Terms & Conditions
Wise Owl Web Solutions has the right to modify these Terms and Conditions, as well as our privacy policy, at any given time. We will give sufficient notice of any changes, including but not limited to posting revised terms on our website at www.thewiseweb.co.uk. Any alterations made will take effect instantly upon posting in the public domain. By continuing to use our services after any modification, you indicate your conformity to the modified terms.
Definitions
Our Company - Service Supplier
The term “We/Us/Our” refers to The Wise Web Solutions,Sole Trader
Your Company - Service User
The terms “you” and “your” are used in reference to your business as a user of our services. A user is regarded as an individual who accesses or makes use of our services, and may include other individuals who jointly participate in the use of our services.
Disclaimer
The terms and conditions set forth herein represent the complete agreement between the parties. Furthermore, to the full extent permitted under applicable law, any and all conditions, warranties, representations, undertakings, and inducements relating to the services provided herein, other than those provided for in these express terms and conditions, are expressly excluded.
We wish to emphasize that our liability is limited to the extent permitted by law, and to the following options: replacement, repair, or re-supply of the services we provide, or repayment of the cost of the services we were contracted to perform. Any other claims for damages, whether direct, incidental, or consequential, are excluded.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter, and we look forward to working with you to provide you with exactly the services you need.
General Terms & Conditions
1. Charges & Payment
We would like to inform you that, in light of the services we will be providing, you are required to pay the charges that were specified in the estimate and/or project proposal that was provided to you. Please note that all rates and fees are exclusive of VAT, which will be charged in addition at the prevailing rate.
It is expected that you shall make punctual payment to us of all invoices and will indemnify us in full in respect of any third-party expenses suffered or incurred by us pursuant to your instructions.
Regarding our services on new website and design projects, we shall invoice you 50% in advance for our services and 50% on completion of your project or within 10 weeks, whichever comes sooner. Kindly note that your first invoice shall be issued for immediate payment, and we reserve the right not to commence any work until the project deposit has been paid in full.
Please note that project deposit invoices are non-refundable.
For all other services, including updates to existing websites and smaller one-off projects, payments are due immediately upon receipt of invoice.
For works totalling over £500, a 50% deposit invoice will be raised before work commences, which is due immediately upon receipt of invoice, before work begins. The balance is due after the work has been completed or 30 days after the project start-date, whichever comes sooner.
Payments for monthly services are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
For all monthly support packages, including pay-as-you-go packages, we require 30 days’ notice if you wish to pause or terminate services with us.
Payments for annual services, including website hosting, are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
In the instance that you fail to pay any amount when due, we may charge interest at 5% above the base lending rate from time to time of Barclays Bank plc, accruing on a daily basis and being compounded quarterly until payment is made, whether before or after any judgement, or suspend the services until payment has been made in full, including website hosting. Please be informed that all sums due to us shall become due and payable immediately on termination.
We reserve the right to retain all work, materials, and any other items in our possession relating to any matter until all invoices are paid in full.
Any queries in respect of an invoice must be raised within 14 days of the invoice date. After this date, it will be deemed that the invoice has been accepted by you.
Please note that we provide estimates for all work, not quotations, and estimates act as a price guide and may need to be reviewed if more time, resources, or assets are required as a project progresses. Adequate notice will always be given to you if changes to a price estimate are required at any time.
We look forward to doing business with you.
2. Additional Expenses
We kindly request that you agree to reimburse our agency for any reasonable expenses incurred which do not form part of our proposal. These expenses may include third-party software purchases, stock photographs, fonts, domain name registration, web hosting, or similar expenses.
We aim to provide outstanding service to all our clients but require that any additional expenses incurred while executing your project be settled promptly to avoid any delays.
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to a successful collaboration.
3. Data Privacy and GDPR
The Wise Owl Web Solutions acts as a ‘Data Processer’ with you, the client, being the ‘Data Controller’.
As a client, you must agree to our Processor Contract.
We do not take any responsibility for any recommendations given to you regarding Data Privacy.
The contents of your website Privacy Policy and Privacy Statement are solely your responsibility and any material provided by us to you is only a guide.
We recommend you seek legal assistance for all privacy materials published on your website.
4. Intellectual Property Rights
In connection with the production of your website, web applications, and digital and print design materials, we would like to formally remind you of the importance of obtaining all necessary permissions and authorities in respect of any copy (written word), graphic images, registered company logos, names, and trademarks, or any other material that you supply to us. Additionally, we strongly advise you to carefully check and ensure that all content added to your website or any works we complete and deliver to you are accurate and do not contravene any laws. To avoid legal consequences, you must indemnify us and hold us harmless from any claims or legal actions related to the content of your website or any works we complete and deliver to you. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
5. Ownership & Licensing
We would like to inform you that once the full payment for our work has been received, you will have complete ownership of the finished work. As for any licensed software used within your website, there may be additional annual renewal fees that The Wise Owl Web Solutions will notify you of before projects are completed or started.
In addition, it is your responsibility to verify and ensure that all content added to your website or any delivered work is accurate and does not violate any laws. You are also obliged to indemnify us and hold us unaccountable from any legal claims or actions relating to your website’s content or any completed work we provide.
If there are any concerns or enquiries regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted to assist you in any possible way.
6. Governing Law
The Agreement (constituted by these terms and conditions) and any further proposal shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England. The parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England in relation to any legal proceedings arising out of or in connection with the Agreement.
7. Subcontracting
We assert our right to subcontract any services, which we committed to undertake for you, at our discretion, if we believe it is in the best interests of timely and successful project completion.
8. Non-Disclosure
We guarantee that neither we nor any of our subcontractors will ever disclose any of your confidential information to any third party, without your prior consent. We are willing to enter into a formal non-disclosure agreement with you at your request, and only if you consider the terms of such an agreement acceptable.
9. Supply of Materials
It is imperative that you provide us with all necessary materials and information required to complete the work in accordance with the agreed specification. These materials may include photographs, written copy, logos, and other printed materials. In instances where a delay in providing necessary materials leads to a delay in the completion of work, we retain the right to extend previously agreed deadlines by a reasonable amount. Rest assured that specific timescales shall be provided to you at the commencement of the project, which will assist you in collating and supplying the materials required to carry out the project successfully.
In cases where you fail to supply necessary materials and that, in turn, prevents the progress of the work, we reserve the right to invoice you for any part or parts that had already been completed. Additionally, where you fail to provide materials within 28 days after a request from us, we reserve the right to terminate the contract and raise an invoice for any work already completed in addition to the project deposit payment.
10. Project Delays and Client Liability
We would like to bring to your attention that our company depends heavily on your full cooperation in meeting deadlines and completing projects successfully. Therefore, we kindly request that you appoint a single point of contact from your side who will be available on a daily basis throughout the project for efficient communication and expedited feedback. It is important to note that any delays caused by late submission of materials or failure to approve or sign off work on time, at any stage of the project, may lead to missed launch dates or deadlines. The Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held liable for such delays.
In addition, we would like to inform you that in the event that you fail to communicate with us without any explanation within a period of 14 days, we reserve the right to terminate the contract and raise an invoice for any work already completed in addition to the project deposit payment.
Thank you for your cooperation in advance. We look forward to a successful project outcome.
11. Consequential Loss
We shall not be liable for any loss or damage which you may suffer which is in any way attributable to any delay in performance or completion of our contract, however that delay arises.
12. Approval of Work
Upon completion of the project, you will receive a notification and will be given an opportunity to review the work. If there are any issues you find unsatisfactory, you must inform us in writing within 7 days of receiving the notification. Any work that is not reported within this timeframe will be deemed approved. Once the work has been approved, it cannot be rejected at a later time, and the contract will be deemed as completed. The remaining balance of the project price will then become due and an invoice will be issued. We appreciate your business and are committed to providing quality work. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
13. Rejected Work
If you reject any of our work within the 7-day review period, and where applicable do not approve subsequent work performed by us to remedy points recorded as being unsatisfactory, and we, acting reasonably, consider that you have been unreasonable in any rejection of the work, then we may elect to treat the contract as having been terminated and take measures to recover payment for the completed work.
Service-Specific Terms & Conditions
1. Web Hosting
Our websites are hosted with our hosting partner Siteground. All websites are hosted within the EU on GoDaddy datacentres including London and Amsterdam.
Hosting can be arranged from US and Asia datacentres if required but are set to EU locations by default for GDPR compliance. If you host your website with us:
a. Upon request, we can provide you with direct access to your web hosting control panel after a security and usage consultation has been agreed. This access is not provided by default for security reasons.
b. To ensure superior levels of reliability and performance, all our clients’ websites are hosted on high speed, state of the art servers housed and managed by our industry leading network partners. We cannot guarantee 100% uptime, but service availability level is consistently in the region of 99.95%. Details of the specification of our servers are freely available to our clients and can be provided upon request.
c. If your website is compromised / hacked and needs our technical support team to spend time fixing the problem and restoring the site – this work is chargeable and is not included in our general hosting support cover.
If you use a third-party web host (i.e., do not host with The Wise Owl Web Solutions), there may be (unless previously agreed in writing, prior to commencing work) a charge to upload and configure the website which will be dependent on the complexity of the process.
We reserve the right to refuse to upload any web files to website hosting environments that we are not familiar with or that could present unreasonable technical demands on our support staff.
2. Website Support
All support with client websites is chargeable at £50+VAT per hour.
If you host your website with us, technical support and troubleshooting may be included within your hosting package, depending on the package you have with us.
3. Monthly Support Packages
Hours included within our monthly support packages cannot be carried forward to the following month and are reset on the first day of the month.
For ‘pay as you go’ support packages, time is chargeable at £50+VAT per hour.
For all monthly support packages, including ‘pay as you go’ packages, we require 30 days notice if you wish to pause or terminate services with us.
4. Website Forms
The Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held responsible for any errors in emails being sent via website forms.
You are responsible for regularly testing the forms on your website to ensure that emails are being successfully received. Website forms will be tested and verified by us when new websites are launched live.
5. Website API’s & Intergrations
The Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held responsible for any issues occurring due to errors with third-party APIs or system integrations that are out of our control. We will always work closely with you to resolve matters as quickly as possible.
Time required to fix any API or web integration errors is chargeable at £80+VAT per hour.
6. Domain Names
If you choose to register your domain name and host with The Wise Owl Web Solutions:
a. You will have ownership of the domain for the duration of the registration period and full say over the control of your domain name, but The Wise Owl Web Solutions is not able to grant access to the domain’s admin/control panel interface – any requested changes will be applied by The Wise Owl Web Solutions on your behalf.
b. If you would like to transfer your domain name away from The Wise Owl Web Solutions a ‘transfer away’ fee may be implemented depending on the complexity of the process.
7. Website Backups
If hosting with The Wise Owl Web Solutions, your website will be automatically backed up every two weeks and stored on our cloud storage with GoDaddy on an EU (London) data centre.
If you are hosting your website via a third party, you are responsible for maintaining your own website backups with respect to your website and we will not be liable for restoring any client data or client websites.
8. Cross Browser & Mobile Compatibility
We endeavour to ensure that the websites we create are compatible with all the most recent versions of web browsing software made commercially available (in the UK and USA).
We are unable to guarantee that our websites will work and look the same on all browsers and mobile devices.
9. eCommerce
You are responsible for complying with all relevant laws relating to the advertising and selling of goods or services online (eCommerce) and to the full extent permitted by law will hold harmless, protect, and defend The Wise Owl Web Solutions and its subcontractors from any claim, penalty, tax, tariff loss or damage arising from you or your clients’ involvement or use of Internet electronic commerce.
The Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held responsible for any loss of sales or financial damage to your business which is caused by any error.
10. Website Content
You will ensure that all your own and third-party content does not infringe any applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights and does not include material that is obscene, indecent, pornographic, seditious, offensive, defamatory, threatening, liable to incite racial hatred, menacing, blasphemous or in breach of any third-party Intellectual Property Rights (Inappropriate Content).
You acknowledge that Wise Owl Web Solutions has no control over any customer or third-party content and does not monitor the content. Wise Owl Web Solutions reserves the right to remove content from the relevant deliverable and/or to suspend the operation of the deliverable where it reasonably suspects such content is Inappropriate Content.
You will indemnify Wise Owl Web Solutions against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any action or claim that any of customer or third-party content constitutes Inappropriate Content.
11. Variations
Website Design & Development
Our website design & build phase is flexible and allows a certain degree of minor variation to the original specification to be agreed. However, any major deviation from the brief may result in additional charges; prior to this event occurring it will be discussed, and you will be made aware before the work is carried out.
Before commencing work on your brand identity, we will inform you of the number of variations/concepts that we are going deliver. Making changes and adjustments to these concepts is all part of the process, however if we need to put forward additional, completely new concepts, this may result in additional charges; prior to this event occurring it will be discussed, and you will be made aware before the work is carried out.
12. Search Engine Optimisation
We do not guarantee improved search rankings or any specific position in search engine results.
The Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held responsible for any declines in search engine performance in any way as a result of the work that we have undertaken.
13. Ad Fees & Campaign Management
For any Ad campaigns that we help to support your business with, including Google Ads and social media Ads, Wise Owl Web Solutions will not be held responsible for any errors in budget spending, including over spending.
You are responsible for regularly checking fees incurred by third-party advertising platforms to ensure costs are in-line with your budgets.