Terms of Service

Welcome to CartBooker.com (“CartBooker,” the “Platform,” “we,” “us”). We operate an online booking marketplace that helps you find, compare, and book golf-cart and low-speed-vehicle (LSV) rentals offered by independent rental operators. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and CartBooker.com LLC. By using this site, creating an account, or making a booking, you accept these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

1. Our role — a booking service, not the rental company

CartBooker is a booking service and technology provider. We display listings, take booking requests, and pass your reservation and contact details to the operator you choose. The rental itself — the vehicle, its condition, delivery, pickup, instructions, driver qualification, the rental payment, and the rental agreement — is provided solely by the independent operator you book with (the “Operator”).

• We do not own, lease, operate, inspect, maintain, insure, or control any vehicle listed on the Platform.
• We are not the merchant of record for the rental. Depending on the Operator's payment setup, the rental is either charged on the Operator's own payment account, with the Operator as the merchant of record for it, or we collect only a reservation deposit on the Operator's behalf that counts toward the rental total — we never hold the rental balance (see §7).
• Operators are independent contractors. They are not our agents, employees, partners, joint venturers, or representatives, and nothing in these Terms creates any such relationship.
• Operators set their own prices, availability, deposit amounts, and cancellation terms. We do not set them.
• We do not supervise, direct, or control an Operator's work, vehicles, staff, or safety practices, and we make no promises about any Operator or vehicle.
• We do not inspect vehicles, verify driver licences, or assess whether any Operator or vehicle is safe. The Operator verifies each driver's licence and eligibility at delivery.
• Listing details, ratings, reviews, and any factual labels we display (for example how long an Operator has been listed, or their measured response time) are informational only. They are not an endorsement, certification, guarantee, or warranty of any Operator or vehicle.

2. Your rental contract is with the Operator

When you book, you enter a rental contract directly with the Operator. The Operator is the merchant and provider of the rental service and is solely responsible for the vehicle, its safety and legality, the rental terms, and the performance of the rental. The Operator may require you to sign their own rental agreement and liability waiver before you receive the cart; that agreement governs the rental itself and is between you and the Operator only. CartBooker is not a party to it and has no obligations under it.

3. Eligibility and driver requirements

• Every driver must be at least 21 years old (or older if the Operator requires) and hold a valid driver's license.
• You must provide accurate booking information and be legally able to enter this agreement.
• Operators may refuse or cancel a rental if a driver cannot present a valid license, appears impaired, or does not meet the Operator's requirements.

4. Safe and legal operation is your responsibility

Golf carts and LSVs are motor vehicles regulated by state and local law. As the renter, you — not CartBooker — are responsible for operating the vehicle safely and legally at all times. This includes, without limitation:

• Operating only where golf carts or LSVs are legally permitted, and complying with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, ordinances, and posted rules;
• Following all seatbelt, child-restraint, child-passenger, and occupancy rules — never exceed the vehicle's seating capacity, and never allow passengers to ride unsecured or in an unsafe manner;
• Never operating under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or any impairing substance;
• Supervising all passengers, including minors, and ensuring only licensed, authorized drivers aged 21+ operate the vehicle;
• Paying all traffic, parking, toll, and other citations or fines incurred during your rental.

5. Express assumption of risk

Operating or riding in a golf cart or LSV involves inherent risks — including collision, rollover, falls, ejection, contact with vehicles, persons, or objects, mechanical failure, and weather and road conditions — that can result in property damage, serious bodily injury, paralysis, or death. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you voluntarily and expressly assume all risks arising out of or relating to your rental and your (or your passengers') use of any vehicle booked through the Platform, whether or not those risks are listed here, and you accept full responsibility for any resulting injury, damage, or loss.

6. Bookings

When you book, you make a request to rent from the Operator on the dates and terms shown. An “instant” booking is confirmed immediately; a “request” booking is confirmed once the Operator accepts — on a request, your card is authorized (held) but not charged until they do (see §7). The price shown is the price you pay: the Operator’s rate, any delivery charge, and any operator fee, itemised at checkout, with no CartBooker fee or markup added on top. Prices do not include sales or surtax on the rental: we are not the seller of the rental, and the Operator remains responsible for any tax they owe on it. The Operator sets the base rate, delivery terms, deposit, and rental rules.

7. What you pay — the listed price is the price

The price shown is the whole price. We add no booking fee, service fee, or markup on top of the Operator's listed price. CartBooker is compensated by the Operator — a commission the Operator pays us on bookings made through the Platform — never by you. The rental price, any delivery charge, any applicable state or local tax, and any deposit are the Operator's. CartBooker is never the merchant of record for the rental.

How you pay depends on the Operator's payment setup, and it is always shown before you confirm:

• Full prepayment. You pay the whole listed price in one card payment at checkout, processed on the Operator's own payment account. The Operator is the merchant of record for that entire charge, and their name — not ours — appears on your card statement. Our commission is deducted from the Operator's side of that charge as a disclosed platform fee; it changes nothing about what you pay. Because the Operator is the merchant, refunds and card disputes on that payment are handled by them and debited from their account.
• Reservation deposit. Some Operators take only a reservation deposit of 10% of the rental subtotal online. We collect that deposit on the Operator's behalf, as their booking agent; it counts toward your rental total, and you pay the balance directly to the Operator at delivery, by the payment methods they accept.

Request bookings are held, not charged. Where a booking needs the Operator's acceptance, your card is authorized for the amount due online — the whole price on a prepaid booking, the deposit otherwise — when you submit the request, and charged only when the Operator accepts. If the Operator declines, or does not respond within the response window — up to 24 hours, and less for last-minute rentals, where the Operator must respond before the rental start time — the request is declined automatically and the hold is released without charge.

Bookings made before this pricing model took effect keep the terms shown when they were made: some included a CartBooker booking fee charged to you on top of the listed price, and some older bookings were split into a booking fee charged by us at checkout and a rental amount paid to the Operator at delivery. Those bookings keep their original terms.

In every case the rental money is the Operator's and the Operator is responsible for it. On a prepaid booking it never passes through a CartBooker account — the charge is made on the Operator's own account. Where we collect a reservation deposit, we collect it on the Operator's behalf and never hold the balance.

We do not sell insurance, damage waivers, or any protection product. Security deposits, damage holds, and in-person charges are arranged solely with the Operator under the Operator's agreement. You are responsible for returning the cart on time and in the condition received, ordinary wear excepted. Damage, loss, theft, citations, and cleaning or recovery charges are the renter's responsibility under the Operator's agreement.

8. Cancellations, changes & refunds

If the Operator cancels, declines, or cannot confirm. You get back everything you paid online — the full prepaid amount or the full deposit — automatically. If your request was only a card hold, the hold is simply released and you are never charged; a request the Operator does not answer within the response window (up to 24 hours; less for last-minute rentals, where the Operator must respond before the rental start time) is declined automatically with the same result. Where an Operator cannot fulfil a confirmed booking we will try to help you rebook, but we are not liable for an Operator's cancellation or non-performance.

If you cancel. Each Operator sets one cancellation window — a stated number of days before the rental start — shown on the listing and on your confirmation, and the window shown at booking applies. Cancel before the window begins and everything you paid online is refunded in full, deposit and prepayment alike. If you cancel inside the window, or do not show up:

• on a deposit booking, the deposit is forfeited to the Operator under the Operator's cancellation policy. We forward it to the Operator and keep no part of it. If you believe a forfeiture is wrong, contact support@cartbooker.com within 14 days and we will review it before the deposit is paid out;
• on a prepaid booking, any refund of the rental is decided by the Operator under the cancellation terms shown at booking and is issued by the Operator from their own account: because that payment is theirs and not ours, CartBooker cannot issue that refund and does not guarantee it.

Weather and safety. If the Operator cancels for weather or safety reasons, the Operator’s own cancellation policy governs any refund, reschedule or credit; the Operator is the merchant for the rental and issues any refund directly. CartBooker releases the dates and charges you nothing for the cancellation.

A plain-English summary of the above lives at our Cancellation & Refund Policy page; if the two ever conflict, these Terms control.

9. No liability for the rental, the vehicle, or the Operator

To the fullest extent permitted by law, CartBooker disclaims all liability for, and you agree we are not responsible for:

• the condition, safety, maintenance, registration, or legality of any vehicle;
• accidents, collisions, bodily injury, death, or property damage arising from or relating to a rental or the use of a vehicle;
• theft of, or damage to, a vehicle or your property;
• traffic, parking, or other violations and any resulting fines or penalties;
• the acts, errors, omissions, representations, negligence, or misconduct of any Operator or its staff;
• any dispute between you and an Operator, including over deposits, damage claims, refunds, or the rental agreement.

10. Disclaimer of warranties — service provided “as is”

The Platform and all content, listings, and services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, or any warranty about the quality, safety, legality, or suitability of any Operator or vehicle, or that the Platform will be uninterrupted or error-free. Listing details are supplied or informed by Operators and may change.

11. Release and waiver of claims

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you — for yourself and your heirs, family, guests, passengers, insurers, and assigns — release, waive, and discharge CartBooker.com LLC and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates (the “Platform Parties”) from any and all claims, demands, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and causes of action of every kind arising out of or relating to a rental, a vehicle, an Operator, or your use of the Platform, including claims based on the Platform Parties' own negligence, except where such a release is prohibited by law. You agree not to sue the Platform Parties for any claim you have released.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law: (a) in no event will the Platform Parties be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, personal injury, or property damage, arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Platform, a rental, a vehicle, or an Operator, even if advised of the possibility of such damages; and (b) the Platform Parties' total aggregate liability for any and all claims relating to the Platform or a booking will not exceed the amounts CartBooker actually earned on the booking giving rise to the claim (our platform commission — or, on a legacy booking, its booking fee — not the total rental price). Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law; in such cases liability is limited to the minimum extent the law allows.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Platform Parties from and against any claims, demands, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your rental or your (or your passengers') use or operation of a vehicle; (b) any injury, death, or property damage connected with your rental; (c) your violation of law or of an Operator's rental agreement; (d) your breach of these Terms; or (e) your dispute with any Operator or third party. Operators owe the Platform a separate indemnity under the Operator Agreement.

14. Disputes with Operators

Because the rental contract is between you and the Operator, disputes about a rental (condition, deposits, damage claims, refunds, conduct) are between you and the Operator. We may, at our discretion, try to help facilitate a resolution, but we have no obligation to mediate and no liability for the outcome.

15. Listings & accuracy

We work to keep availability, pricing, and cart details accurate, but listings are supplied or informed by Operators and may change. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any listing. If a material detail is wrong, contact us and we'll work to make it right.

16. Acceptable use

Don't misuse the site: no scraping for competing services, no interference with the Platform, no false or fraudulent bookings, no circumventing the Platform to avoid fees, and no unlawful activity. We may suspend or terminate accounts that abuse the service, and we may remove content or listings at our discretion.

Copyright complaints. If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, follow our Copyright and DMCA policy, which names our designated agent, lists what a notice must contain, explains counter-notices, and sets out our repeat-infringer policy. We remove or disable infringing material when properly notified, and we terminate repeat infringers' accounts.

16a. Text messaging (SMS) terms

If you opt in (by ticking the SMS consent box at checkout, or in the operator dashboard settings), CartBooker.com sends booking-related text messages: booking confirmations and updates, and messages relating to your rental or (for Operators) booking and guest-message alerts. We do not send marketing texts. Message frequency varies with booking activity. Message and data rates may apply — check your mobile plan. Consent to receive texts is not a condition of booking; the same updates are always available by email.

Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help. You can also remove your number in your settings or contact support@cartbooker.com. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Our handling of phone numbers is described in the Privacy Policy, including that mobile information is never shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time; the effective date above reflects the current version, and we will notify holders of upcoming confirmed bookings by email of any material change before it applies to them. Continued use of the Platform after an update constitutes acceptance. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted.

Electronic dealings. You consent to transact electronically: agreements accepted by checkbox or typed signature, and notices delivered to your account email, have the same force as ink and paper (E-SIGN Act / UETA). Keep your email current — it is where we will reach you.

18. Binding arbitration & class-action waiver

Please read this section carefully — it affects how disputes with CartBooker are resolved.

Any dispute, claim, or controversy between you and CartBooker arising out of or relating to these Terms, the CartBooker website, or our booking service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and not in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section.

You and CartBooker each waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class, collective, or representative action. Claims may be brought only in an individual capacity, and the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of class proceeding. If this class-waiver provision is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim proceeds in court and the remainder of this section still applies.

This section covers claims against CartBooker only. It does not govern disputes between you and an Operator, which are subject to the Operator's own agreement with you.

19. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the arbitration provision above, venue for any claim against CartBooker that survives the provisions above lies in the state or federal courts located in Sarasota County, Florida.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email support@cartbooker.com. See also our Privacy Policy and the Operator Agreement that applies to rental operators.