1. About these terms
These terms are between Global WebForce Limited (“Global WebForce”, “we”, “us”, “our”) and you. “You” means anyone who uses this website, and any person or business that engages us (a “client”). Global WebForce Limited is managed by its Managing Director, Hitesh Parekh. Our contact details are in section 24.
Sections 2 and 3 apply to everyone who uses this website. The rest also apply when you engage us for a website, web application, hosting, maintenance, marketing or any other service (our “services”).
Your agreement with us is made up of these terms, your Application Form, your Website Brief (which lists what your project includes), and any quote, invoice or order confirmation we send you. If your Website Brief conflicts with these terms, the Website Brief applies.
We may update these terms by publishing a new version on this page. If you keep using this website after a change, you accept the new version; if you don’t accept it, stop using the website. Renewals are made under the terms current at the time (section 15).
Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law, or any other law, that can’t lawfully be excluded, restricted or changed.
2. Using this website
Copyright and trademarks
This website and its content, including its domain name, text, graphics, photographs, illustrations, sound, video and other material (“content”), are protected by Australian and international copyright laws and belong to us or our licensors. All rights reserved. Our logos, custom graphics, page headers and button icons are trademarks or trade dress of Global WebForce or our licensors (“marks”).
You may view, download and copy content for your own personal, non-commercial use, as long as you keep any copyright, trademark or other notices in it. Downloading content doesn’t give you any ownership of it. Any other use of our content or marks, including copying, displaying, distributing, changing, selling or transmitting it, needs our written permission and may breach copyright or trademark laws in Australia and other countries.
Your comments
We appreciate your comments, suggestions, feedback, ideas and other submissions (“comments”). By sending them, you give Global WebForce and its affiliates a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, distribute, copy, change, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, perform and display your comments, in whole or in part, together with your name and any related copyright, moral or other intellectual property rights.
Links to other websites
This website may link to other websites. We don’t run or control them, and we don’t endorse their products or information. You use them at your own risk.
No warranty
To the extent the law allows, this website, its content, and all information, products and services offered through it are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, including warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We don’t promise that the website or its content will be complete, accurate, uninterrupted, secure or error-free, or that it, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses or other harmful components. Information on this website may change without notice.
Our liability for this website
Subject to section 1, we’re not liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special or incidental damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, this website or goods or services bought through it, whether in contract, negligence or otherwise, even if we were told such damages were possible. Our total liability for any claim about your use of this website is limited to AUD $100.
3. Privacy
We respect the privacy of everyone who visits or uses this website. Our Privacy policy explains how we collect, use and protect personal information, and forms part of these terms. By accepting these terms, you agree to us using and disclosing your personal information as it describes.
4. Your project
We work as an independent contractor to deliver the website, web application, software or other work you engage us for (your “project”).
What’s included depends on your package. Your Website Brief lists the inclusions for your package, and your completion date. Prices on our website and in our marketing exclude GST. Mobile apps are scoped and quoted as separate projects.
5. Access to your accounts
If we set up a web hosting account for you, or work on hosting you already have, you authorise us to access that account, with permission to write to your website’s files and folders. The same applies to any other account you give us access to for your project, such as your website’s admin, your domain or your email. We keep these access details confidential and use them only for your work.
6. Domain names
We can register a domain name for you for a fee, or use one you already own. If we buy it, we’ll invoice you, and you must pay before we register it.
If your package includes a domain name, we pay for one regular domain name for one year, and we own it during that year. Premium and additional domain names must be paid for by you before we buy them. Renewal fees are invoiced to you and must be paid before the domain, or the free year, expires.
If a renewal isn’t paid by the day the domain expires, the domain is parked immediately. We’re not responsible for any resulting domain or website problems, for the domain becoming unavailable, or for extra costs such as a redemption fee or a higher price.
A domain name we bought stays owned by us until all your outstanding balances are paid, and is only transferred to you, or anyone else, with our permission.
7. Words and content
You supply the final text for your website, unless your Website Brief says we’ll write it. If we write it, writing fees apply, and you should still give us the raw information, any style guide and how the content should flow.
After we send the first draft, send us one document summarising the changes you want. We include up to two rounds of summarised changes; more may be charged.
You must give us all the information and material we need for every page in your contract within 90 days of signing the Application Form. If you don’t, the full contract amount becomes due, unless you give us a justifiable reason and we agree to the delay in writing.
If your website is delayed because you haven’t provided information, feedback or approval, or haven’t answered our questions, a surcharge applies:
- from the 61st to the 70th day after signing the Application Form: 10% of the website package price;
- from the 71st day: 20% of the website package price every month, until the project resumes.
8. Photos, images and media
We’ll create, capture or receive from you the graphic elements your website needs, including supporting images, animated graphics and banner ads. If banners and images are part of your package, their details are in your Website Brief.
You provide the photos your website needs, raw or edited. Retouching is included for up to 10 images; more may be charged.
Your photos, graphics and videos must meet our media requirements, so poor-quality or low-resolution files don’t harm your website. We decide what is acceptable. If you don’t replace unsuitable files within 10 working days after signing the Application Form, we may replace them with suitable ones.
We can supply up to 10 stock photos. More, or replacing your images, graphics or videos, may cost extra. We can also scan up to 10 images within the base price; more may be charged.
If your website is ready to launch except for images you need to replace, the final invoice is due, and you’re responsible for uploading launch-ready images.
Photography isn’t included in any package or custom price. You’re responsible for any photography your website needs, including staging, professional fees and other costs.
9. How we build
We build websites on WordPress, with WooCommerce for online shops. Every package includes a content management system, so you can update your website yourself. We write custom code in PHP, the language WordPress runs on, and in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Included in the base price: responsive design for phones, tablets and computers, and the standard interactive features your pages need, such as menus, forms, galleries and simple animations.
Quoted in your Website Brief: custom PHP development (such as web applications, client portals and custom plugins), integrations with other systems (such as payment, booking and email marketing platforms), advanced JavaScript features, databases, server or virtual machine set-up, and audio or video players. If your Website Brief doesn’t list them, they aren’t included.
Online shops: e-commerce includes a product list with pictures and descriptions, a shopping cart, customer registration and accounts, automatic payment processing, and sales reports. Payments go through a provider such as Stripe or PayPal, and you may choose third-party e-commerce software. The e-commerce features for your project are listed in your Website Brief.
Payment providers: to accept card payments, you need your own account with a payment provider. Its charges aren’t covered by our agreement. If your website has high sales volumes, we can help you set up real-time card processing; any related charges are billed to you on top of the base price.
Security certificates: our management plans include an SSL certificate, so your website runs on HTTPS. If your website or domain is hosted elsewhere, you’re responsible for its certificate; without one, security and online-shop features may be limited.
Links: our price allows for an average of 10 links per page, unless your Website Brief says otherwise.
10. Browsers and devices
We build websites to work in the current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on computers, tablets and phones. Pages may not look identical in every browser, but their important parts will work. Some advanced features may need a newer browser or a different one.
New browser versions aren’t always compatible with older websites. Without a maintenance agreement, work needed because of a new browser version is quoted separately, on top of the base price.
If you need your website to work with future versions of browsers, devices, plugins, themes or WordPress, extra costs may apply, even with one of our hosting and maintenance plans.
We’re not responsible for problems caused by changes you make through your website’s dashboard (for example as an editor or shop manager), including updating WordPress, themes or plugins. Updating them without checking with us first can break your website.
11. Training and support
We include 4 hours of training and consultation, by email and phone, for the people you nominate to manage your website, including a 1-hour hands-on tutorial in your website’s admin. The 4 hours start once we tell you your website is complete and ready for final checking.
Unless we agree otherwise, extra meetings, consultation, design and development beyond those 4 hours may be billed at our hourly rates (plus GST):
- consultation, content writing and design: $35 an hour;
- additional development: $55 an hour.
Group training, on-site or off-site, can be done by video call, and may cost extra.
12. Testing and launch
Within 5 business days after we upload your website to our servers and put it live, please test it thoroughly: its layout, navigation, features, content and admin, in all the browsers and devices you have, to check it works as specified at handover. After 5 business days, further changes, fixes and amendments may be charged.
We’re not responsible for delays caused by late replies to our questions or requests for review and approval. You need to give us everything we need, with clear specifications, to start or continue your project. If you don’t respond, communicate or provide what’s needed promptly, we may suspend or cancel the work.
13. Payments
How to pay
You can pay yearly, monthly or fortnightly, by credit card (preferred) or direct deposit. Your Website Brief sets your payment terms. Card payments may attract a merchant service fee.
All payments are in Australian dollars (AUD). Prices shown in other currencies are estimates. Your bank may charge conversion fees, and exchange rates can change between checkout and when a payment reaches your statement; we’re not responsible for those differences.
All prices and fees exclude GST and other taxes and government charges, which you pay (except taxes on our income). Set-up fees, if any, are payable when the service starts.
Fees are due when you order, unless your invoice or order confirmation allows 30 days. We may ask you to complete a credit application before offering 30 days.
Monthly plans
Monthly plans are paid three months in advance, before we start any work: your first invoice covers months 1 to 3. If it’s paid on time, we bill the regular monthly rate from the second invoice. A monthly billing cycle may be billed every 4 weeks. Hourly work on task-based or irregular jobs is added to your monthly bill, unless agreed otherwise.
Paying for a website project
You can choose one of two options.
Standard payment. A deposit of at least 40% of the contract price is needed to start, unless your Payment Agreement says otherwise. Once we receive it, we’ll show you the initial design concepts, online or in person. Staying in touch at this stage is crucial, so the finished website matches your taste and needs. When you accept the design, by email or by signing the Application Form, we start the rest of the work, and the second instalment, or the percentage shown on the invoice, is due. Please keep reviewing our updates and tell us what you like and don’t.
Each instalment is due within 7 days. If it isn’t paid within 7 days, a 10% late charge applies. If it’s still unpaid 15 days after we notify you, simple interest of 18% a year accrues on the balance from the date of the late charge. If payment isn’t made within 15 days after we send our completion notice, we may stop all remaining work and take the website offline.
FlexiPay. Spread the total cost over 6, 12 or 24 months. We’ll send you a payment schedule and monthly invoices, each to be paid on or before its due date. Your first invoice covers months 1 to 3 and must be paid before we start any work, and no website goes live until it’s paid. When you accept the design, by email or by signing the Application Form, the second instalment, or the percentage shown on the invoice, is due. Extra tasks are added to that month’s invoice.
Keep your payment details current
Please tell us two months before your credit card expires, and tell us about any change to your card or bank details straight away, and no later than 15 business days after it. If you don’t, we may charge a $30 dishonour fee. You’re responsible for the payment details you give us.
Talk to us
Most payment problems come from poor communication. If you expect a delay, tell us early: we may be able to agree another arrangement.
14. Late payments and fees
Overdue amounts accrue interest of 1.5% a month, or the maximum the law allows if that’s less. You also pay our costs of collecting overdue amounts, including collection agency and legal fees, and we may refer overdue amounts to a collection agency.
If a payment is late or not made, we may stop all pending work, suspend or cancel your services, and take your website offline until you pay in full; services may also be cancelled permanently. Charges keep accruing while services are suspended, and we’re not responsible for the effects of a suspension. If you received a discount and then default, we may withdraw the discount and require full payment. The intellectual property in your project stays ours until the final invoice is paid (section 20).
Other fees. A $20 fee applies to a dishonoured cheque. Fees may also apply for late payment, insufficient funds, a declined or invalid card, paying by phone or paper bill, or restarting a service stopped for non-payment. Restarting a service is at our discretion and subject to payment.
Administrative fees. We may charge reasonable administrative fees for work outside the normal scope of your services, for extra time or costs, or for your breach of this agreement. For example: support that needs extra time; domain name disputes (such as UDRP actions) that need accounting or legal work; and costs caused by chargebacks or other payment disputes.
Card disputes. Please talk to us before disputing a card payment with your bank. If a payment is reversed or disputed (a “chargeback”), or we can’t charge you in full, we may use any lawful remedy to recover payment, including cancelling your services and domain names immediately, and you’ll pay the costs this causes us.
Refunds. All fees are non-refundable, except where these terms say otherwise or the law, including the Australian Consumer Law, requires a refund.
Price changes. We may change any price, fee, rate or plan by giving you notice under section 24. Prices for services, renewals, upgrades and add-ons may vary with the date you buy them.
15. Renewals
Services you subscribe to monthly, or on another recurring basis, renew automatically until the agreement is ended under these terms. We may turn on automatic renewal for eligible services, and you may opt in where we offer it.
With automatic renewal, we’ll try to renew a service in the 90 days before it expires, without notice to you, at the price current then and for a term no longer than your current one, and charge the card or payment method we hold. The renewal price may be higher or lower than you paid before. To turn automatic renewal off, contact us.
For services not billed monthly, we’ll try, but aren’t obliged, to tell you at least 15 days before they renew.
If you aren’t on automatic renewal, renewing on time is your responsibility. If a service isn’t renewed before it expires, your rights to it end, and we don’t have to let you renew it afterwards. For domain names, any renewal or redemption after expiry is at our discretion and may attract late, reinstatement or redemption fees.
Renewals are made under the terms and conditions current at the time, and need payment of the applicable fees, any identity checks and, for domain names, acceptance by the domain registry.
With notice, we may also charge a yearly account maintenance fee, billed 30 days after the anniversary of your account.
16. Website care, hosting and backups
Maintenance agreements are agreed individually, because every client needs something different: hourly as needed, or monthly. Our hosting and maintenance plans are designed to protect your website from viruses, malicious attacks and hacking.
You can edit and update your pages yourself after your website is complete. If we make updates for you outside a maintenance agreement, we charge our hourly rate, with a one-hour minimum.
Once your website is complete and all invoices are paid, we’ll give you a backup copy of it on request.
We sometimes offer free services, such as email or hosting. You need to use them regularly to keep them active, and we may close free accounts left idle for 30 days or more. A free service may not be set up until you configure the account and log in for the first time.
17. Security and third-party software
No website is immune to hacking, viruses, cyber-attacks or malicious software. They may get into a website or its hosting, take data (including online-shop and card transaction data), change the website or take it offline, install or spread malicious software, use your or your clients’ personal details, send spam, or harm other computers, networks and websites, and your or your clients’ reputation, income or productivity. Global WebForce, its owners, employees and contractors aren’t responsible for these events, and can’t guarantee against them.
We may help put things right, at our discretion and at your (or your client’s) cost. We’re not responsible for lost earnings; for errors, outages or vulnerabilities in third-party WordPress, themes, WooCommerce, plugins, SSL certificates, email or hosting; or for the effects of a website going offline or data being stolen, even with an active hosting and maintenance plan.
We take steps to set up, host and maintain websites securely, using trusted open-source platforms, plugins, themes and apps. If your website is affected anyway, fixing it may cost money, which isn’t payable by us.
We use WordPress, themes, WooCommerce, other open-source platforms, SSL certificates and third-party plugins, as we explain when we customise your website. We don’t guarantee that they’ll meet your needs, or that they’ll run without interruption, securely or without errors.
18. Search engines
If your package includes it, we’ll set up your website’s titles, keywords, descriptions and text for search engines, and submit your website to major search engines such as Google and Bing.
We can’t guarantee your website’s position in search results. Rankings change for many reasons outside our control, and we’re not liable for lost income or reputation because of search results, listings, rankings or what search engines show.
19. Your material and acceptable use
You confirm that you own, or have permission from the rightful owner to use, all text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks and other material you give us for your website. You’ll indemnify us and our subcontractors against any claim arising from its use.
You won’t submit anything for publication that would abuse our hosting service, our servers or us. That includes pornography, obscenity, nudity, violations of privacy, computer viruses, harassment, any illegal activity or advocating it, and copyright, patent or trademark infringement. You’ll indemnify us against any claim arising from material you publish.
We won’t publish information that someone could use to harm another person, and we won’t build pornographic or otherwise unethical websites. We decide what is and isn’t unethical content.
You’ll reimburse expenses you ask us to take on, such as special fonts, unique photography, client-specific software, and additional pages, forms and features.
Some information sent through our services, such as software and technical data, may be subject to Australian export control laws. We don’t control what passes through our services, so complying with those laws is your responsibility, and you’ll indemnify us against any loss from a breach of them.
20. Ownership, credit and confidentiality
Once you’ve paid the final invoice for your project, the copyright in the finished work we produce passes to you: its design, photos, graphics, source code, working files, text, and any programs designed or bought for you for the project. Until then, it belongs to us. Third-party software we use, such as WordPress, themes and plugins, stays under its own licence.
You agree that we may add a small design credit, with a link, to your website’s footer, and include your website in our portfolio. After a successful project, we may ask you for a testimonial or feedback, which we may publish on our websites and in our marketing.
We, our employees and subcontractors won’t disclose your confidential information, during or after our agreement, except as you direct. You won’t pass on confidential information about us to anyone else.
21. Cancelling and ending services
Cancelling a project
To cancel a project, tell us in writing (section 24). Cancellation may attract pre-termination fees and penalties.
If you postpone or cancel work, we keep, or may claim, full payment for the current phase of development. If that doesn’t cover our time and expenses, we’ll bill the difference within 10 days of your notice. Final payment is due on the same terms as in section 13.
Ending a subscription service
Unless your order says otherwise, you can end a service by calling or emailing us; calls may be recorded. The service ends at the end of the current billing period. You pay all fees up to and including that date, and we may send you a final bill.
If your order, invoice or contract sets no term, the service is month to month, and either of us can end it with at least 30 days’ notice. If you end a service before the last day of a billing cycle, the full last month is charged, with no pro-rata credit.
If you order a service by phone, you can cancel it within 72 hours of our welcome email for a full refund of what you paid for that order. If you don’t cancel, you confirm that you’ve read and accept these terms.
When we end services
We may end this agreement immediately, for any reason, without notice. We may also suspend or end any service immediately if we decide you haven’t met your obligations under this agreement, if you make a chargeback, or if you don’t pay a billing-cycle, renewal or other fee.
After services end
Unless we agree otherwise in writing, payments already made aren’t refunded, even if related services haven’t been performed, and you may need to pay the rest of your term (for example, for annual services or subscriptions paid over time). If we end the agreement because of your default, you pay the costs of ending it, including closing your account and enforcing this section. Ending a service before the end of its term may attract an early termination fee.
When a service ends, you must destroy any copies of materials we licensed to you, and we may delete all information related to you on that service, so download anything you need first.
Ending any part of a bundled package ends every service in it. Domain names registered or maintained under the bundle may be cancelled and become available to others. At our discretion, and if you accept the applicable terms and fees, some services in a bundle may continue as stand-alone services.
22. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Global WebForce harmless against all claims, damages, expenses, losses, liabilities and costs, including legal fees, arising from your use of this website or our services, or your breach of these terms, that result from a third-party claim about:
- this agreement, or your breach of your warranties, representations or obligations under it or any other Global WebForce terms, rules, policies or agreements;
- your failure to perform under this agreement;
- your use of our services;
- your website, content or URLs;
- your breach of anyone else’s rights; or
- your application for, registration or renewal of, or failure to renew, a domain name.
This obligation continues after the agreement ends. If a third party makes a claim against you that could lead to a claim against us, tell us promptly in writing, with its nature, its basis and, if known, the amount.
If a third party threatens or brings a lawsuit against us, we may ask you for written assurances of your indemnity, which may include a deposit to cover our fees and expenses, including reasonable legal fees. Not giving them is a material breach of this agreement.
We may take part in your defence of a third-party claim about your use of our services, with lawyers of our choice, and we’ll reasonably cooperate at your request and expense. You’re responsible for defending us, but you need our written consent to any settlement.
23. Liability
Neither of us is responsible to the other for indirect or consequential loss, such as loss of profit, caused by an alleged failure of the other. Our liability for your use of this website is limited as set out in section 2. Nothing in this section limits rights that can’t be limited under the Australian Consumer Law (section 1).
24. Notices
Notices under this agreement must be in writing, and delivered in person, by courier, by registered post or by email. A notice is given on the earliest of: its delivery, or a refusal to accept it; the day it was sent by registered post; or, for email, the day it was sent to the address on record. Actual notice, however received, is always effective.
Send notices to us at:
Global WebForce Limited
Authorised representative: Hitesh Parekh, Managing Director
30 Nichol Street, Sunbury VIC 3429, Australia
Phone: 1300 77 88 62 · Mobile: +61 419 200 663
Email: enquiry@globalwebforce.com
25. Disputes and governing law
If a dispute arises, including about an invoice, we’ll first try to resolve it by talking. If that doesn’t work, either of us may refer it to mediation.
These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia, except where federal law applies. Disputes, including any alleged breach of this agreement, won’t go to binding arbitration (unless the law requires it) and must be heard in a court of competent jurisdiction in Melbourne, Victoria.
Any action for an alleged breach of this agreement must be started within one year of the breach, whenever it’s discovered. An action not started within that year is barred, regardless of any other limitation period.
If there’s litigation about this agreement, the party that loses pays the winning party’s reasonable legal fees and costs.
26. General
Entire agreement. This agreement (these terms, your Application Form, your Website Brief and any attached exhibits) is the whole agreement between us about your project. It replaces all earlier agreements and understandings, and neither of us is relying on any statement, promise or warranty that isn’t in it. It takes effect when signed by both parties.
Conflicts. If these terms conflict with your Website Brief, the Website Brief applies.
Severability. If any provision is unlawful or unenforceable, it will be read to reflect what we both intended or, if that isn’t possible, removed. The rest of the agreement stays in force.
No waiver. If either of us doesn’t enforce a provision, we can still enforce it later, and waiving one breach doesn’t waive any other.
Relationship. This agreement doesn’t create a partnership or agency between us.
Authority. We both confirm that we’ve read and understood these terms. By signing the Application Form and Website Brief, you confirm that you’re authorised to sign and deliver this agreement, and that it binds you.
Duration. These terms apply until we end them.