Last Updated: 1 July 2022
Below you can find the latest version of the Terms and Conditions for Aether Industries’ Website Maintenance, Website Management, and Website Support services (collectively titled as Aether Services).
Website Design projects are subject to their own Terms and Conditions, which are unique to each project.
Unless otherwise noted, the Terms and Conditions in each section apply to both Aether Services (Website Maintenance) Subscribers and Non-Subscribed Clients.
By entering your details on the sign-up form for any Aether Services plan and completing the Stripe Checkout payment process, you (hereafter referred to as ‘the Client’) are signifying your intention to hire Aether Industries (located at https://aether.industries/) to perform ongoing website maintenance (and/or website management and/or website support when required) for your website.
The following sections define what is required of the Client, and what the Client can expect from Aether Industries in return. The Client understands that Aether Industries cannot provide sufficient website maintenance, management or support services if the Client fails to comply with these requirements. Aether Industries shall, in turn, strive to comply with the duties and requirements laid out in this agreement.
By submitting your details through our Support Request form and completing the Stripe Checkout payment process for the initial investigation fee, or by paying any amount quoted by Aether Industries for a Website Management task, you (hereafter referred to as ‘the Client’) are signifying your intention to hire Aether Industries (located at https://aether.industries/) to perform a stand-alone website support and/or website management task for your website.
The following sections define what is required of the Client, and what the Client can expect from Aether Industries in return. The Client understands that Aether Industries cannot provide sufficient website maintenance, management or support services if the Client fails to comply with these requirements. Aether Industries shall, in turn, strive to comply with the duties and requirements laid out in this agreement.
This section does not apply to Non-Subscribed Clients.
By signing up to any Website Maintenance plan, the Client grants permission for Aether Industries to add their nominated email address (the email address used by the Client to complete the checkout process) to the Aether Services mailing list.
Aether Industries aims to only send emails when necessary (for instance, detailing changes to the Client’s Aether Services plan, or a notice when Aether Industries will be unavailable to provide services).
These emails are handled by MailChimp (Intuit) and are subject to their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The Client can unsubscribe from these emails at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link in any email’s footer.
Please note that this mailing list is Aether Industries’ primary method of providing updates to Website Maintenance clients, and that by not subscribing to, or unsubscribing from the Aether Services mailing list, the Client agrees that Aether Industries is not responsible for notifying the Client of any changes to their plan, or for any unexpected changes in fees, terms and conditions, or services provided.
The Client shall provide Aether Industries with access details (usually a username, password and login address) to a WordPress user account with Administrator-level access on their website, and/or login details (login address, username and password) for their web hosting provider in order for Aether Industries to perform maintenance, management or support duties when required.
For your security, do not provide these details until they are requested by Aether Industries, and never provide any passwords via email.
The Client also understands that any changes they make to relevant access details provided to Aether Industries (e.g. password or username changes) while Aether Industries is completing required tasks will prevent access to required areas of their website. The Client agrees that Aether Industries will not be held responsible or liable in any way for delays incurred as a result of these changes, and that they must notify Aether Industries of any changes as soon as possible in order for any requested work to continue.
If you are unsure that a request for information is from Aether Industries, please contact us at privacy@aether.industries or via phone on 0456 205 785 to confirm. Aether Industries shall also provide instructions via email for creating a new Administrator-level WordPress user account on your website when access is requested.
Aether Industries shall only access any user accounts to perform required maintenance or website management/support duties requested by the Client. Any access details provided by the Client shall remain confidential and stored within an encrypted password database accessible only to Aether Industries.
Supplied access details can be removed at any time when requested by the Client, however the Client understands that these details shall require re-submission to Aether Industries should they be required for future tasks. Any information contained on the Client’s website that is not publicly accessible shall remain confidential.
Should a third party require access to the Client’s website dashboard, the Client gives permission for Aether Industries to create temporary Administrator-level WordPress user accounts on the Client’s website to allow that third party access. Aether Industries shall remove any accounts created for third parties once required duties have been completed to prevent further access by that third party and maintain the website’s security.
Aether Industries shall contact the Client via email to confirm approval before creating any accounts for a third party.
In the event that a third party (with the exception of the Client’s hosting provider) requires access to the Client’s web hosting account, Aether Industries shall contact the Client via email for further instructions.
Any account details provided to or created by Aether Industries shall not be shared with third parties without the awareness and written approval of the Client.
Website Maintenance consists of regular updates to core website software (the WordPress website platform) and associated WordPress plugins, as well as minor graphical, layout and/or coding changes to fix errors and inconsistencies introduced as a result of those updates.
If the Client’s website is configured to allow minor essential security updates for WordPress to be automatically downloaded and installed without manual approval, these are not covered under the definition of maintenance. In most cases, these updates have a low risk of causing issues; however, any website errors resulting from these updates shall be resolved as detailed in the Website Support section of this document.
The Client understands that their website will become unavailable to any visitors for brief periods as an essential part of the maintenance process. Should an issue occur causing an extended outage or restoration of a previous version of the website, Aether Industries shall inform the client via email.
Any maintenance shall be undertaken during Aether Industries’ regular business hours, unless otherwise required by the Client. The most up-to-date information regarding Aether Industries’ business hours will always be found at the link specified above. Please refer to the Fees section for additional costs incurred outside of those times.
In the event that the Client’s website maintenance requires more time than the amount allotted in their selected Aether Services plan, Aether Industries shall contact the Client informing them of the extra time and any additional costs required.
Aether Industries shall endeavour to complete all maintenance within the agreed number of hours to avoid incurring extra costs to the Client.
Any new website functionality requiring additional plugin installation or coding is not covered under maintenance and is considered a new project. Additional functionality will increase maintenance costs, which shall be renegotiated at the discretion of Aether Industries.
Non-Subscribed Clients may request Website Maintenance as a stand-alone task through our contact form, via email or by phone. All Terms and Conditions stated above in the Aether Services (Website Maintenance) Subscribers section (as well as the following Plugin Testing, Website Contact Forms and e-Commerce Functionality subsections) remain in effect, with the exception of any references to regular maintenance or Aether Services plans.
Aether Industries shall provide a quote to the Client for any stand-alone Website Maintenance tasks; work shall not commence on any task without written approval and upfront payment of fees by the Client.
Updates to website plugins usually include testing of plugin updates on a separate “staging” installation of the Client’s website to ensure that the updates do not cause current website features to function in unintended ways or cease working entirely.
Aether Industries shall create a backup of the ‘live’ website (the installation visible to the public) before implementing any updates, in order to restore the most current version of the website in the event of unexpected errors caused by any upgrades.
The Client understands that restoration may result in some data loss, e.g., user accounts, orders or other data created after the creation of any backup files. Aether Industries will schedule any upgrades to minimise data loss where possible.
In the event that the Client’s website features a contact form (or other website form accepting visitor input), Aether Industries shall submit a basic message as part of testing. Should the Client’s website feature multiple unique forms with separate functions (e.g., a site-wide contact form and a separate feedback form), Aether Industries shall submit one message per unique form (for example, if the same contact form is used on multiple pages, only one message will be submitted).
While the website may indicate that the form input has been successfully submitted, Aether Industries is unable to ascertain whether the message has been successfully forwarded from the website to the Client.
In these cases, Aether Industries requires a confirmation email from the Client to indicate that the test message has been successfully received. Aether Industries shall accompany this test message with a separate follow-up email notifying the Client when maintenance has been completed. When the Client’s website features multiple unique forms, Aether Industries shall send one email notification covering the entire website.
If no test message has been received by the Client within 24 hours of the completed maintenance notification email, the Client is responsible for notifying Aether Industries that an issue has occurred. This will then become the basis for a Website Support ticket, which shall incur additional costs (as defined in the Fees section below).
If the Client has not replied to Aether Industries within 24 hours of the completed maintenance notification email, Aether Industries shall assume that the Client’s website form(s) are working correctly.
The Client agrees that Aether Industries shall not be held responsible or liable for any losses (financial or otherwise) resulting from the Client failing to notify Aether Industries of unsuccessful message delivery.
In the event that the Client’s website features e-Commerce functions (e.g., an online shop), Aether Industries shall test that an order can be placed by purchasing a low-value item. The Client agrees to cancel and refund any funds transferred as part of this testing process.
Where the e-Commerce functions allow for coupon creation, Aether Industries may also create a ‘testing’ coupon for the purposes of testing checkout functionality without using funds. Aether Industries shall not make use of these coupons for any purpose other than testing.
Website Management consists of Aether Industries adding new website content or modifying existing content (such as text, images or page layouts) on the Client’s website at the request of the Client. This is separate from the minor graphical, layout and/or coding fixes implemented as a result of regular website/plugin updates, and covers website pages and content types such as (but not limited to) blog posts, events or testimonials.
Aether Industries may (at their discretion) refuse to handle certain Website Management tasks depending on factors such as the complexity of the content type and time-frame conflicts.
As with Website Maintenance, any new website content requiring additional functionality (with the exception of additional images or fonts) is not covered under Website Management and is considered a separate project.
In the event that additional materials, such as (but not limited to) Stock Photography or Commercial Fonts are required to complete Website Management tasks (e.g., adding new images or fonts to a web page), the Client agrees to reimburse Aether Industries for the fees incurred for any materials purchased on their behalf.
Aether Industries shall provide a quote to the Client for any Website Management tasks; work shall not commence on any task without written approval and upfront payment of fees by the Client.
Priority Focus applies only to Aether Services subscribers with a current subscription to the Aether Services Gold Plan.
This gives the Client higher priority in the queue when requesting a Website Management task from Aether Industries. Tasks requested by Gold Plan subscribers will generally take precedence over those requested by a Silver or Bronze Plan subscriber or a non-subscribed Client, however Aether Industries reserves the right to arrange task completion as required to integrate with our other business requirements.
In the event that multiple Gold Plan subscribers request tasks to be completed as soon as possible, priority for task completion is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. After-hours fees apply to any work requiring completion outside of Aether Industries’ regular business hours.
Website Support refers to assistance requested by the Client regarding technical issues with the Client’s website or hosting, resulting in unexpected website failures or errors that require investigation and/or correction by Aether Industries or a third party.
This does not include minor content changes such as correcting or formatting text, replacing images or altering page layouts; these are covered under Website Management.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
Aether Industries shall charge a flat $100 fee to investigate the problem. This fee must be paid before Aether Industries commences any investigation into the cause of the Client’s website issue. Once the cause has been identified, Aether Industries shall provide a quote to the Client for the costs involved in correcting the issue, with the initial investigation fee deducted from the final amount. No further work shall be undertaken by Aether Industries until the quoted costs have been agreed to and paid by the Client.
Events such as (but not limited to) web host downtime, scheduled server maintenance, data centre failures or faults in key areas of Internet infrastructure may result in the Client’s website becoming unavailable for extended periods of time. Aether Industries has no control over these situations; correction is not necessary or possible and the website will usually become available again once the problem has been resolved. If Aether Industries identifies the problem as ‘self-resolving’ no additional correction fee shall be charged.
Aether Industries may choose to refer the problem to a third-party developer or support team where time-frames or circumstances dictate the need to do so. If the issue is referred to a third party without any correctional work undertaken by Aether Industries, Aether Industries shall not charge an additional correction fee.
Any subsequent fees are subject to the rates, terms and conditions of the third party and are not under Aether Industries’ control. In these cases, it is the Client’s decision and responsibility to continue with correcting their website issue.
Priority Focus applies only to Aether Services subscribers with a current subscription to the Aether Services Gold Plan.
This gives the Client higher priority in the queue when requesting a Website Support task from Aether Industries. Tasks requested by Gold Plan subscribers will generally take precedence over those requested by a Silver or Bronze Plan subscriber or a non-subscribed Client, however Aether Industries reserves the right to arrange task completion as required to integrate with our other business requirements.
In the event that multiple Gold Plan subscribers request tasks to be completed as soon as possible, priority for task completion is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. After-hours fees apply to any work requiring completion outside of Aether Industries’ regular business hours.
Fees are calculated depending on whether the Client is subscribed to an Aether Services (Website Maintenance) plan, the selected plan and the category of work involved. These fees are only applicable to work performed on the website nominated by the Client when subscribing to an Aether Services plan.
Fee reductions will not apply to any additional websites owned or operated by the Client (including subdomains of the nominated website, or websites existing on other domains) unless the Client has subscribed those additional subdomains or websites to an Aether Services plan.
Example
A Client subscribes their website www.example.com to Aether Services Gold, and also operates websites at the subdomain www.subdomain.example.com and www.example-two.com.
They will receive all of the benefits of their Aether Services Gold subscription for www.example.com, but will not receive these benefits for www.subdomain.example.com or www.example-two.com.
Any requests for Website Management or Website Support tasks for www.example.com will be charged at the reduced rate for Aether Services Gold subscribers, whereas any requests for www.subdomain.example.com or www.example-two.com will incur non-subscriber rates.
To receive the Aether Services Gold subscription benefits for www.subdomain.example.com and www.example-two.com, Client will have to nominate each one in separate Aether Services Gold subscriptions.
More information on domains and subdomains can be found on Wikipedia.
Aether Industries is not currently registered for GST, and as such no prices quoted include GST.
Unless required, Aether Industries shall not perform any work outside of Aether Industries regular business hours, including designated holiday periods and NSW Public Holidays. Work requiring completion outside of these designated hours shall incur an extra hourly fee. Aether Industries shall notify Clients via email and social media of any designated holiday periods.
Invoices for Website Maintenance fees shall be automatically issued once a month, based on the Client’s sign-up date. All other invoices shall be issued when services are requested by the Client, as detailed in their respective definitions in this document.
All invoices are due within five (5) business days, and work shall not commence until any outstanding invoices have been paid. Aether Industries reserves the right to alter fees at their discretion, and will provide Clients subscribed to any Aether Services plan with notice of any changes one calendar month before any alterations to fees or fee structures are implemented.
In the event that the Client’s website is a current or previously completed website project developed by Aether Industries, Aether Industries may have purchased plugin licenses to enable required features on the Client’s website. The initial fee for these licenses is covered under the budget for the original website project.
Many purchased plugin licenses are renewed at a regular interval (usually once per year) to continue receiving technical support and plugin updates from the plugin author. In these cases, Aether Industries shall invoice the Client for any license renewal fees before the relevant licenses are due to expire.
Plugin licenses purchased as a one-time payment or ‘lifetime’ subscription shall incur a recurring administration and maintenance fee of 25% of the initial license cost, invoiced on a yearly basis.
The Client must notify Aether Industries in writing if they do not wish to continue renewing any or all licenses purchased on their behalf. Aether Industries shall not renew any software licenses until the renewal notification invoice has been paid by the Client.
Should the Client request a Website Management task from Aether Industries that requires additional paid plugin licenses to be purchased, Aether Industries shall add the subscription fee (or administration and maintenance fee where appropriate) for those licenses to future subscription renewal invoices.
Should the Client request a Website Design task from Aether Industries that removes the need for one or more existing paid plugin licenses, Aether Industries shall cancel the subscription for those licenses where appropriate and remove them from future subscription renewal invoices.
As license fees are usually charged in US Dollars ($USD), the Client understands that fees may vary for each renewal in order to account for exchange rates. The Client also understands that fees may increase as a result of the plugin author increasing their own subscription fees.
The Client understands that plugin licenses that have not been renewed may result in website plugins working incorrectly or certain essential features being disabled by the plugin author. This process is automatic and Aether Industries has no involvement in disabling plugins or features as a result of expired licenses.
Expired plugin licenses may also disqualify Aether Industries from seeking technical support from the plugin author, which shall result in additional costs to resolve any issues regarding the plugin.
Full plugin or feature functionality is usually restored when the license is renewed. The Client shall not hold Aether Industries responsible or liable for any website issues, errors or losses (financial or otherwise) that occur as a result of failing to renew any required licenses.
Should the Client cancel their Aether Services membership and/or revoke Aether Industries’ access to their website, Aether Industries reserves the right to revoke and/or cancel (where appropriate) any active plugin licenses on the Client’s website that were purchased under an Aether Industries account. The Client understands that purchasing replacement plugin licenses will be their responsibility.
Invoices only are issued. No statements shall be issued. Unless otherwise stated in writing by Aether Industries, the Client agrees that all amounts are immediately due under this Agreement from the date of Aether Industries’ invoice.
Full payment of any invoice issued must be received within five (5) business days of the invoice date. Any additional delay in payment, which has not been mutually agreed to, in writing, will result in a Late Payment Fee of $33.00, per instance. Late Payment Fees will be levied at ten (10), twenty (20) and thirty-one (31) days.
An account shall be considered in default if it remains unpaid after thirty-one (31) days from the date of invoice, unless prior arrangements have been made. Aether Industries shall, at its sole discretion, suspend any and all services provided to the Client by Aether Industries or its subsidiaries (including but not limited to Website Maintenance, Website Management and Website Support) and employ debt collection measures until the total outstanding balance has been fully paid. This includes any and all unpaid monies due for services plus bank interest calculated daily for each day payment is overdue.
In case collection proves necessary, the Client agrees to pay all fees (including all solicitors fees and court costs) incurred by that process.
This agreement becomes effective upon the Client’s completion of the Stripe Checkout process and payment of fees. Regardless of the Client’s geographical location when completing the Stripe Checkout process, the Client agrees that for purposes of venue, this agreement was entered into in Nowra, NSW, and any dispute will be litigated or arbitrated in Nowra, NSW, and the Client hereby consents to the personal jurisdiction of the Nowra Court. Furthermore, the Client waives any right to or claim of sovereign immunity.
Aether Industries shall not be held liable to the Client or any third party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of the operation of or inability to operate the Client’s web site, even if the Client has advised us of the possibilities of such damages.
If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any remaining provisions.
This contract cannot be transferred to anyone else without the written permission of Aether Industries. If for some reason one or any part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
Once the Client has completed the Stripe Checkout process and paid the subscription fee for their selected Aether Services plan, a binding contract to provide the services defined in this document exists. Work may only be cancelled or amended with agreement, in writing, with Aether Industries. This contract renews automatically upon payment of any invoiced fees by the Client.
Once the Client has paid any fees quoted by Aether Industries, including, but not limited to:
a binding contract to provide the services defined in this document exists. Work may only be cancelled or amended with agreement, in writing, with Aether Industries.
Aether Industries reserves the right to withhold files and designs from the Client in the event of cancellation, until such time as all outstanding invoices for work performed by Aether Industries have been paid for. The Client is expressly prohibited from using any files, designs, or intellectual property supplied by Aether Industries for any purpose until such time as all accounts have been settled in full or as otherwise agreed to in writing by Aether Industries.
Should the Client’s website be found to contain any offensive, illegal or obscene material, Aether Industries reserves the right to immediately cancel this contract without notice and report the material to the appropriate authorities.
Aether Industries reserves the right to terminate this contract without giving reason. In the event of cancellation, Aether Industries shall retain all payments made up until the time of cancellation regardless of work done and may issue an invoice for any work carried out over and beyond the amount already paid. Cancellation of this agreement with Aether Industries does not dissolve the Client’s obligations to Aether Industries under this contract.
Payments of any outstanding fees become due immediately from the date of cancellation notification.
A contract is ONLY deemed cancelled if:
This agreement constitutes the sole agreement between Aether Industries and the Client regarding website maintenance, management of the Client’s website or website support.
The Client hereby agrees to the terms, conditions and stipulations of this agreement on behalf of his or her organisation or business.
This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding of the parties. Any changes or modifications thereto must be in writing and signed by both parties.
