Terms of Service

Effective Date: 09/02/26
Bartek | ABN 84 829 240 214
Website: https://bartek.au

Introduction

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of services provided by Bartek (referred to as “we”, “us”, or “our”). By engaging our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and any written agreement or proposal provided to you.

If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not engage our services.

Services Provided

Bartek offers web design, web development, WordPress development, SEO, hosting, online support, and digital asset creation services. The scope of each project will be outlined in a written quote, proposal, or agreement.

Any additional work not explicitly included in the scope may incur extra charges.

Client Responsibilities

You agree to:

• Provide all necessary content, feedback, and approvals in a timely manner.
• Ensure you have the rights to use any materials (text, images, video, branding) supplied to us.
• Respond to requests for input within a reasonable time, or as agreed upon in your project schedule.

Delays in content or feedback may result in a project timeline extension and additional costs.

Payment Terms

Unless otherwise stated:

• A 25% deposit is required to commence work.
• The remaining balance is due prior to final delivery or site launch.
• Payment terms are strictly 14 days from invoice date.

Overdue invoices and suspension

If an invoice becomes overdue, we may (after providing written notice) suspend Services and/or withhold handover of Deliverables not yet transferred until all overdue amounts are paid. Suspension may include pausing work, disabling access to staging environments, and suspending hosting or maintenance services (where applicable). Project timelines are paused for the duration of any suspension caused by overdue invoices.

We will generally provide at least five (5) business days’ notice before suspension, unless urgent action is required to prevent loss, security issues, or ongoing costs.

Where reactivation requires additional work (for example, restoring access, investigating issues arising during suspension, or rescheduling work), we may charge reasonable fees for that work.

• Late payments may incur a $20 per month administration fee (or the maximum amount permitted by law) applied to overdue invoices.

All prices are in AUD and exclude GST unless otherwise specified.

Payment Methods

We accept the following payment methods:

• Bank Transfer (EFT)
• Online Payment (Credit/Debit Card)

Bank Transfer (EFT)
For EFT payments, please use the invoice number as your payment reference to avoid delays in reconciling your payment. Bank details are provided within your invoice.

Online Payments
Online Payments are made via Stripe secure checkout. Fees apply when processed through Stripe:

• 1.75% for Australian-issued cards.
• 3.5% for international cards.

Automatic Payments (Auto Pay)

Auto Pay is available for Online Payments with eligible recurring invoices such as hosting, maintenance plans, and agreed-upon project instalments. You’ll be given the option to enable Auto Pay when viewing your invoice online.

Once activated, payments will process automatically on each invoice due date via our secure Stripe-powered checkout, and you’ll receive an email confirmation after each successful payment.

You can cancel Auto Pay at any time via the invoice link or by contacting us directly.

If an automatic payment fails, you’ll receive a notification and Auto Pay will be deactivated. The invoice will display a ‘Payment Failed’ notice. To resume Auto Pay, click ‘Manage Auto Pay’ at the top of the invoice and follow the prompts to update your card information. Stripe processing fees apply.

Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of all materials you provide to us.
Upon full payment, you will own the final website files and custom code we create for you.
Any third-party assets (e.g., fonts, stock images, plugins) remain subject to their respective licensing terms.
We may showcase your project in our portfolio unless otherwise agreed in writing (e.g., under a non-disclosure agreement or white-label arrangement).

SEO & Analytics Disclaimers

SEO Performance

While we may provide technical SEO services or recommendations, we do not guarantee specific search engine rankings, domain authority increases, organic traffic results or paid traffic results.

You acknowledge that:

• Search engine results fluctuate over time
• Updates to content, design, structure, and metadata may influence rankings
• Algorithm changes by search engines (e.g., Google) are outside our control

We are not liable for any drop or loss in rankings, impressions, or visibility.

Google Analytics / Search Console

If we connect or manage your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or similar third-party tracking tools:

• You agree to their respective terms of service and privacy policies
• We are not responsible for data loss, service interruptions, misconfigurations, or analytics inconsistencies caused by third-party systems

Third-Party System Access

If you provide access to external systems, including but not limited to:

• Email and organisation software (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.)
• Remote access (TeamViewer, AnyDesk, etc.)
• CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, etc.)
• Domain provider, hosting provider, or CDNs (CloudFlare)
• Email marketing platforms, social media accounts, or scheduling tools

You acknowledge that:

• We will act responsibly and professionally, but we are not liable for loss, damage, data corruption, or accidental changes made within these third-party platforms, except to the extent caused by our failure to exercise reasonable care and skill.
• You are responsible for securing backups and access logs for these systems
• Our access may be revoked at any time by written notice

Project Timelines and Revisions

Timelines will be estimated during the project proposal phase. Delays caused by the client (e.g., lack of content, feedback, or approvals) may result in revised delivery dates.

Unless otherwise agreed:

• Your project includes 2 rounds of minor revisions.
• Additional revisions or major changes may incur extra charges.

Acceptance and Change Control

Acceptance testing

Where deliverables are provided for review (including staging sites), you must review and either approve or provide a consolidated list of issues within the timeframe we specify (or, if none is specified, within seven (7) days). If you do not respond within that period, the deliverables are taken to be accepted.

Post-acceptance changes

After acceptance or launch, any changes, updates, or additions may constitute new scope and may be quoted separately, unless included in an agreed maintenance plan.

Third-party changes

If you or a third party makes changes to the website, hosting, DNS, plugins, themes, or integrations after acceptance or launch, we are not responsible for defects or downtime caused by those changes.

Liability and Warranties

We aim to deliver stable, functional websites and related services. Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, our services are provided on the basis that:

Standard of Care

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill consistent with industry standards in Queensland, Australia.

No guaranteed outcomes

We do not guarantee specific results or outcomes, including sales, leads, conversion rates, search rankings, domain authority, traffic growth, or advertising performance, unless explicitly agreed in writing.

Defects and warranty period

If you notify us of a defect in deliverables within fourteen (14) days of final delivery (Defects Period), we will use reasonable efforts to rectify that defect at no additional charge. This Defects Period does not cover:

• changes or interference by you or a third party (including content edits, plugin installations, settings changes, hosting changes, or credential changes)
• third-party software, theme, plugin, platform, server, DNS, CDN, email, or external integration issues
• requests that are enhancements, new features, or scope changes rather than defects.

Opportunity to remedy

Before you engage a third party to rectify an issue that you allege relates to our services, you must provide us with reasonable opportunity to investigate and remedy the issue. If you do not provide this opportunity, we are not liable for any costs you incur to engage a third party, nor for any related losses.

Client cooperation

You agree to provide timely access, information, and approvals reasonably required for us to perform, diagnose, and remedy issues. You must not make material changes to the website or environment while an issue is being investigated, unless agreed in writing, as this can invalidate diagnosis and remediation.

Limitation of Liability

Exclusion of Consequential Loss

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any Consequential Loss arising out of or relating to the services, deliverables, website, hosting, maintenance, delays, outages, security incidents, errors, or omissions, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute, or otherwise.

Consequential Loss means any loss that is indirect or consequential, or any of the following types of loss, whether direct or indirect: loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill, loss of anticipated savings, business interruption, loss of customers, loss of contracts, and loss or corruption of data (except to the extent caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill where such liability cannot be excluded by law).

Aggregate liability cap

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the services (including negligence) is limited to the greater of:

1. the total fees paid by you to Bartek in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the first event or circumstance giving rise to the claim; or
2. AUD $2,000.00.

Non-excludable rights

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy that cannot be excluded under applicable law. Where the law permits us to limit our liability, our liability is limited at our option to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having the services supplied again.

Exclusions

This limitation does not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud or wilful misconduct.

Incident Notification and Mitigation

If you become aware of a critical issue affecting website availability, security, or core functionality, you must notify us as soon as reasonably practicable with sufficient detail for us to investigate.

You agree to take reasonable steps to mitigate any loss, including following reasonable instructions we provide (for example, temporarily disabling a conflicting plugin, restoring a backup, or rolling back a change), and you agree not to make concurrent changes that may interfere with diagnosis unless agreed in writing.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for losses that could reasonably have been avoided if you had promptly notified us, provided access, or taken reasonable mitigation steps.

Indemnification

You indemnify Bartek (ABN 84 829 240 214) against any third-party claim, demand, proceeding, loss, liability, cost, or expense (including reasonable legal costs) arising from or relating to:

• content, materials, data, instructions, or approvals you provide (including claims that your content infringes intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality, or other rights)
• your breach of these Terms or applicable law
• your use of the website or services in a manner that is unlawful, misleading, defamatory, or otherwise contrary to law
• third-party tools, services, accounts, or integrations you choose to use (including CRMs, email platforms, analytics tools, domain services, DNS providers, and CDNs), except to the extent a claim arises directly from our breach of these Terms or our failure to exercise reasonable care and skill.

We will promptly notify you of any indemnified claim and reasonably cooperate with you. You will have control of the defence and settlement of the claim, provided you do not settle any claim in a way that imposes liability or obligations on us without our prior written consent.

This clause survives the termination or completion of services.

Project Termination

Either party may terminate a project in writing. In the event of termination:

• We reserve the right to withhold handover of Deliverables and access credentials not yet transferred until outstanding invoices relating to those Deliverables are paid, to the extent permitted by law.
• We will not withhold your pre-existing content or materials that you provided to us.
• Work completed to date will be invoiced proportionally, including projects still pending activation and/or launch.
• Deposits are non-refundable unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Hosting and Maintenance

We provide managed hosting with reliable infrastructure, including:

• Business Tier cPanel accounts
• Auto-SSL
• SQL databases, subdomains, parked domains, and add-on domains
• Hosting Disk Space Quotas:
  • Tier 1: 2990MB
  • Tier 2: 4990MB
  • Tier 3: 6990MB
  • Tier 4: 8990MB

Backups and Uptime:

• Automated backups are retained for up to 30 days via JetBackup.
• These are maintained to assist with disaster recovery in the event of site failure, malware, plugin conflicts, or code errors.
• We strive for 99.9% uptime, but uninterrupted service is not guaranteed.
• In addition to active backups, we maintain off-site and cold-storage backups for internal redundancy and restoration purposes. These backups are not part of your hosting package and are not guaranteed to be available for client use.
• In rare cases, it may be possible to retrieve a cold-storage backup for an additional fee. Retrieval is assessed on a case-by-case basis and is not guaranteed.
• Backups are provided as a disaster recovery measure. While we will use reasonable efforts to maintain backups and assist with restoration where possible, we do not guarantee that any particular data, configuration, or timepoint can be restored in all circumstances (including where issues arise from corruption, malware, third-party systems, or events outside our reasonable control).

Hosting Service Limitations and Third-Party Dependencies

Hosting and website performance can be affected by third-party systems and software outside our direct control, including but not limited to: control panels (e.g. cPanel), DNS providers, CDNs (e.g. Cloudflare), email services, upstream networks, WordPress core, plugins, themes, and external integrations.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for failures, interruptions, downtime, or defects caused by:

• third-party services, networks, platforms, or providers outside our reasonable control
• WordPress core, plugins, themes, or third-party code (including incompatibilities, updates, deprecations, or vendor changes)
• security incidents or malicious activity not caused by our failure to exercise reasonable care and skill
• changes made by you or any third party (including content changes, plugin installations, configuration changes, credential changes, or environment changes).

Nothing in this section excludes any rights or remedies that cannot be excluded under applicable law. Any limitations on liability for loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business, or other consequential loss are set out in the Limitation of Liability section of these Terms.

Acceptable Use:

You agree not to use our services to host, share, or transmit content that is unlawful, harmful, abusive, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. We reserve the right to suspend accounts that violate this policy without notice.

Hosting Billing and Cancellation

Hosting is billed in monthly, 6-month, or annual intervals.

There are no lock-in contracts. You may cancel at any time.

Payment is made in advance for the chosen period. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Pro-rata refunds are issued for unused full months upon cancellation. Cancellations must be submitted in writing via email or via our website contact form.

Compliance with Applicable Law

You agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including those relating to online content, user privacy, email communications, and the use of our services. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of our services and any content hosted or transmitted through your site is compliant with applicable laws in your jurisdiction.

Bartek is operated from Queensland, Australia and governed by Australian law and Queensland law. We make no representation that our services are appropriate or available for use in other jurisdictions. Those who choose to access our services from other locations do so at their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

GDPR and International Data Use (if applicable)

If you are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or other international data laws, you acknowledge that:

• You are the Data Controller for any personal data collected from your users, and
• Bartek is a Data Processor only to the extent necessary to deliver services under your direction.

You are solely responsible for ensuring your collection and processing of personal data is lawful and includes appropriate user consent. You must clearly disclose how personal data is used and ensure you have the necessary legal basis to share such data with us.

Force Majeure

We are not liable for any delay or failure in performance due to causes beyond our reasonable control. This includes, but is not limited to: natural disasters, fires, floods, pandemics, government actions, power or internet outages, civil unrest, war, strikes, or failures of third-party services (e.g. hosting providers or domain registrars).

These events may result in delayed service delivery, temporary suspension, or inability to fulfil project obligations. We will make reasonable efforts to resume services as soon as possible.

Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

If a change is not material, we may publish the updated Terms on our website and update the Effective Date.

If a change is material and you have an ongoing service arrangement (including hosting or maintenance), we will provide at least fourteen (14) days’ written notice (for example, by email) before the change takes effect. If you do not agree to the material change, you may terminate the affected ongoing services by written notice before the effective date of the change. In that case, the prior version of the Terms will apply up to the termination date.

For billing-cycle clarity:

• If you are on a month-to-month plan, material changes take effect from your next billing date (or 14 days after notice, whichever is later).
• If you are on a prepaid 6-month or annual plan, material changes take effect at renewal unless you agree to earlier application.

Changes do not apply retrospectively to disputes or claims arising before the effective date of the change.

Contact

For questions about these Terms, please contact us via our website contact form at https://bartek.au/support/