Terms and conditions of service

The following terms & conditions apply to all services offered by Gem Internet. Please read these terms & conditions carefully & print a copy for your future reference. By ordering services from us, accepting a quotation or making a payment of invoice to use the services supplied, you agree that you have read, understood & agree to these terms & conditions & agree to be legally bound by these terms & conditions. If you do not agree to these terms & conditions, you cannot order any design services from us.

Should you have any questions about these terms & conditions or wish to contact us for any reason whatsoever, please use the contact details set out below:

info@geminternet.com

We reserve the right to change the terms & conditions without prior notice. ‘Gem Internet’ refers to geminternet.com & geminternet.co.uk, all services provided from these websites & the respective registered owners of these domain names. A ‘project’ refers to a customer’s order. ‘Client’ refers to anyone using services provided by Gem Internet. A ‘Live’ date refers to when a project is finalised by the client & paid for in full. A website project’s ‘live’ date also refers to the date the website is “live” on the internet & the URL submitted to the search engines (Google & Bing). ‘Brief’ refers to the design brief of a project which has been agreed by the client. ‘Project development’ refers to the stage in a project as the project is being worked on, before it goes ‘live’.

Reliance On Information Posted & Disclaimer

The materials contained on our site are provided for general information purposes only & do not claim to be or constitute legal or other professional advice & shall not be relied upon as such. We do not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on the information on this site & to the fullest extent permitted by English law, we exclude all liability for loss or damages directly or indirectly arising from use of this site.

Our site changes regularly

We aim to update our site regularly, & may change the content at any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to our site, or close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our site may be out of date at any given time, & we are under no obligation to update such material.

Quotes & project start times

All quotes supplied by Gem Internet are valid for 14 days from date of issue only, unless stated otherwise on your quote. If the quote is not accepted by paying any required deposit within 14 days of the date of the quote then a new quote must be obtained from Gem Internet.

The client will be quoted & provided a brief for every project which will outline the project specifications. Once this has been accepted by the client the deposit will need to be paid by the client.
The client will be invoiced for a non-refundable deposit based on the full project quote & Gem Internet requires this amount to be paid before work will commence on the project.
In some instances the full quoted amount may be payable before work commences.
By paying the initial deposit the client has agreed that he has read & understands the terms & conditions of service set out on this web page.
Delays in paying the initial invoice will delay commencement of any work agreed upon by any agreed project dates. This in turn may result in a later finish date of your project.
If you delay paying the initial non-refundable deposit payment by the agreed date we reserve the right to cancel your quote & project, as we may no longer be able to honour the quote &/or the time scale.
Once the initial invoiced non-refundable deposit is received the work on a client’s project will commence.
Gem Internet reserves the right to cancel a quote or client’s project at any time without prior notification or explanation, any deposit will be refunded in this instance.
Gem Internet is not liable for any consequences or financial losses linked to any cancelled quotes or projects such as, but not limited to, loss of business, profit, revenue, contract, data or potential savings, relating to services provided.

Project deadlines & client feedback

Clients need to check & approve each part of a project after it has been emailed to them or provide any alterations required to a project (With a maximum of 3 design changes per entire project).
If a client fails to provide feedback after 14 days of receiving an email update on the project Gem Internet will take work as approved by the client & will progress with the project to meet the project deadline.
All projects will be required to be approved by a client after a maximum of 12 weeks from the project start date.
If a client fails to provide feedback & approval of a project within the 12 week deadline Gem Internet will complete work agreed in the initial agreed brief & will email any outstanding invoice to the client to be paid before the project can go “live”.
Any changes required by the client outside of the 12 week deadline for a project will incur additional costs.

Gem Internet’s web design process during the development stages

If a mock up design is required using imaging software, one will be emailed to the client for approval. The client then has the opportunity to suggest any alterations to the proposed design (Over a maximum of 3 iterations). Once this design has been approved by the client Gem Internet will no longer be under obligation to produce any further work at a later date to the previously approved design or website page during the development stages of the project.
Once a website page has been approved by a client Gem Internet will no longer be under obligation to produce any further work on a previously approved website page or text on the website.

Revisions during development stages

Design revisions during the development stages of a project are not unlimited, the client is required to provide clear instructions on the design required.
Gem Internet will provide up to 3 design revisions/alterations per website while it is in the development stages & before going “live”. This includes changes to the colours, layout, fonts & graphics of the developing website.
Revision of design, content copy/text or graphics outside the scope of the original design brief will incur additional fees.
Gem Internet do not provide changes to text/copy supplied by a client. Text/copy supplied should be checked & approved by the client before submitting to Gem Internet for use on a client’s website. Once copy has been added to a client’s website if additional changes are required additional fees will be required by Gem Internet.

Additional work to an agreed brief during project development

Any additions to the original brief during project development will be carried out at the discretion of Gem Internet, in a time scale provided by Gem Internet & will need to be quoted for & in some instances paid for before work commences.
Additions to a project include any additional work not specifically listed in the client’s initial quoted brief which has not been agreed upon before work has commenced & the deposit paid.
Additional work examples include; extra pages, website feeds, stock photos, graphics, code, programming, text content, tables, lists, products, search engine optimising, ecommerce facilities, payment gateways, logos, additional design work etc.
Gem Internet reserves the right to decline additional work which was not specifically outlined in the initial agreed quotation. If additional work is accepted it may affect the time scale & overall delivery time of the project.

Website Content:

Clients are required to ensure that the content of their website meets all the current UK legislation regarding publications. The client shall further indemnify Gem Internet in respect of any claims, costs & expenses that may arise from any material included in their site by Gem Internet at the client’s request.
Gem Internet reserves the right to not include any material supplied by the client if Gem Internet deems it inappropriate or offensive.
Gem Internet reserve the right to not serve any customer who requests us to use copyrighted material. This includes designs, photos, videos, or code.
It is a client’s responsibility to obtain any copyright property rights for any materials supplied to Gem Internet. This includes text, copy, photos, videos, logos, artwork & any other rights owned materials. Gem Internet accept no responsibility for a client supplying infringing materials.
Gem Internet may suspend a website if it is found to have infringing content.
Gem Internet accept no liability for infringing content.

Supply of Information & Copy

Quotes assume that the client will provide Gem Internet with all information digitally to enable Gem Internet to design & complete the project in the time scale agreed. Supply of information should constitute the following:

If the client does not supply the necessary content & information in order for Gem Internet to complete a website project within 30 days of the client agreeing the quote & paying the deposit, then Gem Internet reserves the right to invoice the client for any work completed to date. The client agrees to pay this amount within 14 days of the invoice date.
If a client fails to supply content to Gem Internet after 30 days of the project start date Gem Internet reserves the right to cancel the project without refunding any paid deposits or supplying any work produced, unless the client pays the initial quoted invoice in full.
Copy should be supplied by email where possible, or in digital format such as CD-R, DVD-R or on a USB drive.
Printed media is not accepted, copy must be supplied to Gem Internet in a digital format.
Digital document files are acceptable in the following formats: Microsoft Works, WordPad, Word, Excel, Publisher, .txt, .rtf. Others please inquire.
Image Files are acceptable in the following formats: .gif, .jpg, .tif. Others please inquire.
Multimedia files are acceptable in the following formats: .wav, .mp3, .mpeg, .wma. Others please inquire.
Neither Gem Internet nor the client own the full copyright rights to any stock images supplied by Gem Internet.
Code, text copy, photos, icons & graphics supplied to you by Gem Internet are for use on a single project only & cannot be reproduced or sold on.
Failure of a client to supply all content for the project within 14 days of paying the initial deposit will invalidate any agreed completion date of the project.
The client agrees to make available as soon as is reasonably possible to Gem Internet all materials required to complete the site to the agreed standard & within the set deadline.
Gem Internet will not be liable for costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the failure to meet agreed deadlines due to a client not supplying content for a project within 14 days of a project start date.

Payment, pricing & website design terms

Quotes vary based on individual clients’ requirements & technical specifications.
Quotes can also be charged at an hourly rate.
All work regardless of scale will need to be invoiced if it is to be carried out by Gem Internet. This includes changes to telephone numbers, business addresses etc. A minimum 20 minute fee is required based on Gem Internet’s hourly rate.
Gem Internet does not undertake to maintain or update a client’s website as part of a standard website package design commission. If a client wishes Gem Internet to maintain or update a website as a separate commission, Gem Internet will negotiate with the client a maintenance contract appropriate to the amount of work required. Website maintenance may also be undertaken on a time & materials basis if the client so wishes.
Whilst every endeavour will be made to ensure that your website & any scripts or programmings are free of errors, Gem Internet cannot accept responsibility for any losses incurred due to malfunction of the website or any part of it.
The client will be invoiced for the balance owing on completion of the work unless otherwise stated in your quote. Gem Internet requires the client to pay the final amount within 7 days from the date of the invoice. Payment must be made in full before the website is made “live”.
All payments should be made by cheque, cash, direct bank deposit or Paypal.
The website, graphics & any code remain the property of Gem Internet until all outstanding accounts are paid in full.
Gem Internet will not be liable for costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the failure to meet agreed deadlines.
We reserve the right without notice to cancel, reject, refuse sale to or work with a client without reason.
We reserve the right to refuse to construct a website which we may judge as unfit due to content or otherwise. This includes, but is not limited to, sites containing adult oriented material such as pornography, sites which promote hatred towards persons belonging to any ethnic group, religion or sexual orientation & sites which infringe copyright or are contrary to UK laws, unlawful or inappropriate, contains a virus or hostile programme, constitutes harassment, racism, violence, obscenity, harmful intent, spamming, commits a criminal offence, infringes privacy or copyright or any other questionable media.
Gem Internet is not liable for any consequences or financial losses such as, but not limited to, loss of business, profit, revenue, contract, data or potential savings, relating to services provided.
Gem Internet reserves the right to decline further work on a project if there are invoices outstanding with the client.
Gem Internet reserves the right to remove its work for a client from the internet if due payments are not received.
Standard website packages include website hosting for the first 12 months. After this time if a client wishes to continue to keep the website “live”, they must pay ongoing website hosting costs & web domain renewal costs before expiry. Failure to pay these will result in website suspension & or loss of domain name.
Gem Internet reserves the right to alter prices at any time without notice. If a client has commissioned any services from Gem Internet prior to a change in prices that commission will not be subject to any increase, but any subsequent commission may be subject to an increase.
A client’s project will only be put “live” on the client’s requested domain name & submitted to the search engines when the outstanding balance has been paid & the client has agreed the project is completed. When the project is “live” Gem Internet no longer has obligation to make changes to the project.
Clients agree that in no event will Gem Internet have financial liability to the client.
Gem Internet reserves the right to terminate a project with a client at any time without prior notification if it finds the client in breach of these terms & conditions. Gem Internet shall be the sole arbiter in deciding what constitutes a breach. No refunds are given in such a situation.
Gem Internet reserve the right to increase the project complete time or date at any time if unforeseen circumstances arise.
Any deposits for services are non refundable.

Website Maintenance & Modifications

When a website is live Gem Internet can provide maintenance & modifications at our discretion for an agreed fee.

Gem Internet can perform regular website maintenance, if requested, for a yearly or hourly fee. (Please check current prices with Gem Internet). Any maintenance schedules & costs will be quoted for before work commences. Maintenance only includes working on existing material within the site.
Website maintenance includes: changes to existing text copy; adding or removing client supplied text; adding or removing client supplied photos. Website maintenance does not include changes to a project’s layout, graphic banners, logos or supplying or creating additional content unless agreed beforehand.
Additional fees will be quoted for additional content to be supplied by Gem Internet e.g. text, pages, photos, graphics, tables. This will be charged at an hourly rate at a minimum of 20 minutes. (Please check current prices with Gem Internet.)
Clients requiring maintenance to their site can choose to pay a minor modification fee if they do not wish to take up the yearly option.
Gem Internet are under no legal obligation to provide ongoing or one-off project maintenance or modifications.
Maintenance & modifications to a project are subject to availability.
Once payment has cleared for a maintenance or modification to a project Gem Internet will endeavour to complete the required changes as quickly as possible. Modifications or maintenance that payment has been received for will be completed when possible with no strict deadline on behalf of Gem Internet.
If Gem Internet are required to correct any errors resulting from such alterations by the client or third parties, the client will be quoted a fee.

Permissions & Copyrights

The client will obtain all the necessary permissions & authorities in respect of the use of all copy, graphics, registered company logos, names & trademarks or any other material supplied to Gem Internet by the client.
Supply of above mentioned material by the client shall be regarded as a guarantee by the client to Gem Internet that all such permissions & authorities have been obtained.
No responsibility will be accepted by Gem Internet for damages to or losses incurred by the client from the use of material for which the required permission or authority has not been obtained.
All original graphics designed & supplied by Gem Internet remain the property of Gem Internet until the client’s account has been paid in full, at which time ownership & copyright of said graphics will reside with the client.
If a client wishes to reproduce the code, text copy, photos, icons & graphics supplied to you by Gem Internet a client must request permission from Gem Internet beforehand.
We cannot take responsibility for any copyright infringements caused by materials submitted by the client. We reserve the right to refuse any material of a copyrighted nature unless adequate proof is given of permission to use such material.
We provide up to 5 stock images for a client’s project, these images retain the copyright of the stock image supplier & are not the property of Gem Internet or the client. In most cases these images have a single use copyright policy for use on the supplied website only. They cannot be reproduced or sold on. If further usage is required the client must request this of Gem Internet and the additional copyright usage will be invoiced to the client and must be paid for before such usage is permitted.

Website backups & providing copies of websites

If a backup or copy of a website hosted by Gem Internet is requested, Gem Internet will invoice by an hourly rate & email the files or upload them for download depending on file size.
Gem Internet does not routinely keep back ups of websites, projects, data or files. In the result of loss of data or server failure Gem Internet are not legally required to provide missing, deleted or lost data of files.

Domain name transfers

Domain names that have been registered by Gem Internet will incur a fee if a client requires the said domain name to be transferred to another server provider. The domain transfer fee is £20.

Transferring a website from Gem Internet

If a client wishes to transfer their website hosted with Gem Internet we can assist & will require an hourly rate fee which will be quoted based on the scale of the website transfer. This fee also applies if a client requires a copy of their website on media CD-R/DVD or other media format. The transfer fees & data supply fees apply to all databases & files.

Errors & Liabilities

Gem Internet;

will use all due care to ensure sites worked on by Gem Internet are free of errors.
will correct any errors made by staff of Gem Internet in the course of working on a client’s website.
do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors within any site or if a site is not placed “live” on the internet.
do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from delayed project time or if a site is not placed “live” on the internet within the agreed completion date.
does not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from third party applications, plug-ins, hacking, viruses, software or code.

Database, Application & Ecommerce Development

Gem Internet cannot take responsibility for any losses incurred by the use of any software created or supplied to the client. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure products are problem free & accurate, the ultimate responsibility lies with the client in ensuring that all software is functioning correctly before use. The client is expected to test fully any application or programming relating to a site developed by Gem Internet before being made generally available for use. Where ‘bugs’, errors or other issues are found after the site is live, Gem Internet will endeavour (but is not obliged) to correct these issues to meet the standards of function outlined in the brief.

Compatibility

Gem Internet will endeavour to ensure that any developed/designed site or application will function correctly on the server it is initially installed in & that it will function correctly when viewed with the web browsing software on a desktop PC when a project is made “live”.

Browser compatibility is only checked & provided when a site goes “live”, ongoing browser compatibility is not provided by Gem Internet.
The client is required to check the project in their browser software within 14 days of the project’s “live” date, after this date Gem Internet are not responsible for browser compatibility issues.
Gem Internet can offer no guarantees of correct function with all browser software.
Unless quoted for, a website project will only be optimised for a standard desktop PC’s resolution.
Unless quoted for, a website project won’t be compatible on all devices eg mobile phones, tablets etc.
Mobile / responsive websites will be tested to display correctly on ipad (version 4) & iphone (version 5) devices.
Mobile / responsive websites may not be compatible with all devices eg mobile phones, tablets etc.

Cancellations

Should the client wish to cancel his/her acceptance of the quote at any point then Gem Internet will invoice the client for any work completed to date, up to the full amount quoted.
The client must advise Gem Internet by email of the request not to proceed with work.
Once a project is started or completed no refunds will be given for cancelling a project.

Basic Search Engine Registration – Disclaimer

Registering the client’s website with search engines does not by itself guarantee that all search engines will accept the client’s listing or that the client’s listing will appear in the first 100 listings.
It can take up to several months for the major search engines to index the client’s website.
Gem Internet take no responsibility for search engine listings & results of a client’s project.
Search engine submission is supplied as a free service when a project goes “live”.

Domain Name Registration

Gem Internet purchase domain names from third parties. Registration of a domain name on behalf of the client is subject to the terms & conditions for domain registration. These are available from us by request dependent on the third party we purchase from. Payment for domain name registration is to be paid at the time of the registration.

Gem Internet does not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors or faults with your registered domain name.
Gem Internet does not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors or faults with your registered domain name from our Third Party Suppliers.

Email

Gem Internet may set up an email account on your hosting if quoted for or agreed in advance.

Gem Internet;

does not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors or faults with your email account provided by Gem Internet.
does not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors or faults with your email account its forwarders, or third party email providers.
do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from downtime or misconfiguration with your email accounts.
does not keep back ups of emails, data or files. In the result of loss of emails Gem Internet are not legally required to provide missing, deleted or lost emails or files.

No guarantees can be made as to the availability or interruption of this email service & Gem Internet cannot accept liability for losses caused by the unavailability, malfunction or interruption of this service, or for loss of turnover, sales, revenue, profits or indirect, consequential or special loss.

Website Hosting

Gem Internet are able to provide website hosting for very competitive rates. Payment for website hosting is to be paid in advance. Website hosting must be paid for annually. Gem Internet will invoice the client before any hosting is due & will give 30 days notice before any fees are due.

Gem Internet do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from errors or faults with your provided website hosting.
Gem Internet do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from downtime or misconfiguration with your provided website hosting.
Gem Internet do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from downtime or misconfiguration with your email accounts.
If hosting payment is not paid by due invoiced dates we reserve the right to suspend or terminate the hosting account & all files on the account including emails stored on the server.
The client agrees that it is their responsibility to have regular backups of their website & software made by themselves or third party services in case of a software or hardware failure.
No partial refunds will be given for hosting, servicing or updating packages cancelled during the agreement’s time period.
Gem Internet does not keep back ups of projects, data or files. In the result of loss of data Gem Internet are not legally required to provide missing, deleted or lost data of files.
Failure to pay any outstanding invoices for website hosting by the due time on the invoice will result in website suspension & after 30 days any files on our hosting servers will be deleted if the invoice remains unpaid.
Gem Internet do not accept any responsibility for losses or damage arising from suspension of a client’s website if they fail to pay any outstanding invoices in due time.

No guarantees can be made as to the availability or interruption of this service & Gem Internet cannot accept liability for losses caused by the unavailability, malfunction or interruption of this service, or for loss of turnover, sales, revenue, profits or indirect, consequential or special loss.

Our liability

The material displayed on our site is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, we, & third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:

All conditions, warranties & other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.
Any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user in connection with our site or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our site, any websites linked to it & any materials posted on it, including, without limitation any liability for:
loss of income or revenue;
loss of business;
loss of profits or contracts;
loss of anticipated savings;
loss of data;
loss of goodwill;
Wasted management or office time; & for any other loss or damage of any kind, however arising & whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable, provided that this condition shall not prevent claims for loss of or damage to your tangible property or any other claims for direct financial loss that are not excluded by any of the categories set out above.

This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, nor our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Viruses, hacking & other offences

You must not misuse our site by knowingly introducing viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our site, the server on which our site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our site. You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack.

By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities & we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site will cease immediately.

Gem Internet will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programmes, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our site or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

Links from our site

Where our site contains links to other sites & resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Gem Internet has no control over the contents of those sites or resources, & accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. When accessing a site via our website we advise you check their terms of use & privacy policies to ensure compliance & determine how they may use your information.

Variations

We may revise these terms of use at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we made, as they are binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in these terms of use may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our site.