Terms of Service

Cloudpodz provides the VPS Hosting Service that is subject to the following agreement. When signing up for a VPS hosting account with the Cloudpodz, the Customer agrees to abide by the rules and provisions explicated in these Dedicated Terms of Service, as well as all their coherent policies mentioned herein. The Customer of our Services should also be aware that when signing up for a VPS server hosting account with Cloudpodz, he/or she agrees to position data on our servers and make it accessible to the wide internet public. In this respect, the Customer understands and agrees that it is beyond the power of Cloudpodz to restrict any public access to this data and guarantee the security of the Customer's files. The Customer, therefore, is completely in charge of protecting his/her web content on our servers and should consider carefully each piece of information before uploading it to his/her newly allocated server space. We highly recommend that Customers avoid publishing online personal data that could be abused.

I. SERVICE AGREEMENT; ENTIRE AGREEMENT

The Provider shall provide its Services to You - the Customer - under the Terms and Conditions explicated in this Service Agreement. The Agreement is intended to keep the integrity of both Cloudpodz and the Customer and to protect both parties from liability. This Service Agreement will be enforced to ensure the speed, power, performance, and reliability of our Services. The Service Agreement and any other policies or agreements mentioned in this document, constitute the whole act of convention between Cloudpodz and the Customer.

II. RULES FOR ACTIVATION AND MONTHLY PAYMENT BASIS OF THE VPS HOSTING SERVICE

Upon submitting the online order form, the Customer agrees to abide by our Order Verification Policy and the following provisions:

1. The payment of the VPS hosting service is set up on a monthly basis. The Customer agrees to pay for the rendered VPS hosting services in advance for each monthly service term.
2. Non-Payment of the service shall result in immediate service disconnection. Customers failing to secure payment by the time of the due date will incur service interruption. The data hosted on the server will be kept for 7 days, after that it will be permanently deleted.
3. Setup fees and monthly service fees are non-refundable. The Customer agrees to a no-refund policy in advance.

III. SERVICE GUARANTEES; DATA BACKUP

• SERVICE GUARANTEES; The Provider guarantees 99,5% network uptime and server stability. This, however, does not refer to problems stemming from:

1. Server Hardware Breakdown;
2. User error(s) or purposeful interruption(s) of the user service (e.g. if the client shuts his/her own server down, Cloudpodz is not responsible for the downtime);
3. Failure due to software that is not explicitly supported by Cloudpodz. If a hardware crash provoked by the Customer consequently happens, the Provider is beyond the control and responsibility for the resulting downtime.

• DATA BACKUP; Due to the specificity of the VPS hosting service, providing Customers with a fully independent and self-managed hosting environment, the DATA BACKUP of all Customer's website contents and databases is solely Customer's responsibility, as well.

IV. SERVICE ACTIVATION AND CONTINUANCE TIMESCALES

• SERVICE ACTIVATION; For newly signed up clients - the Services are activated only after our Sales Department gets in touch with the Customer to verify the payment details (this is required due to the high fraud activity spreading online, and in order to be prevented fraudulent account usage). The payment verification procedure is obligatory and if we fail to approve a transaction within 24 hours of the payment submission, the funds will be credited back to the payer and the order will be canceled. For existing customers - the services for existing Customers, including upgrade services and renewals, are activated immediately after our Sales Department receives the according to service payment.
• SERVICE DELIVERY; Cloudpodz commits to deliver services in consideration of delivery time mentioned for each product on our website. We are not obliged to provide any information in regard to a service delivery status or prioritize a service delivery unless the commitment time has been passed. For Linux VPS the delivery is instant once billing status is changed to completed. The customer is responsible to check the delivery time of each product/service we offer on our website. In case of unexpected events such as power outage that might delay the delivery time of a service/product, Cloudpodz is entitled to put maximum effort to satisfy the customer by for example prioritizing the order but that would not entitle the customer to cancel or refund for example servers which once are under process, are not refundable.

CANCELLATION, REFUND & MONEY-BACK;

• CANCELLATIONS; In order to cancel a hosting account, the Customer must send a support ticket to the Provider's Sales Department via his/her Dedicated management account and provide any authentication credentials requested by Cloudpodz. Any other form of cancellation request will not be accepted.
• REFUNDS; VPS hosting accounts - The VPS accounts are set up on a monthly prepay basis. Customers may cancel their accounts at any time, however, they will not be entitled to a refund for the unused period of the prepaid month, since these services do NOT include Money Back Guarantee unless service is malfunctioning within first 5 days of it being active. Any incentives offered to the Customers upon sign-up will be also canceled. The customer needs to request a refund only through the first 5 days after the service is delivered by email. Limited accounts may not be approved for a refund request as that would provide a loophole in the system for abusive purposes. Each customer and account is limited to request for a refund only one time. Approve or reject a refund request for a customer is under the sole direction of Cloudpodz and may not be appealed.
• CHARGEBACKS; Chargebacks are not considered as a way of refunding. Any Customer who initiates a credit card chargeback in response to a bill or order placed with Cloudpodz will be subject to full investigation. When signing up for a hosting account with Cloudpodz, the Customer agrees to the terms and conditions explicated in this document (and its coherent policies). Thus, Cloudpodz, as well as Cloudpodz's authorized retailers, will resort to these documents as an evidence for the Customer's agreement, especially in the event that a Customer sends a chargeback inquiry based on points that he/or she first accepted, but is trying now to refute. If/When a chargeback report is received, the first step of Cloudpodz's Customer Care team will be to try to contact the Customer. Meanwhile, the Customer's server account will be suspended (in order to protect our system from fraudulent activity and misuse) and will remain suspended until the reasons for the chargeback have been clarified and the decision has been taken for according action. If the chargeback has occurred due to some misunderstanding, a reverse payment procedure will be initiated with the authorized retailers and eventually, the server account will be re-activated. If the Customer has sent a chargeback request based on groundless argumentations (according to Cloudpodz's own judgment and these Dedicated Terms of Service), then a dispute will be started with the authorized retailers in which the Dedicated Terms of Service of Cloudpodz will serve as evidence of the Customer's agreement. The retailers then, taking into consideration all provisions in these legal documents, will decide whether the Customer has had sufficient grounds for the chargeback or Cloudpodz has the right to a reverse payment. In case that the chargeback originates from a fraudulent user (end-client) and no reverse payment procedure can be activated, then the respective server account will remain suspended. Please consider that all fees of Licenses through Cloudpodz's services are non-refundable.

V. CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES; ACCOUNT REGISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

In consideration of their use of the Service, Customers agree to:

1. Provide true, accurate, current and complete information about themselves as prompted by the registration form of the Service. Maintain and promptly update their registration data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If the Customer provides any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or Cloudpodz has reasonable grounds (at its sole discretion) to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, Cloudpodz has the right to suspend or terminate the Customer's account and refuse any and all current or future use of Cloudpodz (or any portion thereof). If untrue details are used in order to avoid VAT the customer can be held responsible by the respective national tax collecting agency.
2. When introducing any changes to their contact details, Customers are obliged to notify Cloudpodz in the course of 10 business days after the changes become valid even though we are automatically notified by the system and all changes are registered and accessible. The introduction of changes should be done online through the customers' Dedicated Management Account, not via e-mail.
3. Customers will receive a password and account designation upon completing the registration process of the Service. Customers are responsible for keeping the confidentiality of their passwords and accounts and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under that password or account. Customers agree to: a) immediately notify Cloudpodz about any unauthorized use of their password or account or any other breach of security; b) ensure that they safely exit (log out from) their account at the end of each session. Cloudpodz cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage of account information arising from Customer's failure to comply with this provision.
4. If a server hosting account is registered with details different than those of the person who paid for the account, and in the case of any dispute, Cloudpodz will take the side of the person who paid for the account and shall not provide access to any other person, since - a hosting account owner is and will be considered to be the credit card/PayPal account holder.
5. The client is obliged not to delete the provider's SSH key, which provides root access to the server. The root access will be used by the provider in 2 cases only: a) When there is a problem with the server and, as a result, certain services do not run properly - the provider may fix it as he sees fit. b) When there is a report from a third party concerning some sort of abuse, for example, spam, the provider can identify the spammer and suspend him, of which case the client who is in charge of the server will be duly informed. The client, on the other hand, is obliged not to let problems of such kind happen again, whether or not involving that particular abuser. If there are repeated abuse reports - the provider will charge the client USD 20 for each report, because the latter is obviously unwilling to assist in terminating the abuse actions on the given server. If the client does not cooperate - the provider can suspend the client's access to the server at his own discretion. The client may risk service suspension, should be proven guilty of abuse.

VI. NO UNLAWFUL OR PROHIBITED USE

1. SERVER USAGE; Cloudpodz expressly bans the use of any server hardware or software for trying to illegally access another hosted machine or network. Customers may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any of Cloudpodz's Services, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to any of the Cloudpodz's Services, through hacking, password mining or other means of close nature. Customers may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available by Cloudpodz's Services. If you still have inquiries over the matter, feel free to contact any of our Customer Care representatives.
2. HOSTED CONTENT; Server content MUST comply with the parameters stated in this TOS. Web content requirements exclude the publication of illegal content or content considered inappropriate otherwise. If any of Cloudpodz's Services are used for the illegal purpose of SPAM or UCE, they will be instantly terminated. Customers are solely responsible for the content of their messages. Using Cloudpodz's Services in connection with surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk e-mail, spamming or any duplicative or unsolicited messages (commercial or other) is prohibited. In this light, Cloudpodz expressly forbids any breach of Belize's laws.
3. CUSTOMER AGREEMENT; As a condition for Customer use of Cloudpodz's Services, you - the Customer, agree that you will not use the Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. Cloudpodz's servers can be used explicitly and only for legal purposes, and each attempt for taking indecent advantage of the servers, inconsistent with the rules, will be immediately counteracted. Cloudpodz reserves the right at any time to disclose any information, as Cloudpodz deems necessary, to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove from the Services any information or materials, in whole or in part, in the sole discretion of Cloudpodz.

VII. REFUSAL OF SERVICE

1. SERVICE DENIAL; Cloudpodz will thoroughly scrutinize all received orders and decide, to its own discretion, which of them do not comply with the officially stated requirements for use of Cloudpodz's products. Cloudpodz reserves the right to refuse Service to unlawful parties.
2. SERVICE DISCONTINUANCE; Cloudpodz reserves the right to discontinue the Service provision to any subscriber that Cloudpodz deems, at its sole discretion, has violated any condition of the Service explicated in this Terms of Service and/or the Acceptable Use Policy.

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS

1. NOTICES; Notices, including notices concerning breach of this Agreement will be sent to the e-mail address provided by the Customer at sign up. Delivery shall be deemed to have been made five (5) days after the notice has been sent. Notices from the Customer to Cloudpodz should be sent to [email protected].
2. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE; Cloudpodz guarantees the highest level of Customer Care service round the clock. If you feel dissatisfied with any aspect of the Service, feel free to make use of our complaints procedure. In order to file a complaint, please send us an email to [email protected], specifying the nature of the problem you are experiencing. Please, provide as many details about your particular case as possible. The more we know about the situation, the better, prompt and adequate our resolution will be.
3. TORTUROUS CONDUCT; Any way of indecent treatment towards a Cloudpodz's Customer Care employee will be considered as totally inappropriate and unacceptable. Each Customer is expected to communicate in an utterly polite and professional manner with the Cloudpodz's employees regarding any request for help or consultation via e-mail, chat, phone or through our Ticket Desk Support System. Each Customer is expected to avoid any form of emotional outburst or inappropriate language, or any other attempt to be undermined the importance of good ethics in communication and human relations. Any act of close nature, or other types of offensive, abusive, disrespectful or condescending behavior - oral, written, or delivered by a second party - to members of the Provider's Customer Care stuff will be interpreted as a breach of this TOS. The Provider reserves the right to assess at its sole discretion which behavior is to be considered as a violation of the hereby stated rule and agreement and to undertake according to actions.
4. CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE; Technical Support Due to the specificity of the Service, Customers are fully in charge of the management and maintenance of their servers. Fair Use Policy. The Service is provided to end-user Customers for normal, fair, and reasonable use. Bandwidth usage is to be reasonably consistent throughout every month, without irregular bandwidth usage patterns, either individually or as part of a group of Customer servers. In the event Cloudpodz, in its sole discretion, determines that the Customer is not using the Service according to this Fair Use Policy, Cloudpodz will be entitled to (a) impose limits on the speed of the data the Customer may transmit and/or receive on any or all Customer servers with this Service, (b) re-price any or all Customer servers with this Service to the regular bandwidth rate; or (c) suspend or terminate the Service to any or all servers provided to the Customer, at Cloudpodz's sole option.
5. NOTICE OF BREACH; Whenever reasonably possible, in the event of a Customer breach of any Special Terms and Conditions for this Service, Cloudpodz will email the Customer allowing 24 hours to cure the breach, before Cloudpodz takes any action. If the breach re-occurs in the same month, Cloudpodz may take any action permitted in VIII. 4., without further notice to the Customer.
6. FAIR USAGE POLICY; The service is provided to the Client for normal, fair, and reasonable usage. Bandwidth usage is to be reasonably consistent throughout every month, without irregular bandwidth usage patterns/spikes. In the event Cloudpodz, in its sole discretion, determines that the Client is not using the service according to this Fair Use Policy, Cloudpodz will be entitled to (a) impose limits on the speed of the data the Client may transmit and/or receive with this service; (b) adjust pricing of service to regular/standard bandwidth rates; and/or (c) suspend or terminate the service provided to the Client, at Cloudpodz's sole discretion.