Ascender Commerce's Terms of Service
The following agreement ("Agreement") contains the complete terms and conditions that will apply between you (“Customer”) and Ascender Commerce, LLC ("ASCENDER"), an Oklahoma limited liability company having a business office and address at 19051 Oaklawn Valley Rd., Noble, Oklahoma 73068, if all of the following conditions are met: (1) you agree to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and indicate your acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Agreement by accepting service; (2) you fully and correctly provide all information requested of you during our sign-up process; and (3) you submit proper payment pursuant to Section 3, of this Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective on the date (the "Effective Date") that payment is received and accepted by ASCENDER and shall remain in effect for a period of 12 months from the date of signature.
ASCENDER IS WILLING TO PROVIDE SOFTWARE AND HOSTING SERVICES TO YOU ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT. PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS HEREIN, ASCENDER IS UNWILLING TO PROVIDE SOFTWARE AND HOSTING SERVICES TO YOU.
WHEREAS, ASCENDER has developed, owns and markets proprietary, Internet-based, e-commerce, other online software applications and offers Web Site Hosting Services on the Internet; and
WHEREAS Customer wishes to make use of the online software applications and retain the Web Site Hosting Services of ASCENDER;
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants and agreements herein contained, ASCENDER and Customer agree as follows:
1. DEFINITIONS
A. "Customer's Content" means any and all material developed, purchased, or otherwise acquired by Customer that is published, made available or otherwise used in conjunction with Customer's Web site. Customer’s Content includes, but is not limited to, end user data collected by Customer, and information regarding merchandise or services sold by Customer through its Web site.
B. "Hosting Services" means the services described in Section 2.A of this Agreement.
C. "Software" means the ASCENDER software, previous and current release version, including any updates provided by ASCENDER, and ASCENDER's proprietary technology and source code.
D. "ASCENDER's Content" means any and all material developed by ASCENDER and made available for use by Customer, including any designing of Customer's Web site, and templates prepared by ASCENDER for use by Customer.
E. "Web site" means Customer's Internet presence, identified by the domain name provided by Customer.
2. SOFTWARE AND HOSTING SERVICES
A. Web Site Hosting Services. ASCENDER shall provide storage for the Software, and content of Customer's Web site and make it available for end-users to access;
B. Service Levels. ASCENDER shall provide the Web Site Hosting Services in substantial compliance with the hosting functionality service levels set forth in the SLW.
C. Service Level Warranty. ASCENDER guarantees that the network will be available 100% of the time in a given month. This service level warranty shall not apply to performance issues: (1) to the extent caused by factors outside of ASCENDER's reasonable control; (2) that resulted from any actions or inactions of Customer or any third parties not affiliated with ASCENDER; (3) that resulted from Customer's equipment and/or third-party equipment; (4) that resulted from software related issues; or (5) that are scheduled by ASCENDER for purposes of maintaining or updating the Web site or the Software. Upon experiencing downtime, ASCENDER will refund a customer 5% of the monthly fee for each 30 minutes of downtime (up to and not to exceed 100% of customer's monthly fee). Network downtime exists when a particular customer is unable to transmit and receive data and ASCENDER records such failure in the ASCENDER trouble ticket system. Network downtime is measured from the time the trouble ticket is opened by the customer to the time the server is once again able to transmit and receive data. If Customer fails to comply with this requirement, Customer forfeits its right to a receive service credit.
3. FEES
A. Fees. In consideration of the Web Site Hosting Services, Customer will pay to ASCENDER all fees due according to the prices and terms listed on the invoice. All sales are final, and ASCENDER offers no partial or full refunds.
B. Change in Fees. ASCENDER may change its fee schedules on sixty (60) days notice by postal mail, electronic mail, or by posting the same on ASCENDER's own Web site. Upon such notice, Customer shall have thirty (30) calendar days prior to the effective date of the fee schedule to notify ASCENDER by certified postal mail should it not agree to such rate increase and that Customer wishes to terminate this Agreement.
C. Payment. Customer's first month hosting fee and any elected add-on fees are due at the time customer signs up to use ASCENDER excluding during periodic promotional periods. If customer elects to use any add-ons those will be billed at the time that the customer's hosting is billed each month. ASCENDER will automatically bill Customer once a month. Customer will be billed each month on the same date of their initial sign up date (if a customer signs up on the third of the month, they shall be billed on the third of each subsequent month or the first business day thereafter). Customer's transaction fees will be billed the following month for the previous month's transactions. Shopping cart services must be paid by credit card, check, or cash only. If a payment is returned or rejected by ASCENDER's bank, or incurs additional costs for ASCENDER (e.g., bank fees) for any reason, then Customer shall pay a service fee of $50 and reimburse all such fees and costs incurred by ASCENDER, and Customer shall be immediately deemed to be in default of this Agreement. Customer will have ten days to to pay their account in full. Accounts not paid in full within ten days of their bill date may have their service interrupted or terminated, but any interruption does not relieve Customer from the obligation to pay all fees due to ASCENDER including the monthly account charge. Accounts and all amounts in default are subject to a late payment charge of 1.5% per month, or the maximum amount permitted by law, whichever is less, until fully paid. If Customer defaults, Customer agrees to pay ASCENDER its reasonable expenses, including attorney and collection agency fees, incurred in enforcing its rights. If customer chooses to cancel their service at anytime all transaction fees not paid up to the date of cancellation will be due without negotiation.
D. Suspensions. Any site suspended for non-payment will be assessed a $50 reactivation fee per site, not per customer. All prior and current fees with late fees must be paid before the site is reactivated.
E. Terminations. If an account is not paid within thirty days, termination will insue and collection action will follow. Any site terminated for non-payment will be unable to retrieve previous versions of the site or database. Customer agrees to pay ASCENDER its reasonable expenses, including attorney and collection agency fees, incurred in enforcing its rights.
F. Taxes. All fees charged by ASCENDER for the Web Site Hosting Services are exclusive of all sales and use taxes and similar fees now in force or enacted in the future imposed on the transaction and/or the delivery of Web Site Hosting Services, all of which Customer will be responsible for and will pay in full, except for taxes based on ASCENDER's net income. If ASCENDER is required to pay directly any such taxes, Customer will, upon receipt of ASCENDER's invoice, promptly reimburse ASCENDER for any such taxes paid by ASCENDER.
G. Cancellation. Should the customer wish to terminate the service agreement, then they can request so via certified mail to ASCENDER.
4. SUB-LICENSE
Customer may not sublicense or resell any of ASCENDER's Software or Web Site Hosting Services to any third parties without the prior written permission of ASCENDER. As an example, Customer may not provide Web Site Hosting Services to any third-party without ASCENDER's prior written permission. Any attempts to do so would be considered a material breach and grounds for termination of this Agreement.
5. USE OF CUSTOMER'S NAME AND TRADEMARKS
Customer hereby grants ASCENDER a non-exclusive right and license to use Customer's name and such of Customer's trade names, trademarks, and service marks (collectively, "Customer's Marks") as are listed on Customer's Content or otherwise provided to ASCENDER in connection with this Agreement (a) on ASCENDER's own Web sites, (b) in printed and online advertising, publicity, directories, newsletters, and updates describing ASCENDER's Services, and, (c) in applications reasonably necessary and ancillary to the foregoing. Customer may use ASCENDER's trade name, trademarks, and service marks (collectively, "ASCENDER's Marks") in advertising and publicity in conjunction with the offering of Customer's Content via ASCENDER, provided that Customer shall submit copy to ASCENDER for its prior written approval, and provided further that under no circumstances shall such use imply that ASCENDER endorses, sponsors, certifies, approves or is responsible for Customer's Content. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Customer need not obtain ASCENDER's prior written approval where use of ASCENDER's Marks is limited to inclusion in a list of systems via which Customer's Content is available.
6. TERM AND TERMINATION
A. Term. The term of this Web Site Hosting Services Agreement shall begin on the Effective Date, and shall continue on a month to month basis, unless either Party gives the non-terminating Party Thirty (30) days notice of its election to terminate this Agreement.
B. Termination For Breach. Each Party shall have the right to terminate this Agreement upon Fifteen (15) days prior written notice if the other Party is in material breach of any term of this Agreement, including without limitation the payment of monies, and the breaching Party fails to remedy such breach within the fifteen day notice period.
7. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES
A. Acceptable Use Policy. ASCENDER maintains on its Web site ASCENDER's then-current Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP"). Customer agrees to abide by the AUP. ASCENDER may modify its AUP at any time, and shall post the then-current AUP on ASCENDER’s Web sites, which will be effective upon posting.
Acceptable Use.
a) No spamming.
b) No hate sites.
c) No pornography sites.
d) No attempts to hack, crack, or reverse engineer our software.
e) No attempts to overtly or subvertly penetrate our security features.
B. End Users to Comply with AUP. Customer acknowledges that ASCENDER may terminate an end user's access to Customer's Web site for noncompliance with ASCENDER's AUP. ASCENDER may thus terminate such end user's access to Customer's Content even if the end user has not violated Customer's own terms and conditions of use of its Web site. ASCENDER acknowledges that Customer may terminate a User's access to Customer's Content for noncompliance with Customer's terms and conditions.
8. SECURITY
Customer acknowledges that the Internet is not a secure or completely reliable system, and that the purpose of the Web Site Hosting Services is to allow end users easy access to Customer's Content. ASCENDER will take those precautions ASCENDER deems reasonable in its sole discretion to secure Customer's Web site from attack, but ASCENDER makes no warranty that there will be no outages or interruptions of service, or that Customer's Content will be secure against attack of any form by end users or other third parties.
It is the responsibility of the customer to maintain a certain level of security within your area of business (your office, your computers, etc.). If your web site is compromised and it is found that it is due to outdated virus software or unprotected passwords (former employees know your password, your password is found by a bystander, etc.), you will be held liable and you may be subject to additional fees.
Additional Fees:
Faulty security within the customer's own place of business may result an additional fees to be paid to ASCENDER. These fees may result from but are not limited to the following:
a. A password is compromised and as a result is used to gain access to the customer's online store and the ASCENDER software, resulting in copies being made of the ASCENDER software,
b. A virus gains access to your computer, and as a result the customer's online web store is illicitly accessed and the ASCENDER software is compromised,
c. Any of the above or other scenarios take place and ASCENDER must take the customer's online store off the server to maintain server security and limit damage,
d. Any of the above or other scenarios take place and ASCENDER must restore the software to the server and to its previously secure state,
9. CUSTOMER'S CONTENT
A. Ownership of Content. Customer acknowledges and agrees that (a) unless expressly stated elsewhere, ASCENDER has no proprietary, financial, or other interest in Customer's Content; (b) ASCENDER does not, by virtue of offering or hosting Customer's Content, edit, distribute, market, sublicense, publish, or otherwise provide Customer's Content to end users; and (c) Customer is solely responsible for the information, data, graphics, text, quality, performance, and all other aspects of its Content. Customer warrants that it owns or has the right to use and offer the Content in connection with Customer's Marks in the manner in which such Content is offered and will be offered by Customer during the term of this Agreement.
B. Protection of Content. Customer acknowledges and agrees that Customer is solely responsible for ensuring the integrity of its Content. Although ASCENDER provides data backup services, Customer is advised that ASCENDER in no way is responsible for any damages resulting from the loss of Customer's Content, regardless of the reason for such loss. Customer is solely responsible for backing-up/archiving Customer's Content.
10. ASCENDER'S CONTENT
Upon payment of any fees charged for the development of ASCENDER's Content, ASCENDER hereby provides Customer with a non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-supported license to use ASCENDER's Content as part of Customer's Web site. Customer agrees to maintain a text hyperlink to "" in the header or footer of each Web page. The link must be visible and standard HTML, contains no javascript, and be approved by the Licensor.
11. PROHIBITED PRACTICES
ASCENDER shall have no duty or obligation to monitor Customer's Content or any other Content provided or distributed by others, and ASCENDER shall not edit or otherwise exercise any control over Customer's Content. Nevertheless, ASCENDER may, in its sole discretion at any time, without notice to Customer, and without liability to Customer, remove from public view, disconnect, or terminate the hosting of any of Customer's Content or other Content that ASCENDER deems in its sole discretion to be offensive or illegal, for any one or more of the following reasons: (i) the content is adjudicated to be in violation of the laws of the state where the server resides or the State of Oklahoma; illegal or sexually explicit Content or activities, or any Content that allegedly violates the law, rules or regulations of any country or subdivision thereof; (ii) the content constitutes harassment of Users, including, but not limited to, by means of Customer's billing practices; or (iii) Customer's noncompliance with or material breach of any of the terms and conditions of the AUP or this Agreement.; or (iv) claims made by third parties against ASCENDER that Customer or any of its end users has engaged in one or more of the above practices.
12. POINT OF CONTACT
Customer shall designate a single Point of Contact during the sign-up process. Customer's Point of Contact shall have full authority to enter into agreements and make binding decisions on behalf of Customer. Customer agrees that ASCENDER may rely on representations made by Customer's Point of Contact. Customer may change its Point of Contact at any time by giving written notice to ASCENDER in accordance with the notice provisions of this Agreement. Said written notice must be delivered via Registered Common Courier to the address of ASCENDER. ASCENDER is under no obligation to accept instructions from anyone other than the Point of Contact.
13. CUSTOMER’S INDEMNIFICATION
Customer shall indemnify and hold harmless ASCENDER from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, causes of action, suits, proceedings, losses, damages, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys fees, arising from or relating to Customer's provision, or an end user's use, of Customer's Content, or any act, error, or omission of Customer in connection therewith, including but not limited to matters relating to incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information; libel; invasion of privacy; infringement of a copyright, trade name, trademark, service mark, or other intellectual property or other right; or violation of any applicable law.
14. WARRANTIES
Each party warrants and represents to the other party that it has the complete right to enter into and perform its responsibilities under this Agreement.
15. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THE FOREGOING WARRANTIES ARE MADE IN LIEU OF ANY AND ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE AND WEB SITE HOSTING SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, AND ASCENDER NEITHER ASSUMES NOR AUTHORIZES ANY OTHER PERSON TO ASSUME FOR ASCENDER ANY OTHER LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH ANY SOFTWARE OR WEB SITE HOSTING SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.
16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
ASCENDER ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY WITH RESPECT TO CUSTOMER'S OR END USER'S USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR WEB SITE HOSTING SERVICES AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, AND SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF USE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTIONS, AND LOSS OF PROFITS, OR INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, EVEN IF ASCENDER IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. ASCENDER SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR MORE THAN THE TOTAL FEES ACTUALLY RECEIVED BY IT FROM CUSTOMER FOR THE SERVICES DURING ANY 12-MONTH PERIOD.
17. NO ASSIGNMENT BY CUSTOMER
Customer may not assign this Agreement without the prior written consent of ASCENDER, which ASCENDER may refuse in its sole discretion. Any attempt by Customer to assign this Agreement without prior written permission shall be deemed null and void. ASCENDER may assign this Agreement, which shall be effective upon written notice provided to Customer.
18. NOTICES
(i) Any notice or other communication ("Notice") required or permitted under this Agreement shall be in writing and either delivered personally or sent by facsimile, overnight delivery, express mail, or certified or registered mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the address listed above in this Agreement, for ASCENDER or the address provided in the application form submitted with the payment for Customer; (ii) a Notice delivered personally shall be deemed given only if acknowledged in writing by the person to whom it is given. A Notice sent by facsimile shall be deemed given when transmitted, provided that confirmation of that transmission was received. A Notice sent by overnight delivery or express mail shall be deemed given twenty-four (24) hours after having been sent. A Notice that is sent by certified mail or registered mail shall be deemed given forty eight (48) hours after it is mailed. If any time period in this Agreement commences upon the delivery of Notice to any one or more parties, the time period shall commence only when all of the required Notices have been deemed given; (iii) either party may designate, by Notice to the other, substitute addresses, addressees or facsimile numbers for Notices, and thereafter, Notices are to be directed to those substitute addresses, addressees or facsimile numbers.
19. MISCELLANEOUS
(i) The laws of the State of Oklahoma shall govern the validity and construction of this Agreement and any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement, without regard to the principles of conflict of laws; (ii) THE PARTIES SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, AND AGREE TO VENUE IN CLEVELAND COUNTY, OKLAHOMA; (iii) a ruling by any court that one or more of the provisions contained in this Agreement is invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect shall not affect any other provision of this Agreement. Thereafter, this Agreement shall be construed as if the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision had been amended to the extent necessary to be enforceable within the jurisdiction of the court making the ruling and to preserve the transactions originally contemplated by this Agreement to the greatest extent possible; (iv) the section and subsection headings have been included for convenience only, are not part of this Agreement and shall not be taken as an interpretation of any provision of this Agreement.; (v) this Agreement may be amended, waived, changed, modified or discharged only by an agreement in writing signed by all of the parties; (vi) this Agreement represents the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and there are no representations, promises, warranties, covenants or understandings with respect thereto other than those contained in this Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, it is expressly agreed that the terms of any purchase order issued by Customer with respect to the Web Site Hosting Services provided under this Agreement shall not be applicable and that any acceptance of such purchase order by ASCENDER shall be for acknowledgment purposes only; (vii) failure to insist upon strict compliance with any of the terms, covenants or conditions of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver of that term, covenant or condition or of any other term, covenant or condition of this Agreement. Any waiver or relinquishment of any right or power hereunder at any one or more times shall not be deemed a waiver or relinquishment of that right or power at any other time; (viii) the remedies set forth in this Agreement are cumulative and are in addition to any other remedies allowed by law. Resort to one form of remedy shall not constitute a waiver of alternate remedies; (ix) wherever used in this Agreement, the singular shall include the plural, and the plural shall include the singular. The use of any gender, tense or conjugation shall include all genders, tenses and conjugations; (x) the Parties are independent contractors and nothing contained herein shall constitute this arrangement to be employment, a joint venture, or a partnership; and (xi) this Agreement is only between ASCENDER and Customer, and does not make any third-party a beneficiary of this Agreement, whether known or contemplated by either party. Further, this Agreement does not make Customer a third-party beneficiary of any agreement that ASCENDER may have with third-parties, nor does this Agreement make ASCENDER a third-party beneficiary of any agreement that Customer may have with third-parties.