Rental agreement

This agreement is between us and the customer who places an order (“you” or “your”).

No signature is required to enter this agreement. A binding contract is formed when you place an order or submit payment, whichever occurs first. By doing so, you confirm that you have read and agree to these terms and that you are at least 18 years old.

You are renting reusable plastic moving totes and any other Equipment or items we provide with your order (together, the “Equipment”). Wherever this agreement refers to the totes, that reference includes all Equipment, except where a provision applies by its own terms only to the totes — for example, the per-tote charges in Section 5 and the loading limits in Section 9. All of our Equipment, including any Equipment that we deliver to you, remains our property at all times. This is a rental, not a sale, and no ownership passes to you at any time. You may not sell, lend, sublet, pledge, alter, paint, label over, or permanently mark the Equipment, and you may not take it outside our service area without our written permission.

You are responsible for all Equipment that we provide you, including any totes, and for all use of the Equipment, during the entire Rental Period (defined in Section 3), regardless of who uses the Equipment and regardless of whether you authorized that use. If anyone other than you uses the Equipment, including the totes, during your Rental Period, you remain fully responsible for the Equipment, for their conduct, and for every charge under this agreement, and you are responsible for making sure each user knows and follows these terms. Every user is bound by this agreement to the same extent that you are.

Your Rental Period begins when we deliver or place any Equipment, including any totes, at the delivery location. Your Rental Period continues until we have physically retrieved all Equipment that we provided to you, back from you in our possession. The Rental Period does not end merely because a scheduled pickup date has passed. Your responsibilities under this agreement apply throughout the Rental Period, and the provisions listed in the Survival paragraph of Section 17 continue in effect after the Rental Period ends.

The length of your rental is included with each package and is displayed at checkout. If you need more time, contact us before your pickup date. We can choose to extend the rental at a rate we quote you before the extension begins, in our sole discretion and subject to availability.

Payment for any services and products we provide or rent, including any rental and delivery fees, is due in full when you book your services with us. We accept payment through a third-party payment processor, currently Stripe. Prices are shown before you pay, and any applicable taxes are added at checkout.

By placing an order, you authorize us to keep your payment card on file with our payment processor and to charge that card for amounts you owe under this agreement. These are the charges that may apply during your rental. We may update these amounts from time to time; the amounts that apply to your rental are the ones in effect when you placed your order, as described in Section 15.

• Totes not returned: $25 per tote, charged for each tote missing at pickup.
• Damage: up to $25 per tote, charged for totes returned cracked, broken, or otherwise unusable. Normal wear from ordinary use is expected and is never charged.
• Extra cleaning: $5 per tote, charged only when a tote comes back needing more than routine cleaning, for example paint, oil, food waste, or pet messes.
• Late return: $10 per day, per order, for each day past your scheduled pickup date when you have not arranged an extension with us. If the totes are not returned within 30 days after your scheduled pickup date, they are deemed not returned, late-return charges stop accruing, and the “totes not returned” charge above applies in place of any further late-return charges.
• Wasted trip: $25, charged when we arrive for a scheduled delivery or pickup and cannot complete it because of no access, no agreed drop spot, or totes that are not ready.

For any Equipment other than totes, charges for loss, damage, or extra cleaning are the amount identified on your order or, if no amount is identified, our reasonable repair or replacement cost.

You and we agree that the actual damages we would suffer from a late return, non-return, damage, extra cleaning, or a wasted trip would be impracticable or extremely difficult to determine, and that each amount above is a reasonable estimate of those damages, agreed in advance, and is not a penalty.

We will email you an itemized explanation before or at the time we charge your card for any of the above. If you believe a charge is wrong, contact us within 14 days and we will review it with you. Your card details are stored by Stripe, not by us. You may ask us to remove your card from file at any time after your rental is closed out.

We deliver and pick up on the dates in your confirmation. You do not usually need to be present. If you will not be there, agree a drop spot with us in advance, such as a porch, garage, carport, or side gate, and make sure we can reach it.

Once we place the totes at the agreed spot, they are in your care and are your responsibility for the remainder of the Rental Period, including loss, theft (including theft from the delivery location), fire, and weather or water damage.

On pickup day, please have all totes empty, closed, and stacked in one accessible place. If the totes are not ready or we cannot reach them, we may charge the wasted-trip fee in Section 5 and schedule another visit.

You are responsible for the Equipment, including all totes, throughout the Rental Period. This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, loss, theft, fire, water damage, and any other damage, however caused and by whomever caused, whether or not caused by you. Charges for missing or damaged totes are listed in Section 5.

You must return the totes in the same condition in which they were delivered, ordinary wear and tear excepted.

You must return the totes empty. We have no duty to store, return, or safeguard anything left in a tote. Any items left in a tote when it is returned may be discarded or destroyed without notice and without any liability to you.

Please tell us as soon as you can if any totes are lost, stolen, or damaged. We would always rather sort it out with you than be surprised at pickup.

Assumption of risk. Loading, lifting, carrying, stacking, moving, and storing Equipment, including any totes, and their contents involve inherent risks of personal injury, death, and property damage. You knowingly accept those risks, for yourself and for anyone who uses the totes during your Rental Period.

Release. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release us and our owners, employees, and agents from any and all claims for personal injury, death, or property damage arising out of or relating to the delivery, use, handling, loading, unloading, moving, or storage of the totes during the Rental Period — whether the injury or damage is to you, to anyone who uses the totes, or to any third party, and regardless of whether you authorized that use. This release does not apply to liability caused by our own gross negligence or willful misconduct, or to any liability that cannot lawfully be released.

Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us and our owners, employees, and agents harmless from any claim, loss, damage, liability, and expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your use of the Equipment, including but not limited to, the totes, any use of the Equipment by anyone during your Rental Period, your breach of this agreement, or any injury or property damage connected to the Equipment during the Rental Period — except to the extent caused by our own gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Delivery personnel. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any interaction or dispute arising between you (or any user) and our delivery or pickup personnel. Nothing in this Section limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

Please load each tote to no more than about 50 pounds, close the lid before stacking, and lift with help when a tote is heavy. Do not stand or sit on the totes.

Do not use the totes for hazardous, flammable, corrosive, perishable, biological, or illegal materials, or for anything that could contaminate them or make them unsafe to reuse. Doing so would be a violation of this agreement, and we are not responsible for any damages that may arise from the misuse of our Equipment during your rental period.

The totes and Equipment are provided “as is” and “as available.” Any statements about the totes — including any statement about weight capacity, stacking, size, or water resistance, whether made on our website, in marketing, or elsewhere — are general descriptions offered for convenience only and are not guarantees, warranties, or promises of performance for your particular use. The loading and safe-use limits in Section 9 govern your use of the totes. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

To the fullest extent allowed by California law, our total liability to you for any claim connected to this rental is limited to the amount you paid us for that rental. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, such as lost time, missed moving dates, or lost income. Nothing in this agreement limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

We rent containers. We do not pack, load, carry, or transport your belongings, and we are not a moving company or a warehouse. We are not responsible for damage to or loss of anything you put inside the totes, however it happens. Please pack fragile items with care and insure valuable property under your own renter or homeowner policy.

Your card details go directly to and are stored by a third-party payment processor, currently Stripe, and are handled under the payment processor’s terms. We do not store your full card details. Stripe is an independent third party. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible or liable for any act, omission, failure, or security breach of whatever payment processor that we use, including any unauthorized access to or disclosure of your payment information in their possession, and your recourse for any such matter is against that processor and not us. Nothing in this Section limits any duty we cannot lawfully disclaim. We do not sell your information.

You must cancel at least 48 hours before your delivery date to receive a full refund. If cancellation is made inside that window but before delivery, we will refund 50% of the rental price. Once the Equipment is delivered, the rental price is non-refundable, including if you return them early. If we cannot deliver on your scheduled date for any reason on our end, you may reschedule or receive a full refund.

We may change these terms at any time, without your separate consent or signature. Changes take effect when we post the updated terms. Your continued or future use of our services, or placing a new order, means you accept the then-current terms. The version that applies to any given rental is the version in effect when you placed that order.

If you do not return the Equipment, including the totes, do not pay what you owe, or use the Equipment in a way this agreement prohibits, we may retrieve our Equipment from the delivery or pickup address, charge the card on file under Section 5, and decline future rentals. Our remedies are cumulative and are in addition to any rights we have at law.

Governing law and venue. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be handled exclusively in the state or federal courts serving Butte County, California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

Attorneys’ fees. In any dispute arising out of or relating to this agreement, the prevailing party is entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, including reasonable costs of collection.

Severability. If any provision of this agreement is held unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will stay in full force and effect.

Entire agreement. These terms, together with your order, are the entire agreement between you and us about the rental, and they supersede any prior or contemporaneous statements, marketing, or understandings. You have not relied on any statement outside this agreement.

No waiver. If we do not enforce a provision of this agreement, that is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer this agreement or your order. We may assign this agreement.

Force majeure. We are not responsible for any delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including weather, fire, accident, labor shortages, supply problems, or acts of government.

Survival. The end of the Rental Period does not end the obligations that are meant to outlast it. Sections 5 (card on file and additional charges), 7 (your responsibility for the totes, condition, and return), 8 (assumption of risk, release, and indemnification), 10 (disclaimer of warranties), 11 (limits on our liability), 12 (your belongings), 13 (payment processing), 16 (if you violate this agreement), and 17 (general), together with any other provision that by its nature should continue, survive the end or termination of this agreement.

Electronic communications. You consent to receive notices, disclosures, and other communications from us electronically, including by email and through our website, and you agree that electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

Notices. You may reach us at hello@chicototerentals.com.

Anything here that is not clear? Please send us a note before you book, or email hello@chicototerentals.com. We would rather answer a question up front than charge a fee later.