TERMS OF SERVICE

TERMS OF SERVICE

WELCOME

Welcome to edc.edu.hk. The following Terms of Service, which include the Site and/or classrooms Policies, are a contractual agreement between you and edc.edu.hk (including our corporate subsidiaries). The Terms of Service together with the Site and/or classrooms Policies are collectively referred to as the “Agreement” and as the “Terms of Service.” Certain defined terms used in this Agreement are available here. By visiting or using the services available from the domain and sub-domains of www.edc.edu.hk.com (the “Site and/or classrooms“), you are agreeing to be legally bound by the Agreement. We suggest that you consult the Terms of Service and the linked information regularly for updates. We reserve the right to revise the Terms of Service and all linked information from time to time in our sole discretion by updating this posting or any linked information. Unless otherwise provided in such revision, the revised terms will take effect when they are posted.

ABOUT EDC.EDU.HK

edc.edu.hk makes the Site and/or classrooms available as an platform for language learning where Members, both Students and Teachers (as such terms are defined below), can locate and collaborate with each other and take advantage of the following services (collectively, the “Services“):

Connection Services. The Site and/or classrooms is also a venue where: (1) Members may upload information related to language learning (2) Members conduct searches and locate, connect with, choose, and engage each other for the purposes of language learning (3) Students conduct searches and locate, connect with, choose, and engage Teachers directly for language instruction; and (4) Teachers advertise their capabilities, respond to inquiries, and locate, connect with and engage to provide their Services directly to Students. In providing the Connection Services, edc.edu.hk only provides the venue for Students and Teachers to find and contract with each other. See the Site and/or classrooms Policies for further descriptions of Connection Services.

Transaction Services. The Site and/or classrooms is also a venue where edc.edu.hk provides to Students and Teachers certain collaboration, feedback, credit purchase and payment tools, dispute resolution process and dispute assistance, and other Services (collectively, “Transaction Services“). Transaction Services does not mean Connection Services. See Payment Account Service Terms and Conditions, and Dispute Resolution Policy for further descriptions of Transaction Services.

For as long as edc.edu.hk continues to offer the Services, edc.edu.hk shall provide (and seek to update, improve and expand, in similar and different new ways) the Site and/or classrooms and the Services which edc.edu.hk may update, improve, discontinue and change at any time, at edc.edu.hk’s sole discretion.

MEMBER ELIGIBILITY

Our Services are available only to legal entities and individuals in business who can form legally binding contracts. To register for an Account with edc.edu.hk and become a Member, you must accept all of the terms and conditions in, and linked to, the Terms of Service. edc.edu.hk reserves the right in its sole discretion to refuse, suspend, or terminate service to anyone.

YOUR ACCOUNT

To become a Member and use the services available from the Site and/or classrooms you must register for an “Account“. You must provide true, accurate and complete information as prompted by the registration form, and update such information to maintain its truth, accuracy and completeness. You must safeguard the Member ID and password you use to access this Site and/or classrooms. We may rely on any use of the Site and/or classrooms with your Member ID and password as authorized by you. You must not register for more than one Account.

FEES

You agree to pay all fees applicable to your use of the edc.edu.hk Services, and you agree not to circumvent edc.edu.hk’s fee structure, all in accordance with the Site and/or classrooms Policies, and the Payment Account Service Terms and Conditions.

LEGAL RELATIONSHIPS

edc.edu.hk Provides the Venue
edc.edu.hk makes the Site and/or classrooms available as an platform where Members locate and connect with each other and take advantage of the Services. edc.edu.hk is not involved in the dealing and contracting between Students and Teachers, or in the Teachers’ delivery of Instruction Services to Students. edc.edu.hk has no control over and does not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of Instruction Services advertised, the truth or accuracy of listings, the qualifications, background, or abilities of Members, the ability of Teachers to deliver Teaching Services, the ability of Students to pay for Teaching Services, or that a Student or Teacher can or will actually complete a transaction.

Performance of Member Contracts
Upon confirmation of session time and price by both the Student and the Teacher, the Student agrees to purchase, and the Teacher agrees to deliver, the Instruction Services in accordance with the Terms of Service (collectively the “Member Contract”). You agree not to enter into any contractual provisions in conflict with the Terms of Service. The Student and Teacher each covenants and agrees to act with good faith and fair dealing in performance of the Member Contract. Furthermore, the Student and Teacher each acknowledges and agrees that the value, reputation, and goodwill of the Site and/or classrooms depend on their performance of the foregoing covenants and agreements. The Student and the Teacher therefore agree that edc.edu.hk has the right to take such actions with respect to the Member Contract, including without limitation suspension, termination, or legal actions, as edc.edu.hk in its sole discretion deems necessary to protect the value, reputation, and goodwill of the Site and/or classrooms.

Taxes, Reporting and Legal Responsibilities
Each Member is solely responsible for satisfying any income tax, VAT, payroll tax, payroll withholding, sales and use tax, governmental reporting and other legal requirements under applicable law, including without limitation those applicable to the purchase and sale of Services from and by independent contractors.

Directory of Teachers
The Site and/or classrooms contains a directory of Teachers. The directory is populated with information from third party sources, from Teachers themselves and from other Members. edc.edu.hk provides this directory as a convenience and does not confirm or verify the information contained in it.

Third Party Content, Verification and Monitoring
edc.edu.hk has no editorial control over content provided by third parties. edc.edu.hk is not responsible for and does not monitor content for accuracy or reliability. Any opinions, advice, statements, Services, offers or other information or content express or made available by third parties, including Members, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of edc.edu.hk. edc.edu.hk neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice, information or statement made on this Site and/or classrooms by anyone other than authorized edc.edu.hk employees acting in their official capacities. edc.edu.hk does not confirm or verify if an Teacher claiming to be a professional or claiming to be qualified to provide professional advice is in fact licensed or otherwise qualified to provide the Services or advice being requested.

Links
This Site and/or classrooms may contain links to other Web Site and/or classroomss or resources and access and use of certain services offered by third parties, including online communication services such as chat, email and calls and your access and use of those Web Site and/or classrooms, resources or services, including the online communication services, will be governed by the terms and policies of the Web Site and/or classrooms or resource or teacher. These services are owned and operated by the third party teachers and their licensors. You acknowledge and agree that edc.edu.hk is not responsible or liable for: (i) the availability or accuracy of such Site and/or classrooms or resources; or (ii) the content, advertising, or products on or available from such Site and/or classrooms or resources. The inclusion of any link on the Site and/or classrooms does not imply that we endorse the linked Site and/or classrooms. You use the links and these services at your own risk.

No Agency
The Terms of Service and any registration for or subsequent use of this Site and/or classrooms will not be construed as creating or implying any relationship of agency, franchise, partnership or joint venture between you and edc.edu.hk, except and solely to the extent expressly stated.

Access and Interference
The Site and/or classrooms contains robot exclusion headers. You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Site and/or classrooms for any purpose without our express written permission. Additionally, you agree that you will not: (a) take any action that imposes or may impose (in our sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (b) copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, or publicly display any content (other than content you have submitted to the Site and/or classrooms) from the Site and/or classrooms, any software code that is part of the Site and/or classrooms, or any services that are offered on the Site and/or classrooms without the prior express written permission of edc.edu.hk and the appropriate third party, as applicable; (c) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper operation of the Site and/or classrooms or any activities conducted on the Site and/or classrooms; or (d) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Site and/or classrooms or any subparts of the Site and/or classrooms.

Data
You are responsible for creation, storage, and backup of your business records. The Terms of Service and any registration for or subsequent use of this Site and/or classrooms will not be construed as creating any responsibility on edc.edu.hk’s part to store, backup, retain, or grant access to any information or data for any period.

WARRANTY DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY EDC.EDU.HK OR ANY OF OUR LICENSORS OR INSTRUCTORS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” AS AVAILABLE, AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, ACCURACY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARISING BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE IN LAW OR FROM A COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OR TRADE). WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE QUALITY, IDENTITY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY THIRD PARTY, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OF THE POSTINGS MADE ON THE WEB SITE AND/OR CLASSROOMS BY ANY THIRD PARTY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
IN NO EVENT SHALL WE OR OUR LICENSORS OR INSTRUCTORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER MEMBER FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES PURSUANT TO THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES OR LOSS OF GOODWILL, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY ACTION OR CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, EXCEED IN THE GREATER OF: (A) $100 OR (B) THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF SERVICE CHARGES ACTUALLY COLLECTED BY US FROM YOU FOR THE SERVICES TO WHICH THE LIABILITY RELATES DURING THE SIX (6) MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DETERMINATION OF SUCH LIABILITY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS LIMITATION AND EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

RELEASE
If you have a dispute with another Member, you release edc.edu.hk (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such dispute. You hereby waive California Civil Code §1542 (and any analogous law in any other applicable jurisdiction), which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

INDEMNITY
You agree to defend, hold harmless and indemnify edc.edu.hk from and against any and all losses, costs, expenses, damages or other liabilities incurred by edc.edu.hk from and against any cost, liability, loss, damage, cause of action, claim, suit, proceeding, demand or action brought by a third party against edc.edu.hk: (a) in connection with your use of the Services including any payment obligations incurred through use of the Services; or (b) resulting from: (i) your use of the Site and/or classrooms (ii) your decision to supply credit information via the Site and/or classrooms, including personal financial information; (iii) your decision to submit postings and accept offers from other Members; (iv) any breach of contract or other claims made by Members with which you conducted business through the Site and/or classrooms; (v) your breach of any provision of this Agreement; (vi) any liability arising from the tax treatment of payments or any portion thereof; (vii) any negligent or intentional wrongdoing by any Member; (viii) any act or omission of yours with respect to the payment of fees to any Teacher; (ix) your dispute of or failure to pay any invoice or any other payment; and/or (x) your obligations to a Teacher. Any such indemnification shall be conditioned on our: (a) notifying you in writing of any such claim, demand, action, cost, liability, loss or threat of any thereof; (b) cooperating with you in the defense or settlement thereof; and (c) allowing you to control such defense or settlement. We shall be entitled to participate in such defense through our own counsel at our own cost and expense. We reserve the right to report any wrongdoing of which we become aware to the applicable government agencies or otherwise.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

License and Site and/or classrooms Access
Subject to and conditioned on compliance with the Terms of Service, edc.edu.hk grants you a limited license to access and, if you are a Member, to use this Site and/or classrooms internally for the purpose of ordering and receiving the Services available and authorized from this Site and/or classrooms. You must not sell, reproduce, distribute, modify, display, publicly perform, prepare derivative works based on, repost or otherwise use any content of this Site and/or classrooms in any way for any public or commercial purpose without prior written consent of edc.edu.hk or the rights holder, unless such actions have previously been expressly permitted by edc.edu.hk or the rights holder for the content in question. You will not attempt to reverse engineer or attempt to interfere with the operation of any part of this Site and/or classrooms unless expressly permitted by law. This Site and/or classrooms or any portion of this Site and/or classrooms may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose that is not expressly permitted by edc.edu.hk.

Reservation of Rights; Limited Licenses
edc.edu.hk and its licensors retain all of its right, title and interest in and to all patent rights, inventions, copyrights, know-how and trade secrets relating to the Site and/or classrooms. The edc.edu.hk logo and name are trademarks of edc.edu.hk, and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other product names, company names, marks, logos and symbols on the Site and/or classrooms may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Except as expressly stated above, nothing in the Terms of Service confers any license under any of edc.edu.hk’s or any third party’s intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

If you have any questions, suggestions, reports of problems or complaints regarding any edc.edu.hk Services, your use of the Site and/or classrooms, the conduct of or purchase, sale, delivery, or payment of or for Services by or from any Member, please contact Customer Service.

NOTICES AND COMMUNICATIONS

Unless you otherwise indicate in writing to Customer Service, edc.edu.hk will communicate with you by email or by posting communications on this Site and/or classrooms. You consent to receive communications from us electronically and you agree that these electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You will be considered to have received a communication when edc.edu.hk sends it to the email address you have provided to edc.edu.hk on this Site and/or classrooms, or when edc.edu.hk posts such communication on this Site and/or classrooms. You must keep your email address updated on this Site and/or classrooms, and you must regularly check this Site and/or classrooms for postings. If you fail to respond to an email message from edc.edu.hk regarding violation, dispute or complaint within two business days, edc.edu.hk will have the right to terminate or suspend your Project or your registration.

All notices to edc.edu.hk intended to have a legal effect concerning this Agreement must be in writing and delivered either in person or by a means evidenced by a delivery receipt, to the following address:
EDC Languages Centre

7/F., Citylink Plaza,
1 Shatin Station Circuit,
Shatin, New Territories.

Tel.: 2528 5200

Such notices to edc.edu.hk are deemed effective upon receipt.

RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN MEMBER AND EDC.EDU.HK

If a dispute arises between you and edc.edu.hk, our goal is to resolve such dispute quickly and cost effectively. Accordingly, you and edc.edu.hk agree that we will resolve any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises between us out of this Agreement or the edc.edu.hk Services (a “Claim“) in accordance with this section entitled “Resolution of Disputes Between Member and edc.edu.hk.” Before resorting to these alternatives, you agree to first contact us directly to seek dispute assistance by going to Customer Service.

Law and Forum for Disputes
The Terms of Service are governed in all respects by the laws of Hong Kong without giving effect to any principle that may provide for the application of the law of another jurisdiction. You agree that any claim or dispute you may have against edc.edu.hk must be resolved by a court located in Hong Kong, or as described in the Arbitration Option paragraph below. You hereby submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Hong Kong for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes. Any cause of action you may have with respect to this Site and/or classrooms must be commenced within 30 days after it arises, or the cause of action is barred.

Arbitration Option
For any claim arising between you and edc.edu.hk (excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) where the total amount of the award sought is less than HKD 50,000, the party requesting relief may elect to resolve the dispute in a cost-effective manner through binding non-appearance-based arbitration. A party electing arbitration must initiate such arbitration through an established alternative dispute resolution (“ADR“) provider mutually agreed upon by the parties. The ADR provider and the parties must comply with the following rules: (a) the arbitration will be conducted by telephone, online and/or be solely based on written submissions, the specific manner will be chosen by the party initiating the arbitration; (b) the arbitration will not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; and (c) if an arbitrator renders an award the party receiving the award may enter any judgment on the award in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Improperly Filed Claims
Should you file a claim contrary to this section entitled “Resolution of Disputes Between Member and edc.edu.hk,” edc.edu.hk will be entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and costs up to HKD 10,000, provided that edc.edu.hk has notified you in accordance with the Terms of Service of the improperly filed claim, and you have failed to promptly withdraw the claim.

TERMINATION AND SUSPENSION

This Agreement shall become effective upon your acceptance or your use of the Site and/or classrooms, and shall continue until terminated by edc.edu.hk or you as provided for under the terms of this Section.

Unless otherwise agreed to in writing between the parties, either party may terminate the Agreement at any time upon notice to the other party. In such event, (i) edc.edu.hk shall continue to perform those edc.edu.hk Services necessary to complete any open transaction between you and another Member; and (ii) you shall continue to be obligated to pay edc.edu.hk and any Teachers for any Services for which you have engaged from edc.edu.hk or such Teachers in order to complete any such transactions.

Without limiting edc.edu.hk’s other remedies, we may issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your registration, and refuse to provide any or all Services to you if: (a) you breach any terms and conditions of the Terms of Service or the linked policies and information incorporated herein by reference, including our written policies and procedures posted on the Site and/or classrooms; (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe in our sole discretion that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our Members or for edc.edu.hk or are contrary to the interests of the Site and/or classrooms or the edc.edu.hk user community. Once temporarily suspended, indefinitely suspended or terminated, you may not continue to use the Site and/or classrooms under the same Account, a different Account or reregister under a new Account.

Without limiting edc.edu.hk’s other remedies, to the extent you engage in actions or activities which circumvent the edc.edu.hk Site and/or classrooms or otherwise reduce fees owed edc.edu.hk under the Terms of Service, you will pay edc.edu.hk for all fees owed to edc.edu.hk and reimburse edc.edu.hk for all losses and costs (including any and all edc.edu.hk employee time) and reasonable expenses (including attorney fees) related to investigating such breach and collecting such fees.

When your membership is terminated, you may no longer have access to data, messages, files and other material you keep on the Site and/or classrooms. The material may be deleted along with all your previous posts and bids. The provisions entitled “Warranty Disclaimer,” “Limitation of Liability,” “Release,” “Indemnity,” “Intellectual Property,” “Notices and Communications,” “Resolution of Disputes between Member and edc.edu.hk,” “General,” “Audit Provisions and Maintaining Records” and “Payment Account Services Terms and Conditions” will survive termination of this Agreement.

NOTIFICATION OF EDC.EDU.HK MEMBERS

You acknowledge and agree that the value, reputation and goodwill of the Site and/or classrooms depend on transparency of Member registration status to all Members. You therefore agree as follows: IN THE EVENT EDC.EDU.HK SUSPENDS OR TERMINATES YOUR REGISTRATION, EDC.EDU.HK WILL HAVE THE RIGHT BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION TO (1) NOTIFY OTHER MEMBERS ENGAGED WITH YOU TO INFORM THEM OF YOUR SUSPENDED OR TERMINATED REGISTRATION STATUS AND (2) PROVIDE THEM WITH SUMMARY REASONS FOR THE ACTION.

DISCLOSURES

edc.edu.hk, located in Hong Kong, is the provider of the electronic commercial and language consultation service on this Site and/or classrooms. Members are notified, via this Site and/or classrooms, in advance regarding any applicable service charges. Upon your request, you may have this Agreement sent to you by email. Please feel free to contact edc.edu.hk to resolve a complaint regarding any aspect of service relating to this Site and/or classrooms by writing to the above address, or contact us at Customer Service.

CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS

As used throughout the Agreement:
“Member Account” means the edc.edu.hk Account you open when you register to become a Member and use the Services.
“edc.edu.hk Services” means any of the above Services that are delivered by edc.edu.hk.
“Member” means a person or legal entity that registers for an Account.
“Teacher” means a Member that offers and delivers Teaching Services.
“Teaching Services” means all Services delivered by Teachers.
“Payment Account” means the account created by the Member to purchase and hold ITC.
“edc.edu.hk Credits (ITC)” means a virtual currency purchased on edc.edu.hk to pay for edc.edu.hk Services.
“Student” means a Member that investigates and purchases Teaching Services.
“User” means (1) a person who is a Member, using the Site and/or classrooms on his or her own behalf, or (2) a person who is using the Site and/or classrooms on behalf of a Member that is a company or organization.
“Visitor” means a person who is only visiting the Site and/or classrooms, not a Member or User.
“you” means a Visitor or Member accessing the Site and/or classrooms or using the Services on his or her own behalf; or, if the Services are used on behalf of a company or organization, “you” means the Member for which the Services are used and the User who accesses the Site and/or classrooms on behalf of such Member (and such User represents that he or she has the authority to do so on the Member’s behalf).

GENERAL

You are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws, keeping in mind that access to the contents of this Site and/or classrooms may not be legal for or by certain persons or in certain countries. edc.edu.hk will not be considered to have modified or waived any of our rights or remedies under the Terms of Service unless the modification or waiver is in writing and signed by an authorized representative of edc.edu.hk. No delay or omission by edc.edu.hk in exercising its rights or remedies will impair its rights or be construed as a waiver. Any single or partial exercise of a right or remedy will not preclude further exercise of any other right or remedy. If any part of the Terms of Service is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable part will be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect. You will not transfer, assign or delegate your rights or obligations (including your Account) under the Terms of Service to anyone without the express written permission of edc.edu.hk, and any attempt to do so will be null and void. edc.edu.hk may assign this Agreement in its discretion.

Except for the payment of fees to edc.edu.hk, neither of the parties to this Agreement shall be responsible for the failure to perform or any delay in performance of any obligation hereunder due to labor disturbances, accidents, fires, floods, telecommunications or Internet failures, strikes, wars, riots, rebellions, blockades, acts of government, governmental requirements and regulations or restrictions imposed by law or any other similar conditions beyond the reasonable control of such party. The time for performance of such party shall be extended by the period of such delay.

The boldface paragraph headings in the Terms of Service are included for ease of reference only and have no binding effect. The Terms of Service and all documents referenced in the Terms of Service (including the Site and/or classrooms Policies listed below) comprise the entire agreement between you and edc.edu.hk with respect to the use of this Site and/or classrooms and supersede all prior agreements between the parties regarding the subject matter contained herein as well as any conflicting or inconsistent terms in any Web Site and/or classrooms that link to or are linked from this Site and/or classrooms.

The Agreement hereby incorporates all terms and conditions, rules, policies, and guidelines on the Site and/or classrooms, including:

  • Payment Account Service Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright Policy
  • Registration Information
  • Safeguarding Your Password
  • Posting Information or Content
  • Teacher and Student Obligations
  • Communication
  • Rating and Feedback System
  • Providing Services
  • Teacher Service Fees
  • Enforcement of Site and/or classrooms Policies
  • Dispute Resolution Process
  • Contacting Customer Service

PAYMENT ACCOUNT SERVICE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Appropriate Use
In addition to the Eligibility requirements described in the Terms of Service, edc.edu.hk’s Payment Account Service (the “Payment Account Service“) is intended solely for use on edc.edu.hk to purchase edc.edu.hk Services. You must not establish more than one Payment Account. A Payment Account is mandatory for purchasing edc.edu.hk Services which have an ITC price, but is otherwise optional.

edc.edu.hk Credits (ITC)
ITC are a virtual currency purchased from edc.edu.hk.com. They can be used solely on the Site and/or classrooms to purchase Services and have no value outside edc.edu.hk.com. All Services on the Site and/or classrooms are paid for with ITC. ITC purchased or received as payment for Services will be shown in a Member’s Payment Account.

Payment Accounts
ITC in a Payment Account may be used to pay Teachers and to pay service fees, connect fees, currency exchange fees and wire transfer fees, and any other Services as may be added time to time onto the Site and/or classrooms.

A Student may add ITC to their Payment Account by any of the methods available on the Site and/or classrooms. The Student must reasonably intend that such amounts will be used to pay edc.edu.hk or Teachers for Services purchased through the Site and/or classrooms.

A Teacher may add to their Payment Account by directing that Students’ payments for Services purchased on the Site and/or classrooms and received through the Payment Service be added to their Payment Account

Legal Relationships
edc.edu.hk provides the Payment Account Service and requires you to use it to purchase ITC, and to request and make payments of ITC to and accept payments of ITC from other Members, for the purchase and sale of Services through the Site and/or classrooms.

As a Student, you agree not to pay fees for Teacher Services unless the fees are originated from the edc.edu.hk Payment Account Service, and as a Student you acknowledge that you are not obligated to pay fees unless the fees are originated from the edc.edu.hk Payment Account Service. As a Teacher, you agree to request fees from Students for Teacher Services only through requests for payment on the edc.edu.hk Payment Account Service, and you agree to use this system for all edc.edu.hk-originated business, whether first-time, repeat or follow-on. As a Teacher, you agree that a Student is not obligated to pay fees for Teacher Services unless you originated the request for payment through the edc.edu.hk Payment Account Service.

You acknowledge that: (1) edc.edu.hk is not a bank and the Payment Account Service is a payment service rather than a banking service; and (2) edc.edu.hk is not acting as a trustee or fiduciary with respect to your funds, but is acting only as an agent and custodian. (3) EDC.EDU.HK IS NOT A BANK, AND AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED THROUGH OR STORED IN THE PAYMENT SERVICE ARE NOT INSURED DEPOSITS.

By receiving or sending ITC through the Payment Account Service or purchasing ITC for your Payment Account, you authorize edc.edu.hk to obtain the ITC on your behalf and to transfer the ITC to the recipient that you designate, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Payment Provider
edc.edu.hk through its 3rd party partners acts as a payment provider by creating, hosting, maintaining, and providing the Payment Account Service to you via the Internet. edc.edu.hk does not have any control over the Teacher Services purchased or sold with the Payment Account Service, nor whether a Student or Teacher you are dealing with will actually complete the transaction. Nothing in the Payment Account Service will be deemed to constitute edc.edu.hk your agent with respect to any Teacher Services purchased and sold by Users through the Site and/or classrooms, or expand or modify any warranty, liability or indemnity stated in the Terms of Service.

Interest
You agree that you will not receive interest or other earnings on the ITC in your Account.

How to Receive Payment for Services Using the Payment Account Service

To receive payment from a Student, you must use the Payment Account Service and you must follow the instructions and Payment Account Service links on the Site and/or classrooms and provide the information requested. As an Teacher, you acknowledge and agree that when you instruct edc.edu.hk to transfer ITC from a Student using the Payment Account Service, such instruction is a representation that you have completed the applicable Services fully and satisfactorily.

How to Pay for Services Using the Payment Account Service
To pay a Teacher, you must use the Payment Account Service and you must follow the instructions and links on the Site and/or classrooms and provide the information requested. Unless you have a balance in your Payment Account, edc.edu.hk will ask to charge your credit card, bank account, Alipay or PayPal for the necessary amount. By providing us with your credit card or bank account information, you authorize us to charge such credit card or bank account for the amounts stated on the applicable Payment Service web page.

As a Student, you acknowledge and agree that when you instruct edc.edu.hk to pay a Teacher using the Payment Account Service, such instruction: (1) is a representation that the Teacher has completed the applicable Services fully and satisfactorily, and (2) constitutes an irrevocable instruction to edc.edu.hk to transfer ITC to the Teacher. Once edc.edu.hk has transferred ITC to the Teacher, edc.edu.hk may not be entitled to demand return of the ITC.

Authorized Payments are Final
Your use of the Payment Account Service constitutes your agreement to transfer ITC for any amounts which you authorize us to charge against your Account and, as appropriate, your credit card, debit card, bank account, Alipay account, PayPal account, cashU account, Webmoney account, or any other payment method available on edc.edu.hk.com. Such payments, once authorized, ARE FINAL. No refunds will be given for ITC’s purchased.

Erroneous Transfers
edc.edu.hk reserves the right to seek reimbursement from you as a Teacher, and you will reimburse edc.edu.hk, if edc.edu.hk discovers erroneous or duplicate transactions from any Student. edc.edu.hk may obtain such reimbursement by charging the applicable Teacher’s Account, deducting amounts from future payments owed to the Teacher, or obtaining reimbursement from such Teacher by any other lawful means. Failure to pay for reimbursements of is cause for termination of Services.

ITC Expiration Policy
ITC’s in a member account will be valid for as long as the member remains active on edc.edu.hk. If the member has not logged into his/her account at least once in the previous 6 months, the ITC’s will expire. For a member to keep their ITCs active, they must login at least once every 6 months to their edc.edu.hk account. ITCs are then valid for another 6 months following the most recent login date.

Currency
The Payment Account Service operates in ITC which are tied to USD and therefore edc.edu.hk is not responsible for currency fluctuations that occur when billing or crediting a credit or debit card denominated in a currency other than USD, nor is edc.edu.hk responsible for currency fluctuations that occur when receiving or sending payment via wire transfer, check or ACH when purchasing ITC or withdrawing an ITC balance.

Withdrawal of Funds
To withdraw funds from your Payment Account, you must request such funds using any of the withdrawal methods available on the Site and/or classrooms. Any such requests shall be subject to the conditions and restrictions contained on the Site and/or classrooms and in the Terms of Service. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Terms of Service, if edc.edu.hk determines in its sole discretion that a Member has violated the conditions and restrictions of the Site and/or classrooms or Terms of Service, edc.edu.hk will have the right to refuse to process the withdrawal.

Hold on Account Funds
edc.edu.hk reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to place a hold on funds if edc.edu.hk suspects monies were used in fraud or criminal activities. edc.edu.hk will release a hold as soon as practical.

Disputes Between Students and Teachers
Any disputes in connection with Services provided by Teachers or payments made by Students remain between such Students and Teachers. By using the Payment Account Service, you agree to follow the Dispute Resolution Process. You further acknowledge that edc.edu.hk will not be a party to any such dispute. edc.edu.hk will attempt to take the actions set forth in the Dispute Resolution Process, but edc.edu.hk will not be obligated to take any other action or refrain from taking any other action toward resolving any such dispute. edc.edu.hk may, at its sole discretion, withhold or delay payment or continue to hold amounts or make payment or release amounts in the event of dispute between a Student and a Teacher.

Reservation of Rights
edc.edu.hk reserves the right to seek reimbursement from any Teacher and Teacher will reimburse edc.edu.hk if edc.edu.hk discovers erroneous or duplicate transactions for the amount of such transaction from such Teacher. edc.edu.hk may obtain such reimbursement by deducting from future payments owed to such Teacher, by reversing any credits to such Teacher’s bank account, or by seeking reimbursement from such Teacher by any other lawful means.

Questions
If you have any questions, suggestions or reports of problems regarding the Payment Service, please contact Customer Service.

PRIVACY POLICY

Please view our Privacy Policy

COPYRIGHT POLICY

Removal of Material for Which Copyright Infringement is Claimed

edc.edu.hk has implemented procedures for receiving written notification of claimed infringements and for processing such claims in accordance with applicable law. If you believe your copyrights are being infringed by a user of the Services available at the domain and sub-domains of www.edc.edu.hk.com, please notify Customer Service with written notice as detailed within this subsection.

The information requested substantively complies with the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC. § 512(c)(3)(A), which provides:
To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of a teacher that includes substantially the following:

  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online Site and/or classrooms are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that Site and/or classrooms.
  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the teacher to locate the material.
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit the teacher to contact the complaining party such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
  • A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notification from a copyright owner or from a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner that fails to comply substantially with the provisions above shall not be considered as providing actual knowledge or an awareness of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information as prompted by the Registration form for your Member Account and your Payment Account, and to update this information to maintain its truthfulness, accuracy and completeness. edc.edu.hk may suspend or terminate your Member Account or Payment Account if information you provide is not complete or accurate.

SAFEGUARDING YOUR PASSWORD AND PIN

You agree to safeguard the User ID and password and PIN you use to access this Site and/or classrooms and to purchase ITC. You authorize us to assume that any person using the Site and/or classrooms with your User ID and password and PIN either is you or is authorized to act for you. Further, the contents of your Member Account (including feedback), and User ID may not be transferred or sold to another party.

POSTING INFORMATION OR CONTENT

You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information whenever you post any information or content on the Site and/or classrooms (including but not limited to posting your general profile or teaching profile and providing feedback). You agree to update such information whenever it changes. You agree to use good judgment when posting information, remarks or other content regarding other Users, Members, Students, Teachers, edc.edu.hk or any other third party. You understand that you may be held legally responsible for damages suffered by other Users, Members, Students, Teachers, edc.edu.hk or any third party as a result of legally actionable or defamatory comments, remarks or other information or content which you post to the edc.edu.hk Site and/or classrooms. edc.edu.hk is not legally responsible for any remarks, information or other content posted or made available on its Site and/or classrooms by any User or third party, even if such information or content is defamatory or otherwise legally actionable. edc.edu.hk is not responsible for and does not monitor or censor content for accuracy or reliability. edc.edu.hk reserves the right to remove or restrict access to any information, content or project posted or made available on the Site and/or classrooms in its sole discretion, or if ordered to do so by a court, or if edc.edu.hk considers such information or content to be in violation of the Terms of Service. You agree NOT to do any of the following on the Site and/or classrooms:

  • Use edc.edu.hk to transmit any content or conduct any transaction that would violate any applicable law or regulation in any country.
  • Post any listings that are fake, posted without the intention to award or complete the lessons or posted only to receive pricing information.
  • Use edc.edu.hk to transmit any content that infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights, license rights, the terms and conditions of use of such third party’s Web Site and/or classrooms or copyrighted materials or such third party’s rights of publicity or privacy.
  • Use edc.edu.hk to transmit any content related to or containing any adult or sexually explicit material.
  • Use edc.edu.hk in any manner related to bulk email or spam, including but not limited to bulk email hosting, scripts, active code, programs, proxies, lists and relay servers.
  • Post advertisements, solicitations or offers of full-time employment.
  • Post false or misleading information about a product, service or service request.
  • Post logos, seals or slogans from third parties on the Site and/or classrooms unless such material is provided by edc.edu.hk or an edc.edu.hk partner, or you have received express written permission from edc.edu.hk to display such third-party logo, seal or slogan.
  • Post or transmit any content that is profane, vulgar, racist, offensive, threatening, harmful, abusive, defamatory or disparaging.
  • Post or transmit unprofessional or offensive comments about a User, Member, Teacher, Student, edc.edu.hk or any third party.
  • Use edc.edu.hk to transmit any content that violates, or has the potential to violate, the integrity of academic and professional applications, tests and work; for example by passing off the skills, ideas or words of another as one’s own; using another’s production or content without crediting the source; presenting as new and original, ideas or products derived from an existing source; presenting fabricated facts, persons or sources as real.
  • Suggest or solicit another User to contact you directly in order to buy or sell Services outside of edc.edu.hk.
  • Access, tamper with or use non-public or non-authorized areas of the Site and/or classrooms. Unauthorized individuals attempting to access these areas of the Site and/or classrooms may be subject to prosecution.
  • Tamper with postings of other Users, Members or edc.edu.hk.
  • Solicit or gather any User’s or Member’s information available from the Site and/or classrooms, such as other Usernames and email addresses, for any commercial or business purposes or to transmit any unsolicited advertising, junk mail, spam or chain letters.
  • Do anything which would create or impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large burden or load on the Site and/or classrooms.
  • Use robots, spiders, scrapers or other automated means to access information in our Site and/or classrooms for any purpose without express written permission from edc.edu.hk.
  • Post or introduce software on the Site and/or classrooms that: (i) is designed to disrupt, disable, harm or otherwise impede in any manner, including aesthetic disruptions or distortions, the operation of this Site and/or classrooms or any other software, firmware, hardware, computer system or network (sometimes referred to as “viruses” or “worms”); (ii) would disable or impair this Site and/or classrooms or any other software, firmware, hardware, computer systems or networks in any way where such disablement or impairment is caused by the elapsing of a period of time, exceeding an authorized number of copies, advancement to a particular date or other numeral (sometimes referred to as “time bombs,” “time locks” or “drop dead” devices); (iii) would permit you or any other person to access this Site and/or classrooms or any other software, firmware, hardware, computer systems or networks to cause such disablement or impairment or transmit information (sometimes referred to as “traps,” “access codes,” or “trap door” devices, or “spyware”); or (iv) which contains any other similar harmful, malicious or hidden procedures, routines or mechanisms which would cause such programs to cease functioning or to damage or corrupt data, storage media, programs, equipment or communications or otherwise interfere with operations.
  • Frame or link to the Site and/or classrooms except as permitted in writing by edc.edu.hk.
  • Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
  • Repeat any action after you receive warning or request to desist from edc.edu.hk, whether or not that action is explicitly prohibited in the policies stated on the Site and/or classrooms.
  • Fail to respond to an email from edc.edu.hk regarding violation, dispute or complaint within two business days.
  • Use the Site and/or classrooms if you are not able to form legally binding contracts, are under age or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from our Site and/or classrooms.
  • Take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems (such as importing or exporting feedback information off the Site and/or classrooms, or using feedback as an extortion mechanism).
  • Copy, modify or distribute content from the Site and/or classrooms, except for your own information and use, without the prior express written permission from edc.edu.hk.
  • Violate any other policies stated on the Site and/or classrooms.

Violation of these rules may result in suspension or termination of your Account, in addition to all other remedies available to edc.edu.hk or other Users or Members. If you are aware of a potential violation, please contact Customer Service. In order to operate the Site and/or classrooms, edc.edu.hk must have certain rights. Consequently, when you post information, text, files, links, attachments, software or other materials to publicly visible areas of the Site and/or classrooms, you are granting, or warranting that the owner of such Content has expressly granted a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, fully sub-licensable, non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, modify, transmit, distribute, perform, display and delete such Content (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate such Content in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

TEACHER AND STUDENT OBLIGATIONS

You agree to: (a) abide by the Terms of Service and the processes and procedures described throughout the Site and/or classrooms; (b) be financially responsible for your use of edc.edu.hk and the purchase of ITC or delivery of Services; and (c) perform your obligations and complete the transaction as specified by the most recent agreed upon terms by the Teacher and Student, unless such transaction is prohibited by law or by the Terms of Service. Upon acceptance of Session terms, you agree to purchase the Services by transfer of a sufficient ITC balance if you are a Student, or provide the Services if you are a Teacher, in accordance with the terms agreed to by the parties.

COMMUNICATION

edc.edu.hk encourages open, complete and professional communication between Students and Teachers. Students and Teachers can use email, chat, and telephone to clarify lesson or course descriptions, scope or any specific requirements. Open communication helps Teachers to develop relevant curriculum and Students to make informed decisions. You are required to use edc.edu.hk to manage learning sessions and to maintain an electronic record of all written communication including clarifications and agreements around lesson scope, deliverables, milestones, timeframes, price, feedback, requests for revisions, acceptance of deliverables and completion of milestones. Also, transcribe relevant emails, instant messages, telephone or in-person conversations between the Student and the Teacher to maintain a record of what is agreed. In the event of a dispute, all written communication on edc.edu.hk will serve as the record for resolution of the dispute. A communication that is not referenced on edc.edu.hk cannot be submitted as evidence in non-judicial dispute resolution after a dispute is reported.

  • Please note: edc.edu.hk provides profile CONTACT INFORMATION section for you to enter your email address, telephone number and instant message IDs. You may not enter your contact information in other sections of your profile or edc.edu.hk outside of the CONTACT INFORMATION section.

RATING AND FEEDBACK SYSTEM

You acknowledge and agree that the Site and/or classrooms will contain public feedback from Users with whom you have transacted. You acknowledge that feedback results for you may consist of comments and ratings left by other Users and that edc.edu.hk may calculate a composite and/or classrooms feedback number based on these individual ratings. Teachers agree to be rated by Students along several criteria, as determined by edc.edu.hk. edc.edu.hk provides its feedback and rating system as a means through which Users can express their opinions publicly, and edc.edu.hk does not monitor or censor these opinions or investigate any remarks posted by Users for accuracy or reliability unless a User brings the posting to edc.edu.hk’s attention. You may be held legally responsible for damages suffered by other edc.edu.hk Users or third parties as a result of these remarks if a court finds that these remarks are legally actionable or defamatory. edc.edu.hk is not legally responsible for any feedback or comments posted or made available on this Site and/or classrooms by any Users or third parties, even if that information is defamatory or otherwise legally actionable. You agree to report violations or abuses of our rating and feedback system immediately by contacting Customer Service, and agree not to take any actions that undermine the integrity of the feedback system, including but not limited to the following:

  • Leaving fake feedback for yourself or another User or Member such as using a secondary Username or other edc.edu.hk members to artificially raise the level of your own feedback or create negative feedback for another User or Member.
  • Feedback threats such as demanding another User or Member to perform a task by threatening to leave negative feedback or withholding deliverables or funds until another User or Member agrees to leave positive feedback or no feedback.
  • Feedback solicitation such as offering to sell or buy Services in exchange for good feedback, trading feedback undeservedly or buying feedback.

In order to protect the integrity of the feedback system and protect Users from abuse, edc.edu.hk will consider removing feedback under the following scenarios:

  • Feedback or information posted seeks to elicit or solicit any User’s contact information, such as other Users’ email addresses, for any non-edc.edu.hk related commercial or business purposes, or to transmit any unsolicited advertising, “junk mail,” “spam,” or “chain letters.”
  • Feedback or information posted contains language that is profane, vulgar, racist or contains adult material. Insulting or inflammatory feedback is strongly discouraged but will not be removed.
  • Feedback or information posted is shown to have been left by any User who is in violation of edc.edu.hk’s Eligibility requirements, or by or for a User who has conducted any fraudulent transaction.
  • Feedback or information posted is not directly related to transactions conducted through edc.edu.hk.
  • Feedback or information posted makes any reference to actions taken or purported to be taken by edc.edu.hk or any law enforcement organization.
  • When edc.edu.hk is provided with a ruling or settlement agreement from a valid and certified dispute resolution service, or is provided with a court order finding that the disputed feedback is slanderous, libelous, defamatory or otherwise illegal.
  • The User who left feedback provided edc.edu.hk with false contact information during the transaction period (as verified by edc.edu.hk) and cannot be contacted by edc.edu.hk.
  • The User who left feedback is participating in an edc.edu.hk transaction with the intent of leaving feedback as part of a campaign to harass edc.edu.hk member(s) (as verified by edc.edu.hk).
  • Negative feedback that was intended for another User only when the User responsible for the mistaken feedback contacts edc.edu.hk and places the same feedback for the appropriate User. This does not apply to feedback that was mistakenly marked negative instead of positive or vice versa, in which case the User can contact Customer Service to file a feedback review request.

PROVIDING SERVICES

If you wish to provide Services through edc.edu.hk, you must complete the Teacher registration process. You agree to provide true, accurate, complete information and to update such information to maintain its truthfulness, accuracy and completeness. From time to time, your Member Account may be subject to verification as well as editorial and feedback reviews. edc.edu.hk can suspend or terminate your Member Account upon the discovery that any information you provided or posted is not complete or accurate, or as a result of other violations of the Terms of Service.
Guidelines for Creating a Course
You agree to utilize the following course creation guidelines:

  • Write a specific, detailed course outline with clear scope, deliverables and lessons.
  • Set expectations that you can meet or exceed.

When submitting your course you agree to:

  • Not submit courses or lessons that are made with the intent to commit fraud. Doing so will result in immediate termination of your membership.
  • Not offer your Services in exchange for good feedback or for free.
  • Respond promptly, within one business day, to private messages from the Student.
  • Respond promptly, within one business day, to any inquiry from Customer Service.

Violation of these guidelines may result in suspension or termination of the Project or of your Account. If you are aware of a potential violation, please contact Customer Service.

Guidelines for Providing your Services
You agree to utilize the following service provider guidelines:

  • Once you have received a teaching request, use edc.edu.hk to manage the request and to maintain an electronic record of all written communication between you and the Student around scope, deliverables, time frames, price, feedback, revisions, schedule changes, vacation, availability, delays, acceptance of deliverables and completion of sessions. Also, transcribe relevant outside emails, instant messages, telephone or in-person conversations between you and the Buyer on edc.edu.hk to maintain a record of what is agreed. In the event of a dispute, all written communication on edc.edu.hk will serve as the statement of record.
  • Inform the Student of your availability and committed response time.
  • Inform the Student if a committed deliverable will be missed, offering an explanation and proposing a revised date.
  • Inform the Student if you will be unavailable for more than one business day.
  • If you are unable to complete a session, alert Customer Service so that edc.edu.hk is aware of the situation and can offer assistance to the Student.
  • Respond promptly, within 1 business day, to all session-related communication, whether from the Student or from edc.edu.hk.
  • Utilize edc.edu.hk’s Payment Service to maintain the privacy of your personal financial Account details; leverage edc.edu.hk’s anti-fraud measures; maintain a record of all invoices and payments; add the project, feedback and transaction amount to your profile; and, in the event of a problem, have access to edc.edu.hk’s Dispute Resolution process.
  • Report any rating system violation by contacting Customer Service.
  • After the session is completed, leave objective, balanced feedback.

Violation of these guidelines may result in suspension or termination of your Account. If you are aware of a potential violation, please contact Customer Service.

TEACHER FEES

Service Fees
edc.edu.hk charges Teachers a service fee based on the total amount you receive for your Services from the Student. Fees due to edc.edu.hk are deducted upon transfer of ITC to the Teacher’s Payment Account. The balance shown on the Teacher’s Payment Account is the full balance after all fees have been deducted. Please consult the Site and/or classrooms or contact Customer Service for the calculation of applicable fees. edc.edu.hk does not charge any fees for the Teacher to register or create a listing for their Services on edc.edu.hk.

Period of Exclusivity
IF YOU ARE A STUDENT, YOU AGREE THAT FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR AFTER ACCEPTANCE OF TEACHING SERVICES FOUND ON EDC.EDU.HK, IF YOU SOLICIT OR PURCHASE ANY SERVICES FROM THE SAME TEACHER YOU WILL DO SO EXCLUSIVELY ON THE SITE AND/OR CLASSROOMS, WHETHER SUCH SERVICES ARE RELATED TO THE PREVIOUS SERVICES, OR FOR NEW UNRELATED SERVICES.

IF YOU ARE A TEACHER, YOU AGREE THAT FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR AFTER ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR TEACHING SERVICES, IF YOU PROPOSE OR PROVIDE ANY SERVICES TO THE SAME STUDENT YOU WILL DO SO EXCLUSIVELY ON THE SITE AND/OR CLASSROOMS, WHETHER SUCH SERVICES ARE RELATED TO THE PREVIOUS SERVICES, OR FOR NEW UNRELATED SERVICES.

Circumvention of Service Fees
You agree not to engage in any action or activity meant to circumvent the service fees. Prohibited practices include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Failing to report final service prices through the edc.edu.hk Payment Service.
  • Suggesting or soliciting Students to hire you outside the edc.edu.hk system.
  • Reporting on the Site and/or classrooms a service price different than that agreed between Student and Teacher.

Session Package

Session Package Expiration Policy
Session packages on edc.edu.hk are valid for six (6) months. A reminder will be sent to both the student and the teacher when the expiration date of their package is one month away. An additional reminder will be sent one week before the expiration date, requesting replies from both the student and the teacher. If no reply has been received from the student, then all remaining ITC in the package will be sent to the teacher, minus edc.edu.hk’s normal commission. If no reply is received from the teacher, then all remaining ITC in the package will be returned to the student.

Session Package Refund Policy
If a student or teacher finds it necessary to cancel a session package which has already been partially fulfilled (for example, 3 sessions have been taught in a 10 session package), we encourage the two parties to reach an agreement on how to divide the ITC remaining in the package. However, in the event that edc.edu.hk is asked to mediate, then we will use the following guidelines.

  • If the teacher was responsible for the cancellation, then the teacher will receive ITC for each session they have taught in the package at a rate of the entire cost of the package evenly divided by the number of sessions in the package, with the remaining ITC going back to the student. For example, a teacher’s package consisted of 10 sessions at a total cost of 1,000 ITC. Three (3) sessions are taught but then the teacher cannot continue due to illness. The teacher receives 300 ITC (minus edc.edu.hk’s regular commission) and the student’s account will be credited 700 ITC.
  • If the student was responsible for the cancellation, then the teacher will receive ITC for each session they have taught in the package at their regular rate for individual sessions up to the total price of the package, with any remaining ITC going back to the student. For example, a teacher’s package consisted of 10 sessions at a total cost of 1,000 ITC. The teacher’s regular rate for individual 1-to-1 sessions is 150 ITC per session. Three (3) sessions are taught but then the student cannot continue due to illness. The teacher receives 450 ITC (minus edc.edu.hk’s regular commission) and the student’s account will be credited 550 ITC.

In the event that there is a dispute as to who cancelled a package and the student and teacher cannot reach a compromise, then edc.edu.hk will mediate the dispute. Edc.edu.hk’s decision on the dispute is final. Please note that in the case of a dispute, it is up to the teacher and the student to provide proof to edc.edu.hk to support their positions.

ENFORCEMENT OF TERMS OF SERVICE

We may suspend or cancel your Member Account and/or Payment Account if we believe that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the Terms of Service, or violated our rights or those of another party. Without limiting edc.edu.hk’s other remedies, we will suspend or terminate your Member Account and/or Payment Account and refuse to provide any Services to you if: (a) you breach any terms and conditions of the Terms of Service and the other written policies and procedures posted on the Site and/or classrooms; (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our Users or for edc.edu.hk. Once suspended or terminated, you may not continue to use the edc.edu.hk service under a different Account or re-register under a new Account. In addition, violations of the Terms of Service may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and may result in additional penalties and sanctions. If a User or Member engages in actions or activities which circumvent the Site and/or classrooms or otherwise reduces service fees owed edc.edu.hk under the Terms of Service, that User or Member will be liable to edc.edu.hk for the service fees due, and may be subject to additional sanctions including, but not limited to, suspension or termination of edc.edu.hk membership. edc.edu.hk reserves the right to terminate any User or project for any reason, at its sole discretion and to refuse to provide registration and membership to you in the future. We will notify you if we cancel your membership, unless in our judgment giving notice would cause a risk of further violation or damages. However, we will notify you that your Account will be canceled if the law requires such notification. When your membership is canceled, you may no longer have access to data, messages, files and other material you keep on the Site and/or classrooms.

ITC REFUNDS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS

ITC Refunds
A Student may request ITC be refunded to their Payment Account if the terms of their Agreement with the teacher were not met. The Teacher may agree to the refund in which case ITC will be immediately returned to the Student’s Payment Account. If the Teacher disagrees that the terms of the Agreement were not met, then the disagreement is automatically raised to be a Dispute, to await judgment from edc.edu.hk. ITC for the payment of the Session in question will be held until the resolution of the Dispute.

How to Avoid Disputes
Disputes often arise due to miscommunication and can often be resolved amicably between the parties. edc.edu.hk recommends the following steps to avoid disputes:

  • Answer clarifying questions from Teachers or Students in a timely fashion.
  • Evaluate Teachers against criteria important to you, such as a Teacher’s experience, education, portfolio, certifications, references, feedback from prior Students, location, communication style and cost.
  • Ask for the Student’s and Teacher’s time availability and standard response times.
  • Maintain open lines of communication. Be clear about your expectations and check in frequently with the other party. Do not leave anything to assumptions.
  • Once you have agreed to terms, use edc.edu.hk to maintain an electronic record of all written communication between the Teacher and student around scope, deliverables, time frames, price, feedback, revisions, schedule changes, vacations, availability, delays, and lesson completion. In the event of a dispute, all written communication on edc.edu.hk will serve as the statement of record.
  • Document any changes in agreed upon terms in writing.
  • Utilize edc.edu.hk’s Payment Account Service to maintain the privacy of your personal financial details; leverage edc.edu.hk’s anti-fraud measures; maintain a record of all payments; and, in the event of a problem, have access to edc.edu.hk’s Dispute Judgment process.

What if I Have a Dispute?
In the event that you have a dispute with another User, the Dispute Resolution Process consists of two phases:

  • Member Resolution – The Student and Teacher will communicate and reach agreement on whether an ITC refund to the Student Payment Account is acceptable.
  • edu.hk Dispute Judgment – If the Student and Teacher cannot agree, then the dispute is brought to the attention of edc.edu.hk. edc.edu.hk will review all submitted materials pertaining to the Dispute and make a final ruling.

Key Dates
For all disputes you must be aware of the following key dates:

“Session Date” means the date on which the agreed upon Session between the Teacher and Student occurred or was scheduled to occur.

“Dispute Initiation Limitations Date” means the date seven (7) days following the Session Date. A Student does not have a right to initiate a dispute after the Dispute Initiation Limitations Date. The time that the Dispute Initiation Limitations Date expires is exactly 168 hours (or seven full days) after the end or scheduled end of the Session in dispute. If no dispute has been initiated by the Student before the Dispute Initiation Limitations Date, then the Session will be considered fully valid and the Teacher will receive their payment. No further disputes will be heard in this case and the Student does not have the right to ask for edc.edu.hk Dispute Judgment.

“Contest Dispute Limitations Date” means the date fourteen (14) days following the Dispute Initiation Limitations Date. A Teacher may contest the dispute before the Contest Dispute Limitations Date. The time that the Contest Dispute Limitations Date expires is exactly 336 hours (or fourteen full days) after the Dispute Initiation Limitations Date. If the Teacher fails to respond to a dispute before the Contest Dispute Limitations Date, then the dispute will be considered fully valid and the ITC will be returned to the Student’s Payment Account. No further disputes will be heard in this case and the Teacher does not have the right to ask for edc.edu.hk Dispute Judgment

edc.edu.hk Dispute Judgement
Dispute Judgment. In the case where a Student has initiated a dispute and the Teacher has contested the dispute in a timely fashion, edc.edu.hk will review materials on edc.edu.hk.com regarding the session in question to help render its judgment. edc.edu.hk may, at is sole discretion, ask the Student and the Teacher to provide any additional materials regarding the dispute. edc.edu.hk will make a ruling within 30 business days of the Contest Dispute Limitations Date and authorize release of ITC to the Teacher’s Payment account if it finds in favor of the Teacher, or return ITC to the account of the Student if it finds in favor of the Student. edc.edu.hk will be a neutral third party and will have no further obligations. No edc.edu.hk employee is authorized to make any recommendation or guaranty regarding the dispute.

In the event edc.edu.hk contacts the Teacher and Student to schedule a call to re-establish communication, Teacher and Student will have three business days following contact from edc.edu.hk to agree to a conference call during edc.edu.hk’s normal business hours. In the event both parties fail to agree and participate in such a call within three business days, edc.edu.hk will promptly schedule a required call during edc.edu.hk’s normal business hours within three more business days. In the event one party participates in such call (“Participating Party“) and the other does not (“Non-Participating Party“), then: (1) Non-Participating Party will be deemed to have agreed to the Release sought by the Participating Party; (2) Non-Participating Party will be deemed to have authorized edc.edu.hk to, and edc.edu.hk will, make the Release sought by the Participating Party; and (3) edc.edu.hk will have the right to terminate or suspend the Non-Participating Party’s Member Account.

Noncompliance and Abuse
Improperly Filed Claims. All claims between you and the Opposing Party must be resolved in accordance with the terms on this page. All claims filed or brought contrary to these terms shall be considered improperly filed. Should you file a claim contrary to these terms, the Opposing Party may recover attorneys’ fees and costs up to HKD 10,000, provided that the Opposing Party has notified you in writing of the improperly filed claim, and you fail to promptly withdraw the claim.

Abuse. If you initiate an excessive number of disputes, edc.edu.hk reserves the right to terminate this Agreement immediately upon giving notice to you. However, any disputes that existed prior to termination will be subject to these terms.

Feedback dispute. If you are involved in a dispute involving feedback, please refer to the Rating and Feedback System section in the Site and/or classrooms Policies to find out in what circumstances edc.edu.hk will consider removing feedback.

CONTACTING CUSTOMER SERVICE

If you wish to report a violation of Site and/or classrooms Policies, have any questions or need assistance, please contact edc.edu.hk Customer Service as follows:

Online Support: https://www.edc.edu.hk

Email: info@hkedc.com