Terms and Conditions
- Development Project Specifications/Requirements:
1.1. The Client must supply the correct (and full) Specifications to Symbiote Web Development in order for Symbiote Web Development to issue an accurate and binding quotation.
- Quotes:
2.1. Quotations are valid for 7 (Seven) calendar days from the date the quotation has been sent to the Client.
2.2. Quotations do not include domain name registration services, or website/email hosting costs unless otherwise specified.
- Acknowledgement:
3.1. Upon a Client accepting the Symbiote Web Development Quotation (in writing), the Client acknowledges that they have read and accepted these Terms and Conditions as stated here.
- Agreement:
4.1. The Client acknowledges acceptance of the Quotation and these Terms and Conditions by paying 50% of the total quoted value as a deposit to Symbiote Web Development’s stipulated bank account details as provided on the Invoices.
4.2. Products and/or services as described in the Quotation will only commence, once the Client’s deposit has been confirmed as received by Symbiote Web Development.
4.3 Symbiote Web Development commits to work to complete the quoted products and/or services within the Project Specifications, and time-frames indicated as per the Quotation(s), and/or Project Brief deadlines.
4.4. Symbiote Web Development cannot be held responsible for delays outside of their control, including but not limited to: equipment failure, Third Party Hosting Services, and internet connections.
4.5. Symbiote Web Development endeavour to make websites responsive in up to date, current major browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge), but cannot guarantee backward compatibility (i.e. functionality on older browsers, or obscure devices and software).
- Deposit:
5.1. Deposit(s) are non-refundable unless Symbiote Web Development at their sole discretion decide otherwise. The decision by Symbiote Web Development is based on the factors surrounding the project in question and is non-negotiable.
- Required Documentation:
6.1. Required documentation refers to any and all information necessary for the timeous commencement and delivery of products and/or services as described in these Terms and Conditions and indicated by the Project Specifications. This includes all material such as, text copy, product details, pictures, videos, company profiles, etc.
6.2. The Client is to provide all required documentation to Symbiote Web Development in order to commence the Project in a timely manner.
6.4. If the Client does not supply Symbiote Web Development with the Required Documentation within 15 (fifteen) calendar days from Invoice date, the project will be forfeited, and Client will be re-invoiced (additional deposit may apply) as a new project.
- Copyrights:
7.1. The Client must ensure they have the Copyright for all material supplied.
7.2. Symbiote Web Development, employees, contractors, suppliers, affiliates, agencies or any associates involved in a Client’s products and/or services, will not be liable or held responsible for any Copyright disputes.
7.3 If and when Symbiote Web Development is informed that material was provided without the required Copyright, illegal content will be removed immediately and the Client will be liable for the cost thereof.
7.4. Symbiote Web Development does not take any responsibility for any and all content supplied from the Client without proper Copyright whatsoever.
8 Privacy Policy:
8.1 Symbiote Web Development shall take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information of users. For the purpose of this clause, “personal information” shall be defined as detailed in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPI). The information on POPI may be downloaded here.
8.2 Symbiote Web Development respect your privacy. This means that any and all of the personal information collected on this site will be kept strictly confidential, and will not be sold, reused, rented, disclosed, or loaned. Any information you provide will be held with the utmost care, and will only be used to identify our Clients and to provide you with the best possible service. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us (see contact us).
- Website and Email Hosting: Hosting with Symbiote Web Development.
9.1.Hosting via Symbiote Web Development allows for allocated disk space and traffic bandwidth limited to that Hosting package. Disk over-usage will be charged at the appropriate rate at that time, invoiced to the Client’s account, and must be paid within 14 (fourteen) calendar days after invoice date. Overage pricing/rates are explained on the Service Agreements/Quotes.
9.2. Invoices for Monthly Hosting & Yearly Domain Fees, are sent out every month, and must be paid on or before the due date stipulated.
9.3. Hosting fees are payable from date of domain registration, transfer to Symbiote Web Development hosting and if applicable, from the date the website is moved onto the Live Hosting server to be accessed over the internet.
9.4. Payments not received by the due date as per invoice automatically suspends the Client’s Hosting service, thus risk deactivating the Client’s website and/or business emails. This is can be waved at the sole discretion of Symbiote Web Development, without giving up any rights as per the terms and conditions.
9.5. A reactivation fee of R400 will be billed to the Client, based on time spent correcting the suspended account.
9.6. Hosting fees not received monthly will result in the termination of the linked website with the host. The Client’s domain registration remains for the balance of the yearly domain fee paid, but no software, and/or development work associated with the domain is recoverable by reactivation hereafter.
9.7. Symbiote Web Development reserves the right to suspend the Client’s services due to non-payment and charge fees on all arrears in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
9.8. Hosting cancellations are only accepted in writing or emailed to info@symbiote-web.com, on or before the 1st of the new month as cancellation requires 1 calendar months’ notice.
9.9. All outstanding payments must be paid up to date before the Client’s Hosting services will be terminated with Symbiote Web Development, thus enabling release to transfer to a Third Party Hosting Service Provider.
9.10. Symbiote Web Development is a Hosting Partner with 3 of the leading hosting providers in South Africa. Servers are stored, monitored, and maintained by these partners at the Datacentres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Symbiote Web Development cannot be held liable for downtime or loss due to technical faults from the servers due to hacks, technical errors, electricity outages etc.
9.11 Should there be any website downtime, due to reasons outlined in 9.10, Symbiote Web Development will do everything they can to resolve the situation.
- E-Commerce:
10.1. Symbiote Web Development will load up to 10 products on the website on the Client’s behalf. However, the Client will be able to load unlimited products subject to fair usage of the hosting package.
10.2. Should the Client require Symbiote Web Development to load more than 10 products, the standard Development labour charge of R400 per hour will apply.
- Outstanding Payments:
10.1. The Client is required to email the Proof of Payment to Symbiote Web Development.
10.2. All work remains the property of Symbiote Web Development until the full and final payment is received.
- Extra/additional Work:
11.1 Additional Work requested and agreed to, or any other work in progress for the Client’s website after the Completion Date of the original Agreement, will be billed in accordance to these Terms and Conditions, quoted and agreed to. Any additional Development work/website changes/updates mentioned above, will be charged at R400 per hour, unless Client has a Website Support/Maintenance Agreement with Symbiote Web Development stating free Development hours.
- Invoices and Statements:
12.1. All invoices for Development work are due as per the due date stipulated on the invoice.
12.2. Invoices for all other services (Website Support/Maintenance, Web Hosting, Domain Registration, SEO, Google Ads Campaigns, and any adhoc Technical Support) are sent out on the 20th of every month, and are due on the last day of every month. Outstanding invoice reminder emails are sent out 5 days before the due date. Second reminder emails are sent out 2 days before the invoice due date. 12.3. All Invoices are billed to the Client’s account and emailed to the Client in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, and payments made by the Client are allocated to Invoices on the Statement.
12.4. Invoices, corresponding payments received, and due balances will reflect on the Client’s Statement.
12.5. Due to the nature of the business, additional Client Statements will be issued and emailed for all overdue balances and additional fees invoiced as required.
12.6. Payments not received before the 1st of each month automatically suspends the Client’s service, thus risk deactivating the Client’s website. This is can be waved at the sole discretion of Symbiote Web Development, without giving up any rights as per the terms and conditions. A reactivation fee of R400 will be billed to the Client, based on time spent correcting the suspended account.
12.7 Symbiote Web Development reserves the right to suspend the Client’s services due to non-payment and charge fees on all arrears in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
- Cancellations:
13.1. Hosting and Domain Fees are non-refundable, as these are paid in advance.
13.2. Symbiote Web Development reserves the right at its discretion to cancel this Agreement should the Client breach any of the Terms and Conditions stated herein.
13.3. All monthly services (Website Support/Maintenance, Hosting, SEO and Google Ads Campaigns) are on a month to month basis, and can be cancelled with 1 calendar months’ notice.
- Security:
14.1. Symbiote Web Development work to build websites as secure as possible, and encourage our Clients to opt for a Website Support/Maintenance Agreement to keep website software as up to date as possible, and to make use of monthly website & database backups. All sites are built by Symbiote Web Development have the Sucuri plugin installed for extra Website security. Web servers at Hostking datacentre are secured with BitNinja security. However, Symbiote Web Development will not be held liable for any viruses, hacking, malicious content or any Security breaches pertaining to any third party applications or to the Client’s website.
14.2. Symbiote Web Development’s Hosting service provider may at any time suspend a domain should any viruses or malicious content be exposed through hacking or security breaches to any third party application or website.
- Payment:
15.1 Payment Options Accepted:
Payment may be made online via Visa, MasterCard, Instant EFT and American Express credit cards via PayFast or by bank transfer into the Symbiote Web Development’s bank account, the details of which will be provided upon quotation for the service.
15.2 Credit Card Acquiring and Security:
Credit card transactions will be acquired for Symbiote Web Development via PayFast, who use the strictest forms of encryption for their payment gateway.
15.3 Customer Details Separate from Card Details
Customer details will be stored by Symbiote Web Development separately from card details, which are entered by the customer on the PayFast secure payment terminal. For more detail on PayFast visit the PayFast website.
15.4 Merchant outlet country and transaction currency
The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. The transaction currency is South African Rand (ZAR).
- Support:
16.1. Symbiote Web Development offers monthly Website Support & Maintenance services to clients. Support is only offered to clients with a Website Support and/or Maintenance agreement in place. A list of what client is entitled to in terms of services will be sent to the client via email as their agreement.
16.2. Support is offered during business hours (Monday – Friday, 08:00AM – 18:00PM SAST) excluding public holidays. Should Symbiote Web Development offer after hours Support &/or Maintenance, an additional R600 per hour rate will be billed to the client.
16.3. Website Support & Maintenance agreements exclude costs for 3rd party software and/or premium WordPress plugins.
- Updating of terms:
17.1. Symbiote Web Development reserves the right to make changes to these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior consent of any or all of their Clients, employees, independent contractors, affiliates, agents, agencies or any other third party agreements.
17.2. These Terms and Conditions are legally binding in accordance with the publishing date hereof, as incorporated on Symbiote Web Development’s website https://www.symbiote-web.com.