Linked deals. If you link a deal to an event, you must honor it as described in Section 9.
• Review, decline and removal. Every event is reviewed before it appears. 3 Towns may approve, decline, edit for length or clarity, or remove any event at any time and for any reason, including after it is live. We'll usually tell you why. Approved events are hidden automatically after they end. Posting events is included in your listing and does not change your subscription price; declined or removed events are not grounds for a refund.
• Photos. The content license and permissions in Section 9 apply to event photos and text.

Have your attorney confirm the alcohol-promotion and sports-trademark language for Illinois.

11. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect (such as your email and town), how we use it, and the service providers we use, including Kit for email and Stripe for payments. By using the Service you acknowledge it.

12. 3 Towns’ content

The Service, including the 3 Towns name, logo, design and software, belongs to 3 Towns or its licensors and is protected by law. You may use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes (or, for Businesses, to manage your listing). Don't copy, resell or use our branding without permission.

13. Third-party services

The Service relies on and links to third parties such as Stripe (payments), Kit (email), Netlify (hosting), Google Fonts and Facebook. Their terms and privacy policies govern your use of their services, and we're not responsible for them.

14. Disclaimers

The Service and all deals, points and content are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, 3 Towns disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, or that any deal or Business will meet your expectations.

15. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, 3 Towns and its owners, employees and contractors will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill, arising from or related to the Service, any deal, or any Business. Our total liability for any claim related to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid 3 Towns in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) $100.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limits, so some of these may not apply to you.

16. Indemnity

If you misuse the Service, break these Terms or the law, or (for Businesses) a claim arises from your offers, goods, services or Business Content, you agree to defend and indemnify 3 Towns against resulting claims, losses and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees.

17. Ending your use

You can stop using 3 Towns at any time, and you can ask us to delete your account (see the Privacy Policy). We may suspend or end access for violations of these Terms or if we discontinue the Service. Sections that by their nature should survive (such as points having no cash value, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity and governing law) survive termination.

18. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in [Will County], Illinois, and you and 3 Towns consent to their jurisdiction. Either party may bring an eligible claim in small claims court. Before filing a claim, please contact us so we can try to resolve it informally.

Ask your attorney whether to add an arbitration clause and class-action waiver.

19. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If a change is material, we'll give notice on the site or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

20. Contact

Email: