Terms of Service

The use of the HKEnglishEditing.com web site (hereinafter referred to as the "Web Site"), and the procurement of all professional editing and proofreading services from HKEnglishEditing.com, shall be governed by the following Terms of Service. These Terms of Service constitute the agreement binding HKEnglishEditing.com (hereinafter referred to as the "Provider") and the individual or organization who purchases the Provider's services (hereinafter referred to as the "Client").

At the time the Client's account is created, prior to the submission of any documents or payment for any projects, the Client is required to indicate that he or she has read the Terms of Service and agrees to be bound by the provisions of these statements. The publication of these policies on the Web Site functions in lieu of a signature to indicate the Provider’s acceptance of these provisions as a legally binding agreement between the Provider and the Client; the creation of an account on the Web Site functions in lieu of a signature to indicate the Client’s acceptance of these provisions as a legally binding agreement between the Client and the Provider. Should the provisions of the Terms of Service be changed at any time, the provisions governing a particular project shall be those that were in force at the time the Client’s payment for that project (or, in the case of installments, at the time the Client’s first installment payment) was submitted. All revisions to these policies shall be published to the Web Site and become binding upon all new projects immediately upon publication.

Confidentiality and the Protection of Clients’ Intellectual Property

1. At all times the documents submitted by the Client to the Provider, or created for the Client by the Provider and its independent contractor(s), are and remain the sole and exclusive intellectual property of the Client. Neither the Provider nor its independent contractor(s) shall lay claim to legal ownership of these materials, in whole or in part, whether created by the Client or by the Provider or its independent contractor(s) on behalf of the Client. All independent contractor have signed legally binding agreements protecting the confidentiality and ownership of the Client’s intellectual property. Furthermore, all copies of the Client’s documents will be purged the computer systems of the Provider’s independent contractor(s) within ninety days of the completion and return of the Client’s project.

Quality of Service and Limitations of Liability

2. In completing the Client’s project, the Provider will aim to provide high-quality services to the Client. The Provider may enlist the work of qualified independent contractors, and the Provider will hold these contractors to the highest standards. Nonetheless, the Provider cannot guarantee that documents and services will meet all of the Client’s subjective expectations, that documents will be suitable for any particular purpose, or that documents and services will be entirely error free. In part, this limitation is due to the fact that the Provider must rely on the Client to provide complete and accurate information about his or her specific needs; in part, this limitation is due to the subjectivity involved in assessing the quality of the documents and services; in part, this limitation is due to the need for the Client to review all materials returned to him or her by the Provider in order to ensure that they meet his or her needs in every way; and in part, this limitation is due to the possibility of technical or human error. Insofar as the Provider places the Client’s satisfaction as its highest priority, the Provider urges the Client to inform the Provider immediately of any document or service that fails to meet the Client’s needs or expectations; the Provider will work quickly and diligently to rectify the problem to the extent possible, rendering to the Client documents and/or services that meet his or her needs and expectations. At no time, however, is the Provider obligated to issue a monetary refund, nor is the Provider liable for damages in connection with any defect, perceived or real, in the services rendered. The Client understands that the words and opinions of the Provider’s independent contractors are not necessarily those of the Provider, and the Provider cannot accept responsibility for such words or opinions. In accepting these Terms of Service, the Client agrees that he or she understands these limitations and, further, agrees that he or she will not seek damages against the Provider or its independent contractor(s) for any perceived or real defect in the documents provided or services rendered, or for any consequences of such a defect.

3. In carrying out its services, the Provider involves third-party contractors for the processing of payments, for web hosting, for analyzing web activity, and for other purposes. The Provider is in no way liable for the actions of any such contractors or for the contents of their respective web sites. The opinions expressed by such third-party contractors do not necessarily represent those of the Provider, nor is the Provider responsible for the words or actions of such contractors.

4. In creating documents for the Client, the Provider guarantees that it and its independent contractor(s) will not plagiarize materials or infringe on copyrights at any time. In the event that the Client submits documents already containing plagiarized material or material that infringes on the copyrights held by others, the Provider accepts no responsibility for these infringements, nor can it guarantee that it will be able to identify all plagiarism and copyright infringements within the documents. Should plagiarism or copyright infringement come to the attention of the Provider or its independent contractor(s) in the course of their work, all work on the project will be suspended until the matter can be rectified by the Client. In such a case, the Provider will inform the Client of the problem. Once the Client has rectified the problem, the revised document, free of plagiarism and copyright infringement, may be returned by the Client to the Provider, and work on the project will be resumed; the Provider will not be held responsible for the original deadline, nor will the Client be entitled to any refund. In accepting a project, the Provider in no way accepts responsibility for or represents its agreement with the ideas or perspectives represented in the documents, nor does it guarantee the accuracy of their content. In accepting these Terms of Service, the Client agrees to indemnify the Provider against any actions brought as a result of material submitted to the Provider which is determined to be defamatory or offensive or to have infringed on the rights of another person, company, or entity. The responsibility of the Provider and its independent contractor(s) is limited to carrying out with care the specific professional services it has been contracted to perform, and its liabilities with regard to this responsibility are limited as noted above.

Academic Integrity

5. The Provider endeavors to assist academic clients in producing high-quality texts of which they can rightfully be proud because they are the client’s own academic work. At no time will the Provider or its independent contractor(s) conduct research or writing for academic clients to submit as their own work. The Provider reserves the right to conduct a plagiarism detection review of academic materials through a third party. If the Provider or its independent contractor encounters plagiarism in academic documents presented by the Client, the plagiarism will be brought to the Client’s attention, and the Provider's work on the project will be suspended while the Client addresses the problem. Once the plagiarism has been removed, the Provider's work on the project will resume.

Payment and Completion of Services

6. Payment for all services is due at the time the project is undertaken. At the Client’s request, installment payments may be arranged, but full payment for all services must be made before services are completed. In the case of proofreading and editing projects, editors and proofreaders work in phases, usually passing through the document multiple times with different objectives for each pass. As a result, it is not possible to return partially edited documents to the Client, as no part of the edit is completed until the final pass. Upon request, however, the Provider will provide update reports on projects in progress.

Refusal and Termination of Services

7. The Provider reserves the right to refuse service to any client at any time and for any reason. Such refusal may include, but is not limited to, projects involving materials that the Provider determines to be violent, obscene, or offensive; to advocate violent or illegal activity; to contain (or have the potential to contain) any computer viruses; or to contravene any law, statute, or ordinance. Should the Client act in a manner that the Provider determines to be threatening, violent, disruptive, or offensive toward the Provider, its employees, or its independent contractor(s), the Provider reserves the right to terminate the service then in progress prior to its completion. In such a case, the Provider will be under no obligation to provide a monetary refund to the Client. If it determines that a refund is warranted, the Provider will prorate the refund in light of the services already performed, and will deduct from it any costs that have been incurred in processing the project to the point of termination.

Use of the Web Site

8. The Provider grants to the Client limited license to use the Web Site, but not to download or modify it. The Client is not authorized to duplicate or distribute the Web Site or its contents, in whole or in part, nor is he or she authorized to use it for any commercial purposes. While every effort is made to keep the Web Site accurate and current, the Provider assumes no liability for any inaccuracies in the Web Site nor for any damages that may result from the use of information posted on the Web Site. The Client agrees that he or she uses the Web Site at his or her own risk.

Indemnification

9. The Client agrees to indemnify and hold the Provider and its independent contractors harmless from any claim as may arise from any third party as a result of the Client’s use of the Web Site, the documents or services the Provider and its contractors have provided, any infringement of the intellectual property of any person or entity on the part of the Client, any problems arising from technical difficulties (including, but not limited to the transmission of computer viruses and the interruption of services), any fraudulent use of a credit card or other payment method used to purchase the Provider’s services, or any violation of these Terms of Service on the part of the Client. The Client further agrees that the Provider in no way guarantees a particular outcome as a result of the use of its services.

Amendment of Terms

10. The Provider reserves the right to amend these Terms of Service from time to time as necessary and without further notice. Such amendments will be considered to be in force upon their publication to the Web Site. Particular projects are always governed by the Terms of Service that were in force at the time the payment was made for that project (or, in the case of installment payments, the time that the first installment was paid).

Jurisdiction

11. The agreement represented by these Terms of Service shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Maryland, without giving effect to the principles of conflict of laws thereof. Additionally, the Client and the Provider agree that any legal action or proceeding brought by or against them under this agreement shall be brought in the courts in and for Baltimore City, Maryland or the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and that the parties submit to such jurisdiction and waive any and all objections which they may have with respect to the venue of the above courts.

In the event that one or more of the provisions of these Terms of Service are or are later deemed to be illegal, invalid, or void, the remaining provisions of these Terms of Service shall remain in full force and effect.