Word of Mouth Conditions of Use

Welcome to Word of Mouth! The Word of Mouth Conditions of Use describe the legal framework in which you access and participate on Word of Mouth, what your rights and responsibilities are, and what you can expect from us. The Word of Mouth website is owned and operated by Word of Mouth Online Pty Ltd (ACN 122 734 570). The Word of Mouth website and Word of Mouth's services, which are provided through the website and may potentially also be provided through other mediums, are collectively referred to as "Word of Mouth", "us" or "we".

  1. Eligibility to Use Word of Mouth

    By using Word of Mouth, you agree to be bound by these Conditions of Use as well as our Privacy Policy, Fair Play Policy, and other site rules. Collectively, these are referred to as the "Conditions". Please read the Conditions carefully as your access to or use of Word of Mouth constitutes your acceptance of all the provisions of these Conditions.

    Use of Word of Mouth is only permitted providing you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate, including that the email address you submit is one that you own and use; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 18 years of age or older, or that you will use Word of Mouth only under the supervision of your parent or guardian who has agreed to these Conditions; and (d) that your use of Word of Mouth does not violate any applicable law or regulation.

    You represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into these Conditions and to abide by all of the terms and conditions set forth herein.

  2. Prohibited Activity

    You agree that you shall not, nor shall you allow any third party to:
    • modify, adapt, translate, or reverse engineer any portion of the Word of Mouth website and/or Word of Mouth service;
    • remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices on the Word of Mouth website or from other Word of Mouth materials;
    • reformat or frame any portion of the web pages that are part of the Word of Mouth website;
    • use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve or index any portion of the Word of Mouth website;
    • transmit any viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses or other items of a destructive nature;
    • interfere with the proper working of the Word of Mouth website or Word of Mouth service, including taking any action that imposes, or may impose in our sole discretion, an unreasonable load on our IT infrastructure;
    • create user accounts by automated means or under false or fraudulent pretenses;
    • create or transmit unwanted electronic communications such as "spam" to other Word of Mouth users or otherwise interfere with other users' enjoyment of the Word of Mouth website and/or Word of Mouth Service;
    • copy or store any content offered on the Word of Mouth website or from Word of Mouth's services other than for your own use; or
    • collect any information about other users for any purpose other than to improve Word of Mouth's content;
    • use Word of Mouth, intentionally or unintentionally, to violate any applicable law.

  3. Your Word of Mouth Account

    You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your Word of Mouth account, including interactions with other Word of Mouth users and/or businesses. If you use Word of Mouth on a computer that others may access, you should ensure that you log out from your account at the end of each session.

    You must only register on Word of Mouth as a business if you are the business owner, or have express authority from the business owner to act on behalf of that business.

    You can cancel your Word of Mouth account at any time by contacting Word of Mouth.

    Word of Mouth reserves the right to refuse, block or cancel any account at its sole discretion.

  4. Privacy

    The use of Word of Mouth is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which you can access by clicking here.

  5. Word of Mouth Content

    Please take care when posting information and other content, including text, data, photos, audio, video, and other materials (hereafter referred to as "User Content"), to Word of Mouth as some content may be prohibited (see next section). Despite this prohibition, Word of Mouth does not control User Content, which may include content relating to ratings, reviews, business information, messages, special offers, member profiles, fundraisers and advice forum entries, and Word of Mouth does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such User Content. You understand that by using Word of Mouth, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, or in some way objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of Word of Mouth content, including any reliance on the content, integrity, and accuracy of such content. If you find content that you believe is inappropriate, incorrect, or in some way suspect, please notify Word of Mouth either by flagging this content (using the tick boxes on the site), or by emailing us using the Contact Us page.

    Word of Mouth may, at its sole discretion, remove any User Content that it deems to be in violation of these Conditions, or which may be offensive, illegal, or violates the rights, or threatens the safety of any person. However, Word of Mouth assumes no responsibility for monitoring the Word of Mouth website for inappropriate content or conduct, and has no obligation to remove such content, and Word of Mouth assumes no responsibility for content submitted by users.

    You are solely responsible for any User Content that you submit, publish or display on Word of Mouth, or transmit to other members and/or other website users. You agree to only post User Content that you reasonably believe to be true and agree not to purposely provide false or misleading information. User Content is not necessarily reviewed by Word of Mouth and as such may not reflect the policies or opinions of Word of Mouth. User Content is not endorsed by Word of Mouth and Word of Mouth makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, integrity or quality of such content.

    You also understand and agree that Word of Mouth may review and delete any User Content, including business listings, reviews, member profiles, fundraisers, special offers, and advice forum entries, that in the sole judgment of Word of Mouth violates these Conditions or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights of, harm, or threaten the safety of others.

    If you enter into correspondence or engage in commercial transactions with third parties in connection with your use of Word of Mouth, such activity is solely between you and the applicable third party. Word of Mouth has no liability, obligation or responsibility for any such activity and you hereby release Word of Mouth from all claims arising from such activity.

    Your use of Word of Mouth may include links to, or otherwise direct you to, websites operated by third parties. Word of Mouth does not endorse, nor is Word of Mouth affiliated with these third party websites and we are not responsible for any content that appears on these websites. (Those third party websites also do not endorse Word of Mouth.)

  6. Content Prohibited on Word of Mouth

    The following is a partial list of the kind of content and communications that is prohibited on Word of Mouth. Word of Mouth reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including removing the offending communication from Word of Mouth and terminating the membership of such violators and/or blocking the use of the Word of Mouth website and/or Word of Mouth service.

    You may not post content that:

    • contains any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such rights;
    • infringes, misappropriates, or violates the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any party;
    • is false or intentionally misleading;
    • is threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous, including the use of inflammatory comments, generalisations, or unfounded criticism;
    • is patently offensive to users of Word of Mouth, such as Content that promotes racism, prejudice, hatred or physical harm of any kind against a group or individual;
    • harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
    • contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to other websites containing this type of content;
    • promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive;
    • links to another business directory, rating, or review website;
    • includes a photograph of another person without having gained that person's consent; or
    • falsely expresses or implies that the content represents, is endorsed or sponsored by Word of Mouth.

    You should also review Word of Mouth's Fair Play Policy.

  7. Cancellations and Refunds

    As Word of Mouth have no lock-in contracts for its subscriptions, any cancellations must be made prior to the renewal date which can be viewed via your account settings.

    You acknowledge and agree that as a term and condition of using the Website, any fees incurred in accordance with our fee schedule are non-refundable.

    If we find your account is in poor standing or there has been abuse reported against your account, we may refuse any refund request.

    In any other case refunds will only be given at the absolute discretion of Word of Mouth.

    In the event that a refund request is granted, there will be a 10% transaction fee applied to the original amount refundable.

  8. Copyright and Intellectual Property

    When you publish User Content on Word of Mouth, you retain the ownership rights to this content, while you also agree to and hereby grant Word of Mouth a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, perpetual, fully paid up, and fully assignable license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, and display this content through the world in any media. You grant Word of Mouth and its affiliates the right to use your Display Name, suburb and any photo you upload in connection with such Content. This license is non-exclusive, except you agree that Word of Mouth shall have the exclusive right to practice this license to the extent of combining your User Content with the User Content of other Word of Mouth users for the purposes of constructing or populating a database of ratings/reviews.

    Subject to the restrictions on use and on posting User Content as set forth in these Conditions, you may use Word of Mouth to submit, find, read and share reviews and download or copy portions of the content on Word of Mouth for your own use, and forward reviews, business listings and links to the Word of Mouth website to people you know, and invite others to join Word of Mouth.

    All content on Word of Mouth, including, but not limited to, text, photographs, graphics, audio, and video content, as well as the website itself, is protected by copyright. Except for the content submitted users, Word of Mouth and all aspects thereof, including all copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights therein, is the property of Word of Mouth Online Pty Ltd. With the exception of content that you have posted and therefore retain ownership rights over, you may not modify, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly display or in any way exploit, any of the content, software, or materials available on the Word of Mouth website or any other Word of Mouth materials, in whole or in part except as expressly provided in these Conditions or with written permission from Word of Mouth.

  9. Trademarks

    Word Of Mouth OnlineTM, WOMOTM, WOMOWTM, Word of Mouth on the WebTM, TrustFactorTM, WOWFactorTM, and the Word of Mouth Logo, are trademarks of Word of Mouth Online Pty Ltd. These must not be used without the prior, written consent from Word of Mouth.

  10. Disclaimer

    The Word of Mouth website and Word of Mouth service is provided by Word of Mouth on an "as is" basis. We do not promise or warrant that any aspect of the Word of Mouth website or Word of Mouth services will work properly, or will be continuously available. Word of Mouth, its licensors and affiliates, do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained on Word of Mouth. Word of Mouth is not responsible for the conduct of any Word of Mouth user. Any material or content downloaded or otherwise obtained through Word of Mouth is accessed at your own discretion and risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by any user from Word of Mouth shall create any warranty not expressly stated herein. To the fullest extent permissible by law, Word of Mouth, its licensors and affiliates disclaim all warranties, express, statutory, or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for purpose, or non-infringement.

  11. Limitation of Liability

    In no event shall Word of Mouth, its parents, subsidiaries, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents or affiliates be liable for any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, special, punitive, or other damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information or data, or other pecuniary loss), whether based on breach of contract, tort (however arising, including negligence), product liability, or otherwise, arising out of, or in connection with, the use of, or inability to use Word of Mouth. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, you specifically agree that Word of Mouth's maximum total liability to you for any causes whatsoever, and regardless of the form of action, will at all times be limited to the greater of (i) The amount paid, if any, by you to Word of Mouth for Word of Mouth's services in the 12 months prior to the action giving rise to liability, or (ii) AUD$200.

  12. Indemnity

    You agree to indemnify and hold Word of Mouth, its parents, subsidiaries, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents and affiliates, harmless, including legal costs, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of (i) your access to Word of Mouth, (ii) your use of Word of Mouth services, (iii) the violation of these Conditions by you, or (iv) the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

  13. Applicable Law

    These Conditions, and your dealings with Word of Mouth, are subject to the state laws of Victoria, Australia, and the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia as applicable. You agree to submit to the jurisdiction of courts sitting in the State of Victoria for all purposes. Sole and exclusive venue for any dispute arising under or relating to this agreement shall be in a court sitting in Melbourne, Victoria.

    Word of Mouth is administered in Australia and intended for Australian users. Any use outside of Australia is at the user's own risk and users are responsible for compliance with any additional local laws applicable to their use of the Word of Mouth website or services.

  14. Changes to the Conditions

    From time to time, we may need to change these Conditions to reflect our changing business (or if required by law, or for security, technical or other reasons). You agree and understand that these Conditions, the Word of Mouth website and any aspect of Word of Mouth's services may be modified by Word of Mouth at any time without prior notice, and such modifications will be effective upon Word of Mouth's posting of the new Conditions and/or upon implementation of the changes on Word of Mouth. You agree to review the Conditions periodically so that you are aware of any modifications. Your continued use of Word of Mouth after any modifications indicates your acceptance of the modified Conditions. Unless expressly stated otherwise by Word of Mouth, any new features, new services, enhancements or modifications to Word of Mouth implemented after your initial access shall be subject to these Conditions.

  15. Miscellaneous

    These Conditions, accepted upon use of the Word of Mouth website and/or Word of Mouth services, and all terms, guidelines and rules referenced herein, contain the entire agreement between you and Word of Mouth regarding the Word of Mouth website and/or Word of Mouth services. The failure of Word of Mouth to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Conditions is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Conditions shall otherwise remain in fully enforceable. These Conditions are not assignable, transferable or sub-licensable except with Word of Mouth's prior written consent. The section titles in these Conditions are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Last Updated: September 2011

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