What constitutes the SSS being considered unavailable under the Transaction Availability Warranty for a Dq Treat location?
Dq_Treat Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
rketing emails, libelous, or otherwise unlawful or tortious material, or to store or transmit material in violation of third-party rights, (iv) interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the SSS, or (iv) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the SSS or their related systems or networks.
3. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT, DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
a. SSS Availability Warranty. PAR warrants to Participating Location, (i) PAR will maintain the online availability of the SSS for a minimum of availability in any given month as provided in the Transaction Availability Warranty and the General Availability Warranty charts below
("Availability Warranties"), and (ii) that the functionality or features of the SSS may change but will not materially decrease during the Term.
For purposes of Section 3 a. (i) above, the SSS shall be considered unavailable and covered by the Availability Warranty set forth in the charts below when Participating Location is unable to:
- (iii) process a point of sale transaction (e.g. open and close an order in-store), excluding any outages and downtime set forth in Section 4) b) below ("Transaction Availability Warranty"); or
- (v) use the administrative portal to make and publish menu changes; or (iv) communicate with the Service through an application programming interface ("API"), excluding any outages and downtime set forth in Section b) below ("General Availability Warranty").
- b. Outages and Downtime. The following outages and downtime shall be excluded from the Availability Warranty: (i) requested by Participating Location; (ii) caused by Participating Location or Participating Location's contractors and agents; (iii) scheduled maintenance and upgrade purposes; (iv) caused by Participating Location's computer system, web browser, hardware or software applications, including third party integrations, not provided by PAR; (v) power failures; (vi) service failures caused by a service provider other than PAR or PAR's agents; (vii) damage to telecommunication facilities outside of PAR's control, other than acts taken by or caused by PAR personnel; (viii) outages and downtime that arises as a result of Participating Location's failure to upgrade or refresh required hardware and Equipment where such noncompliance was communicated by PAR to Participating Location with adequate advance notice and where compliance is consistent with good business practices; and (ix) outages and downtime that arise from excessive load (more than 20 requests per second on the API) by Participating Location or agents acting on Participating Location's behalf or at Participating Location's direction. PAR will provide Participating Location with one (1) week notice of any scheduled maintenance or upgrades, which shall occur after business hours local time. PAR shall only use occurrences exceeding 60 seconds to calculate downtime.
- c. Service Level Credits.
Source: Item 17 — The following paragraph is added to the end of Item 17 of the Disclosure Document: (FDD pages 70–378)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Dq Treat's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the SSS (presumably a software or system) is considered unavailable under the Transaction Availability Warranty when a participating location is unable to process a point-of-sale transaction, such as opening and closing an order in-store. This excludes specific outages and downtime detailed in another section. Additionally, the SSS is considered unavailable if the location cannot use the administrative portal to make and publish menu changes or communicate with the service through an application programming interface (API), again excluding certain outages and downtime.
However, certain outages and downtime are excluded from the Availability Warranty. These exclusions include outages requested or caused by the Dq Treat location or its contractors, scheduled maintenance and upgrades, issues caused by the location's computer systems or software not provided by PAR, power failures, service failures caused by other service providers besides PAR, damage to telecommunication facilities outside of PAR's control, failures to upgrade hardware or equipment after receiving notice from PAR, and outages resulting from excessive load on the API.
PAR, the service provider, will provide Dq Treat locations with one week's notice for scheduled maintenance or upgrades, which will occur after local business hours. PAR will only calculate downtime based on occurrences exceeding 60 seconds. If the SSS availability falls below the applicable threshold per month, PAR will issue a credit equal to the pro-rated portion of the monthly SSS Service Fees for the downtime period attributable to PAR. Dq Treat locations must notify PAR's help desk if they cannot transact an order or use the SSS; failure to do so within 60 days of the outage may result in a waiver of any available credits, unless PAR is aware of a system-wide outage.
These terms are important for a prospective Dq Treat franchisee to understand, as they define the conditions under which they can expect the SSS to be available and what recourse they have if it is not. It is crucial to note the exclusions to the warranty, as many common issues, such as power failures or problems with the franchisee's own equipment, are not covered. Franchisees should also be aware of the notification requirements to ensure they receive any applicable service level credits.