Terms of Service
Last updated: October 7, 2026
The short version
You're using a service that texts you when sold-out California campsites become available. We do our best, but we cannot guarantee you'll actually book a site, that's between you and the reservation system (ReserveCalifornia or Recreation.gov). Use the service responsibly. Don't try to break it. Our refund conditions are explained in Subscription, billing, and refunds below.
The rest of this document is the longer version of the above.
1. About these terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Campkey (the "Service"), operated by Ian Richardson ("we," "us," "our") as a sole proprietorship based in California.
By using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.
We can update these Terms over time. If we make a material change, we'll email you at least 14 days before the change takes effect and update the "Last updated" date.
2. What the Service is
Campkey is a monitoring service that:
- Checks public reservation systems (ReserveCalifornia and Recreation.gov) at regular intervals
- Sends you alerts when a campsite matching your preferences becomes available, delivered via SMS or email depending on the delivery channel you chose at signup
- Provides a web dashboard for managing your subscription, parks, and date preferences
What the Service is NOT:
- A campsite booking service. We do not book sites for you. You receive an alert with a link, and you book the site directly through the official reservation system.
- A guarantee of campsite availability. Cancellations are first-come-first-served. Other people may book the site before you do.
- An affiliate of, partnership with, or endorsed by California State Parks, ReserveCalifornia, the National Park Service, Recreation.gov, or any government agency.
3. Your account
To use the Service, you need to provide your name, a payment method, and either a phone number (if you choose the SMS delivery path at campkey.app) or an email address (if you choose the email-only path at campkey.app/email-signup/). Consent to SMS is not a condition of purchase. The email-only path has the same subscription pricing and park coverage, with openings delivered in a daily digest at 8am Pacific rather than individual text alerts. You agree that:
- The information you provide is accurate and current.
- You are at least 18 years old.
- You will keep your account credentials secure and not share them.
- You are responsible for activity that happens under your account.
If you suspect unauthorized access to your account, email us immediately at hello@campkey.app.
4. Subscription, billing, and refunds
Pricing. New subscriptions cost $9/month or $90/year after a 14-day free trial. Your price does not go up while you keep a continuous subscription; existing subscribers keep their grandfathered price on the same condition. If you cancel and later resubscribe, the price offered at that time applies.
Free trial. New customers receive a 14-day free trial and are not charged until day 15. Cancel during the trial to avoid the subscription charge. Returning customers who have already used a trial or subscription do not receive another trial; checkout shows the amount due before you confirm.
Renewal. Your subscription renews automatically at the same price until you cancel: a monthly plan renews every month and is charged on the same day each month; an annual plan ($90/year) renews every year and is charged on the same date each year. We use Stripe for billing and charge the payment method on file.
Cancellation. You can cancel online from your Campkey dashboard using Cancel subscription. After you confirm, renewal stops and access continues until the end of your current paid period or free trial. Cancelling during the trial prevents the subscription charge. If a payment is overdue, incomplete, unpaid, or the subscription itself is paused, the dashboard offers immediate cancellation instead and explains that existing unpaid charges are not erased and prior payments are not refunded automatically. You can also email hello@campkey.app for help cancelling. If you get alerts by text, replying STOP (or CANCEL) stops the texts and cancels your subscription right away. Pausing alerts or unsubscribing from emails does not cancel billing. We do not pro-rate refunds for unused days, but see the refund policy below.
Refunds for new signups under these Terms. Email hello@campkey.app within 30 days of your latest subscription charge. We will refund your latest subscription payment if no qualifying campsite-opening alert was successfully delivered to you during that billing period before your refund request. This applies to monthly and annual payments. If a qualifying alert was delivered, that payment is not eligible for this refund.
A qualifying alert must match the parks and dates you were watching and describe a valid campsite opening. Failed deliveries, alerts for the wrong parks or dates, and incorrect availability alerts do not count. A correct alert does not guarantee that you will book the site before someone else. We review refund requests manually against the alert and delivery records; a recorded scan or send attempt alone is not proof of delivery.
Existing customers. If you signed up under our earlier no-questions refund promise, we will honor that promise. This new condition does not replace it. Requests outside the 30-day window are reviewed individually. Nothing in this policy limits your applicable consumer rights.
Failed payments. If your payment method fails, we will retry the charge up to 3 times over 7 days. If it still fails, we will pause your alerts and email you. We will not delete your account for non-payment for at least 30 days.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Use the Service to spam, harass, or harm anyone.
- Reverse-engineer, scrape, or copy the Service's code or operations.
- Resell access to the Service or share your account with others.
- Use the Service to coordinate scalping, hoarding, or commercial booking of public campsites for resale.
- Attempt to disrupt the Service through automated requests, denial-of-service attacks, or any other technical means.
- Use the Service to violate any law or the terms of any reservation system we monitor (including ReserveCalifornia and Recreation.gov terms).
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules.
6. SMS messaging, what you're consenting to
Program name: Campkey campsite cancellation alerts.
By providing your phone number, checking the required consent box, and submitting the signup form on campkey.app, you consent to receive recurring SMS messages from us. Specifically:
- Alert messages when a campsite matching your preferences becomes available
- Closure and fire alerts when your subscribed parks are affected
- Service messages related to your account and subscription
Message frequency: varies based on the parks you subscribe to and current cancellation activity. A typical user receives 1–10 messages per week per subscribed park. You can reduce or pause this any time from your dashboard.
Costs: Standard message and data rates from your mobile carrier may apply. Campkey does not charge an extra per-message fee, your subscription covers everything.
You can stop messages at any time by replying STOP to any text. For help, reply HELP or email hello@campkey.app.
Support contact: hello@campkey.app, every message lands in Ian's inbox. We usually reply within 24 hours.
We send all messages through Twilio, a US-based messaging provider that complies with carrier 10DLC requirements and CTIA guidelines. Twilio handles SMS delivery; they see your phone number and message content but do not use your data for marketing.
Replying STOP cancels your subscription as well as stopping texts. If you want to keep your subscription and switch to the email-only delivery path, contact hello@campkey.app before replying STOP. Email alerts arrive in a daily digest at 8am Pacific.
7. Our service obligations, and limits
What we promise:
- We make a good-faith effort to deliver alerts accurately and on time.
- We respond to support requests within 48 hours (usually much faster).
- We will not sell your data, share it for marketing, or otherwise misuse it (see Privacy Policy).
What we cannot promise:
- 100% uptime. The Service may be down for maintenance, outages, or events beyond our control.
- That every cancellation will trigger an alert. Reservation systems sometimes fail to expose availability data, or have delays we cannot control.
- That you will successfully book any specific campsite. Cancellation grabs are first-come-first-served, and other people use similar tools.
- That ReserveCalifornia, Recreation.gov, or other reservation systems will continue to be accessible to monitoring tools. If a provider blocks us, we will notify you and refund the most recent month.
8. Intellectual property
We own the Service: the website, code, brand, content, and design. You may not copy, modify, or redistribute any of it without written permission. We grant you a personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use the Service for your own personal campsite-booking purposes for as long as your subscription is active.
You retain ownership of any content you submit (e.g., feedback, park preferences). By submitting content, you grant us a non-exclusive license to use it to operate and improve the Service.
9. Disclaimers and limitation of liability
The service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
We are not liable for indirect, consequential, incidental, or special damages arising out of or related to your use of the service. Our total liability to you for any claim related to the service will not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.
Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations. If you live in one of them, the above limitations may not apply to you.
10. Termination
You can stop using the Service and cancel your subscription at any time.
We may terminate your access if:
- You violate these Terms.
- You repeatedly attempt to charge back payments.
- We discontinue the Service entirely (in which case we will notify you 30 days in advance and refund any prepaid amounts).
11. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California. Any disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
12. Contact
For any questions about these Terms:
Email: hello@campkey.app
We respond personally to every message, usually within 24 hours.