TERMS & CONDITIONS
ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
SME Advice a product of SME South Africa (Pty) Ltd provides online mentorship. By using the Platform in any way, you are agreeing to comply with the TOU, including giving your consent to have your personal information used towards the Platform. In addition, when using particular SME Advice services, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines for all SME Advice services, which may change from time to time. Should you object to any term or condition of the TOU, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with the Platform in any way, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue use of the Platform. Consent to collect, process, store and distribute personal data related to the Platform is contained at the end of these TOU.
This Platform is governed by the laws of South Africa and SME Advice (Pty) Ltd chooses as its domicilium citandi et executandi for all purposes under this agreement, whether in respect of court process, notice, or other documents or communication of whatsoever nature.
This website is run by SME South Africa (Pty) Ltd based in South Africa trading as SME Advice.
ELIGIBILITY
The Platform is intended solely for persons who are 18 or older. Any access to or use of the Platform by anyone under 18 is expressly prohibited. By accessing or using the Platform you represent and warrant that (i) you agree to be bound by these Terms and (ii) that you are 18 or older and able to form legally binding contracts.
MODIFICATION
SME Advice reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify the Platform or to modify these Terms, including the Service Fee (as defined below), at any time and without prior notice. If we modify these Terms, we will post the modification on the Platform. We will also update the "Last Updated Date” at the top of these Terms.
Modifications to these Terms shall automatically be effective upon posting; provided, however, that material changes to the Terms will be effective as to an existing Member thirty (30) days after notice to the Member is provided via email from support@smesouthafrica.co.za to your email address on file with SME Advice. You agree to keep your email address on file with SME Advice up to date. By continuing to access or use the Platform after we have posted a modification on the Platform or have provided you with notice of a modification, you are indicating that you agree to be bound by the modified Terms. If the modified Terms are not acceptable to you, your only recourse is to cease using the Platform.
HOW THE PLATFORM WORKS
Our website is a platform where Entrepreneurs can connect directly with Experts for advice and mentoring. You may view Listings as an unregistered visitor to the Platform; however, if you wish to use the Services or post a Listing, you must first register to create an SME Advice Account.
SME Advice’s role is solely to facilitate the availability of the Platform and to provide services related thereto, such as Session scheduling, call queuing, call cycling, payment integration and call facilitation (see www.advice.smesouthafrica.co.za for more details). SME Advice does not provide and is not responsible for Member Content or any information or advice exchanged between Members during Sessions or otherwise. SME Advice does not verify the credentials of any of its members. You understand and acknowledge that Experts are not employees or agents of SME Advice but are independent service providers using the Platform to market their expertise to other Members and the public.
Please note that, as stated above, the Platform is intended to be used to facilitate member interaction. SME Advice cannot and does not control or guarantee the content contained in any listings or the information exchanged between members via the services. Accordingly, all members use the Platform at their own risk.
USER ACCOUNT REGISTRATION
Direct Registration: To access certain features of the Platform and to create a Listing, you must register to create an account ("SME Advice Account”) and become a member. You may register directly via the Platform or as described in this section.
Third Party Registration: You can also register to join by logging into your account with certain third-party social networking sites ("SNS”) (including, but not limited to, Google, Facebook and LinkedIn); each such account, a "Third Party Account”, via our Platform as described below.
As part of the functionality of the Platform, you may link your SME Advice Account with Third Party Accounts, by either: (i) providing your Third-Party Account login information to SME Advice through the Platform; or (ii) allowing SME Advice to access your Third-Party Account, as is permitted under the applicable terms and conditions that govern your use of each Third-Party Account. You represent that you are entitled to disclose your Third Party Account login information to SME Advice and/or grant SME Advice access to your Third Party Account (including, but not limited to, for use for the purposes described herein), without breach by you of any of the terms and conditions that govern your use of the applicable Third Party Account and without obligating SME Advice to pay any fees or making SME Advice subject to any usage limitations imposed by such third party service providers.
By granting SME Advice access to any Third-Party Accounts, you understand that SME Advice will access, make available and store (if applicable) any Content that you have provided to and stored in your Third-Party Account ("SNS Content”) so that it is available on and through the Platform via your SME Advice Account and SME Advice Account profile page. Unless otherwise specified in these Terms, all SNS Content, if any, will be considered to be Member Content for all purposes of these Terms. Depending on the Third-Party Accounts you choose and subject to the privacy settings that you have set in such Third-Party Accounts, personal information that you post to your Third-Party Accounts will be available on and through your SME Advice Account on the Platform. Please note that if a Third-Party Account or associated service becomes unavailable, or SME Advice’s access to such Third-Party Account is terminated by the third-party service provider, then SNS Content will no longer be available on and through the Platform. You can disable the connection between your SME Advice Account and your Third-Party Accounts, at any time, by accessing the "Settings” section of the Platform.
Please note that your relationship with the third-party service providers associated with your third-party accounts is governed solely by your agreement(s) with such third-party service providers. SME Advice makes no effort to review any of the content for any purpose, including but not limited to, accuracy, legality, or non-infringement and SME Advice is not responsible for any content.
We will create your SME Advice Account and your SME Advice Account profile page for your use of the Platform based on the personal information you provide to us. You may not have more than one (1) active SME Advice Account. You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information during the registration process and together with SME Advice, will periodically update such information to keep it accurate, current and complete. SME Advice reserves the right to suspend or terminate your SME Advice Account and your access to the Platform if you create more than one (1) SME Advice Account or if any information provided during the registration process or thereafter proves to be inaccurate, not current or incomplete. You are responsible for safeguarding your password. You agree that you will not disclose your password to any third party and that you will take sole responsibility for any activities or actions under your SME Advice Account, whether you have authorized such activities or actions. You will immediately notify SME Advice of any unauthorized use of your SME Advice Account.
EXPERT LISTINGS
Experts may create Listings to offer services to other Members (Entrepreneurs). To this end, you may need to provide information regarding the expertise you offer as well as pricing and other financial terms applicable to your offering. Listings will be made publicly available via the Platform.
Entrepreneurs will be able to schedule a Session with you via the Platform based on the information provided in your Listing. You understand and agree that once a Mentee requests a Session, the price quoted under your Listing may not be altered. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for any Listings you post. You understand and agree that it is mandatory to offer a 7-day free trial on your session packages. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that any Listing you post and the agreements you enter into with Entrepreneurs (i) will not breach any agreements you have entered into with any third parties and (ii) will (a) comply with all applicable laws, Tax requirements, and rules and regulations that may apply to you and (b) not conflict with the rights of third parties (iii) to maintain the integrity of the SME Advice platform and ensure the safety of both Experts and Entrepreneurs, you may not take the consultations outside of the SME Advice platform (iv) SME Advice does not allow Experts to include personal or business contact details including address, website, email or cell phone. The platform facilitates all transactions and consultations within the Platform. Doing so may result in removing yourself from the SME Advice network of Experts. Please note that SME Advice assumes no responsibility for the content of Listings or any Member’s compliance with any applicable laws, rules and regulations.
You understand and acknowledge that SME Advice does not edit, modify, filter, endorse or guarantee Member Content or the content of communications between Members. As stated above, SME Advice is not a party to any agreements entered into between Members. SME Advice reserves the right to screen and monitor Member Content or the content of communications between Members.
SME Advice reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to remove or disable access to any Listing for any reason, including Listings that SME Advice, in its sole discretion, considers to be objectionable for any reason, in violation of these Terms or otherwise harmful to the Platform. You acknowledge and agree that, as an Expert, you are responsible for your acts and omissions.
NO ENDORSEMENT
As stated above, SME Advice does not endorse any of its members. In addition, although these Terms require Members to provide accurate information, we do not attempt to confirm and do not confirm any Member’s purported identity or credentials. You are responsible for determining the identity and suitability of others who you contact via the Platform.
By using the Platform, you agree that any legal remedy or liability that you seek to obtain for actions or omissions of other Members or other third parties will be limited to a claim against the Members or other third parties who caused you harm and you agree not to attempt to impose liability on, or seek any legal remedy from SME Advice concerning such actions or omissions.
STARTUP PROGRAM
As part of our commitment to connecting SMEs with passionate and qualified Experts, all newly approved Experts will participate in the Startup Program. This program allows you to gain valuable experience and showcase your expertise while providing valuable support to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Program Requirements:
As of 10/06/2024, newly approved Experts must offer a free consultation of 60 minutes or two free consultations of 30 minutes each to SMEs upon joining the platform.
You can choose to offer:
- Two 30-minute sessions
- One 60-minute session
These consultations are an opportunity to:
- Demonstrate your knowledge and approach to mentoring.
- Build rapport and assess the needs of potential clients.
- Showcase the value you can provide to SMEs.
Benefits:
- Gain valuable experience working with SMEs.
- Receive feedback from satisfied clients to refine your profile.
- Stand out to potential clients who value your commitment to helping others.
Meeting these requirements is mandatory for all newly approved Experts.
GENERAL FINANCIAL TERMS
Our Pricing
SME Advice is a subscription-based community that offers a suite of value-added services to its members such as access to Experts for a specified rate.
Subscriptions are to be associated with a single person and cannot be shared with others. Sharing SME Advice services with a non-registered person will result in a suspension of services.
The pricing of our services may change, at any time without prior notice and at our discretion. We shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, price change, suspension or discontinuance of our services.
Fees for Experts
The amount due and payable to an Expert is agreed upon between the Expert and us at the start of our cooperation and before an Expert is listed on our website. These fees will be listed on the website in South African Rands and quoted in the session length or package.
We will collect a percentage of the Expert fee directly from the payment received from the mentee and remit the remaining monies to the Expert via PayGate (Pty) Ltd in South African Rands. Our current fee for Experts is 20%. Service Fees are non-refundable.
In case of any changes to our fees or methods of payment, we will notify you in writing before effecting any changes.
Fees for Entrepreneurs
You undertake to pay the fees charged to you for completed sessions.
Once a session is booked, we or our authorised third-party payment processor will collect the fees payable via your credit card. To process your payment, you will be asked for billing information including name, billing address and credit card details. We will ensure that in case payments are processed by a third party these are via a secure payment method. Please note that where transactions are undertaken by a third-party processor the terms and conditions and privacy policy which apply to the processor's services will apply to your transaction. Please review the third parties’ terms and conditions and privacy policy before using the services. You must also check if your credit card provider charges fees related to the payment of these services. We disclaim liability for credit card processing transactions charged to you by your provider.
You agree to provide current, complete and accurate billing information, including your email address, credit card number and expiration date so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed.
At the booking of a session, you authorise us to charge your credit card to collect the fees listed about your selected Expert on our website.
If you do not attend a paid call and the Expert was present, this session will count as completed
Third-Party Payment Provider
Payments may be made via Visa, MasterCard, Diners or American Express Cards or by bank transfer into the SME Advice bank account.
Card transactions will be acquired for Starwise via PayGate (Pty) Ltd which are the approved payment gateway for all South African Acquiring Banks. DPO PayGate uses the strictest form of encryption, namely Secure Socket Layer 3 (SSL3) and no Card details are stored on the website. Users may go to www.paygate.co.za to view their security certificate and security policy. Member details will be stored by SME Advice separately from card details which are entered by the client on DPO PayGate’s secure site. The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. The transaction currency is the South African Rand (ZAR). SME Advice takes responsibility for all aspects relating to the transaction including transactions on this platform, customer service and support, dispute resolution and delivery of goods.
Non-Circumvention
All mentorship sessions are to be scheduled within the SME Advice platform. It is a breach of the terms of service for Experts or Entrepreneurs to suggest making or receiving payment outside of the SME Advice platform for services rendered and connections established via the SME Advice platform.
Refunds
Refunds are possible within 7 days of the start of your appointment.
Refund possibilities are forfeited when a call with an Expert is requested and accepted within the platform, or the direct messaging function has been used to solicit advice from Experts or connect outside of the platform.
To request a refund email support@smesouthafrica.co.za
The provision of services by SME Advice is subject to availability. In cases of unavailability, SME Advice will refund the client within 30 days. Cancellation of orders by the Entrepreneurs will attract a 20% administration fee along with any services consumed.
Taxes
You understand and agree that you are solely responsible for determining your applicable Tax reporting requirements in consultation with your tax advisors. SME Advice cannot and does not offer Tax-related advice to any Members of the Platform.
Attendance Policy
Administration has the right to revoke membership when attendance issues arise. Entrepreneurs must respect the time of the Experts and schedule responsibly. Experts must respect the time of the Entrepreneurs and schedule responsibly.
USER CONDUCT
You understand and agree that you are solely responsible for compliance with any laws, rules, regulations, and Tax obligations that may apply to your use of the Platform and Content. In connection with your use of our Platform, you may not and you agree that you will not:
a)Violate any local, state, provincial, national, or other law or regulation, or any order of a court, including, without limitation, zoning restrictions and Tax regulations;
b)Use manual or automated software, devices, scripts robots, or other means or processes to access, "scrape”, "crawl” or "spider” any web pages or other services contained in the Platform or Content;
c)Use the Platform for any commercial or other purposes that are not expressly permitted by these Terms; copy, store or otherwise access any information contained on the Platform or Content for purposes not expressly permitted by these Terms;
d) Infringe the rights of any person or entity, including without limitation, their intellectual property, privacy, publicity or contractual rights;
e)Interfere with or damage our Platform, including, without limitation, through the use of viruses, cancel bots, Trojan horses, harmful code, flood pings, denial-of-service attacks, packet or IP spoofing, forged routing or electronic mail address information or similar methods or technology;
f)Use our Platform to transmit, distribute, post or submit any information concerning any other person or entity, including without limitation, photographs of others without their permission, personal contact information or credit, debit, calling card or account numbers;
g)Use our Platform in connection with the distribution of unsolicited commercial email ("spam”) or advertisements unrelated to lodging in a private residence;
h)"Stalk” or harass any other user of our Platform or collect or store any personally identifiable information about any other user other than for purposes of transacting as an SME Advice Member;
i)Register for more than one SME Advice Account or register for a SME Advice Account on behalf of an individual other than yourself;
j)Contact an Expert for any purpose other than asking a question related to the Services,
k)Contact a Entrepreneurs for any purpose other than asking a question related to the Services;
l)recruit or otherwise solicit any other Member to join third-party services or websites that are competitive to SME Advice, without SME Advice’s prior written approval;
m)Impersonate any person or entity, or falsify or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your affiliation with any person or entity;
n)Use automated scripts to collect information or otherwise interact with the Platform;
o)Use the Platform to find an Expert and then complete a transaction independent of the Platform to circumvent the obligation to pay any fees related to SME Advice’s provision of the Services;
p)As an Expert, submit any Listing with false or misleading information, or submit any Listing with a price that you do not intend to honour;
q)Post, upload, publish, submit or transmit any Content that:
i.infringes, misappropriates or violates a third party’s patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy;
ii.violates, or encourages any conduct that would violate, any applicable law or regulation or would give rise to civil liability;
iii.is fraudulent, false, misleading or deceptive;
iv.is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, vulgar or offensive;
v.promotes discrimination, bigotry, racism, hatred, harassment or harm against any individual or group;
vi.is violent or threatening or promotes violence or actions that are threatening to any other person; or
vii.promotes illegal or harmful activities or substances;
r)Systematically retrieve data or other content from our Platform to create or compile, directly or indirectly, in single or multiple downloads, a collection, compilation, database, directory or the like, whether by manual methods, through the use of bots, crawlers, or spiders, or otherwise;
s)Use, display, mirror or frame the Platform, or any individual element within the Platform, SME Advice’s name, any SME Advice trademark, logo or other proprietary information, or the layout and design of any page or form contained on a page, without SME Advice’s express written consent;
t)Access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Platform, SMEAdvice’s computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of SME Advice’s providers;
u)Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any SME Advice system or network or breach any security or authentication measures;
v)Avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, impair, descramble, or otherwise circumvent any technological measure implemented by SME Advice or any of SME Advice’s providers or any other third party (including another user) to protect the Platform or Collective Content;
w)Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting, or in any way use the Platform or Collective Content to send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information;
x)Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Platform or Collective Content; or
y)Advocate, encourage or assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing.
SME Advice will fully have the right to investigate and prosecute violations of any of the above of the law. SME Advice may involve and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who violate these Terms. Acknowledge that SME Advice has no obligation to monitor your access to or use of the Platform or Collective Content or to review or edit any Member Content, but has the right to do so to operate the Platform, to ensure your compliance with these Terms, or to comply with applicable law or the order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental body. SME Advice reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to remove or disable access to any Collective Content that SME Advice, at its sole discretion, considers being objectionable for any reason, in violation of these Terms or otherwise harmful to the Platform.
PRIVACY
See SME Advice’s Privacy Policy at www.advice.smesouthafrica.co.za/privacy for information and notices concerning SME Advice’s collection and use of your personal information.
OWNERSHIP
The Platform and Collective Content are protected by, common law or statute related to copyright, patent, trademarks or otherwise. You acknowledge and agree that the Platform and Collective Content, including all associated intellectual property rights, is the exclusive property of SME Advice and its licensors. You will not remove, alter or obscure any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notices incorporated in or accompanying the Platform, or Collective Content.
SME ADVICE CONTENT AND MEMBER CONTENT LICENSE
Subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions of these Terms, SME Advice grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license, to (i) access and view any SME Advice Content solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes and (ii) access and view any Member Content to which you are permitted access, solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes. You have no right to sublicense the license rights granted in this section.
You will not use, copy, adapt, modify, prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, broadcast or otherwise exploit the Platform, or Collective Content, except as expressly permitted in these Terms. No licenses or rights are granted to you by implication or otherwise under any intellectual property rights owned or controlled by SME Advice or its licensors, except for the licenses and rights expressly granted in these Terms.
MEMBER CONTENT
We may, in our sole discretion, permit Members to post, upload, publish, submit or transmit Member Content. By making available any Member Content on or through the Platform you hereby grant to SME Advice a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, use, view, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit such Member Content on, through, or using the Platform. SME Advice does not claim any ownership rights in any such Member Content and nothing in these Terms will be deemed to restrict any rights that you may have to use and exploit any such Member Content.
You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for all Member Content that you make available through the Platform. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that: (i) you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Platform or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to SME Advice the rights in such Member Content, as contemplated under these Terms; and (ii) neither the Member Content nor your posting, uploading, publication, submission or transmittal of the Member Content or SME Advice’s use of the Member Content (or any portion thereof) on, through or using the Platform will infringe, misappropriate or violate a third party’s patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other proprietary or intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy, or result in the violation of any applicable law or regulation.
We reserve the right to remove reviews that do not meet minimum quality standards, including, but not limited to, those that have been copied from other sources, include defamatory comments, or indicate a punitive nature and intent.
LINKS
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that SME Advice is not responsible or liable for:
i.the availability or accuracy of such websites or resources; or
ii.the content, products, or services on or available from such websites or resources. Links to such websites or resources do not imply any endorsement by SME Advice of such websites or resources or the content, products, or services available from such websites or resources. You acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any such websites or resources or the content, products or services on or available from such websites or resources.
PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
The Service is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and agreements. Content displayed on or through the Service is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, under copyright laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of the Platform or the collective work, and/or copying or reproducing the sites or any portion thereof to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution is prohibited without the express written consent of SME Advice.
You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service without the express written consent of SME Advice, and agree to abide by any copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service. SME Advice, as well as certain other names, logos, and materials displayed on SME Advice, constitute trademarks, trade names, service marks or logos ("Marks”) of SME Advice or other entities. You are not authorized to use any such Marks. Ownership of all such Marks and the goodwill associated therewith remains with SME Advice or those other entities.
Although SME Advice does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to SME Advice an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing. Furthermore, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant SME Advice all rights necessary to prohibit any subsequent aggregation, display, copying, duplication, reproduction, or exploitation of the Content on the Service by any party for any purpose.
COPYRIGHT POLICY
SME Advice respects copyright law and expects its users to do the same. It is SME Advice's policy to terminate in appropriate circumstances the SME Advice Accounts of Members who infringe or are believed to be infringing the rights of copyright holders.
TERMINATION AND SME ADVICE ACCOUNT DEACTIVATION
We may, in our discretion and without liability to you, with or without cause, with or without prior notice and at any time: (a) terminate these Terms or your access to our Platform, and (b) deactivate or cancel your SME Advice Account. Upon termination, we will promptly pay you any amounts we reasonably determine we owe you at our discretion, which we are legally obligated to pay you. In the event SME Advice terminates these Terms, or your access to our Platform or deactivates or cancels your SME Advice Account you will remain liable for all amounts due hereunder. You may cancel your SME Advice Account at any time by contacting SME Advice.
To cancel your membership, you need to send an email to support@smesouthafrica.co.za
NOTIFICATION OF CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT
If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please send your notice ("Notice”) to SME Advice for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement by email: support@smesouthafrica.co.za
Please include the following with your Notice:
1.The identity of the material on SME Advice that you claim is infringing, in sufficient detail so that we may locate it on the website;
2.A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
3.Your address, telephone number, and email address;
4.A statement by you declaring under penalty of perjury that (i) the above information in your Notice is accurate, and (ii) that you are the owner of the copyright interest involved or that you are authorized to act on behalf of that owner; and
5.Your physical or electronic signature.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
You agree that use of SME Advice and the service is entirely at your own risk. SME Advice and the service are provided on an "as is” or "as available” basis, without any warranties of any kind. All express and implied warranties, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of proprietary rights are expressly disclaimed to the fullest extent permitted by law. To the fullest extent permitted by law, SME Advice disclaims any warranties for the security, reliability, timeliness, accuracy, and performance of SME Advice and the service. To the fullest extent permitted by law, SME Advice disclaims any warranties for other services or goods received through or advertised on SME Advice or the service, or accessed through any links on SME Advice or the service, including without limitation, warranty of title to or delivery of any good or service, any warranty concerning intellectual property rights in any good or service, any warranty that any good or service conforms to its description or the colours, texture and detail shown on the user’s computer monitor. To the fullest extent permitted by law, SME Advice disclaims any warranties for viruses or other harmful components in connection with SMe Advice or the service. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from SME Advice or through the service shall create any warranty not expressly made herein. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.
LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
Under no circumstances shall SME Advice be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages (even if SME Advice has been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from any aspect of your use of SME Advice or the service, whether the damages arise from use or misuse of SME Advice or the service, from inability to use SME Advice or the service, or the interruption, suspension, modification, alteration, or termination of SME Advice or the service. Such limitation shall also apply concerning damages incurred because of other services or products received through or advertised in connection with SME Advice or the service or any links on SME Advice or the service, as well as because of any information or advice received through or advertised in connection with SME Advice or the service or any links on SMEAdvice. These limitations shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law. In some jurisdictions, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitations may not apply to you.
INDEMNITY
You agree to indemnify and hold SME Advice, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post or make available through the Service, your use of the Service, your violation of the TOU, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The TOU, and any additional terms to which you agree when using particular elements of the Service, constitute the entire agreement between you and SME Advice and govern your use of the Service, superseding any prior agreement between you and SME Advice. The failure of SME Advice to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOU shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the TOU is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the party's intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOU remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to the use of the Service or the TOU must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
VIOLATION OF TERMS AND LIQUIDATED DAMAGES
Please report any violations of the TOU by sending an email to support@smesouthafrica.co.za
Our failure to act concerning a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act concerning subsequent or similar breaches.
You understand and agree that, because damages are often difficult to quantify if it becomes necessary for SME Advice to pursue legal action to enforce the TOU, you will be liable to pay SME Advice the following amounts as liquidated damages, which you accept as reasonable estimates of SME Advice damages for the specified breaches of the TOU. If you post a message that
i.impersonates any person or entity;
ii.falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; or
iii. that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent, you agree to pay SME Advice Ten Thousand Rand (R10,000) for each such message.
This provision does not apply to messages that are lawful non-deceptive parodies of public figures.
If SME Advice establishes limits on the frequency with which you may access the Service or terminates your access to or use of the Service, you agree to pay SME Advice One Thousand Rand (R1,000) for each message posted more than such limits or for each day on which you access SME Advice over such limits, whichever is higher. If you send unsolicited email advertisements to SME Advice email addresses or through SME Advice computer systems, you agree to pay SME Advice Five Hundred Rand (R500) for each such email. If you post Content in violation of the TOU, other than as described above, you agree to pay SME Advice One Thousand Rand (R1,000) for each item of Content posted. In its sole discretion, SME Advice may elect to issue a warning before assessing damages.
If you are a Posting Agent that uses the Service in violation of the TOU, in addition to any liquidated damages under clause (d), you agree to pay SME Advice One Thousand Rand (R1,000) for every item of Content posted in violation of the TOU. A Posting Agent will also be deemed an agent of the party engaging the Posting Agent to access the Service (the "Principal”), and the Principal (by engaging the Posting Agent in violation of the TOU) agrees to pay SME Advice an additional One Thousand Rand (R1,000) for each item of Content posted by the Posting Agent on behalf of the principal in violation of the TOU.
If you aggregate, display, copy, duplicate, reproduce, or otherwise exploit for any purpose any Content (except for your Content) in violation of the TOU without the express written permission from SME Advice, you agree to pay SME Advice Three Thousand Rand (R3,000) for each day on which you engage in such conduct. Notwithstanding any other provision of the TOU, SME Advice retains the right to seek the remedy of specific performance of any term contained in the TOU, or a preliminary or permanent injunction against the breach of any such term or in aid of the exercise of any power granted in the TOU, or to seek to recover damages arising from or relating to a violation of this TOU or any combination thereof. SME Advice will send your request to the Expert to schedule a consultation. All calls/ audio and video chats will take place in the App.
DECLARATION AND INFORMED CONSENT
By signing up to use the service, I/ the Data Subject confirm that my / the Data Subject’s Personal Information provided is:
−Accurate, up to date, not misleading and complete in all respects, save where same may change and then in such an event, I/ the Data Subject undertake to advice SME Advice or its Associates/ Third party developers and Suppliers (hereafter referred to collectively as "the Parties”), of these changes.
−I, / the Data Subject, in providing the required Personal Information to SME Advice and/or the Parties, consent and permit the Parties to process and further process my /the Data Subject’s Personal Information as and where required and acknowledge that I/ the Data Subject understand the purposes for which the Personal Information is required and for which it will be used.
−Furthermore, should any of the Personal Information which has been provided by myself concern or pertain to a legal entity whom I represent, I confirm that I have the necessary authority to act on behalf of such legal entity/ Data Subject and that I have the right to provide the Personal Information and/or the required consent to use said Personal Information, on behalf of the legal entity.
−Furthermore, should any of the Personal Information belong to any of my dependents and/or beneficiaries who are underage, I in my capacity as their legal guardian and competent person give the Parties the appropriate permission to process their Personal Information for the purposes for which these details were given.