Terms of service
These are the terms for working with me. They are written to be read. Your engagement agreement covers the specifics of your student’s plan, and where the two ever differ, the agreement controls, because it is the document written for your student and signed by both of us.
1. Definitions
Agreement: the signed engagement agreement, enrollment form or written engagement confirmation between us.
Client: the parent, guardian or adult student financially responsible for services.
Package engagement: any prepaid, fixed-hour engagement with a defined hour count and expiry window.
Monthly engagement: any recurring relationship billed monthly in advance for a set number of sessions or hours per month.
Single session: a one-time session billed on its own, outside any package or monthly engagement.
Intake diagnostic: the assessment, written report and review meeting that precede any engagement.
Written notice: a text or email that clearly states intent. Voicemails, verbal statements and vague language (“thinking about stopping”, “taking a break”) do not qualify.
2. Services, and what I don’t offer
I provide one-on-one academic tutoring, SAT preparation, academic coaching, college essay review and transfer consulting for the University of Georgia, delivered by me personally. Sessions run over Zoom, scheduled in Eastern time. In-person sessions are available in Athens at the in-person rate stated in your Agreement; travel is included in that rate and never billed separately.
Not included. Completing, writing or ghostwriting any assignment, essay or work on the student’s behalf; unlimited or on-demand communication between sessions; or anything constituting academic dishonesty. A request for academic dishonesty ends the engagement immediately.
Not offered. Calculus, physics and the ACT as a whole. If a request falls outside what I do, I will say so and, where I can, point you to someone who does it well.
The named student only. Sessions are for the student named in the Agreement. Additional attendees need written consent and may incur additional fees.
Intellectual property. The diagnostic instruments, assessment frameworks, item pools, lesson plans and custom materials remain my exclusive property. Materials shared with a student are for their own educational use and may not be reproduced, distributed or shared without my written consent.
3. Payment, and what you sign
Rates are set in your Agreement. Unless your Agreement says otherwise, the first invoice of an engagement is paid by card, and I cover the processing fee on it. Every invoice after it states two amounts: a Zelle price, which is the amount due, and a card price, which adds 3%. Both appear on the invoice before you choose. ACH and check are accepted at the Zelle price by arrangement. Invoicing runs through billing.rainwatertutoring.com and card processing through Helcim.
The intake diagnostic is paid at booking. I send the assessment once payment clears, and it is due 48 hours before the review meeting. If it is not completed by then, the meeting is rescheduled and the fee stands.
The first invoice comes with the engagement agreement, a page rather than a contract you need a lawyer for, covering the plan, the schedule, the rate and, for a monthly package, the package terms in section 5. You read and sign it before anything is booked; I countersign it and send you the countersigned copy. Separately, and only if you want it, when you pay by card you can tick a box to keep that card on file so later invoices settle without re-entering it. Section 6 says what that authorizes and how to withdraw it.
If payment is not received by the due date, I may pause sessions until the balance is current, and I am not obliged to hold your scheduling slot while they are paused. All fees are non-refundable except as your Agreement expressly provides.
4. Packages, the diagnostic, and online orders
Package engagements are paid in advance as set out in your Agreement, typically a deposit at enrollment with the balance due before or shortly after the intake diagnostic. Hours expire on the date the Agreement specifies and are forfeited after it. Refund rights, if any, are governed exclusively by your Agreement.
Starting with the diagnostic alone. You can book the diagnostic session before choosing a package, from me or from the checkout on this site. The agreement you sign then covers the diagnostic and nothing else, and its invoice carries only the diagnostic. Afterwards I send a written plan: what I found, what I would work on, and the rate and schedule I propose. Instruction starts only when you agree to that plan, as a new agreement, and you are under no obligation to continue. Where the diagnostic’s price is credited toward what follows, the checkout page and the invoice say so.
Online orders. College essay review and the Execution Diagnostic can be bought outright at rainwatertutoring.com/checkout/. An order is paid in full by card when you place it, at the price on the page, with nothing added. There is no engagement agreement, no card kept on file, and sections 5 and 6 do not apply. After payment you get an email with the next step: for an essay, a link for uploading drafts, which keeps working for 180 days and takes revisions too; for the Execution Diagnostic, the link to take it. Essay notes come back within 48 hours of a draft reaching me, and revisions of the same essay are included. The Execution Diagnostic report comes within five business days of the sitting. If you change your mind before a draft reaches me or before the diagnostic is taken, tell me and I refund the order in full. Once the work has started, it is not refundable. I read and comment on essays; I do not write or rewrite any part of one, and section 2 applies to them as to everything else.
5. Monthly engagements
Monthly engagements are billed monthly in advance. All sessions for a given month must be paid by the last day of the prior month: April’s sessions by March 31. Time is of the essence.
The term. A monthly engagement is written for a term, the semester as your Agreement states, and ends on the last day of that term unless we agree in writing to continue. A new term is a new agreement.
Changing the package. You can move up to a larger package at any time; it starts with the next invoice. Moving down to a smaller package takes written notice at least fourteen calendar days before the first day of the month it is to apply to. Notice given later than that applies to the month after.
Unused time. Up to a quarter of a month’s contact time carries into the next month and is good for that month only. Anything past that does not carry, and carried time that goes unused does not carry again or refund.
Ending one. Either of us may end a monthly engagement with at least fourteen days’ written notice. You owe for all sessions scheduled within that fourteen-day window under the established recurring schedule, whether or not the student attends. If the next period’s invoice has already been issued, the full amount remains due. This is a reasonable estimate of what abrupt termination costs me, not a penalty, and is in addition to anything else owed.
If notice is skipped. You remain responsible for the sessions that would have occurred in the fourteen days following the earlier of the date notice is eventually given, or the date of your last communication or the student’s last attended session.
Pauses. If you ask to pause, a return date must be confirmed within thirty days, or the pause is treated as a termination effective on the date it was requested. I am not obliged to hold your slot during a pause.
6. Card authorization
If you choose to keep a card on file (it is never required), you authorize me, through Helcim or my then-current processor, to charge it for invoiced amounts due under the Agreement, any past-due balance, and any termination amounts owed under section 5, and for nothing else. Every charge follows an invoice you have already received, and you get a receipt for each one. Withdraw the authorization at any time by telling me in writing, and I invoice you the ordinary way. You have ten days to dispute a charge in writing; not disputing within that window is acceptance. I do not store card numbers or security codes; the processor holds all of it.
7. Chargebacks
Please do not initiate a chargeback for an authorized charge. The remedy for a disputed charge is the written dispute process in section 6. A chargeback in breach of this is a material breach: you are liable for the original amount, any processing or chargeback fees charged to me, and the reasonable cost of contesting it. It may also end the engagement immediately and go to collections.
8. Scheduling and cancellations
Sessions follow the schedule in your Agreement. Where the Agreement is silent, these defaults apply:
- 24 hours’ notice or more: rescheduled in good faith, subject to availability.
- Less than 24 hours, or a no-show: counts as a delivered session. Documented illness or a genuine emergency is accommodated at my discretion.
- If I cancel: rescheduled or credited at no cost.
- Repeated no-shows, meaning two or more in a month: grounds for ending the engagement.
9. Termination for cause
I may end any engagement immediately, without notice, for non-payment; repeated no-shows; disrespectful, threatening or abusive behavior; a request for academic dishonesty; or a chargeback filed in breach of section 7. Outstanding balances become immediately due, and fees already paid are non-refundable except as your Agreement expressly provides.
10. What the engagement agreement covers
Where sessions run over Zoom, you are responsible for the student’s connection, device and software. An isolated technical failure is rescheduled or extended at no charge. Recurring problems, meaning three or more disruptions you have not reasonably addressed, may mean resolving them before continuing, or the affected sessions being charged as delivered. Preparation problems, meaning a dead laptop, missing materials or a noisy room, are not technical failures and count as attended.
Beyond that, the specifics live in the engagement agreement rather than on this page: the plan, the schedule, the rate and, for a monthly package, the term and the package terms. You read and sign that document before the first session, and I countersign it. Session notes, diagnostic results and progress reports go to whoever is responsible for payment.
Two commitments do not depend on what is in it, so they belong here. I record a session only where the family has agreed to it, and I ask before the first one. And no AI tool contacts you or your student on my behalf, ever. When you hear from this practice, it is me. My tools may help me draft what I send you; they never send anything on their own.
11. Students under 18
A parent or legal guardian must sign the Agreement for any student under 18, and is the party to these terms. The parent or guardian is copied on scheduling and billing communication and receives session notes, diagnostic results and progress reports. Instructional messages may go to the student directly. A student under 13 may not submit an inquiry through the website; a parent or guardian submits it instead.
12. Communication
Email and text are best for scheduling. I aim to reply within one business day; replies outside ordinary hours are a courtesy rather than an obligation.
Calls to (706) 389-0528 come to me. No answering service or automated assistant picks up on my behalf. When I am with a student I cannot answer, so text the same number, leave a message, or use the form, and I get back to you myself.
13. Accessibility and accommodations
If your student has an IEP, 504 plan or other documented accommodation, tell me and I will follow it where it applies to one-on-one work. Sessions can use captions, larger materials or editable files on request. If any part of my website or materials is not accessible to you, write to info@rainwatertutoring.com or call (706) 389-0528 and I will get you the information another way; the accessibility statement describes my commitments.
14. General provisions
No guaranteed outcomes. Specific scores, grades or admissions results are not warranted. Outcomes depend on things outside my control, including effort, attendance and independent practice. Where this site publishes an average score improvement, it describes past results across a stated number of students over a stated period. It is a historical average, not a prediction for any individual student, and nothing on this site is a promise of a particular score.
Limitation of liability. My total liability under these terms will not exceed the fees paid for the calendar month in which the claim arose. No indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages.
Force majeure. Neither of us is liable for delays caused by circumstances beyond reasonable control. If such an event prevents delivery for more than fourteen consecutive days, the affected sessions are rescheduled or credited. Fees for sessions already delivered are unaffected.
Governing law. Georgia law governs these terms, and both of us consent to exclusive jurisdiction in Clarke County, Georgia.
Collections. Past-due amounts may be referred to collections or pursued in court. You are responsible for the reasonable cost of collection, including agency fees, legal fees and court costs, on undisputed obligations or obligations resolved in my favor.
Amendments. I may update these terms with seven days’ written notice and posting at rainwatertutoring.com/terms-of-service/. Continued use after the effective date is acceptance.
Privacy. Your communications, session records and billing information are confidential and are not shared except for billing, collections, or where the law requires it. Information about a minor is shared only with the parent or guardian of record. The privacy policy covers information collected through the website.
Entire agreement, severability and waiver. These terms, together with any signed Agreement, are the entire agreement between us and supersede prior discussions. If a provision is held unenforceable, the rest stand, modified as little as necessary to preserve intent. Not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it.
Acceptance
By signing an engagement agreement, paying an invoice, placing an order, or attending a session, you accept these terms as they stand on that date. When I change them, I post the new version here with a new date and tell active families directly.
Michael Rainwater
Rainwater Private Tutoring
Athens, Georgia 30601
info@rainwatertutoring.com · (706) 389-0528
See also the privacy policy and the accessibility statement.