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Introduction
Thank you for visiting Weblance, an online marketplace connecting clients (buyers) and service providers (sellers). These Terms of Service are an integral part of using our service, and you must completely agree to them in order to use our website and service. These Terms of Service supersede any other agreements that you may have made with us, and will remain in force throughout your use of our Site.
Definitions
Throughout this document, we may use certain words or phrases, and it is important that you understand the meaning of them. The following is a non-exhaustive list of definitions of words and phrases found in this document:[framed_box style="info"][list]
[/list][/framed_box]How Weblance Works
The Weblance Service is an online freelancing venue that permits Clients and Service Providers to use our marketplace to buy and sell services in an efficient environment. Note that Weblance itself does not provide or purchase any services, and all payments and work products are the responsibility of the Clients and Service Providers.
Eligibility
In order to use our Service, you must meet a number of conditions, including but not limited to:[framed_box style="info"][list]
[/list][/framed_box]Nature of Service
All Clients and Service Providers are using Weblance solely as a meeting place and method of conducting financial transactions with each other. Weblance is in no way a party to any Contract and you hereby agree that you will not name Weblance as a defendant in any dispute between yourself and another User.
The Marketplace
Once you have signed up to Weblance, you may use our marketplace to buy or sell your services, depending on whether you are a Customer or Service Provider. The following rules apply to anyone who uses our marketplace. You must not:
Violate the laws of the United States, its states, or any foreign political entity having jurisdiction over this Weblance Agreement, whether or not the foreign political entity is a country or a subdivision (such as a state or province) or municipality (such as a city, town, county, or region) of a foreign country.
Post or send anything violent, threatening, pornographic, racist, hateful, or otherwise objectionable according to the opinion of Weblance or its delegates.
Post requests for services which you have no intention of actually purchasing.
Be fraudulent or negligent in your representations as to your qualifications when applying for a job.
Infringe on anyone’s intellectual property rights, defame anyone, impersonate anyone, or otherwise violate the rights of a third party.
Use the marketplace or any of our private messaging services to send commercial or non-commercial offers or advertisements, whether or not solicited, where those offers or advertisements are unrelated to services that involve financial transactions being processed through the Weblance Service.
Hack, crack, phish, SQL inject, or otherwise compromise the security or integrity of the Weblance Site, Service, or its Users’ computers.
Arrange to buy or sell services outside of the Weblance Service with a User who you made first contact with through the Weblance Service, without complying with Weblance’s buyout procedure.
Work Completion & Payment
Payment can be made by funding a milestone in compliance with the terms of service and the Contract between a Customer and Service Provider, using one of a number of methods, including PayPal or a credit card.
The Customer and Service Provider shall come to an agreement as to what tasks must be performed in order for the Service Provider to receive payment. Once the Service Provider submits work to the Weblance Platform the Customer that the task(s) has/have been completed according the agreed milestones, specifications, design submittal, goals and tickets using Weblance’s platform, the Customer shall be required to release payment to the Service Provider, at which point a commission will be retained by Weblance in accordance with this Weblance Agreement. If the work submitted that the task(s) has/have not been completed according the agreed milestones, specifications, design submittal, goals and tickets using Weblance’s platform, the Customer shall be required to provide feedback via the Weblance platform so as to direct the service provider to resolve the incomplete work submittal.
If a Customer refuses to release funds, a dispute must be filed with Weblance by the Service Provider no later than two weeks from the date that the task was due to be completed. Weblance shall adjudicate the matter and determine whether to release the funds to the Service Provider. Excessive adverse findings by Weblance against either a Customer or Service Provider may result in the termination of that User’s account.
All payments between Clients and Service Providers are subject to the commissions, fees, and other conditions posted on the Site and contained in this Weblance Agreement. In the case of a difference between payment terms on the Site and this Weblance Agreement, the term most favorable to Weblance shall take precedent.
Weblance shall take a commission consisting of 7% to 10% from the Service Provider.
Once payment is transferred from one User to another, Weblance shall credit that other User’s account and permit withdrawals subject to such fees as Weblance may list as applicable to withdrawals. Weblance may hold funds for a period of time necessary to determine identity, fraud protection or reasons that Weblance deems necessary to protect all parties of the transaction.
Disintermediation
Clients and Service Providers who come into first contact with each other through Weblance must not attempt to circumvent paying Weblance’s fees by transacting business outside of Weblance within the first three years of contact through Weblance. You agree that, regardless of whether you are a Customer or Service Provider, if you engage in such activities you will be liable to pay Weblance liquidated damages in the amount of $4000 for any violation or attempted violation of this provision to cover our fees in enforcing the matter, as well as 10% of any payments made in violation of this Weblance Agreement.
The exception to this rule is our buyout procedure, which permits Clients and Service Providers to notify Weblance of their intent to transact business outside of Weblance. In such a case, the Customer must pay a fee to Weblance. This fee is a good faith estimate and shall be calculated as the average weekly payment for services during the previous 52 week period multiplied by 52 weeks, or a flat fee of $4000, whichever is greater.
Nature of Financial Accounts
The money held by Weblance is not a deposit insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other entity, nor is Weblance a bank or other financial institution. You agree that Weblance is not required to open a separate account for each User’s funds, and is instead permitted to commingle said funds and attribute portions of those funds to the User based on the records of transactions which Weblance controls.
For example, if you are paid by another User for services rendered, you will not have a separate financial account opened in your own name with any particular financial institution, but will instead incur a right to that amount of money.
Weblance may place a hold on your funds as a matter of routine, or in circumstances where it believes that there is a high risk involved of fraud, money laundering, or other unlawful activity. We may charge a fee for the withdrawal of funds, which we will publicize on our Site.
Chargebacks, Credit Card Cancellations, and PayPal Disputes
Where a User provides payment to Weblance, and that amount of money is subsequently taken from Weblance due to a chargeback, credit card cancellation, PayPal dispute, or other action that is the fault of the User, Weblance is entitled to recover that amount from the User.
Additionally, where the above events occur in relation to a User who has funded a Contract, and that Contract funding has yet to be paid to the Service Provider, Weblance may cancel the Contract and any payment to the Service Provider, regardless of whether the Service Provider has already completed all or part of its obligations to the Customer under the Contract, and the Service Provider shall be responsible for exercising its legal remedies in relation to the non-payment by the Customer.
If a service provider should provide work that is later deemed by the client as inadequate or of low quality thereby causing the client to innate a charge back, the service provider is responsible to pay Weblance as a responsible party for the deficiency of service.
Our Copyright
You agree not to copy, distribute, display, disseminate, or otherwise reproduce any of the information on the Site, including Contract descriptions and User profiles submitted by third parties to Weblance, without receiving our prior written permission.
Your Copyright
Weblance must be assured that it has the right to use the content that is posted to its Site by its Users. Therefore, whenever submitting content to our website, you agree that you are granting us a non-exclusive, universal, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, commercial and non-commercial right to use, distribute, sell, publish, and otherwise make use of the content that you submit to us. You warrant to us that you have the right to grant us this right over the content.
Trademarks
“Weblance” is a trademark used by us, Weblance Inc., to uniquely identify our Site, Service, and business. You agree not to use this phrase anywhere without our prior written consent. Additionally, you agree not to use our trade dress, or copy the look and feel of our website or its design, without our prior written consent. You agree that this paragraph goes beyond the governing law on intellectual property law, and includes prohibitions on any competition that violates the provisions of this paragraph, including starting your own freelancing website or business.
Revocation of Consent
We may revoke our consent for your use of our intellectual property, or any other permission granted to you under this agreement, at any time. You agree that if we so request, you must take immediate action to remove any usage of our intellectual property that you may have engaged in, even if it would cause a loss to you.
Copyright & Trademark Infringement
Users must not post any Contracts, User profiles, or other information that infringes on anyone’s copyright, but it may happen. We take copyright infringement very seriously, and we have registered a Copyright Agent with the United States Copyright Office, which limits our liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you believe that your copyright has been infringed, please send us a message which contains:[framed_box style="info"][list]
[/list][/framed_box]You must sign this notification and send it to our Copyright Agent at:
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Attn: Weblance.com Copyright Agent 1209 Manhattan Ave. #217 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 United States [email protected][/framed_box]
If sending the notification by e-mail, an electronic signature is acceptable.
Although U.S. law does not provide for a similar procedure for trademark infringement, we recommend that you send us similar information to that above in regards to any allegation of trademark infringement, and we will address it as soon as practicable.
Communications Decency Act
Similar to the DMCA provisions above, United States law—specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—creates a defense for us for the actions of third parties in regards to any defamatory content posted on our website. Although we are not liable for defamatory words posted on our website by our Users even if given notice, we do prohibit defamation under this Weblance Agreement and we may, if we believe the situation warrants it, take action against the offending User. Please notify us at[email protected] if any of our Users have posted anything that you believe is defamatory.
Representations & Warranties[framed_box style="note"]
WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE MERCHANTABILITY OF OUR SERVICE OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE RELEASING US FROM ANY LIABILITY THAT WE MAY OTHERWISE HAVE TO YOU IN RELATION TO OR ARISING FROM THIS WEBLANCE AGREEMENT OR OUR SERVICES, FOR REASONS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FAILURE OF OUR SERVICE, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER TORT. TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW RESTRICTS THIS RELEASE OF LIABILITY, YOU AGREE THAT WE ARE ONLY LIABLE TO YOU FOR THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF DAMAGES THAT THE LAW RESTRICTS OUR LIABILITY TO, IF SUCH A MINIMUM EXISTS.
YOU AGREE THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY THIRD PARTIES WHO MAY USE OUR SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PEOPLE WHO COMMIT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT, DEFAMATION, TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH ECONOMIC RELATIONS, OR ANY OTHER ACTIONABLE CONDUCT TOWARDS YOU.
WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FAILURE OF A CUSTOMER TO MAKE THE APPROPRIATE PAYMENT TO YOU IF YOU ARE A SERVICE PROVIDER, OR OF A SERVICE PROVIDER TO RENDER THE REQUIRED SERVICES TO YOU IF YOU ARE A CUSTOMER.
WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FAILURE ON THE PART OF A PAYMENT PROCESSOR TO DIRECT PAYMENTS TO THE CORRECT DESTINATION, OR ANY ACTIONS ON THEIR PART IN PLACING A HOLD ON YOUR FUNDS.
WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY FAILURE OF THE GOODS OR SERVICES OF OUR COMPANY OR A THIRD PARTY, INCLUDING ANY FAILURES OR DISRUPTIONS, UNTIMELY DELIVERY, SCHEDULED OR UNSCHEDULED, INTENTIONAL OR UNINTENTIONAL, ON OUR WEBSITE WHICH PREVENT ACCESS TO OUR WEBSITE TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY.
THE PROVISION OF OUR SERVICE TO YOU IS CONTINGENT ON YOUR WEBLANCE AGREEMENT WITH THIS AND ALL OTHER SECTIONS OF THIS WEBLANCE AGREEMENT. NOTHING IN THE PROVISIONS OF THIS “REPRESENTATIONS & WARRANTIES” SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO LIMIT THE GENERALITY OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THIS SECTION.
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For Jurisdictions that do not allow us to limit our liability:
Notwithstanding any provision of these Terms, if your jurisdiction has provisions specific to waiver or liability that conflict with the above then our liability is limited to the smallest extent possible by law. Specifically, in those jurisdictions not allowed, we do not disclaim liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence or that of any of its officers, employees or agents; or (b) fraudulent misrepresentation; or (c) any liability which it is not lawful to exclude either now or in the future.
IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF A JURISDICTION THAT REQUIRES A SPECIFIC STATEMENT REGARDING RELEASE THEN THE FOLLOWING APPLIES. FOR EXAMPLE, CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS MUST, AS A CONDITION OF THIS WEBLANCE AGREEMENT, WAIVE THE APPLICABILITY OF CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542, WHICH STATES, “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.” YOU HEREBY WAIVE THIS SECTION OF THE CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE. YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY SIMILAR PROVISION IN LAW, REGULATION, OR CODE THAT HAS THE SAME INTENT OR EFFECT AS THE AFOREMENTIONED RELEASE.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless for any claims by you or any third party which may arise from or relate to this Weblance Agreement or the provision of our service to you, including any damages caused by your use of our website or acceptance of the offers contained on it. You also agree that you have a duty to defend us against such claims and we may require you to pay for an attorney(s) of our choice in such cases. You agree that this indemnity extends to requiring you to pay for our reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and disbursements. In the event of a claim such as one described in this paragraph, we may elect to settle with the party/parties making the claim, and you shall be liable for the damages as though we had proceeded with a trial.
Choice of Law
This Weblance Agreement, and any Contract between Users, shall be governed by the laws in force in the State of Wyoming. The offer and acceptance of this contract, as well as any Contract between Users, are deemed to have occurred in the State of Wyoming.
Forum of Dispute
You agree that any dispute arising from or relating to this Weblance Agreement, or any Contract between Users, will be heard solely by a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Wyoming.
If you bring a dispute in a manner other than in accordance with this section, you agree that we may move to have it dismissed, and that you will be responsible for our reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and disbursements in doing so.
You agree that the unsuccessful party in any dispute arising from or relating to this Weblance Agreement will be responsible for the reimbursement of the successful party’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and disbursements.
The provisions relating to attorneys’ fees, court costs, and disbursements in this section apply only to disputes in which one of the parties is Weblance. Otherwise, such matters shall be left to the parties in the dispute to determine for themselves, or shall be determined according to Wyoming law.
Force Majeure
You agree that we are not responsible to you for anything that we may otherwise be responsible for, if it is the result of events beyond our control, including, but not limited to, acts of God, war, insurrection, riots, terrorism, crime, labor shortages (including lawful and unlawful strikes), embargoes, postal disruption, communication disruption, unavailability of payment processors, failure or shortage of infrastructure, shortage of materials, or any other event beyond our control.
Severability
In the event that a provision of this Weblance Agreement is found to be unlawful, conflicting with another provision of the Weblance Agreement, or otherwise unenforceable, the Weblance Agreement will remain in force as though it had been entered into without that unenforceable provision being included in it.
If two or more provisions of this Weblance Agreement are deemed to conflict with each other’s operation, Weblance shall have the sole right to elect which provision remains in force.
Disputes amongst Users where Weblance is not a party shall have any inconsistent provisions resolved according to their mutual Weblance Agreement or, in a case where they cannot agree, by a court of competent jurisdiction in accordance with this Weblance Agreement’s dispute provisions.
Non-Waiver
Weblance reserves all rights afforded to us under this Weblance Agreement as well as under the provisions of any applicable law. Our non-enforcement of any particular provision or provisions of this Weblance Agreement or the any applicable law should not be construed as our waiver of the right to enforce that same provision under the same or different circumstances at any time in the future.
Termination & Cancellation
We may terminate your account or access as well as access to our Site and Service to you at our discretion without explanation, though we will strive to provide a timely explanation in most cases. Our liability for refunding you, if you have paid anything to us, will be limited to the amount you paid for goods or services which have not yet been and will not be delivered, except in cases where the termination or cancellation was due to your breach of this Weblance Agreement, in which case you agree that we are not required to provide any refund or other compensation whatsoever.
Under no circumstances, including termination or cancellation of our Service to you, will we be liable for any losses relating to work performed but not paid for, or any other losses other than the funds which you have provided to Weblance but not yet transferred to another User.
Assignment of Rights
You may not assign your rights and/or obligations under this Weblance Agreement to any other party without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and/or obligations under this Weblance Agreement to any other party at our discretion.
Amendments
We may amend this Weblance Agreement from time to time. When we amend this Weblance Agreement, we will place a note on our Site as to when the Weblance Agreement was last modified, and we will also require your Weblance Agreement to the amendments as a condition of your continued use of our Service. Failure to agree to the amendments will result in your inability to use our Service.
Resplution Request Process
The vast majority of work on Weblance is delivered to the complete satisfaction of both the Client and the Provider. When working on Weblance it is required to deposit into a Fund, but not releasing funds until the first milestone has been delivered and reviewed to your satisfaction.
Fund is an important protection for both parties when working online. If your chosen provider refuses to begin work until funds are released from Fund, you may want to consider finding a provider that will begin working when funds are securely held in the Fund account before they are released.
On rare occasions, a disagreement can occur between the Client and Provider that may require some assistance to resolve. Weblance offers three levels of dispute assistance:[framed_box style="info"][list]
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Resolution Request Process
To initiate the dispute resolution process, begin by click the request resolution link in your project page. In the resolution form, clearly document the details of the dispute.
If the job is a funded job with funds still held in the fund, please make sure to clarify your request for release or refund of funds held in the funded milestone. Once the Dispute Notice is submitted, Weblance and the other party will be notified.
After you’ve submitted the Resolution Request, the other party is then allowed 2 business days to review and submit their good faith response using the online Dispute Response form.
The Client and Provider will have the opportunity to respond to each other with the goal of resolving the dispute swiftly and fairly. If there are funds held in Fund and a resolution is reached, the parties can update the Terms to refund or release the disputed funds.
Weblance Dispute Assistance
In the event the Client and Provider fail to resolve the dispute through the Member Resolution process, the Provider or Client has the right to request Weblance Dispute Assistance.
If there are funds still in Fund, Weblance will contact both parties to arrange a Resolution Request call. Weblance will facilitate the call with the goal to resolve the dispute. Weblance will not make a determination or assess blame.
Arbitration.
If the job is a Funded job and both Member Resolution and Weblance Resolution Request do not resolve the dispute, either party will have the right to demand binding non-appearance based arbitration by a third party service chosen by Weblance.
The fee for arbitration for jobs under $1000 is $299 (reviewed by a single arbitrator) and $599 for jobs over $1000 (reviewed by a panel of arbitrators). The cost will be shared equally by the two parties.
A final judgment will be made by the arbitrator which must be adhered to by both parties and by Weblance regarding the refund or release of funds held in Fund and any other considerations.
What Happens When I Can’t Resolve a Dispute?
If a client and a provider using the Weblance Work System are unable to resolve a problem independently, Weblance provides a well-defined process to help both parties reach a resolution. Weblance Resolution Request is available for jobs managed within the Weblance Work System and funds held in Fund.
How Do I Protect Myself in Case of a Dispute?
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My Provider/Client Stopped Responding to My Requests for Communication, Payment or Work. What Can I Do?
If one party becomes non-responsive for a period of more than 5 business days, contact Weblance to get help. In cases where there are funds held in Fund, if the party is non-responsive to the Resolution Request process, then the release condition for the funds is met and the funds are released to the responding party.
What Happens to Funds That I Previously Released From Fund? Can I Get Them Back?
It is important that you inspect the quality of work delivered before releasing the funds in Fund. Define your milestones at specific points in the job where you can inspect and sign off on the work performed. Once you release funds from Fund, you cannot recover them.
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