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Terms and Conditions of Service

The terms and conditions stated in this document apply to all NetMechanic Clients unless agreed in writing to the contrary. No other contract terms and conditions shall apply unless specifically agreed in writing between NetMechanic and the Client. In the event of any ambiguity between these terms and conditions and any terms agreed in writing between NetMechanic and the Client then the terms and conditions hereunder will apply.

Please note that these Terms and Conditions are subject to updates. As and when these occur, you will be notified where you can download an updated version.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • ESTIMATES
  • INVOICING & PAYMENT TERMS
  • PROJECT TERMS
  • ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT
  • TERMINATION OF SERVICE
  • 3RD PARTY SERVICES
  • WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • SEO TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • EMAIL MARKETING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • CONTENT MARKETING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • HOSTING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  • GENERAL SERVICE DISCLAIMERS
  • COPYRIGHT
  • BREACH
  • WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED OF US
  • WHAT WE EXPECT OF OUR CLIENTS
  • IMPROVING OUR SERVICES


ESTIMATES

1.1 NetMechanic may provide Clients with initial estimates, otherwise referred to as quotations, for projects on request. The final project value may vary from the initial quotation if additions are requested to the original scope of work.


1.2 NetMechanic will provide quotations in writing by email to Clients, which will include a hyperlink to these Terms and Conditions. Acceptance by a Client of a NetMechanic estimate is subject to acceptance of the terms and conditions unless specifically agreed in writing between the Client and NetMechanic to the contrary.



INVOICING & PAYMENT TERMS

2.1 NetMechanic standard payment terms are 7 days from the date of invoice.


2.2 New projects require a 50% upfront payment for the commencement of a project, 40% once the development is complete, and a final payment before the project is made live.


2.3 Monthly or retainer invoices will be invoiced by the 2nd of the month and need to be paid within seven business days thereafter. Late payment will result in interest being charged to the account and a suspension of retainer services.


2.4 In the event that website development cost has been broken up into a payment plan, NetMechanic will remain the owners of the website until the design and development work has been paid in full as per the initial quotation.


2.5 NetMechanic reserves the right to increase their pricing in line with the official annual inflation rate each year, which is obtained from Statistic South Africa’s latest available Consumer Price Index (CPI) Headline Report.



PROJECT TERMS

3.1 Unless expressly agreed in writing to the contrary, NetMechanic will not accept liability to the Client for unforeseen delays in completing a project.


3.2 In the event that there is a delay in the completion of a project, NetMechanic will communicate such delays to the Client in writing via email.


3.3 All website or online marketing tactic setup content needs to be provided by the client within 2 weeks of a deposit being paid to commence a project.


3.4 All Graphic design content needs to be provided within 1 week of a deposit being paid to commence a project.


3.5 The client is required to provide NetMechanic with all the content required for a project within the period detailed above. Should the client delay issuing NetMechanic with the content required for the project, NetMechanic reserves the right to renegotiate the cost of the project as well as the expected completion date. In such instances, NetMechanic will request any outstanding payments to be settled before the continuation of the project.



ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT

4.1 Fixes for newly built websites need to be identified within a 14-day period from going live. If fixes are identified after this period and the client is not on a Maintenance agreement, then a quotation will be issued to commence such fixes.


4.2 NetMechanic cannot future-proof its services or products. Once a client has signed off on a project, the responsibility to maintain and update plugins and themes used on the website becomes the client’s responsibility unless a maintenance agreement has been signed with NetMechanic which covers such incidents.


4.3 Maintenance does not mean “eyes on the website” all the time and issues on the website still need to be reported to NetMechanic’s account manager.


4.4 Development faults with plugins or themes used on a website built by NetMechanic are not covered by a maintenance agreement and will be quoted for separately, as in most cases the original software developer will need to be involved.


4.5 Similarly, hosting and website faults remain the responsibility of the hosting provider and do not fall under any maintenance agreement.


4.6 A NetMechanic account manager can be present to consult at external meetings if required; however, such meetings need to be arranged in advance, and unless prior arrangements have been made, such consultations will be limited to one meeting per month of a maximum duration of 1 hour. Consultations will be charged at our standard consulting rate.



TERMINATION OF SERVICE

5.1 Cancellation of any products or services may be made at any time by providing NetMechanic with a cancellation request 1 calendar month in advance, in writing.


5.2 In the event of cancellation of the agreement prior to the completion of the cancellation period, NetMechanic reserves the right to pursue any of the following: (1) remove equipment, software, services, or resources owned by the Company, (2) bring legal action against the Client for contractual breach, or (3) remove any created websites, graphics, content, links, advertising, and accounts.


5.3 Should you decide to cancel the quotation prior to the commencement of work, the 50% deposit will be retained to cover expenses incurred, and no refunds will be made. Should you decide to cancel after the work has been completed, you will be liable for the remainder of the quotation amount upon completion.



3RD PARTY SERVICES

6.1 NetMechanic will offer to Clients third-party services such as those offered by Google to enhance the performance of their websites. NetMechanic may include in quotations the setup and maintenance of such third-party services. NetMechanic will not be liable to the Client for any interruption, non-performance, or cancellation of the provision by third parties of any such services.



WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN TERMS AND CONDITIONS

7.1 All website content needs to be provided by the client within 2 weeks of payment of a deposit to commence a project. Should the client delay issuing NetMechanic the content required for the project, NetMechanic reserves the right to renegotiate the cost of the project as well as the expected completion date. In such instances, NetMechanic will request any outstanding payments to be settled before the continuation of the project.


7.2 CMS websites require updates to plugins and themes. If the client has not opted for monthly maintenance, such updates and the cost thereof remain the responsibility of the client. However, plugins and themes may be quoted for separately if required.


7.3 Additional pages, images, and revisions on projects above the scope of work agreed above will attract additional charges.


7.4 All E-commerce websites will come with Flat Rate shipping. It is the client’s responsibility to negotiate shipping costs with his/her preferred supplier and to provide NetMechanic with specified flat rates. Alternative Shipping Plugin purchase and configuration fall out of the scope of work unless specifically quoted for.


7.5 All e-commerce websites will have Payfast and EFT payment as the default payment options. It remains the responsibility of the client to sign up with Payfast and to provide us with their login details.


7.6 The client agrees that all content provided by the client, including articles, website wording, graphics, and videos, are owned by the client and free of any copyright infringement.


7.7 Landing pages, unless otherwise stated, are created using a specific Landing page platform. If you want a copy of this page we can provide it, but it will only be reactivated using a version of the same platform, as the code is customized for use on this platform.


7.8 Viruses & Outdated Websites: NetMechanic makes every effort to take security precautions on our Clients’ websites. This includes the relevant security plugins that keep our servers secure wherever possible. However, we cannot guarantee the prevention of hacks, viruses, or unexpected data deletion and cannot be held liable for any such damages as a result. NetMechanic cannot be responsible for any websites that have stopped working or have become faulty over time due to the website becoming “outdated.” Outdated websites can be affected due to many aspects, such as new browser software, outdated web code, etc. NetMechanic cannot be expected to keep your website updated in every aspect without being compensated to do so. In this situation, the Client may opt to have their website redeveloped or select one of our subscription-based website packages where NetMechanic is responsible for updating this on your website at all times.



SEO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

8.1 NetMechanic accepts no responsibility nor liability to the Client for the actual rankings achieved or how such rankings may vary over time. Search engines are known to change their algorithms and in doing so rankings and traffic may fluctuate.



EMAIL MARKETING TERMS AND CONDITIONS

9.1 NetMechanic will set up the Client’s email with email service providers and charge a fixed amount for doing this.


9.2 Payment of Monthly charges based on subscribers will remain the responsibility of the client.


9.3 NetMechanic will not be liable for any purchased, rented, or third-party lists of email addresses that were/are purchased/provided by the client for newsletter or emailing distribution.


9.4 NetMechanic will not be held liable for any penalties placed upon the client by the email service provider as a result of purchased, rented, or third-party lists of email addresses or spam content used in newsletters.



CONTENT MARKETING TERMS AND CONDITIONS

10.1 The Client’s account manager will post content based on the client’s: Target Market, Products, Industry, but occasionally content might be relevant to General Internet Trends or Holidays. The Client is responsible for setting content guidelines with the Account Manager; these guidelines can be in the form of a list of approved websites, newsletters, RSS feeds where the Account Manager can derive content from.


10.2 The Account Manager cannot take responsibility for the sharing of, nor comments made in response to content posted on the page, as this is the nature of social media interactions. An escalation process will be followed with feedback on the social media sites, but in no way will any actions taken in response to these contradict the objective of company transparency.


10.3 Unless otherwise agreed, the content for newsletters will be provided by the client, although the account manager may give some suggestions for content going forward.


10.4 The client agrees that all content provided by the client, including articles, website wording, graphics, and videos are owned by the client and free of any copyright infringement.