IMPORTANT INFORMATION
You should carefully read the following Terms and Conditions. Your purchase or use of our products implies that you have read and accepted these Terms and Conditions.
INTRODUCTION
Our basic service is free, and we offer paid upgrades for advanced features such as Feautered Auction Post and Bidding on Posts. Our service is designed to give you as much control and ownership over what goes on our site as possible and encourage our members to express themselves freely. However, each member must be responsible for the content of their post. In particular, make sure that none of the prohibited items listed below appear on your site or get linked to from your site (things like spam, viruses, or hate content).
The following terms and conditions govern all use of the FreePlumbingBid.com website and all content, services and products available at or through the website. The Website is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, FreePlumbingBid.com Privacy Policy).
Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Website. By accessing or using any part of the web site, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the Website or use any services. If these terms and conditions are considered an offer by FreePlumbingBid.com, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms. The Website is available only to individuals who are at least 18 years old.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
FreePlumbingBid.com shall have absolute discretion as to whether or not it accepts a particular applicant or site for participation in the service.
REMOVAL FROM NETWORK
FreePlumbingBid.com reserves the right to terminate the participation of any member or site without reason but expressly including any member site that FreePlumbingBid judges to be in violation of the Terms and Conditions.
Members in violation of FreePlumbingBid’s Terms and Conditions will be immediately deactivated. FreePlumbingBid may deactivate members with no prior notification. Members found in violation of the Terms and Conditions will not receive any credit or payment from FreePlumbingBid. Members that are terminated by FreePlumbingBid on any basis other than violation of these Terms and Conditions will be entitled to receive any payment due from FreePlumbingBid.
PAYMENTS
FreePlumbingBid will typically make payments/withdrawals if the member requests it AND their account balance is equal to or greater than $30. All amounts are stated in and all payments will be made in US funds. We verify all deposits and might ask you to verify yours; If you refuse to send verification information via E-mail, Fax or Phone, we reserve the right to refund the deposit and terminate your account. New members cannot withdraw funds within 90 days of their first project payment. FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to suspend a withdrawal if the source of the funds is suspected to be fraudulent. Any funds received from an account having made a fraudulent deposit (e.g. stolen credit card) will be reversed immediately. If in a fraudulent payment situation a withdrawal has already been processed, you will be expected to return the funds to your FreePlumbingBid account or face account termination. FreePlumbingBid cannot be held liable for deposits reversed without its authorization due to reasons, including, but not limited to, fraud, chargebacks or complaints. FreePlumbingBid Inc reserves the right to earn interest from its service provider banks or others arising from the processing of payments. FreePlumbingBid is prohibited by law from paying interest to members in respect of any balance held in member’s account. FreePlumbingBid may request proof of plumbing services performed at any time before authorizing a withdrawal of funds received for that project.
As previously stated, any member site that FreePlumbingBid removes from the service due to violation of the Terms and Conditions will receive no credit or payment.
DISPUTES
Members may not file a complaint with one of our payment processors, including PayPal, MoneyBookers or Google, regarding the funds deposited into their account. FreePlumbingBid staff will do its best to resolve any problem a member may have. Refunds will be processed, if deemed necessary, at a time of FreePlumbingBid staff’s choosing. Due to the incompatible communication systems between our payment processors and FreePlumbingBid staff members, payment disputes logged directly with those processors cannot be properly managed and will cause further delays. Due to this, members who make a complaint to our payment processor will face account termination without notice. FreePlumbingBid makes available a project dispute system that may be used by members to request mediation by staff. FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to use its own discretion to make decisions in favor of a party and considers its decision final. A fee may be charged to reopen closed dispute cases. Dispute and cancelation cases may not be opened more than 30 days after the project’s delivery date for projects with a delivery date from 0-7 days after project closing date; 45 days for projects with a delivery date of 7-30 days; and 60 days for delivery dates of 30 or more days. Escrow payments will not be completed or cancelled by FreePlumbingBid if the buyer (in the case of canceling; contractor in the case of completing) fails to contact FreePlumbingBid support within 45 days after the project’s delivery date for projects with a delivery date from 0-7 days after project closing date; 60 days for projects with a delivery date of 7-30 days; and 90 days for delivery dates of 30 or more days. FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to complete or cancel any escrow payments, if either party fails to reply to requests for information by support staff, or if deemed necessary after review of a project dispute. Direct transfers and escrow payments fully completed by the buyer are considered final and cannot be considered for reversal.
COPYRIGHTS
No copyright material can be posted on FreePlumbingBid. Only posting sections of articles or scripts, as examples, will be permitted. A “section” being no more than 10% of the contents. This is meant to protect the author’s rights. We also do not tolerate projects that are clearly requesting unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted or patented material.
MODIFICATIONS
FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to change the member Terms and Conditions at any time. It is the member’s responsibility to check these Terms and Conditions from time to time for such changes. In the event FreePlumbingBid offers any additional or replacement services then this agreement shall apply to such services in the absence of any new agreement specific to such services which is entered into between the parties.
OWNERSHIP
Members agree that all information contained on a website operated by FreePlumbingBid, and all information compiled by FreePlumbingBid through operation of the affiliate program, is the proprietary information of FreePlumbingBid. Personal information provided by members to FreePlumbingBid will be kept confidential and will not be distributed to any third party.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Members agree not to post their e-mail address on the site, except in the “e-mail” field of the signup form, or when asked by FreePlumbingBid at any other time. There should be no need to give anyone your e-mail address. It is automatically provided if you choose a contractor (or you are the contractor chosen for) a project, and before that time you can use the message board to communicate. This does not only apply to e-mail addresses, but to all methods of communication, including phone, ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger, etc… See “Avoiding Commissions” below for the reason.
PROVIDING CONTACT INFORMATION
You are prohibited from making direct contact with another member, unless it’s for a project you (a contractor) have been picked for, or you (a client) have picked a contractor for. This includes giving out your e-mail address, instant messenger, phone number, or any other method of contact outside of this site. Website addresses which display or directly link to a members contact info are also not permitted. FreePlumbingBid provides you with message boards, which should be sufficient for pre-project planning. The only exception to this policy is on Featured projects and Job Listings.
AVOIDING COMMISSIONS
You are strictly prohibited from attempting to negotiate the fee for a project with another member directly (outside of FreePlumbingBid). This also applies to any project that was closed without a contractor being chosen, and then contacting them about the project anyway. Both parties are responsible for notifying FreePlumbingBid if the payment amount increases (above the bid amount) after the project is closed. Receiving a larger amount than the original project bid, without notifying us, will be considered an attempt to avoid the commissions. When a contractor requests a withdrawal, we always review all payments received for each project to verify that they match the bid. If at the time of a withdrawal request the contractor has failed to notify FreePlumbingBid staff of a payment received above the amount of his bid (a total payment above US$100), FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to deduct double the fee for the amount that should have been reported. We believe our commissions are very fair and justified for the service we provide, therefore we will absolutely not tolerate any of this activity on FreePlumbingBid. Penalty fees will be charged to repeat offenders of the site terms, including for the posting of contact info, for which double the fees that potentially would have been charged for a completed project will be charged to the offender. The potential project fee will be determined by FreePlumbingBid at its discretion, and will typically incorporate the buyer’s fee and the contractor’s fee based on the bid. If no bid has been placed the fee may be determined based on the project budget. Penalty fees charged to an offending member may be refunded if the offender eventually participates in that project on FreePlumbingBid on which the violation was made, and pays the regular project fees.
BIDDING
Contractors can only place bids that equal the total amount of money they are requesting for the project. You cannot post an hourly bid or any other abnormal type of bid. This applies to buyers too. Buyers cannot create projects that directly or indirectly require contractors to place hourly or other abnormal bids. The only exception, for both buyers and contractors, is when the project is featured. See featured project information at http://freeplumbingbid.com/featured.freeplumbingbid.comFreePlumbingBid.com/featured.
POSTING PROJECTS
New users are limited to the posting of only 3 projects before being asked to make a deposit. This is meant to protect other users and prevent fraudulent activity. A user is required to deposit any amount of funds before they gain the right to post unlimited projects. A user may request higher posting limits, under special circumstances, by simply contacting FreePlumbingBid support.
ADVERTISING
You are prohibited from advertising your website on FreePlumbingBid. Any URL posted in a bid, project description, or the message board, must relate to a project on FreePlumbingBid. An example of a permissible URL: your portfolio or resumé page.
ACCOUNTS
An individual may not possess more than one Buyer account and one Contractor account, unless they have contacted and received authorization from FreePlumbingBid staff. Users found with unauthorized multiple accounts, or found to be using multiple accounts to avoid bad reviews, fees, suspensions or other limitations, will face suspension of all their accounts. It is prohibited under all circumstances to transfer ownership of an account, without authorization from FreePlumbingBid staff. Accounts that are inactive (have no login activity) for more than 12 months will be deactivated and have their remaining funds deducted by FreePlumbingBid.
AFFILIATES
Affiliates can only refer legitimately interested visitors. You understand that FreePlumbingBid can delay payment if it believes a referral’s fee payment may be reversed due to fraud or by other means. FreePlumbingBid reserves the right to limit participation in its affiliate program as well as withhold payment of commissions due to inappropriate activity on behalf of any involved party.
THE ROLE OF FreePlumbingBid
FreePlumbingBid functions as a venue to connect buyers and contractors in a virtual marketplace. As a neutral facilitator, FreePlumbingBid is not directly involved in the actual transactions between users of the Site. As a result, FreePlumbingBid has no control over the truth, accuracy, quality, legality, or safety of postings made by users. Because verifying the identity of a user on the Internet is difficult, FreePlumbingBid cannot and does not confirm the identity of users. FreePlumbingBid also does not confirm nor verify the qualifications, background, or abilities of users. Therefore, We recommend that You be careful and exercise common sense and good judgment when dealing with any member on the Site. You are encouraged to review our Project Guidelines before taking part in a project. If you are unsatisfied with another member, the most FreePlumbingBid can do is refund the project credits you have been charged by us. We cannot refund the money you have sent to someone, we are not responsible for your transactions. FreePlumbingBid is not responsible for fraudulent payments made by users and cannot be held liable for financial loss incurred from fraudulent transactions. It is the receiver’s responsibility to verify the identity and background of the sender.
LEGAL ISSUES
Members are responsible for legal issues related to the work product or process and any postings on FreePlumbingBid. This site is governed by the laws of the San Jose, United States Of America, excluding any conflicts of law provisions and excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods . Any legal action against us shall take place in the courts of the Santa Clara Court Of Justice. The parties attorn to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of San Jose.
AND FINALLY…
We thank you for choosing the FreePlumbingBid.com service and we look forward to a mutually successful business relationship.
