Disclaimer

Rent Ratchet is a notice board where neighbors list tools and other neighbors ask to borrow them. That is all it is. Tools are heavy, sharp, fast, hot or all four, and people are people. Please read this whole page before you lend or borrow anything. It is long on purpose.

Everything below applies to the maximum extent permitted by law. Some places do not allow some of these limits, for example for gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or certain injuries, and nothing here is meant to take away a right the law says you cannot give up. Where a limit cannot apply to you, the rest still does.

The short version

• You use Rent Ratchet, and every tool you find through it, entirely at your own risk.
• We do not own, inspect, test, repair, deliver or insure any tool, and we do not vet any person.
• We are not a party to any rental. The deal is between the owner and the renter.
• We accept no liability for any loss, damage, injury, theft or death, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
• The beer, cattle and pigs are virtual. They are worth nothing, and that is the point.
• You must be 18 or older.

No liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Rent Ratchet, its operator, and anyone working on its behalf accept no liability of any kind, whether express, implied or inferred, and whether based on contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, statute or any other theory, for any loss whatsoever that arises from or relates to the site, a listing, a tool, a rental, or another user. That includes, without limit:

• personal injury, illness or death, of you or of anyone else;
• damage to, or loss of, a tool, a vehicle, a home, land or any other property;
• theft, non-return, late return, or a tool that comes back broken, dirty or missing parts;
• a tool that is unsafe, defective, counterfeit, recalled, stolen, misdescribed, or simply not what you hoped;
• anything another user says, does, or fails to do, online or in person;
• lost time, lost work, lost income, lost profit, lost data, or a project that went badly;
• the site being slow, wrong, unavailable, hacked, or gone;
• any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages.

This applies even if we were told that the loss was possible, and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. The site is free and no money passes through it, so to the maximum extent permitted by law our total liability to you for everything, added together, is zero.

Use at your own risk

You decide whether to lend, whether to borrow, whom to meet, where to meet them, and whether a tool is safe to use and right for the job. You make those decisions alone and you carry the results. If something feels off about a tool or a person, walk away. Nobody earns a trophy for bravery here.

No warranty

The site, every listing, every photo, every description, every rating and every profile is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law we disclaim all warranties, express, implied or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, safety, title, quiet enjoyment and non-infringement.

We make no promise about any tool (its condition, safety, legality, maintenance, calibration, or whether it even exists), about any listing (its accuracy or completeness), or about any person (their identity, age, honesty, skill, sobriety, or intentions). Ratings are other users' opinions. They are not our endorsement and they are no guarantee of anything.

We are not a party to any rental

Any arrangement to lend or borrow a tool is an agreement directly between the owner and the renter. Rent Ratchet is not the owner, the renter, an agent, a broker, a bailee, an employer, a partner or a guarantor of either side.

We do not inspect, test, clean, service, store, transport or hand over anything. We do not check who users are, and we do not run background checks. Condition photos, checklists and status updates on the site are records made by users for each other; we do not verify them. If a rental goes wrong, the owner and the renter sort it out between themselves. We may look at flagged rentals and remove accounts or listings, but we do not arbitrate disputes, award compensation or recover tools.

No insurance

Rent Ratchet provides no insurance of any kind: no damage cover, no theft cover, no liability cover, no medical cover, no deposit protection. Nothing on the site should be read as saying otherwise.

Your own homeowner, renter, auto or business policy may not cover a tool you lend to, or borrow from, a stranger. Checking that, before you hand over or pick up a tool, is your job.

Assumption of risk for dangerous tools

Many tools can maim or kill when they are used wrongly, used without protective equipment, used when tired or impaired, or used when they are worn or damaged. Saws cut. Ladders fall. Grinders throw sparks and shards. Electricity does not negotiate.

By borrowing a tool you confirm that you understand those dangers, that you know how to use that tool safely or will learn before you start, that you will inspect it before each use, that you will read and follow the manufacturer's instructions, and that you will wear the right protective equipment. By lending a tool you confirm that, as far as you know, it is safe, complete and honestly described. Either way, you knowingly and voluntarily assume all risk that comes with the tool and with the rental, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

A risk label, safety note or protective-equipment list on a listing is a helpful hint written by a user or generated from a category. It is not a safety assessment, and its absence does not mean a tool is safe.

Taxes and local law

You alone are responsible for obeying the laws that apply to you: licensing and permit rules, product-safety and recall rules, rules about lending or operating particular equipment, noise and zoning rules, homeowner-association rules, and anything else your city, county, state or country requires.

You alone are responsible for working out whether anything you do through the site has tax consequences, and for reporting and paying any tax due. We do not give tax or legal advice, we do not issue tax forms, and nothing on the site is either.

Indemnity

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Rent Ratchet, its operator and anyone working on its behalf from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense (including reasonable legal fees) that arises from or relates to: your use of the site; a tool you list, lend, borrow or use; anything you post; your dealings with another user; your breach of the Terms of Service or this Disclaimer; or your breach of any law or of anyone else's rights.

Virtual currency notice

Prices on Rent Ratchet are quoted in cases of virtual beer, head of virtual cattle, virtual pigs and other things that are plainly not money. Please take the following seriously, even though we could not write it with a straight face:

• They are pixels. They have no cash value, now or ever.
• They cannot be bought, sold, traded, transferred, drunk, milked, ridden, barbecued or redeemed for anything, from us or from anyone else.
• They are not currency, not a stored-value product, not a security, not a cryptocurrency, not a loyalty point and not a promise to deliver actual livestock to your driveway.
• They exist for bragging rights only. A shelf of 37 cases of virtual beer entitles you to exactly one smug look.
• If you and a neighbor swap anything real between yourselves, that is your own private arrangement. It does not go through Rent Ratchet and we have no part in it.

Rent Ratchet does not sell, serve, deliver or promote alcohol. The beer is a joke about how neighbors have always thanked each other for a borrowed ladder. No one needs to drink anything, virtual or otherwise, to use the site.

And one part with no joke in it: if the real stuff is a problem for you or someone you love, help is free. Alcoholics Anonymous has meetings almost everywhere and online, and it costs nothing to go.

Age: 18 and over only

Rent Ratchet is for adults. You must be at least 18 years old, and old enough to enter a binding agreement where you live, to create an account, list a tool or borrow one. Do not let a minor use a tool you borrowed through the site.

Severability

If a court or other authority decides that any part of this Disclaimer is invalid or cannot be enforced, that part is to be limited or removed to the smallest extent needed, and every other part stays in full force. Our not enforcing a part of this Disclaimer on one occasion is not a waiver of it.

How this fits with the Terms

This Disclaimer is part of the Terms of Service. Each version is numbered and dated at the top of this page. If we change it, we publish a new version, and you will be asked to accept the new version before you next lend or borrow.

Questions about this page go through the contact form.