Legal Information

1. Sales and Warranty Terms of Service

When using our services, you must agree to the following terms.

All new parts come with a 1-year warranty as standard. The warranty is held within our premises, and your goods must be returned to 117 Hullbridge Road in South Woodham Ferrers, at which point we can carry out the warranty on your product if less than 1 year old (providing a receipt is presented).

The above statement is exempt to monitors which have a 3-year on-site warranty from the manufacturer. You must call the manufacturer directly for monitor warranty issues. The warranty on any printer sold by Ahead4 Limited is held directly with the manufacturer. Please feel free to contact us regarding your monitor or printer, as we can supply the correct contact details for your manufacturer's warranty department.

If you have not purchased goods, but have had a repair carried out on your computer/hardware the warranty on the job remains within our premises. If the job was not carried out satisfactorily, please bring the computer/hardware back into our shop and the work shall be warrantied free of charge. However, should you wish for an engineer to visit your home in this situation, the hourly rate of labour and a call out charge depending on your location shall apply.

Prior to arranging an engineer call out to your premises (after collecting your computer/hardware and not being satisfied with the work done) it is advised to call us on 01245 426163 and speak to the engineer that carried out your work. It could perhaps be as simple as a wire in the incorrect socket. NB: as previously mentioned, if the computer/hardware is to be returned to our premises, this will be F.O.C

Please be aware that Ahead4 Limited cannot guarantee completion times.

This is due to even the simplest job, such as; installing an old graphics card. We would estimate such a job to take 20 minutes, however, if the customers driver CD is damaged, lost, or the website containing the device driver is no longer online, it can take a great deal of time to locate the device driver and complete the job, this is just one example of why we cannot guarantee completion times.

During hardware installations, such as for example 'broadband routers' an engineer shall configure the hardware for your individual settings. Should there be a reason to return the goods, the goods shall no longer have the settings within them once they have been returned to the manufacturer and then shipped back out to the customer via ourselves. The settings would need to be re-setup by an engineer just like when it was new; this is a chargeable service.

Cancellation policy: You have the right to cancel an engineer appointment; on-site or remote. This can only be carried out up to 1 hour before for remote appointments and before the engineer is due arrive for on-site appointments. If an engineer has travelled to your premises and you cancel as they are due to arrive you WILL be charged an on-site call out charge once they have left the property.

For websites, once a deposit (First 50% Invoice) has been paid it becomes non-refundable. This is due to covering business costs for developers spending time building a project you no longer wish to use.

Host Service

Ahead4 Limited warrants that it will provide Services with reasonable care and skill. Ahead4 Limited will not be liable for a claim based on a failure of services. Ahead4 Limited if notified within 14 days will take steps as it deems necessary to remedy such failure or refund such part of the Fees as relates to such services; failure to do so will result in Ahead4 Limited’s usual hourly fees. If Ahead4 Limited is unable to resolve the presented case and a total failure has occurred and no recovery can be made such as circumstances outside of Ahead4 Limited’s control. Fees as relates to such Services, provided that the liability of Ahead4 Limited will in no event exceed one and a quarter times the amount of the Fees paid to Ahead4 Limited by the Client (excluding VAT and expenses) in the 12 month period prior to the date on which the Client makes the claim. If Ahead4 Limited complies with this clause, it will have no further liability. Ahead4 Limited will not refund fees paid if you can still use part of service (e.g. your database partly fails through no fault of our own but the site is still functional, or the site fails but your email package is still functional).

Ahead4 Limited will not be liable to the Client in contract, tort, misrepresentation or otherwise (including negligence), for any indirect or consequential loss or damage, costs, expenses or other claims for consequential compensations whatsoever, or for any loss of profit, loss of business, loss of contract, loss of revenue, depletion of goodwill or otherwise (whether direct or indirect), and whether or not caused by the negligence of Ahead4 Limited or its employees, agents or authorised representatives. Any other liability which arises out of or in connection with the agreement is limited to force majeure.

Force Majeure

Neither party is under any liability to the other party in respect of anything which, apart from this provision, may constitute a breach of the Agreement arising by reason of force majeure which means, in relation to either party, circumstances beyond the reasonable control of that party including acts of God, acts of any governmental or supra-national authority, war or national emergency, riots, civil commotion, fire, network failure, systems fault, unauthorised use or access to the IT systems of Ahead4 Limited or the Client, explosion, flood, epidemic, lock outs (whether or not by that party), strikes and other industrial disputes (in each case, whether or not relating to that party’s workforce), restraints or delays affecting shipping or carriers, inability or delay in obtaining supplies of adequate or suitable materials and currency restrictions, to the extent outside of its reasonable control.

2. Data and Personal Information

Ahead4 Limited is often able to recover data from many data loss situations. In rare occasions where data cannot be recovered or is lost or damaged, Ahead4 Limited cannot be held responsible. Customers are required to back up their data on a regular basis. Please contact Ahead4 Limited in order to discuss possible data backup options.

Ahead4 Limited will use reasonable endeavours to keep secure all information which is provided by customers although it cannot fully guarantee such security. Ahead4 Limited is not, and will not be, responsible for any damages the customer may suffer as a result of the loss of confidentiality of any such information. Ahead4 Limited will never share personal data with a 3rd party without consent.

Ahead4 Limited takes your data and customer data very seriously. Absolutely NO data is ever shared with a 3rd party. Furthermore, any information seen or overheard whilst on site, remotely logged in or via telecommunications will never be relayed outside of the business.

Sometimes relevant information will be shared amongst staff in order to resolve an issue, however, this information is strictly never shared outside of the relevant channels.

Although Ahead4 Limited cannot stress enough how strict our specific protocols are for the protection of customer data, both personal and business related, if you have any concerns, at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

With regards to information kept by us, we log phone calls to ensure communication with us can be reviewed by a business if there is any cause for concern. We keep some login information data which is only accessible by specific personnel and only shared with a staff member in order to complete a task where applicable. Other information such as backed up data is kept on file for a maximum of 30 days (Unless Contracted Otherwise) and is only accessible via specific personnel and only passed to a staff member where applicable.

Although we take every precaution, we cannot be held responsible for seeing private data or files left out in the open on a machine. For instance, you wouldn't leave your personal banking information written down on your real desk for anyone passing by to see, the same practice should be taken with your virtual desk (Desktop). If you do not wish for a member of staff to see data you would rather keep private, please file it away properly, away from accidental viewing.

In addition to the above Ahead4 Limited staff do not go out of their way to view personal files, unless specifically instructed by the requester. It is advisable prior to any remote work, any private files are cleared from the desktop to avoid accidental viewing and filed appropriately. This better protects you as we do not need to see personal data to fix most issues, due to the vast majority of repairs are carried out without needing access to personal data.

When carrying out repairs of a device an engineer may backup the drive on to one of our backup drives upon request; of which we hold up to a maximum of 3 months. If you fail to retrieve data from the drive(s) using your own personal backup solution the drive will be formatted and the data destroyed. We WILL NOT be held responsible for ANY data loss, loss of paid programs, applications (e.g. any file(s) / apps contained within the drive) that may happen with hard drive degradation or third party events; your data is your responsibility. We do not view or tamper with data contained within these drives unless requested, so please ensure when transferring data back to your device you do not overwrite new files with an old version.

Collected Data

Ahead4 Limited collect and use the following information to provide, improve and protect our range of services. In some instances, Ahead4 Limited also collect information from and about the devices you use to access services. This includes things like IP addresses, the type of browser and device you use, and identifiers associated with your devices. Your devices (depending on their settings) may also transmit location information to the Services.

Account. We collect and associate certain unique information like your name, email address, phone number, payment info, physical address, and account activity. These details are shared companywide where applicable which enables better communication between departments ensuring we can stay current on your account activity. In certain instances, specific information is limited to only being viewed by only select personnel within the company that for the requirements of their role.

Usage. We collect information related to how you use services with Ahead4 Limited, including actions you take in your account or done on behalf by an employee (like sharing, editing, viewing, and moving files, folders or information). This helps us provide you with records for activity on your account.

Retention. We'll retain the information you store on our services for as long as we need it to provide you with the services. However, if you request delete your account after moving all services away, we'll also delete this information. But please note: there will likely be some latency in deleting this information from our servers and backup storage as they will need to synchronise; secondly we may retain this information if necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.

Changes

If we are involved in a reorganisation, merger, acquisition or sale of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that deal. We will notify you (for example, via a message to the email address associated with your account) of any such deal and outline your choices in that event.

3. Supplied Website Content

When using texts or quotations from external sources it is important to get the necessary permission/authorisation or settle any required royalty fees. The same applies to the usage of photographs and images which are not your own. Ahead4 Limited will only accept content with proof you have acquired the necessary permission to use the content, and Ahead4 Limited will not be held responsible for any copyright infringements; all content is the responsibility of the website owner.

ALL third party content MUST be supplied to Ahead4 Limited must have permission for you to use on your website. Ahead4 Limited reserve the right to refuse to hosting of images we believe the client to not hold the subsequent rights to use. As such ALL third party content hosted by Ahead4 Limited is the responsibility of the site or business owner.

4. Software Licensing

Microsoft Office

Microsoft packages such Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Publisher etc. are part of a software package known as Microsoft Office this is NOT included with any Microsoft Windows operating system by default. Only in cases whereby third party brand name computers such as Dell, Acer, Lenovo etc. may provide you with a trial period version of this software which will then expire or reduce in functionality.

Ahead4 Limited recommend 3 main options for those wanting Microsoft Office.

• Option 1 - For the majority of cases, especially home users, there are free alternatives that function very much like Microsoft Office, our current highest recommendation is Libre Office. This includes the most common programs similar to those you’re familiar such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

• Option 2 - Purchase a copy of Microsoft Office from our South Woodham Ferrers shop. Both stock Microsoft Office 2016 – This will be a one-off payment, however, please don't lose your licensing key for re-installation or another license will need to be purchased.

• Option 3 - You can sign up via Microsoft’s website directly for a monthly / yearly subscription-based service.

Microsoft Windows

All Computers supplied with a Microsoft Windows operating system will come with a genuine Microsoft Windows sticker applied to the outside of the computer case. Please note customers who remove or damage this sticker may cause activation Issues in the future if re-installing Microsoft Windows. Ahead4 Limited will not be held accountable should the sticker become unreadable and you will need to purchase a new license.

For any further questions please feel free to contact a member of staff.

5. Testing

If your website is now in a live state, you are solely responsible for testing all functionality on the site to ensure all required modules are in a working state. Although Ahead4 Limited does everything they can to test website functionality, we cannot be held responsible for browser updates, unexpected software bugs or unforeseen circumstances affecting system stability or general workings.

We WILL NOT be held responsible for any bugs, code misuses, user error or user oversight after launch. ALL clients MUST make Ahead4 Limited aware of problems within the 30 day grace period post-launch. After this point, we reserve the right to assume your project is working in a satisfactory state and any issues are rectified unless otherwise agreed or stated. You are also solely responsible for configuring the site to suit your preferences, for instance, all pages, categories, emails, users, galleries settings etc. are the sole responsibility of the client to ensure they are setup for your intended use. Failure to do this will likely result in unexpected behaviours or limited functionality.

6. CCTV Operations

CCTV is in operation 24/7. Images are being recorded for the purpose of crime prevention and your safety. Recordings are kept private and are stored in a safe and secure location with limited access.

7. Telephone Calls

Telephone calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes. Any recordings made are kept in a secure location.

8. Repairs

Please note that work carried out on physically damaged laptops/phones and other hardware, Ahead4 Limited cannot be held responsible for any further damage that may occur following the dismantling and re-building, caused by previous damage to the equipment. For example, a dropped phone may have fractured plastic - on dismantling the phone, the plastic goes under further strain to add/remove the affected parts. In these cases, Ahead4 Limited will quote to replace these damaged parts or can alternatively return the part to the customer with the cosmetic damage still present.

9. Certifications