Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using CertNode and its services ("CertNode", "the Service"), including Reflex (automated dispute response), Evidence Vault (pre-dispute evidence capture), Recover (failed payment recovery), and Sentinel (refund abuse detection), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.

2. Description of Service

CertNode provides the following services:

• Reflex: Automated dispute response, monitors payment disputes, gathers evidence, generates dispute-specific narratives, and submits to payment processors
• Evidence Vault: Pre-dispute evidence capture, captures 3DS, AVS, CVC, device fingerprint, and IP data at payment time with RFC 3161 timestamps
• Recover: Failed payment recovery, smart retry scheduling, dunning emails and SMS, payment plans, and branded card-update pages
• Sentinel: Refund abuse detection, scores refund requests against a cross-merchant abuse network, with optional customer proof-request workflow

3. Eligibility

To use the Service, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Have a valid account with a supported payment platform (Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, Square)
• Be authorized to bind your business to these Terms
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
• Not be located in a prohibited jurisdiction

4. Account Registration and Security

Account Creation

• You must provide accurate, current, and complete information
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized access

Account Responsibilities

• You are responsible for all activities under your account
• You may not share your account credentials
• You may not create multiple accounts to circumvent limitations

5. Subscription and Billing

Pricing

• Current pricing is available at certnode.io/pricing
• Reflex: 15% of recovered dispute amount (success fee only)
• Evidence Vault: $0.03/transaction ($0.02 with Reflex bundle), $5 monthly minimum
• Recover: 25% of recovered payment amount (20% with Reflex bundle), $5 minimum fee
• Sentinel: $49/month flat ($39 with Reflex bundle), 14-day free trial
• Prices are subject to change with 30 days' notice
• All fees are non-refundable unless otherwise stated

Billing Cycle

• Success fees are invoiced via Stripe immediately upon the winning outcome
• Subscription fees are billed monthly unless otherwise specified
• Payment is processed via Stripe
• Invoices are sent to the email on your Stripe Connect account

Cancellation

• You may uninstall any CertNode app at any time via your payment platform's dashboard
• Uninstalling ends new fee generation at the point of uninstall
• Fees already invoiced remain due
• Sentinel subscription runs through the end of the current billing period after cancellation

6. Acceptable Use

You May

• Use the Service for legitimate dispute defense, refund abuse detection, and payment recovery
• Integrate with supported platforms (Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, Square)
• Export your data and evidence at any time
• Customize autopilot and scoring settings via the merchant dashboard

You May Not

• Use the Service to submit false or fraudulent evidence
• Attempt to reverse-engineer or copy the Service
• Use the Service to harass, abuse, or harm customers
• Violate any laws, regulations, or third-party rights
• Interfere with the operation of the Service
• Access the Service through unauthorized means
• Use the Service to defend against legitimate customer claims
• Enable Sentinel customer proof-request emails without adding corresponding language to your posted return policy

7. Automated Dispute Response (Reflex)

Autopilot Functionality

• Reflex automatically responds to disputes when enabled
• You can disable autopilot globally or for specific disputes
• Evidence submission typically occurs within 60 seconds of dispute creation
• Defense narratives are generated automatically without human review

Your Responsibilities

• Ensure your fulfillment evidence is accurate and complete
• Review dispute outcomes and provide feedback
• Maintain accurate customer records and delivery proof
• Comply with your payment platform's dispute policies and procedures

No Guarantee of Outcome

• Reflex does not guarantee that disputes will be won
• Win probability estimates are for informational purposes only
• Final dispute decisions are made by payment processors and card networks
• We are not liable for lost disputes or associated chargebacks

8. Refund Abuse Detection (Sentinel)

Scoring

• Sentinel scores refund requests 0-100 based on hashed device, IP, card, and email signals contributed by every Sentinel merchant
• No raw personal data leaves any merchant, only hashed signals are shared
• Score is advisory only; the merchant makes the final refund decision

Customer Proof Requests

• Proof-request emails are an optional, merchant-initiated feature, off by default
• Each merchant must explicitly enable the feature and confirm they have added proof-request language to their posted return policy
• Proof requests are pre-agreement: they ask the customer to provide context before the merchant decides whether to refund, they do not delay a refund the merchant has already approved
• Proof requests are restricted to cardholders in US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland at launch
• Proof requests are skipped for subscription transactions and for EU/UK cardholders within the 14-day statutory withdrawal window
• Only one proof request may be sent per refund request
• Customer non-response does not trigger an automatic decline, the merchant reviews and decides

9. Data and Privacy

Data Collection

• We collect and process data as described in our Privacy Policy
• You grant us permission to access your dispute, refund, and payment data from connected platforms
• You grant us permission to access fulfillment data from integrated platforms

Data Usage

• Your data is used to generate evidence, score refund requests, and recover failed payments
• Hashed, non-PII signals may be used to improve cross-merchant abuse detection
• Anonymized data may be used to improve AI models
• We do not sell your personal information to third parties

10. Intellectual Property

Our Rights

• CertNode, Reflex, Evidence Vault, Recover, Sentinel, and associated trademarks are our property
• All software, algorithms, and AI models are our proprietary technology
• You may not copy, modify, or distribute our intellectual property

Your Rights

• You retain ownership of your transaction and customer data
• You retain ownership of your business information and content
• We do not claim ownership of evidence you provide

11. Limitations of Liability

Service Availability

• We strive for 99.9% uptime but do not guarantee uninterrupted service
• Scheduled maintenance may cause temporary unavailability
• We are not liable for downtime, data loss, or missed disputes

Damages Limitation

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from:

• Claims arising from your use of the Service
• Violations of these Terms
• Infringement of third-party rights
• False or fraudulent evidence submission
• Failure to update your posted return policy before enabling Sentinel proof-request emails

12. Disclaimers

Legal Advice

• The Service does not constitute legal advice
• We are not attorneys and do not provide legal services
• Consult a qualified attorney for legal matters

13. Termination

By You

• Uninstall the Service at any time via your payment platform's dashboard
• Account data retained per our Privacy Policy
• No refunds for early termination

By Us

We may suspend or terminate your account if:

• You violate these Terms
• You engage in fraudulent activity
• Your payment fails after multiple attempts
• Required by law or payment processor

14. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Continued use after modifications constitutes acceptance.

15. Contact Information

CertNode Support

• Email: support@certnode.io
• Website: certnode.io

Legal Inquiries

• Email: legal@certnode.io