Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern all web design, managed hosting, ECStores, and consulting engagements between EastCoast WebCraft ("Provider") and its clients ("Client"). By creating an account or engaging our services, you agree to these terms.

1. Scope of Work

All projects are governed by a written Scope of Work (SOW) document agreed upon before work begins. Services not explicitly listed in the SOW are not included and may be quoted separately. Verbal agreements do not modify the SOW.

2. Client Accounts

Ongoing services are managed through a client account and portal. You agree to provide accurate account information, keep your login credentials confidential, and notify us promptly of any suspected unauthorized access. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account.

3. Payment Terms — Web Design Projects

Web design projects are invoiced on a milestone basis:

• 50% — Due upon project commencement. Work begins only after receipt of this payment.
• 25% — Due upon client approval of the design mockup/prototype.
• 25% — Due before the website is transferred to the client's hosting or made publicly live.

No website will be launched or transferred until all outstanding invoices are paid in full. Overdue invoices (30+ days) may incur a 2% monthly late fee.

4. Recurring Services & Automatic Billing

Subscriptions (managed hosting, ECStores plans, and other recurring services) are billed in advance on a monthly or annual cycle in Canadian dollars, plus applicable taxes (HST).

By saving a payment card in the client portal, you authorize EastCoast WebCraft to automatically charge that card through Stripe on or after each billing date, without further action on your part. You receive an email receipt for each successful charge. You may remove your saved card at any time in the portal; invoices must then be paid manually by their due date.

5. Failed Payments, Suspension & Cancellation for Non-Payment

If a subscription charge fails, we retry the payment daily and notify you by email. If payment has not been received:

• After 7 days — the associated service is suspended. For ECStores, your store is taken offline; its data is retained and it is restored automatically as soon as the outstanding invoice is paid.
• After 30 days — the subscription is cancelled. Store data is not immediately deleted; contact us to arrange payment and reactivation or export of your data.

Amounts owing for service already delivered remain payable after suspension or cancellation.

6. Managed Hosting ("Continuity") Plans

Continuity plans are billed in advance and run month-to-month unless an annual agreement is in place. Cancellation requires 30 days' notice, submitted through the client portal or in writing; billing stops on the effective date of the cancellation. Upon cancellation, all client data and site files will be made available for download for a period of 30 days before being removed from our servers.

The "Clean-Site" guarantee applies to sites actively managed under a current Continuity plan. It does not apply to sites where unauthorized modifications by the Client introduced a vulnerability, or to sites not under active management at the time of compromise.

7. ECStores Platform

ECStores provides a managed online store at a subdomain of ecstores.ca (yourname.ecstores.ca). Plan tiers determine available features and product limits, as published on our pricing pages. Plans are month-to-month and may be upgraded at any time; the previous plan's billing ends when an upgrade takes effect.

• Your customers and payments: storefront sales are processed through your own Stripe account — you are the merchant of record for your store's sales, and your customers' payments settle to you. You are responsible for your store's content, products, pricing, taxes, refund handling toward your customers, and compliance with applicable law.
• Your data: on cancellation your store is taken offline. An export of your store's data (products, orders, customers) is available on request for 30 days following cancellation.
• Acceptable use: stores may not be used for unlawful products or services, deceptive practices, or content that infringes the rights of others. We may suspend a store that violates this section.

8. Refunds

• Subscription fees (hosting, ECStores) are non-refundable for the billing period already started; cancelling stops future billing but does not refund the current period.
• Web design milestone payments are non-refundable once the work for that milestone has been delivered.
• Billing errors and duplicate charges will be corrected and refunded promptly — contact us.

9. Client Responsibilities

The Client agrees to:

• Provide all required content (text, images, logos) in a timely manner to avoid project delays
• Respond to review requests within 5 business days — delays may push back delivery timelines
• Keep a valid payment method on file (or pay invoices by their due date) for active subscriptions
• Not share admin credentials with unauthorized parties
• Use our services only for lawful purposes and content
• Notify EastCoast WebCraft immediately of any suspected security incidents

10. Intellectual Property

Upon receipt of full payment, the Client owns the custom design and content created for their project. EastCoast WebCraft retains the right to display the completed work in our portfolio unless the Client requests confidentiality in writing.

Third-party components (WordPress core, plugins, themes, stock photography) remain subject to their respective licenses. The ECStores platform software itself remains the property of EastCoast WebCraft; you receive a right to use it while your subscription is active.

11. Service Availability

We target 99.9% uptime for hosted services and monitor them proactively. Uptime is a service objective, not a guaranteed service level: no service credits accrue for downtime unless expressly agreed in a written SOW. Scheduled maintenance, faults in third-party services (such as payment processing or upstream network providers), and events outside our reasonable control are excluded from any availability measure.

12. Limitation of Liability

EastCoast WebCraft's liability in connection with any service is limited to the fees paid for that specific service in the preceding 3 months. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages including but not limited to lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms periodically. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above and, for account holders, notified by email or a portal notice. Continued use of the services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

14. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Nova Scotia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Nova Scotia.

15. Contact

Questions about these terms? Contact us at info@eastcoastwebcraft.ca.

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Note: These terms represent a general overview. All active client engagements are governed by a specific Scope of Work agreement that supersedes any conflicting provisions here. If you require a formal engagement agreement, please request one before work begins.