Terms of service
These terms are the agreement between you and Certimail, which is operated by Georgina Hawley, an individual and the sole developer ("we", "us"). By placing an order through Certimail you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not place an order.
Certimail is a mail-sending service. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. You are the sender of record, and you are responsible for what your letter says.
1. What Certimail does
Certimail takes a letter and the addresses you provide through the Muse assistant, collects payment, has a print and mail vendor (currently PostGrid) print the letter, and has it mailed through the United States Postal Service using the service you choose: Certified Mail, Certified Mail with electronic return receipt, or First-Class Mail. We then report the status and the USPS tracking number back to you when one exists.
2. Who can use it
You must be at least 18 and able to form a binding contract. Certimail mails only to and from addresses in the United States. A return address is required on every letter.
3. No legal advice, and you are the sender
We print and mail the text you approve, as written. We do not review it for legal accuracy and we do not check whether it satisfies any lease, HOA rule, contract, statute or deadline. Muse may help you draft wording, but that is not our advice and we are not responsible for it. If it matters whether your letter works legally, talk to a licensed attorney first.
The letter goes out in your name. You are the sender of record, and you are responsible for its contents, for the accuracy of every address, and for having the right to send it.
4. What you can and cannot send
Each order covers up to 3 sheets, printed in black and white, in a letter-size envelope. You may not use Certimail to send:
- threats, harassment, intimidation or content meant to frighten or abuse someone;
- anything unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive or that impersonates another person or organization;
- content that infringes someone else's rights or exposes another person's private information without a lawful reason;
- anything that is not a flat paper letter, such as items, money or hazardous material.
Letters are screened automatically before payment. We may refuse any order, and we may block a user, for any of the reasons above or to follow the law. A refused order is never charged. We may report unlawful content to the authorities.
5. Prices and payment
The price is a flat amount per letter that includes postage, printing and payment processing. You see it before you pay. Launch prices are $19.99 for Certified Mail, $24.99 for Certified Mail with electronic return receipt, and $4.99 for a First-Class letter. We may change prices for future orders at any time. The price shown when you pay is the price you pay.
Payment is taken on a Stripe checkout page before anything is printed or mailed. By paying you authorize that one charge. There is no subscription and no recurring charge.
6. Refunds
- Automatic refund. If the print and mail vendor rejects the address or the letter before it is printed, we refund the full amount to the original payment method automatically. Banks usually post a refund within 5 to 10 business days.
- Our mistake. If we charge you twice, or mail something other than what you approved, tell us at support@certimail.guaranteecheck.org and we will refund you or fix it at our choice.
- After acceptance. Once the vendor accepts the letter for printing and mailing, the sale is final. We cannot recall a mailed letter. We do not refund for a wrong or outdated address that passed address checks, for mistakes or changes of mind about the contents, or for a recipient who refuses, ignores or does not claim the letter.
7. Delivery
We hand the letter to the print and mail vendor promptly, but we do not control the Postal Service. We do not promise a delivery date, a delivery outcome, or that anyone will sign for or accept a letter. Certified Mail gives you a tracking number, proof of mailing and a record of delivery or attempted delivery. It does not make a letter legally effective on its own, and it does not guarantee the recipient will read it. If a legal deadline or notice rule applies to you, plan with extra time and ask an attorney how it works.
8. Your content and our license
You keep all rights in your letter. You give us permission to copy, process and transmit it, and to share it with our vendors, only as needed to carry out your order, screen it as described above, and meet legal obligations. How we handle your information is described in the privacy policy.
9. Muse and other services
You reach Certimail through Muse, which is operated by Meta and subject to Meta's terms. We are independent of Meta. We are not responsible for Muse, for what Muse says or does, or for outages or changes on Meta's side. Printing, mailing and payments rely on PostGrid, USPS and Stripe. If one of them is unavailable, we may be unable to complete an order, and we will refund any amount you paid for an order we cannot complete.
10. Disclaimers
Certimail is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no warranties other than those stated here, including no warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or uninterrupted service.
11. Limits on our liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, missed deadlines, lost legal rights or outcomes, arising from your use of Certimail, even if we were told they were possible. Our total liability for any claim relating to an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. Some places do not allow certain limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
12. Your responsibility
You agree to defend and reimburse us for claims, costs and reasonable legal fees brought by a third party because of the contents of a letter you sent, or because you broke these terms or the law.
13. Ending service
You can stop using Certimail at any time. We may suspend or end access for anyone who breaks these terms. Sections that by their nature should continue after that (such as refunds on prior orders, disclaimers, liability limits and governing law) will continue.
14. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you agree to their jurisdiction. Before filing anything, please email us so we can try to fix it first.
15. Changes
We may update these terms. The version in effect when you place an order governs that order. We will change the date at the top when we do.
16. Contact
support@certimail.guaranteecheck.org. Certimail, operated by Georgina Hawley.