Absolute Hosting Customer Service Agreement

This is an agreement between yourself, your organization (hereafter referred to as the Account Holder) and Absolute Hosting (PTY) LTD (hereafter referred to as the Service Provider) regarding the use of the Service Provider’s services, servers, interactive information, communication and server management service. This Agreement governs the terms and conditions under which the Service Provider makes the services offered and available to individual consumers through a computer, device or similar access, or to individual consumers or small businesses in connection with the the Service Provider’s web hosting or similar services. Under this Agreement, you must comply with the Service Provider’s then current “Customer Service Agreement, Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and Fair Usage Policy” as updated from time to time by the Service Provider. In the event that the Account Holder orders a reseller related service, the Account Holder under this Agreement agrees to comply with the then current “Reseller Agreement“.

1. You agree to provide accurate and correct details at the time of creating an account with the Service Provider, this is not limited to your natural First and Last names, but too includes your geographical location and physical address.
2. The Service Provider may use the information provided by the Account Holder for order vetting purposes, account vetting purposes, account creation validation purposes, consumer tracing, fraud prevention or any other process required to determine the legitimacy of an order, or the information supplied to the Service Provider by the Account Holder.
3. In such event that the Account Holder fails the Service Providers account validation processes, the Service Provider may provide the Account Holder with the opportunity to update the information supplied or provide the supporting documentation as per the Service Providers request.
4. The Service Provider reserves its rights to deny services to an Account Holder where the Account Holder fails account validation process, or any other reason which may expose the Service Provider to fraud, or unnecessary risk.
5. In the event that the Account holder is unable to satisfy the Service Providers request for account validation and has paid any outstanding invoice, the Service Provider reserves its rights to cancel such orders, close such account and may refund the Account holder to its originating bank less any services fees.
6. The Service Provider will host an account for you, the purchaser , for the Account Holder´s chosen domain name, for the period of time (the Term) corresponding with the payment plan chosen by the Account Holder at the time of purchase. This contract will be automatically renewed at the end of the Term and each successive renewal term, unless terminated.
7. The Service Provider offers a self service customer portal known as the client service area to facilitate management of all account and support related functions. The service provider will endeavor to ensure that the client service area is available during regular business hours how ever it makes no guarantees regarding availability express or implied.
8. The Account Holder agrees and understands that access to the client service area may only be granted and permitted by the Account Holder to authorized individuals.
9. The Service Provider will only provide support or any other account related functions via the client service area and will not entertain any other method.
10. The Account Holder understands that the Service Provider may implement and apply various security protocols to protect access to the client service area, how ever no reliance or responsibility is placed on the Service Provider to secure access to the client service area and the Account Holder is entirely responsible for access to their profile and services linked to their account as available on the client service area.
11. The Account Holder agrees that all support related functions will be facilitated via the client service area only, and the use of these services is subject to the published Support Policies.
12. The Account Holder agrees not to overwhelm the Service Provider’s Support facilities by creating unnecessary or duplicate tickets, abusing the ticket system in any method and failing which the Service Provider may charge a fee of R25.00 excl VAT per ticket response or action taken against a ticket.
13. We require cancellation of services 3 days prior to the renewal date for all services.
14. The registered Account Holder must initiate a cancellation of services from within the client service area. On receipt of cancellation the Service Provider may issue an invoice for any outstanding amounts due which are linked to the service, such as overages or particular service usage. The account holder agrees to settle all outstanding amounts on or before the invoice due date. In the event that the Account holder has not remitted payment for the full amount outstanding, the Account Holder agrees that such cancellation request shall be considered cancelled and all services shall resume until correctly cancelled.
15. If the account holder remits payment for an outstanding invoice via EFT, the account holder must use only the client code as the beneficiary reference and no other description.
16. The Service Provider accepts no responsibility or liability for payments which are not captured to an invoice where the account holder has used the incorrect beneficiary reference.
17. The Service Provider may bill the account holder an administrative fee if it is required to locate a payment that has been made using the incorrect beneficiary reference.
18. Domain name registration and renewal invoices must be paid using credit available to the clients account or via a gateway provider on the date of order. In the event that than order is not paid for and lapses into the next day the Service Provider reserves the right to cancel such order. The Account holder agrees to pay all domain registration and renewal invoices in the prescribed manner.
19. The service provider makes no guarantees or warranty of domain name availability. In the event that a domain registration order is completed, paid for and the domain is already registered at the time of the service provider processing the registration, the service provider will credit the payment back to the clients account.
20. Domain renewals must be paid for on or before the registry expiry date to ensure that a domain name does not expire. In the event that an invoice or domain renewal order is not paid for by payment gateway on the date of invoice, the domain may enter into a grace period, and or redemption period as specified by the the registry operator (Registry). The provider accepts no responsibility for liability for domain names that have expired.
21. Domain names which expire and enter into redemption period are subject to redemption fees as determined by the registry operator. In the event a domain name has expired and entered into redemption, the Service Provider will issue an invoice for the redemption fee or update the existing domain renewal invoice with the redemption fee. The domain name will only be renewed when both the renewal fee and redemption fee have been paid via gateway provider.
22. The Service Provider offers an affiliate program to its clients may only be used to refer third parties to the Service Provider and earn an commissions for each referral. The affiliate program may only be used to earn referral fees for referrals to external parties and the account holder may not refer himself or any entity which they have any direct or indirect relationship with.
23. The Service Provider may at any time refuse any referral payout and may cancel an affiliates account should it suspect or find sufficient reason that the Account holder has used its affiliate program in violation of its intended use.
24. The Account Holder agrees provide the Service Provider a cancellation request as per the Service Providers Customer Service Agreement, and that if no notice is provided that the Account Holder will be charged for the next terms rate. There are no refunds on a la carte services.
25. The Account Holder cannot close or cancel an Account with the Service Provider if there are any amounts due to the Service Provider.
26. The Service Provider’s services are provided on an as is, as available basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. The Service Provider expressly disclaims any representation or warranty that the services offered will be error-free, secure or uninterrupted. No oral advice or written information given by the Service Provider, its employees, licensors of the like, will create a warranty; nor may you rely on any such information or advice. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
27. The services provided by the Service Provider to the Account Holder can only be used for legal purposes under all applicable international, federal, provincial, and municipal laws. Further, the Account Holder agrees not to store, transmit, link to, advertise or make available any images containing illegal content. Violations of these or any other provisions of this Agreement may result in termination of the services provided by the Service Provider with or without the grant of a notice or cure period, such notice or cure period to be granted at the sole discretion of the Service Provider based upon the severity of the violation. The Service Provider reserves the right to refuse service if any of the content hosted on under the the Account Holder´s account is deemed illegal, misleading, or obscene, or is otherwise in breach of the Service Provider’s then current Acceptable Use Policy, in the sole and absolute opinion of the Service Provider. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement, the content of the Account Holder´s website is the sole responsibility of the Account Holder. The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Service Provider from any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, or settlements, including reasonable attorney’s fees, costs, and other expenses incurred by the Service Provider (collectively, Claims) related to or in connection with the content of the Account Holder’s Services. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement
28. The Account Holder acknowledges that the nature of the service furnished and the initial rates and charges have been communicated to the Account Holder. The Account Holder is aware that the Service Provider reserves the right to change the specified rates and charges from time to time without notice.
29. The Account Holder agrees not to cause harm the Service Provider, its reputation, computer systems, systems, ,services, programming and/or other persons by using the Service Provider’s services. The Service Provider reserves the right to select the server for Account Holder’s services for best performance. The Account Holder understands that the services provided by the Service Provider are generally provided on shared servers unless otherwise stated. The Account Holder agrees that in the event that the use of the Service Provider’s Services exceed allowed resource limits, or over utilize a particular resource that the Service Provider reserves the right to terminate access to such services without notice in order to resume “normal operation”. In the event that the Account Holder’s use of the Service Providers shared services causes any impact on such service, that the Account Holder shall purchase the relevant dedicated resources to host their services. In such event the Service Provider will not refund the Account Holder for any unused services. If the Account Holder refuses to comply with this Section, then the Service Provider reserves it’s rights to terminate the services provided to the Account Holder without any refunds of the unused portion prepaid by the Account Holder. The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Service Provider and any other Account Holder from any and all Claims resulting from the Account Holder´s use of the services provided by the Service Provider. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
30. The Account Holder’s rights and privileges under this Agreement cannot be sold or transferred without the prior written consent of the Service Provider.
31. The Service Provider will use its best efforts to maintain a full time Internet presence for the Account Holder. The Account Holder hereby acknowledges that the network may, at various time intervals, be down due, but not restricted to, utility interruption, equipment failure, natural disaster, acts of God, human error or malicious behaviour (DDOS or similar). In no event shall the Provider be liable to the Account Holder for any damages resulting from or related to any failure or delay of the Service Provider in providing access to such services under this Agreement. In no event shall the Service Provider be liable to the Account Holder for any indirect, special or consequential damages or lost profits arising out of or related to this Agreement or the performance or breach thereof. The aggregate, total liability of the Service Provider under this Agreement, if any, shall in no event or circumstance exceed the total amount actually paid by the Account Holder hereunder. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
32. This Agreement applies to all accounts, sub-accounts, and alternative account names associated with your principal account. The Account Holder is responsible for the use of each account, whether used under any name or by any person, and for ensuring full compliance with this Agreement by all users of that account. An account may not be transferred without prior written approval from the Service Provider. The Account Holder is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of his/her password. In the event of a breach of security through the Account Holder’s account, the Account Holder will be liable for any unauthorized use of the Service Providers services, including any damages resulting there from, until the Account Holder notifies the Service Providers via formal support method.
33. If the Service Provider assigns the Account Holder an Internet Protocol (IP) address in connection with the Account Holder’s use of the Service Provider’s services, the right to use that Internet Protocol address will remain with and belong only to the Service Provider, and the Account Holder will have no right to use that Internet Protocol address except as allowed by the Service Provider in its sole and absolute discretion.
34. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the Account Holder and the Service Provider with respect to the Services Provider’s services and supersedes all prior agreements between the Account Holder and the Service Provider. The Service Provider’s failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. In the event that a portion of this Agreement is held unenforceable, the unenforceable portion will be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties, and the remainder of the provisions will remain in full force and effect. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
35. The parties shall attempt to resolve all disputes arising out of this Agreement in a spirit of cooperation and with a problem-solving mindset, without formal proceedings. Any dispute, which cannot be so resolved, shall be subject to binding arbitration upon the written demand of either party. Arbitration shall take place in South Africa. Should any legal action permissible under this Agreement be instituted to enforce the terms and conditions of this Agreement, in particular the right to collect money due on unpaid invoices, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover attorney-and-client costs from the moment of handing over the matter to such attorneys until date of final payment. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
36. The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold the Service Provider harmless from any and all Claims resulting from or connected with any activities conducted by the Account Holder. The Account Holder and the Service Provider will promptly notify the other upon receipt of any Claim or legal action arising out of activities conducted pursuant to this Agreement. The rights and responsibilities established in this paragraph will survive any termination of this Agreement.
37. The Service Provider may include the Account Holder’s name and contact information in directories of the Service Provider’s service subscribers for the purpose of promoting the use of the services by additional potential clients. However, the Service Provider is not authorized to print the Account Holder´s name, trademarks or other identifying information in any other advertising or promotional materials without the prior written consent of the Account Holder.
38. The interpretation and enforcement of this Agreement shall be governed according to the laws of the Republic of South Africa (excluding its choice of law rules). The Account Holder hereby consents to personal jurisdiction in the federal and provincial courts of South Africa for any action arising out of or relating to the Account Holder’s use of the Service Provider’s services. The federal and provincial courts of South Africa will have exclusive jurisdiction over all such actions. In any such action, the prevailing party will be entitled to recover all legal expenses incurred in connection with the action, including but not limited to its costs, both taxable and non-taxable, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
39. Notices required by this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be delivered either by personal delivery or by e-mail. If delivered by e-mail, notices shall be sent using a delivery and read receipt. All notices and other written communications under this Agreement shall be addressed to the individuals in the capacities indicated below, or as specified by subsequent written notice delivered by the party whose address has changed.
40. Because the Internet is a global communication tool, and we have clients from nearly every country in the world it is difficult to dictate what is considered “adult material.” However, it is not our function to discriminate against those who choose to utilize adult content or adult related material. This being said, there are still several reasons why the Service Provider has been forced to create its no adult sites policy for its virtual server users.
41. Our Refund Policy
    An Account holder may request a refund for the purchase of shared web hosting services if the account is canceled within the initial 2 days after sign up. Reseller account holders may request a refund if account is canceled within the initial 2 days after sign up. If the account holder cancels after the time period specified, there will be no refund given.
42. All refunds must be requested in writing and are subject to approval. By default all refunds which are approved will be credited back to the account holders account as a credit. Should the account holder request a refund back to the originating bank or card then the service provider will refund a portion of the original invoice less any transaction fees and usage fees. Usage fees will be calculated on the daily usage rate for the service used.
43. Once your account has exceeded its allocated resource limits (such as, but not limited to bandwidth or disk space) you agree that the the Service Provider may bill you for your usage of any additional resources.  Full responsibility for any excess resources generated by an account is assumed by the account holder. Temporary closure of accounts after resource exhaustion will not be applied automatically unless specified by the account holder. The Account Holder agrees that it is aware of such limits associated with each service as specified on the Service Providers Web Site.
44. If an account holder´s account becomes overdue by more than 14 (fourteen) days the account will be suspended. An administration fee of R50.00 shall be charged to the account and interest shall accrue on the overdue account at a rate of 15% per month until the outstanding balance is paid in full. Suspended accounts shall only be reactivated subject to the following conditions :
    • The account holder settles all outstanding amounts including administration fees and interest.
45. If an account holder charges back for services rendered, a R200 charge back fee will be added to the amount charged back by the customer and all services linked to the chargeback immediately suspended or terminated without notice.
46. If an account holder’s account is overdue for more than 30 days, the account will be handed over to an external collection agency and all services terminated. At that time the account holder will incur a R100 administration fee added to the balance previously due.
47. All new accounts are subject to validation of details supplied during the signup process.
48. You agree that the Service Provider may establish limits concerning the use of any the services offered by the Service Provider, including without limitation the maximum number of days that email messages will be retained by the Service Provider, the maximum number of email messages that may be sent from or received by an account , the maximum size of an e-mail message that may be sent from or received by an account, the maximum amount of recipients per email message, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on the Service provider’s servers on your behalf either cumulatively or for any particular service. You agree that the Service Provider has no responsibility or liability for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any messages or other content maintained or transmitted by any service owned or leased by the Service Provider. You acknowledge that the features, parameters (for example, the amount of storage available to users) or existence of any service may change at any time.
49. In the event of 14 days of nonpayment, you agree the Service Provider ‘ right to place a “nonpayment” page on your domain. Furthermore you agree that the Service Provider reserves the right to suspend DNS for any domain’s hosted on the Service Providers servers and no changes shall be entertained until the Account Holder has paid all amounts due to the Service Provider.
50. The Service Provider may temporarily deny service or terminate this Agreement upon the failure of the Account Holder to pay charges when they become due. Such termination or denial will not relieve the Account Holder of responsibility for the payment of all accrued charges, and reasonable interest and any collection fees. The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Service Provider from any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, or settlements, including reasonable attorney´s fees, costs, and other expenses resulting from such termination of services.
51. The Service Provider may terminate this Agreement and deny services to the account holder without notice. Such termination or denial will not relieve the Account Holder of responsibility for the payment of all accrued charges, and reasonable interest and any collection fees. The Account Holder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Service Provider from any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, judgments, or settlements, including reasonable attorney´s fees, costs, and other expenses resulting from such termination of services.
52. The responsibility of all passwords and other related sensitive information is assumed by the account holder, should any additional fee’s arise from resource consumption due to poor credentials (such as, but not limited to weak passwords or “test” accounts) no fault shall be levied on the Service Provider. In the event that an Account Holders account or service is compromised due to weak passwords, poor scripting or lack of knowledge, the Account Holder accepts all responsibility for any transactions conducted on the users account.
53. The Service Provider reserves the right to add, delete, or modify any provision of this Policy at any time without notice.