These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Lone Star Observatories, LLC ("LSO", "we", "us", or "our"), a Texas limited liability company, governing your access to and use of all LSO products and services including lonestarobservatories.com, telescope.repair, BortleBug, and ScopeHound (collectively, the "Services").
Please read these Terms carefully before using the Services. By accessing or using any Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.
1. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years of age, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to use the Services. By using the Services you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement. If you are using the Services on behalf of a business or other entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.
2. The Services
2.1 Telescope Repair (telescope.repair)
LSO provides professional telescope repair, collimation, alignment, and restoration services on a mail-in basis. Services are performed by LSO technicians at our Texas facility. By submitting a telescope for service you agree to:
- Pack the telescope securely. LSO is not liable for damage caused by inadequate packing.
- Accurately describe the scope's condition and any known defects prior to submission.
- Pay the applicable service fee, selected shipping-and-handling charge, and tax at checkout before service begins.
- Acknowledge that optical service results depend on the physical condition of the scope. LSO warrants that all work performed will be carried out to a professional standard and will re-service any scope for free within 30 days if the optical condition does not meet the standard described in the service tier, subject to Section 6.
2.2 BortleBug
BortleBug is an astrophotography planning and dark-sky outlook tool. The Services are provided on an "as-is" basis for planning purposes only. Astronomical forecasts, Bortle-scale estimates, and dark-sky data are derived from third-party sources and are provided for informational use — they are not guarantees of observing conditions.
2.3 ScopeHound
ScopeHound is a private, operator-only tool for telescope resale arbitrage analysis. Access is restricted to authorised LSO operators. If you are not an authorised operator, you may not access or use ScopeHound. LSO makes no representations regarding the accuracy of valuation estimates, which are generated algorithmically and should not be relied upon as financial advice.
2.4 lonestarobservatories.com
The main LSO website provides informational content about LSO products, services, and the astronomy community. No purchase or account is required to access public content.
3. Accounts
Some Services require you to create an account. You agree to:
- Provide accurate and complete registration information.
- Maintain the security of your password and promptly notify us of any unauthorised access to your account.
- Be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
We reserve the right to terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that have been inactive for an extended period, with reasonable notice where practicable.
4. Payment Terms
Fees for telescope.repair services are displayed at telescope.repair/mail-in/. All prices are in US dollars; applicable Texas sales tax and the selected shipping-and-handling option are itemised at checkout. Payment is due when the order is placed. We accept major credit cards via our payment processor (Stripe). Disputed charges must be raised with LSO within 30 days of the invoice date.
5. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Use the Services for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.
- Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Services or any system or network connected to the Services.
- Introduce malware, viruses, or other harmful code.
- Scrape, crawl, or systematically extract data from the Services without express written permission.
- Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
- Use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair LSO infrastructure.
6. Disclaimer of Warranties
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT IN THESE TERMS (INCLUDING THE 30-DAY RE-SERVICE WARRANTY IN SECTION 2.1), THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. LSO DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
7. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, LSO AND ITS MEMBERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, EVEN IF LSO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
LSO'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL FEES PAID BY YOU TO LSO IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) US$50.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR LIABILITY, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
8. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless LSO and its members, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; or (c) your violation of any third-party rights.
9. Intellectual Property
The Services and all content, software, designs, trademarks, and materials associated therewith are owned by or licensed to LSO and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Services for their intended purpose. You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, or commercially exploit any part of the Services without LSO's prior written consent.
Content you create within BortleBug (observations, notes, session logs) remains yours. By uploading content to LSO systems you grant LSO a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, and display that content as necessary to provide the Services.
10. Privacy
Your use of the Services is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
11. Third-Party Links and Services
The Services may contain links to or integrations with third-party websites, platforms, or services (e.g. eBay listings surfaced by ScopeHound, CloudFront CDN, Stripe payment pages). LSO is not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of third-party services. Your use of third-party services is governed by their respective terms.
12. Modifications to the Services and Terms
LSO reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Services (or any portion thereof) at any time with or without notice. We will endeavour to provide reasonable notice of material changes to the Services that affect existing customers. We may also revise these Terms at any time. Continued use of the Services after the effective date of any change constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
13. Termination
Either party may terminate these Terms at any time. You may stop using the Services and request account deletion at any time by contacting us. LSO may suspend or terminate your access to the Services immediately if you breach these Terms, with or without notice. Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15 survive termination.
14. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
These Terms and any dispute arising out of or related to them or the Services shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any legal action or proceeding arising under these Terms shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and the parties irrevocably consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts.
Before commencing any formal legal proceeding, you agree to contact LSO at legal@lonestarobservatories.com and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for a period of 30 days.
15. General
- Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any service-specific terms, constitute the entire agreement between you and LSO with respect to the Services and supersede all prior agreements.
- Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force.
- No waiver. LSO's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of its right to enforce that provision in the future.
- Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights hereunder without LSO's prior written consent. LSO may assign these Terms freely.
- Force majeure. LSO shall not be liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting from causes outside its reasonable control.
16. Contact
If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us:
Lone Star Observatories, LLC
Email: legal@lonestarobservatories.com
Texas, United States