TERMS OF SERVICE
Dirksen Designs (the "Provider") agrees to furnish services to the "Subscriber", subject to the following Terms of Service:
1. Use of Dirksen Designs services constitutes acceptance and agreement to these Terms of Service ("TOS"); and that all provisions of this contract are subject to the TOS. The TOS may be changed from time to time at the discretion of Dirksen Designs. Subscriber will be notified of any such changes, and Subscriber acknowledges that changes to the TOS by the Provider shall not be grounds for early contract termination or non-payment.
2. This Agreement shall be construed in all respects in accordance with the laws of the State of Iowa and the United States of America.
3. Subscriber agrees to pay fees to Dirksen Designs as specified in the Service Plan Agreement. Subscriber acknowledges that Dirksen Designs may change the specified rates and/or scope of services from time to time, or may offer similar services to the general public or to other entities for different rates. Subscriber further agrees that fees for services may change from time to time, but that Dirksen Designs will give at least 30 days notice before such changes take effect.
4. Payment for website hosting services will be billed according to Service Plan Agreement in advance; domain registration services will be billed annually in advance; and other services may be billed on a one-time or ongoing basis. Establishment of service and continuation of service is dependent upon receipt by Dirksen Designs of payment of stated charges. Payment may be made by cash; check or money order; or through www.Paypal.com by either bank account debit or Paypal funds transfer. Credit card payments are not accepted at this time. Payment is due within 30 days of invoice date. Service may be suspended if payment is not received within 45 days of invoice date. Service suspended for nonpayment will be reactivated only upon receipt of all fees due and payable plus a US $50 reactivation fee.
5. Subscriber agrees that additional services requested by Subscriber and/or are deemed necessary by Dirksen Designs may be provided at no additional cost; or may incur additional costs on either a one-time or ongoing basis. Any additional costs will be agreed upon by both parties before being made a part of the Service Plan Agreement, and may be billed on either a per-hour or flat rate basis.
6. Dirksen Designs may terminate this Agreement upon failure of Subscriber to pay charges when due, or upon failure to abide by the TOS or Service Plan Agreement. Such termination will not relieve Subscriber of responsibility for payment of all accrued charges plus any and all costs associated with Provider's collection of unpaid fees, including but not limited to collection agency fees, attorney fees, and court costs.
7. This Agreement may be cancelled by either Provider or Subscriber at any time, provided written notice of cancellation is given to the other party with at least 30 days notice. Notice of cancellation should be sent to Dirksen Designs by US mail. Notice of cancellation may be emailed to Dirksen Designs but Subscriber cannot consider that notice has been given unless and until confirmation of cancellation is received from Dirksen Designs.
8. Payments made to Dirksen Designs for account setup, labor, or domain name registration are nonrefundable. Prepaid payments for website hosting may be refunded only in whole-month increments and only if service is cancelled by either party in accordance with the cancellation policies listed herein.
9. Subscriber acknowledges that the services provided are of such a nature that service may be interrupted for many reasons other than the negligence of Provider, and that damages resulting from any interruption of service are difficult to ascertain. Therefore, Subscriber agrees that Provider shall not be liable for any damages arising from such causes which are beyond the direct and exclusive control of Provider. Subscriber further acknowledges that Provider's liability for its own negligence may not in any event exceed an amount equivalent to charges paid by Subscriber for services during the period damages occurred. In no event shall Dirksen Designs be liable for any special or consequential damages, loss or injury.
SERVICES
10. Domain Name Registration: Registration of domain name(s) may be initiated, renewed, or transferred by Subscriber or, upon request, by Dirksen Designs on behalf of Subscriber. If Subscriber handles his/her/their own domain name registration(s), Dirksen Designs will furnish necessary DNS information directly to Subscriber but will not communicate directly with Subscriber's domain name registrar. Subscriber acknowledges that Dirksen Designs cannot answer specific questions or intervene with registration issues if Subscriber handles registration through a third-party registrar. Dirksen Designs can and will assist with registration issues upon request if Subscriber registers, renews, or transfers domain name registration(s), including optional private "proxy" registration(s), through Dirksen Designs. Dirksen Designs can and will register, renew, or transfer domain name registration(s) on behalf of Subscriber upon request, including optional private "proxy" registration(s), by purchasing registration services on behalf of Subscriber and billing Subscriber for expenses incurred. If such charges are not paid, Dirksen Designs is under no obligation to turn over the the domain name(s) nor use or ownership thereof to Subscriber or his/her/their agent(s).
11. New Domain Setup: All webhosting accounts involving new domains will be set up and entered into our DNS servers within 2 to 7 days of receipt of payment. Subscriber is aware that total propagation of a new domain throughout the internet may take several days, and that Dirksen Designs has no control over such propagation.
12. Transferred Domain Setup: New webhosting accounts which involve the transfer of a domain from another hosting entity will require a minimum of 7 days to be set up and entered into our DNS servers and in some cases may take up to 60 days. Due to the unpredictable nature of the transfer process and the necessary cooperation and responsiveness of the prior registrar, no guarantees are made regarding the amount of time a specific transfer may take. A separate handling fee may be incurred if the transfer of the domain is handled by Dirksen Designs on behalf of Subscriber. If Subscriber cancels service during the transfer period for any reason, all charges are considered earned and payable.
13. Email Accounts: Subscribers with email services included in their Service Plan Agreement are aware that uncollected, accumulated email on the servers is included in his/her/their their disk use quota, even if such accumulated email is largely "spam", viruses, or other unsolicited/unwanted email. Subscriber further acknowledges that all email sent or received is included in his/her/their monthly bandwidth quota. Subscribers with managed hosting plans agree to notify Dirksen Designs if a particular email address is no longer needed and to request cancellation of said email address. Subscriber further agrees that any unused and uncancelled email address that accumulates a large volume of unread email may be cancelled by Provider after a reasonable notice of not less than 7 days is given to Subscriber. Dirksen Designs will furnish necessary information for Subscriber to configure email clients such as Outlook Express to send and receive email, and may provide assistance in such configuration; but Subscriber is ultimately responsible for configuring his/her/their own email client and Dirksen Designs is under no obligation to provide support for third-party software or nontraditional email configurations. Subscriber may request that web-based email service be included with their account at no additional charge, allowing Subscriber to send and receive email from any computer connected to the internet. Subscriber acknowledges that Provider's email servers are equipped with unsolicited ("spam") email filters, and that there is a slight possibility that such filters may occasionally prevent legitimate, wanted email from being received. It is generally accepted that this is a small price to pay in comparison to daily barrages of unwanted "spam" and computer viruses. If Subscriber becomes aware that legitimate incoming email has been blocked by Provider's "spam" filters, Subscriber may furnish proof of same to Dirksen Designs and request a remedy to prevent future blocking of that particular sender. However, Subscriber acknowledges that if such email is received from a known email abuser, whether or not said abuse is known to the legitimate sender of the blocked email in question, the responsibility lies with the sender and no remedy is available to Provider. In addition, Subscriber may request that specific email address(es) or IP(s) be blocked from sending email to his/her/their domain if just cause is provided, but Dirksen Designs will not block incoming email from entire domains that furnish email services to large numbers of legitimate users such as America Online, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.
14. Website Design and/or Maintenance: Dirksen Designs may agree to furnish website design, content, programming, coding, writing, editing, graphic, updating and/or maintenance services to Subscriber on a one-time or ongoing basis, at rates mutually agreeable to both parties. Such services are a part of the Service Plan Agreement, and are in addition to and inclusive of the TOS.
15. Passwords: Subscriber agrees to take precautions to keep all passwords for all services secure and private, and therefore safe from potential abuse. Subscriber further agrees to notify Dirksen Designs upon becoming aware of any breach of password security. Subscriber may select password(s) of his/her/their own choosing; however, Dirksen Designs may assign new password(s) for Subscriber's services at any time upon becoming aware that any particular password is not secure in nature, or upon becoming aware of any breach of security. Dirksen Designs may require Subscriber to select new password(s) at any time for security reasons, which may include routine periodic selection of new passwords, and Dirksen Designs may assign new password(s) if Subscriber fails to comply with such requests.
PRIVACY POLICY
16. Dirksen Designs will use Subscriber's personally identifiable information only to communicate directly with Subscriber regarding services, payment, and related account information. Dirksen Designs will not rent, sell, or otherwise distribute Subscriber's name, email address, or other personal or financial information to anyone. Dirksen Designs may use non-personally identifiable information gathered about Subscriber to monitor website usage, to help diagnose server problems, and to administer services.
The only exceptions to this privacy policy are:
a) in the event of subpoena, in which case Dirksen Designs will furnish any and all information requested; or
b) in the event of any other official request by any law enforcement agency, in which case Dirksen Designs may or may not furnish any and all information requested. Such non-court-ordered requests will be treated on a case-by-case basis.
In either situation, Dirksen Designs may terminate this Agreement and cancel Subscriber's services without notice or refund.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
17. For website hosting, design, or email questions or problems, Dirksen Designs may be contacted by email at any time for technical support as needed, or by telephone during the hours indicated on the Service Plan Agreement. Technical support is free for services included in the Service Plan Agreement that are not functioning properly. Response time is almost always within 24 hours and usually sooner; solution time depends on the nature of the problem. Technical support may incur additional fees for HTML or programming issues, Service Plan add-ons or upgrades, or other customization. A price estimate will be furnished before optional or additional services are begun.
MISCELLANEOUS
18. Dirksen Designs offers website design, content, maintenance, writing and editing services as the originator and creator of such services. Dirksen Designs will place a small unobtrusive logo and/or a link at the bottom of the main "home" or index page of any site we design, maintain or administer. This logo may be removed with good cause if specifically requested.
19. Dirksen Designs is acting as a reseller of website hosting and domain name registration services, and as such does not necessarily have the access or expertise necessary to remedy all situations that may arise. Dirksen Designs retains an outside consultant to maintain server security and functionality and to assist with server customization and with situations that may arise beyond the scope of ordinary use. Dirksen Designs also retains a third party to assist with domain name registrations and transfers. We limit our aggregate technical support to our areas of expertise and those of our consultants, and we make no implied or written warranty for any services including but not limited to loss of data or other damages resulting from email delays, non-delivery, or wrong delivery; or from service interruptions from any cause including but not limited to power outages or virus infection of any computer or system in our network.
20. Subscriber is solely responsible for his/her/their content stored on Provider's servers.
21. Subscriber must supply Dirksen Designs with, and keep current, accurate contact information including email, telephone, and mailing address.