Website Care Plan Terms and Conditions

Introduction

Although there are some unavoidable standardized legalese at various places in these Terms and Conditions, I have no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. I want what’s best for the safety of both Parties, now and in the future. To do this, I use terms like “I” and “You”. “I”, “Me”, “My” and “Contractor” refer to Fierce Digital Media, a business registered in the Province of Nova Scotia. “You”, “Your”, or “Client” refers to you.

 

Acknowledgement

You acknowledge and agree that you are age 19 or over, mentally competent to enter into an Agreement and that you have the authority to enter into this Agreement on behalf of yourself, your company or your organization.

 

Scope of Work

You want to keep your website looking good, relevant, and secure. I am going to help you with that. 

You are hiring me to provide website hosting and to care for the maintenance and security of your website. Additionally, I am in your corner month to month as your go-to webmaster for any and all website content changes, tweaks or additions within the scope of our monthly agreement. 

Services include but are not limited to:

• Security Monitoring
• WordPress core files, theme, and plugin updates
• Post-update testing of all links and contact forms
• Regular website backups
• Malware scan and removal
• Detailed PDF Report
• Regular website review/audit for optimization
• Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Pages (for Essential and Premium plans only)
• Technical Support (for Essential and Premium plans only)
• Content updates (for Essential and Premium plans only)

Accounts

I may require access to certain accounts (ie: domain registrar, website host, WordPress dashboard, etc). You agree to allow access to accounts that are required in order to complete the work. Any applicable new accounts, where required, will be established by you and login details shared with us, as necessary.

 

Assets

In the event, you make a request for content updates or additions, you are to supply all content, materials and information required for me to complete the work in accordance with the agreed specification. Such materials may include, but are not limited to photographs, written copy, logos, graphics, audio, video, other printed material, colour and font choices. 

All materials and information must be shared with me in the formats specified at least 48 hours before you wish for the content to be added. 

You guarantee that you own all material provided to me for use on your website (or have been given permission to use such material). Ownership of these materials will remain with you (or the persons who licensed them to you) at all times. You grant me a royalty-free licence to use them for your website and to retain copies in my business records.

You are responsible for the accuracy, completeness and propriety of information and copy concerning your products and services which you provide to me in connection with the performance of this Agreement.

I will not include any content on the website that is considered destructive, crude, insulting, harassing, illegal or violent in nature.

 

Current Hourly Rate

Throughout this document, reference is made to my current hourly rate. This rate is defined as my hourly rate that is in place at the time a service is requested, not at the time this agreement is signed. I will provide you with my current hourly rate upon request.

 

Availability and Communication

While I will make every effort to accommodate your needs, I cannot guarantee availability of specific hours. My normal response time is two (2) business days, though my response time may vary. I do not work on weekends or holidays. 

Clients on my Essential and Premium Website Care Plans receive priority response times. 

Support tickets and email are the primary means of communication accepted for our work together. 

You may book a phone call or Zoom meeting with me here. The time spent on phone or Zoom meetings will be invoiced at my hourly rate. There is a $50.00 fee for all missed appointments with less than 2 hours notice.

 

Content Updates

Content updates is defined as additions or removal to website copy and assets (images, graphics, ete) only. It does not include updates to website branding such as global colours or typography, addition of new pages, new features or website strategy.

Any content updates or additions over and above the time included in your plan, or for updates to your website that aren’t included as part of this website care plan will be invoiced at my standard hourly rate, rounded to the quarter of an hour. 

Requests for content updates or technical support should be sent to support@jenjrand.com.

 

Compensation

The cost of my website care plan is dependent on the plan you chose for your website at signup. You may upgrade or downgrade to another plan at any time with thirty (30) days advance notice. Additional sites may be added with a discount for multiple sites. Please contact me at support@jenjrand.com to inquire about adding multiple sites.

All rates and fees in this Agreement are in Canadian currency. Payments will be automatically charged to your credit card each month (or year for annual plans) on the same day that you signed up for your plan.  

Your website care plan does not include the cost of domain registration, website hosting (if you choose not to host with me), or any requested extra expenses including themes, plugins or digital media purchased from third party vendors (ie: stock photography).

Invoices for additional services, expenses, fees or additional work approved by you will be invoiced separately and are due immediately upon receipt. You will be notified in writing of any changes to the payment arrangement.

 

Plan Cancellation 

Cancellation for all website care plans require a thirty (30) day notice. No refunds will be available for any website care plans. Upon cancellation of your website care plan, you will be responsible for performing backups and keeping all components of your website backed up, secured and up to date.

If you desire to migrate your website to another web host. I will, at your discretion:

1. Provide you with an administrator login for your WordPress website so a backup can be performed and migrated to the new location;  or
2. Perform the website migration for you for an additional fee, which is due before migration takes place.

 

Non-Payment

In the event of non-payment, all services will be suspended until payment is made. I am not responsible for any issues that arrive during any period where maintenance services are put on hold. 

If payment has not been received for thirty (30) days, hosting of the website will be suspended and the website will be taken offline. 

If full payment has still not been received for sixty (60) days, I reserve the right to remove unpaid material including applicable legal pages and premium plugins. I also reserve the right to suspend or terminate this Agreement until the full balance has been paid and up to date. Interest for expenses invoiced separately will continue to accrue at the rate of two percent (2%) per month until the full balance is paid. 

I reserve the right to take any necessary collection and/or legal action to recover fees. You agree to pay all collection or legal fees caused by late payments.

 

Website Hosting

All website care plans include website hosting. While I prefer for my clients to use my hosting provider because it is optimized for my workflow and I trust the reliability and speed of my host, you are not required to host your website with me while on my website care plan.

If you do not host your website with me, I cannot be responsible for the speed of your website, the performance of any of your website features, security certificates for your website, the uptime of your website, or any other hosting related matter. 

You may choose to switch to my hosting account at any time, however fixing any problems related to web hosting while not on my host, will be billable at my hourly rate.

 

Rush Jobs

If you require content updates to be completed with less than 48 hours notice, there will be a rush job fee of $200.00, as this kind of delay can back up other projects in line. This fee will be invoiced to you separately from your monthly subscription and payment will be due upon receipt.  Rush job fees must be paid in full before any work can begin.

 

Cooperation Of Client

I agree to use my best efforts to fulfill and exceed your expectations on the deliverables listed above. You agree to aid me in doing so by making available to me, needed information pertaining to your website and to cooperate in expediting the work.

 

Confidential Information

In the course of this Agreement, the Parties may receive from each other confidential information. The Parties agree not to use any information for their own benefit or disclose any information to any third-party without the other Party’s prior written consent, with the exception of professional or technical consultants that I may utilize in the performance of this Agreement. None of your supplied material, data or information will be used by Fierce Digital Media for any other project.

The Parties may use or disclose confidential information received from the other in order to comply with a court order, law or regulation, direction of governmental or statutory authority. The Parties may also use or disclose confidential information that entered the public domain due to no fault of their own, or that was disclosed by another source lawfully and without any obligation of confidentiality. 

The Parties may not use any material provided by the other for any reason other than that agreed upon in this Agreement. This provision shall continue upon completion of this Agreement.

Offers and proposals made by Fierce Digital Media should be treated as trade secrets and remain the property of Fierce Digital Media. Such offers and proposals or the information contained within them must not be passed to third-parties or publicly disseminated without prior written authorization from Fierce Digital Media. This includes, but is not limited to, technical features, functionality, aspects of the design and pricing information.

 

Availability

While I will make every effort to accommodate your needs, I cannot guarantee availability of specific hours. 

 

Technical Support

Requests for technical support should be sent to support@jenjrand.com. 

 

Intellectual Property Rights

You agree to obtain all the necessary permissions and authorities in respect of the use of all copy, graphic images, registered company logos, names and trademarks or any other material you supply for inclusion on the website. By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you remove the legal responsibility of Fierce Digital Media and indemnify me from any claims or legal actions however related to the content of your site. In return, I guarantee that all elements of the work I deliver to you are either owned by me or I have obtained permission to provide them to you. 

I reserve the right to display all aspects of creative work, including work-in-progress designs, the completed project, and the Client’s name and website in my portfolio, marketing materials and in all forms of media, both print and digital. 

 

Website Security

While I will do my best to ensure that your website is protected, due to the nature of rapidly advancing technology, no website is 100% secure from any breach, malware or hack. I recommend the use of strong passwords and the observance of standard security practices. In the event that your website is compromised, I will take care of restoring the website at no extra charge to you, as long as you are on my website care plan.

 

Your Responsibilities in Website Security

I employ basic WordPress security techniques when building your website. However, studies have shown that one of the most common ways that hackers gain access to your website is through key-logging programs installed on the infected computers of users. You agree to protect any computer that will log into the website by:

• Installing and maintaining updated security software
• Using the most up-to-date version of your preferred web browser
• Keeping the operating system patched with recommended updates
• Keeping versions of other installed software up to date if they are installed

You also agree to use a strong password (as shown by the WordPress password indicator) for any account you use to login and edit your website, and that this password will only be used on your website. I recommend the use of a password manager so that you have strong unique passwords for every site you access.

 

Restoring Backups

Should your site become compromised by a hack or if your site becomes inoperable because of user error, I will restore a backup for you.

If the restorations are the result of a hack, there is no limit to the number of restorations I will perform for you under this service. 

If the restorations are due to user error, I will perform a maximum of two (2) restorations in any thirty (30) day period. Additional user error-related restorations will be performed at my current hourly rate with a one (1) hour minimum.

 

Software Updates

Each week, at my discretion, I will apply available updates for the WordPress core software, your theme files, and your plugin files. I perform these updates for the items that appear in the “Updates” area of your WordPress dashboard. I also watch WordPress industry security news and proactively perform these updates more frequently during times of enhanced threat levels.

While it is impossible to guarantee that your site will never be hacked, all of these techniques make your website a more difficult target for hackers. In addition, it is well known that hackers tend to exploit easier targets first – sites without security measures in place. However, in the event that your site is hacked, I will restore it to pre-hack condition at no additional cost either by restoring a site backup or performing a malware cleanup at our discretion.

 

Premium Themes and Plugins

Many websites use themes and/or plugins that require the payment of a recurring license fee to maintain access to ongoing software updates. If I have appropriate licenses for the themes and/or plugins used by your website, the cost for recurring license fees are included in your website care plan, and licensing will be maintained for you as long as you are an active subscriber to my website care plan.

If your website uses premium themes and/or plugins and we do not have appropriate licensing, it is your responsibility to maintain the appropriate licensing to ensure the availability of updates. I will advise you of the themes and/or plugins for which you will need to maintain licensing and assist you as needed in the process of obtaining them.

I cannot be held liable for problems such as, but not limited to, hacks, inoperability or inter-compatibility that arise from premium plugins which you choose not to license and are out of date. 

 

Plugin Compatibility

If an update to a plugin creates conflicts or causes issues with the functionality of your website, I will consult with you to determine the best course of action. Typically, I will remove the offending plugin and replace it with a similar plugin. It is your responsibility to inform us if your site is experiencing problems and needs attention.

 

Terminations & Refunds

I reserve the right to refuse, restrict or terminate service to any client for any reason. 

I am committed to providing a positive experience and quality work. You agree that I may, at my discretion, terminate this Agreement and limit, suspend or terminate your Agreement without refund or forgiveness of expected payments, if you become disruptive or upon violation of the terms including the belief that any material is illegal, immoral or otherwise unacceptable. 

Should you decide to leave the website care plan, you’re welcome to do so and I will make sure you have full control of your website, logins and any domain information needed that’s associated with your account. 

If you choose to discontinue the website care plan, you will be responsible for keeping all  components of your website backed up, secured and updated or hiring someone else to do so for you. It is recommended that you update WordPress core files and any applicable themes and plugins weekly. This is the best way to deter potential website hacks and breaches through outdated plugins. It is recommended not to let a theme or plugin sit outdated for more than four (4) weeks. 

If moving from my host, there is a hosting termination fee, if we need to assist with the transition and move your website to a different hosting provider.

Your website care plan includes Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions provided through Termageddon. If you choose to cancel your website care plan, you will be responsible for obtaining your own licence through Termageddon or updating your site with your own attorney-provided legal pages. Failing to provide a Privacy Policy and other legal pages on your website could result in hefty fines.

I do not offer refunds on website care plans. Maintenance will continue on cancelled or terminated website care plans through to the end of the period that has already been paid for.

 

Conditions Affecting Performance

Certain conditions beyond the control of Fierce Digital Media may affect my ability to perform obligations provided for under this Agreement.  These conditions may include, but are not limited to labour shortages, internet outages, change in supported technologies, Acts of God or circumstances or causes beyond my control.  I shall not be liable for, and you agree to hold me harmless for any delays, cancellations, or terminations that result in damages of any kind to you as the result of any such conditions or circumstances.

 

Force Majeure

Neither Party shall be liable for failure to perform each part of the Agreement, if the failure is due to force majeure events.

For purposes of the Agreement, “force majeure” means circumstances or occurrences beyond our reasonable control, whether or not foreseeable at the time of signing this Agreement, in consequence of which I cannot reasonably be required to complete the services or otherwise perform my obligations under this Agreement. Such circumstances or occurrences include, but are not limited to: earthquake, storm, hurricane, natural disaster, war, fires, floods, labor disputes, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities, rebellion, terrorist activity, change of law, industrial action, embargo, sabotage, interruption or failure of electricity, interruption or failure of internet or other communication service, pandemics, governmental regulations, and non-availability of any permits, licenses and/or authorizations required by governmental authority. 

 

Errors and Omissions

I will use my best efforts to prevent technical and typographical errors and omissions from occurring in web page information. Such errors or omissions attributable to me before the website is launched will be corrected free of charge and that will be the limit of my responsibility and liability. 

I reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for correction of errors for which are discovered after the date of launch or for those which I am not responsible, including, but not limited to malicious modification of the website by a third-party and typographical errors contained in materials provided to me by you. 

 

Legal

This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of Nova Scotia, Canada, the province of my business operations, without regard to conflict of laws and rules. The venue shall be in a court of competent jurisdiction in the Province of Nova Scotia, and both parties expressly consent to jurisdiction in such courts.

It is your responsibility to ensure that all legal requirements for your business are met. Such legal requirements include, but are not limited to, ensuring claims on advertising and graphics are true, accurate, and may be legally stated, as well as ensuring all products are lawful. I shall not be responsible for any legal, technical, or regulatory specifications.

In the event that I incur legal fees, costs and disbursements in an effort to collect on invoices, in addition to interest on the unpaid balance, you agree to reimburse me for these expenses.

After you pay me in full, you may make any changes or additions to the website and you may engage others to make any such changes or additions, without further payments or obligations to me. If you ask me to make changes or additions to the website after the completion of this Agreement, I will prepare a separate quote and a new Agreement will need to be signed.

 

Severability

If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of the Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting such provisions, it would become valid and enforceable, then such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed and enforced as so limited. 

 

Limits On Liability

I will carry out work in accordance with good industry practice and at the standard expected from a suitably qualified person with relevant experience. I can’t guarantee that my work will be error-free, however I will use my best efforts to prevent errors and omissions from occurring. I can’t be liable to you or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if you’ve advised me of them. You agree to indemnify and hold me free and harmless from and against any third-party claims. Neither Party’s liability to the other, arising out of or related to this Agreement, will exceed the total cost of the design, service or product. Liabilities limited by the preceding sentence include, without limitations, liability for negligence.

I provide the deliverables to you on an as-is basis, and make no promise or guarantee that they will be fit for, or achieve, any particular purpose. I am not responsible for the functionality or maintenance of the website after the work has been completed unless a website care plan is in place. 

Under no circumstances will I be responsible or liable for financial or other loss or damage caused by the failure or use or misuse of the website. You should ensure that data on your site is regularly backed up and that a contingency plan is in place to minimize possible losses as a result of software failure.

I take no responsibility for services provided by third party providers through Fierce Digital Media or otherwise. I cannot and do not promise or guarantee that services or products purchased or licensed from third-party vendors will be free from interruption or failure or that they will remain available for use for any specific period. Under no circumstances shall either Party be liable to the other Party or any third-party for any damages resulting from any part of this Agreement such as, but not limited to, loss of revenue or anticipated profit or lost business, costs of delay or failure of delivery.

I will not be liable to you for lost profits or other special or consequential damages of any kind, nor will I be liable for direct damages unless caused by our gross negligence or fraud. The maximum damages payable to you, in any event, will not exceed the amount of fees actually invoiced and paid to me in connection with the project in question.

You will keep me indemnified for all damages, costs, fees, expenses and legal fees on an indemnity basis that is incurred due to any of these specific actions and omissions.

I will not be responsible for any damages or consequences if the materials you provided infringe someone else’s rights or are unlawful or illegal. You will indemnify me and pay for all damages, costs, fees, expenses and legal fees on an indemnity basis that I incurred due to your materials being infringing, unlawful or illegal in any country.

Your liability to me is only for the costs payable under this Agreement. I will not be held responsible by you, or any third-party, for damages like lost profits, lost savings, incidental damages, consequential damages, or special damages.

 

Hosting and Maintenance Cancelation Policy

Cancellation of a hosting or maintenance account requires advance notice. For all hosting and maintenance accounts, the first day of each billing cycle is the first day of each month. Because web hosting services are provided on a monthly basis, you will be responsible for service fees already paid regardless of when you provide notice of termination. 

If you have prepaid for services in advance, no refunds will be issued for any unused portion of the services regardless of when you cancel the service. If your account is canceled at any point during the pre-paid contract term, you will not be entitled to a pro-rated refund. 

 

Third-Party Services

If you employ a third-party, such as, but not limited to an SEO professional, social media manager, or content writer, whose services involve modifications to the website, I cannot be responsible for the work of the third-party. 

Should my services be necessary due to any work performed by a third-party, these services are billable at my current hourly rate.

 

Email Deliverability

Occasionally, your website will send you an email when certain events occur such as the submission of a contact form, sale of a product, update/reset of a user’s password, etc. These emails that are automatically generated by WordPress are often flagged as spam (or not delivered at all) by email providers like Google/Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo and others.

I cannot control the receipt of email, therefore, I cannot be held responsible for any emails that were not delivered for any reason. It is your responsibility to regularly check spam folders, website forms and order interfaces for any notifications that were not delivered to your inbox.

 

Email Service

I do not provide support for email services. I recommend consulting with an IT professional about implementing third-party services such as Google Workspace.

 

Domain Names

Registering a domain name for your website and paying the accompanying annual registration fee is your responsibility. I can assist in the process of registration and connection of your domain name to the website if you desire. It is your responsibility to ensure that the credit card the domain registrar has on file for your domain registration is current.

I am not responsible for suspension or loss of domain names because your credit card could not be billed or for any other reason. Work needed as a result of domain expiration is billable at my current hourly rate.

 

Indemnification

The client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Fierce Digital Media, its subsidiaries, contractors, employees and affiliates and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, shareholders and agents (each an “Indemnified Party”) against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, penalties, actions, proceedings, judgments, or any and all costs thereof (collectively, “Losses”) to which an Indemnified Party may become subject and which losses arise out of, or relate to the Agreement, client’s use of the services, breach of any confidentiality obligation or any alleged infringement of any trademark, copyright, patent or other intellectual property right and will reimburse an Indemnified Party for all legal and other expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by such Indemnified Party, in connection with investigating, defending, or settling any Loss, whether or not in connection with pending or threatened litigation in which such Indemnified Party is a party.

 

Disputes

In the event of a dispute, the Parties agree to keep an open line of communication so that any disagreements can be handled in a timely and efficient manner. 

The Parties agree to work towards a resolution through good faith negotiation. If negotiation doesn’t go well, either Party may initiate mediation or binding arbitration in a forum mutually agreed to by the Parties. If litigation is necessary, this Agreement will be interpreted based on the laws of the Province of Nova Scotia, regardless of any conflict of law issues that may arise.  The Parties agree that the dispute will be resolved at a court of competent jurisdiction in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The successful party will be entitled to legal fees, including, but not limited to attorneys’ fees and any other reasonable costs.

 

Headings

Headings in this Agreement are for convenience only and shall in no way affect the provisions themselves or be construed in any way that would limit or otherwise affect the terms of this Agreement.

 

No Transfer Of This Contract 

You cannot transfer, assign or novate this contract, the licences given under or in connection with it, or any other parts of this contract to anyone else without my advance permission in writing, which I may choose to give subject to additional conditions.  I cannot transfer, assign or novate this contract without your advance permission in writing.

 

Amendment

This Agreement may be amended if the amendment is made in writing and is signed by both Parties. 

 

Entire Agreement

This Agreement contains the entire Agreement of the Parties and there are no other promises or conditions in any other Agreement, whether oral or written. This Agreement supersedes any prior written or oral agreement between the Parties. Both Parties acknowledge having read and understood this agreement, and both agree to abide by the terms and conditions contained within this document.