Terms of Service

1. The agreement

These terms are between you and FDD Evaluation and govern your use of https://fddevaluation.com and the reports it produces. By uploading a document or purchasing an evaluation you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

2. What the service is

FDD Evaluation reads a Franchise Disclosure Document and produces an analytical assessment of it. The free QuickScore grades ten categories. The Full FDD Evaluation grades one hundred factors with the evidence behind each. FDD Compare sets two full evaluations side by side.

The reading is automated. Evidence is extracted from the document by software and graded against a stored rulebook, and the findings cite the FDD Item they came from. Where the document does not establish something, the report says so and leaves the factor ungraded rather than assuming an answer.

3. What the service is not

The service is not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not create any professional relationship. It does not predict profitability, and it is not a guarantee or forecast of how any franchise, outlet or franchisee will perform. A grade describes what the document discloses, measured against a fixed rulebook and, where one exists, against other documents. It is not a recommendation to buy or not to buy.

The Franchise Disclosure Document is the controlling document. Where the report and the FDD differ, the FDD governs. Before signing anything, read the FDD in full and consult a franchise attorney and an accountant.

4. Accuracy

We work to read every document correctly, and we test the reader against a growing library of real FDDs. Franchisors lay out their documents in many ways, and an automated reader can misread a table, miss a figure, or leave something ungraded. You are responsible for verifying any figure you rely on against the page of the FDD it cites. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.

5. Your document

By uploading a document you confirm that you are entitled to do so. A Franchise Disclosure Document is a document the franchisor is required by law to give to a prospective franchisee, and uploading your copy to have it evaluated is an ordinary use of it.

You grant us the right to store the document and to use it to operate and improve the service, including reading it to produce your report, comparing later editions against it, and building the benchmark releases other reports are measured against. We do not identify you as its source in any report, and we do not share it with franchisors or anyone else. Our Privacy Policy describes how it is kept.

6. Purchases

Prices are shown before you pay. Payment is taken by Stripe, which sends your receipt. A purchase covers one evaluation of the document it was made for, or, for FDD Compare, one comparison of the two documents named. Your report is available at its link as soon as the evaluation has run, and we email you when it is ready.

A report is for your own due diligence. You may share it with your advisors, your business partners and your lender. You may not resell it, republish it, or present it as your own or as the franchisor’s.

7. Refunds

If we cannot produce your evaluation, or the report fails to read your document in a way that makes it useless to you, tell us within 14 days of purchase and we will refund it in full. Because a report is delivered in full the moment it is ready, we do not otherwise offer refunds on evaluations that have run. A refund withdraws access to the report. Requests go to admin@fddevaluation.com.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Upload anything that is not a Franchise Disclosure Document, or a document you have no right to upload.
• Access the service by automated means, scrape it, or attempt to extract its rulebook or benchmark data.
• Interfere with the service or attempt to gain access to another person’s evaluation.
• Use a report to make a claim about a franchise’s performance to anyone considering buying it.

9. Our content

The rulebook, the benchmarks, the report format and the text of the site are ours. Your report is yours to use as these terms allow. Nothing here transfers ownership of the service or its methods to you.

10. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

The service is provided as it is. We do not warrant that it is error-free or that any grade, figure or finding is correct, complete or suitable for any purpose. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss arising from your use of the service or your reliance on a report, including any decision to buy or not to buy a franchise, and our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us for the evaluation concerned.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, in which case these apply to the extent permitted.

11. Termination

We may suspend or end access for a breach of these terms. You may stop using the service at any time, and you may ask us to delete your evaluation as the Privacy Policy describes.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States, without regard to its conflict of law rules.

13. Changes

If these terms change, the date at the top changes with it. Continued use after a change is acceptance of it. A change does not affect a purchase made before it.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms go to admin@fddevaluation.com.