Terms & Conditions

1. Parties & Operational Structure

This Service Agreement is concluded between Web Design Hosting ("we", "us", or "our"), incorporated under the laws of the Republic of South Africa and operating webdesignhosting.co.za, and the individual or juristic entity named on any service order, shopping cart checkout, or subscription ("the Customer" or "you").

By placing an order, registering an account, or maintaining services through our WHMCS portal, you agree to be bound by these Standard Terms, as well as our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), Privacy Policy, and Refund Policy.

2. Fees, Invoicing & Payment Terms

All rates quoted on our public storefront are in South African Rand (ZAR) and are invoiced on the basis specified in your package order.

• Payment Schedules: Monthly hosting subscriptions are invoiced in advance and are due on the invoice date. Annual plans are invoiced 14 to 30 days prior to the expiration date.
• Gateway Processors: We accept online settlements via approved South African payment gateways, including PayFast, Yoco, Ozow, and Paystack, as well as electronic funds transfer (EFT). Instant gateway payments clear immediately, while manual EFT payments require administrative validation before service provisioning.
• Late Payment & Suspension: If an invoice remains unsettled after the due date, an automated grace notice is issued. If payment is not received within 5 business days, services may be automatically suspended by our WHMCS billing system. Suspension does not cancel your obligation to pay accrued subscription charges.
• Reconnection Fees: Accounts suspended for arrears may be subject to an administrative reconnection fee of R50.00 to reactivate server partitions.

3. Hosting Infrastructure & Security

Web Design Hosting provides server space, compute allocation, and bandwidth on high-performance CloudLinux servers with pure NVMe SSD storage arrays.

• Resource Allocation: Every account is provisioned within a CloudLinux Lightweight Virtual Environment (LVE) with hard limits on CPU, memory, and concurrent I/O. If your site consistently exhausts assigned server quotas, we reserve the right to require an upgrade to an appropriate package tier.
• Server Security: We deploy Imunify360 real-time scanning, CSF firewalls, and ModSecurity rules to protect all tenants. If malware, malicious scripts, or outdated vulnerable plugins are identified within your account, we reserve the right to quarantine the affected files immediately to protect network integrity.
• Backup Responsibility: While we maintain automated nightly off-site snapshots for disaster recovery purposes, the Customer remains solely responsible for retaining personal offline backups of all web files, databases, and mission-critical correspondence.

4. Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) & Prohibited Content

The following activities and content categories are strictly forbidden on our network:

• Deceptive & Fraudulent Operations: Phishing portals, vehicle or car sales scams, fake banking interfaces, loan frauds, or impersonation schemes. Accounts reported for fraud by registrars, law enforcement, or upstream providers will be suspended immediately without refund.
• Unsolicited Bulk Email (SPAM): Sending unsolicited commercial email, running open mail relays, or utilizing purchased email lists.
• Malicious Code: Hosting or transmitting viruses, worms, keyloggers, botnets, or participating in Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
• Copyright & Trademark Infringements: Storing or distributing pirated software, cracked license keys, or counterfeit intellectual property.
• High-Risk Mining Scripts: Executing automated cryptocurrency mining scripts or unauthorized background daemons that overwhelm server processors.

5. Email Provisions & Outbound Relaying

Email accounts provided via cPanel or OX App Suite are intended for legitimate day-to-day business communication.

• Outbound Sending Limits: To preserve IP reputation and prevent spam blacklisting, shared cPanel hosting accounts have an outbound sending limit (typically 100 to 200 emails per hour per domain). High-volume transactional mailing should use specialized SMTP relays (such as SendGrid or Mailgun).
• Blacklisting Recovery Costs: If a customer's compromised account or intentional spamming causes an IP address to be blacklisted with major RBLs (Spamhaus, Barracuda), the customer may be held liable for the administrative time and costs required to delist the server.
• Storage Ceilings: Mailbox storage forms part of your overall package quota. If your hosting disk limit is reached, incoming emails will be rejected by the server until space is cleared.

6. Domain Registrations, Renewals & Deletions

Web Design Hosting acts as a designated registrar and reseller for various registry operators worldwide (including ZACR for .co.za and ICANN for gTLDs).

• Registry Fees are Non-Refundable: Once a domain registration, renewal, or redemption order is submitted to the central registry, the fee is permanently incurred. No domain registration fees can be refunded or credited back.
• Typographical Errors: If you misspell a domain name during checkout and it is submitted and registered, you are liable for the cost. Registrations cannot be edited; the correct spelling must be registered as a separate domain.
• Grace & Redemption Periods:
  • A domain expiring in our system enters an initial renewal grace window.
  • If a .co.za domain is not renewed within this window, it enters the official Redemption Grace Period (RGP) at the registry. Restoring a .co.za domain from RGP requires payment of the standard registry restoration fee of R285.00 plus the annual renewal.
  • Restoring a .com domain from redemption requires payment of the registry penalty fee of R1,057.00 plus the renewal fee.
• Domain Deletion: Domains not recovered from redemption are deleted by the registry and made available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. Web Design Hosting accepts no liability for domains dropped due to non-payment.

7. Custom Web Design & Development Deliverables

Web design and development packages (ranging from R1,699 to R9,999) represent bespoke digital construction services:

• Client Obligations: The customer must provide branding assets, logos, written text content, and product information in a timely manner. Delays in providing content will correspondingly extend the delivery timeline.
• Project Milestones & Sign-Off: Once initial wireframes and layouts are submitted, the customer is entitled to review rounds as specified in their package. Upon final approval and handover of administrator credentials, the project is deemed complete and accepted.
• Scope Changes: Additional feature requests, custom post types, complex API scrapers, or structural overhauls outside the agreed quotation are billed at our standard professional rate of R450.00 per hour.

8. Limitation of Liability & Indemnification

• Exclusion of Consequential Loss: To the maximum extent permitted under South African law, Web Design Hosting will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages—including loss of business profits, lost revenue, or business interruption—arising from the use or inability to use our servers or services.
• Monetary Liability Cap: In any circumstance where liability is established by an authoritative court of competent jurisdiction, our aggregate liability will be strictly capped at the total fees paid by the Customer for the specific service in the three (3) months immediately preceding the incident.
• Customer Indemnity: You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Web Design Hosting, its officers, and technicians against all third-party claims, liabilities, damages, and legal expenses arising from your unlawful use of the services, copyright infringements, POPIA violations, or breaches of our Acceptable Use Policy.

9. Termination, Disputes & Applicable Law

This agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

• Notice of Termination: Either party may terminate ongoing monthly subscriptions by providing written notice or submitting an automated cancellation request via the WHMCS client portal prior to the generation of the next billing invoice.
• Immediate Termination for Cause: We reserve the right to terminate this agreement immediately if you engage in fraudulent conduct, initiate chargeback disputes without cause, or fail to remedy a material breach of this agreement within 5 business days of written notice.
• Dispute Resolution: The parties agree to resolve any operational disputes in good faith through senior discussions. If unresolved within 30 days, the dispute may be referred to arbitration in accordance with the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).