Terms and conditions for Bell ICT data recovery services

1. THESE TERMS

1.1 These terms and conditions ("Terms") govern the supply of Data Recovery Services to you by Bell ICT Limited (registered in England and Wales, Company Number 07300437 trading as “Bell ICT”).  Please read these Terms carefully before you submit your Order to us. These Terms tell you who we are, how we will provide the Services to you, how you and we may change or end the Contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information.

2. CONTACT DETAILS

2.1 How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team on 020 8983 8665, by writing to us at 956 Eastern Avenue, Newbury Park, Ilford, Essex IG4 5ND or email support@bellict.com 

3. INTERPRETATION

3.1 In these Terms the following definitions will apply:

(a) "Business Customer" means a customer acting for the purpose of their business, trade or profession including, without limitation, a sole trader, partnership, limited company or public authority;

(b) “Confidential Information” means all confidential information (however recorded or preserved) disclosed by either party to the other party in connection with the Services, including but not limited to your Data, our Data and any information that would be regarded as confidential by either party;

(c) "Consumer Customer" means a customer that is an individual who is not acting for the purposes of a business, trade or profession (excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, any Business Customer);

(d) "Contract" means as defined in Clause 4.4;

(e) "Data" means data in electronic form of any description, including 'personal data' as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation EU 2016/679 and/or the Data Protection Act 2018;

(f) "Equipment" means your Media and, if applicable, mobile phone or tablet;

(g) "Fee" means the fee payable by you for the Services, as set out in the relevant Quotation;

(h) "Media" means storage media such as hard-drives, USB drive, laptop, computer or other devices;

(i) "Order" means as defined in Clause 4.3;

(j) "Quotation" means as defined in Clause 4.1;

(k) “Service Descriptions” means the specific processes employed by Bell ICT as more described at the following link www.bellict.com, which sets out, amongst other matters, service limitations, service levels and expectations;  

(l) "Services" means the data recovery services to be provided by us to you, as described in Clauses 4 (Order Process) and 5 (Services) of these Terms; and

(n) "Website" means our website at www.bellict.com or such other website as we use to operate our business from time to time.

4. ORDER PROCESS

4.1 Excluding mobiles and tablets, for standard data recovery, following an initial telephone consultation, submission of an online form via our website or email you will send us your Equipment for our evaluation.  We will use reasonable endeavours to: (a) examine the Equipment to determine: (i) what Data is accessible on the Equipment: (ii) the cause of any damage to the Equipment and/or the Data on the Equipment; and (iii) the amount of Data (if any) likely to be recoverable on the Equipment; ("Free Evaluation"); (b) report the results of our Free Evaluation to you.  In most cases, we will provide you with a quotation setting out the scope of Services and applicable Fee broken into two parts: (i) the optional diagnosis; and (ii) the full data recovery. For complex cases, you will be offered a paid diagnosis due to the potential complexity of the data recovery (collectively the "Quotation").  All Services will be provided according to the Service Descriptions.      

4.2 In the Quotation, where the diagnosis is listed as optional, this stage is automatically applied to the Quotation as the diagnosis will provide more detailed information on the success of the data recovery.  If the optional diagnosis is selected, following payment, you will receive a file listing specifying the Data that is likely to be recovered once the full data recovery is completed.  Both optional and paid diagnosis fees are not refundable once the work has been completed, irrespective of the outcome of the diagnosis.  In some cases, the diagnosis will indicate that a full data recovery is not likely to be successful and only a partial data recovery is expected.  In addition to a Consumer Customer’s statutory cancellation rights (see section 7 below) regarding diagnosis, the optional diagnosis can be cancelled at any time within 24 hours of the Quotation acceptance.

4.3 For mobiles and tablets, you will be provided with a fixed price quotation following Bell ICT’s receipt of details from you.  Mobiles and tablets do not require an evaluation by Bell ICT’s engineers.  For mobiles and tablets, Bell ICT will provide you with a free diagnosis report outlining the likely recovery of your Data.  You will then be able to choose to proceed with the data recovery process at the price specified in the Quotation.

4.4 For other Services, such as remote data recovery (“RDR”) where you do not submit any Equipment to us, or degaussing, the Quotation shall consist of the work expected to be required by Bell ICT to perform the Services.

4.5 Following receipt of our Quotation, you may at your option either: (i) accept and sign the service request or statement of work to submit an order for our Services ("Order"); (ii) submit a request for us to return your Equipment (if applicable), the delivery cost of which you agree to pay; or (iii) submit a request for us to destroy your Equipment, in which case we will be permitted to immediately destroy your Equipment.  If we do not receive an Order or request to return your Equipment within 90 (ninety) calendar days of the date of the Quotation, we will dispose of your Equipment in line with applicable law.

4.6 Our acceptance of your Order will take place when we send you email confirmation of our acceptance, at which point a legally binding contract will come into existence between you and us, governed by these Terms ("Contract").  We will assign an order number to your Order. It will help us if you can tell us the order number whenever you contact us.

5. OUR SERVICES

5.1 Bell ICT will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill.  Following an Order, we shall use reasonable endeavours to: (i) retrieve, replicate, reconstruct, provide access to, convert, recover and return any recovered Data to you on an encrypted hard-drive or USB stick (or other hard-drive provided by you); (ii) if required, repair the mobile phone; and (iii) carry out such other services that we have agreed to perform for you in writing, such as degaussing or RDR. When you receive the hard-drive with your recovered data from Bell ICT, we urge you to immediately check the hard-drive for technical functionality. Bell ICT can only replace your recovered data in case of failure of the delivery device within our data retention period for your recovered personal data according to Bell ICT's Data Processing Agreement.  

5.2 Remote Data Recovery.  Where you wish Bell ICT to perform a data recovery for those occasions when submitting any Equipment is not required, Bell ICT may be able to perform a remote data recovery.  You must download and install the Bell ICT RDR client software using the link provided by Bell ICT.  Once installed, the client allows the user to connect to Bell ICT via an encrypted internet connection. The RDR connection is only used by Bell ICT to control the Bell ICT recovery tools directly on the Customer’s machine.  Your Data will not be transferred to Bell ICT during this process.

5.3 Degaussing.  Bell ICT will place your Equipment into a degaussing unit which is a machine which effectively and securely scrambles the magnetic data held on the Equipment.  Following the degaussing process, the Data is no longer readable and will have been securely destroyed.

5.4 Mobile Phone Repair.  The primary service we offer will be the recovery of the Data from the mobile phone and we do not offer a standalone mobile phone repair.  In some cases, the work required for a data recovery may result in the partial or temporary repair of the mobile phone.  In such cases, this may result in the restoration of functionality to the mobile phone so that you are able to use it in normal usage conditions but Bell ICT does not offer any guarantee or warranty with respect to such repairs.  

5.5 You will be informed of the estimated completion date of the Services during the Order process. The costs of returning the Equipment will be as set out on the relevant Quotation.  For all Services, if Bell ICT is not fully successful in the data recovery, Bell ICT will not charge the data recovery fee.  Bell ICT will retain the Data that was recovered for a period of thirty (30) days prior to its deletion.  If you wish to receive a copy of this Data, the data recovery fee will be applicable and must be paid prior to your receipt of the Data.  There may be costs applicable to the return of the Equipment where you choose not to receive the partial Data.  

5.6 For some Services, we may need certain information from you such as user names, passwords and/or access codes.   If you do not provide this information within a reasonable time of our request, or if you provide incomplete or incorrect information, we may make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for supplying the Services late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need.

5.7 We may have to suspend the supply of Services to: (i) deal with technical problems or make technical changes; (ii) update the Services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements; (iii) make changes to the Services as requested by you.  We may also suspend supply of the Services if you do not pay.

5.8 While we use approved original equipment manufacturer repairs, we offer no guarantee that the Services will be consistent with any warranty offered by the original equipment manufacturer.  Our performance of the Services should, under no circumstances, be taken as a guarantee that the Services will be successful, that all or any of your Data is recoverable or will be useable, that the Mobile Phone will be capable of being used or that we will achieve any other particular result.

5.9 Bell ICT warrants that the RDR client software: (a) is free from program code or programming instructions intentionally designed to disrupt, disable, harm, interfere with or otherwise adversely affect computer programs, data files or operations; and (b) contains no other malicious or harmful code typically described as a virus or by similar terms, including trojan horse, worm or backdoor.      

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

6.1 Your Equipment and Data shall at all times remain your property, and we shall have no right, title or interest in or to them (except the right to possession and use of your Equipment and Data to perform the Services).  We retain all right, title and interest in the provision of the Services, including any improvements or enhancements made to the Services.    

7. RIGHTS TO END CONTRACT (CONSUMER CUSTOMERS)

7.1 This Clause 7 applies solely to our Contracts with Consumer Customers.  Following an Order, you have a legal right to change your mind.  These rights, under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, are explained in more detail below.

7.2 During the Free Evaluation, you can cancel at any time.  If you place an Order including any diagnosis, you can cancel within 14 (fourteen) days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your Order. However, once we have completed the Services, you cannot change your mind, even if the period is still running. By placing an Order, you expressly authorise us to commence the Services immediately.  If you cancel after we have started the Services, you must pay us for the Services provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind.  We will tell you what this Fee will be following the cancellation request.

7.3 To cancel the Order, you can do so through one of the following methods of communication by providing your Order number, name, address and cancellation request:

(a) Phone or email. Call customer services on 020 8983 8665 or email us at support@bellict.com;

(b) By post. write to us at 956 Eastern Avenue, Newbury Park, Ilford, Essex IG4 5ND; or

(c) By Cancellation Form: complete and send to us a cancellation form in the format of the Model Cancellation Form included as a Schedule to these Terms.

7.4 The optional diagnosis can be cancelled within 24 hours of the Quotation using the same cancellation methods set out above.  

8. RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT (BUSINESS CUSTOMERS)

8.1 This Clause 8 applies solely to our Contracts with Business Customers. Following an Order, you shall not be able to terminate the Services unless set out in clause 9 below.

9. MUTUAL TERMINATION RIGHTS

9.1 Without affecting any other right or remedy available to either Party, each Party may terminate the Contract with immediate effect by giving written notice if:

(a) Either Party commits a material breach of any term of the Contract which breach is irremediable or (if such breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within a period of 7 (seven) days after being notified in writing to do so or repeatedly breach these Terms.  A failure to pay the Fee shall constitute a material breach; or

(b) either Party ceases (or threatens to cease) to trade all or part of its business, has a liquidator, receiver or administrative receiver appointed to it or over any part of its undertaking or assets or passes a resolution for its winding up (otherwise than for the purpose of a bona fide scheme of solvent amalgamation or reconstruction where the resulting entity shall assume all of the liabilities of it) or a court of competent jurisdiction makes an administration order or liquidation order or similar order, or enters into any voluntary arrangement with its creditors, or is unable to pay its debts as they fall due, or, if an individual, becomes bankrupt.

9.2 We may terminate the Contract if, by performing the Contract, we may breach applicable export and sanctions laws relating to dealings with certain companies and individuals set by the European Commission or other national authorities, including the United States.          

9.3 Following termination, you shall be responsible for all sums owing to us which shall become payable immediately.  

10. CUSTOMER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

10.1 You hereby acknowledge and warrant to us that: (i) you are legally capable of entering into binding contracts; (ii) you have full authority, power and capacity to agree to these Terms and if you are a Business Customer have the appropriate legal authority to conclude the Contract; (iii) all the information that you provide to us in connection with your Order is true, accurate, complete and not misleading; (iv) you are the owner of the Equipment and/or have the permission from the owner of the Equipment for us to perform the Services;  (v) your supply of your Equipment and/or Data to us will not breach any obligations or rights of any third parties; (vi) your supply of your Equipment and/or Data to us will not breach any applicable law; (vii) you are legally permitted to grant access to the Data; (viii) your Equipment does not contain any material (including without limitation any Data) which may infringe the Intellectual Property Rights of any third party; and (ix) your Equipment does not contain any material which will breach applicable law.  We reserve the right to request documentary evidence of your ownership or legal right to authorise the Services and to suspend or not commence the Services without receipt of such evidence.

10.2 You hereby acknowledge that your Equipment and/or Data may already be damaged prior to our receipt of them, and that our efforts to complete the Services may result in the destruction of, or any further damage to, your Equipment and/or Data. We will take reasonable care in performing the Services, but will not, save as specified in Clause 12 of these Terms, bear any responsibility for existing or additional damage that may occur to your Equipment and/or Data during our performance of the Services.

11. PRICE AND PAYMENT

11.1 The price of the Services will be the Fee as set out in the relevant Quotation. VAT shall be added at the statutory rate and, if applicable, is payable by the Customer.

11.2 How you must pay. Payment can be by cash, bank transfer or credit/debit card.  If you pay by credit/debit card Bell ICT will send you a payment link to a secure 3^rd party payment platform to complete the payment process once the work is completed. Some Services, such as file listings (see Service Description) are payable prior to commencement of the Services. For other Services, following completion of the Order, payment must be made to Bell ICT before any recovered Data is returned. Business Customers that apply for credit terms must pay their invoice within the agreed terms, subject to providing Bell ICT with a signed acceptance of our order or a valid purchase order.

11.3 If you fail to pay to us any amount due under these Terms we may retain the Equipment and Data until you make full payment.  If you do not make full payment within 90 (ninety) calendar days of the due date we may, without liability or consulting you further, dispose of your Equipment and/or Data in line with applicable law.  We will also charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate of Barclays Bank plc from time to time. This interest will accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment.

11.4 No Data will be provided by Bell ICT until payment has been made in full for the applicable Order.

12. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU

12.1 We do not accept responsibility for any corruption of, or physical or other damage to, or destruction of your Equipment, your Data, or any other equipment that may occur, or invalidation of any warranties in respect of your Equipment or other equipment, either: prior to our receiving your Equipment, your Data, or other equipment; or in the course of our providing the Services where such damage, destruction, corruption or invalidation arises from our performing the Services in accordance these Terms.

12.2 Whilst we will use reasonable endeavours to take care of your Equipment or Data whilst in our possession, we will not be responsible to you if any of your Equipment or Data is lost, destroyed, corrupted or otherwise damaged through fair wear and tear.

12.3 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; and for Consumer Customers, for breach of your legal rights in relation to the Services and for defective Services under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

12.4 Subject to the provisions of this clause 12, our total liability to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with a Contract shall be limited to (i) in cases of breach of confidentiality, data protection or intellectual property, the greater of £10,000 or the value of the Fee payable under the applicable Contract; or (ii) in any other case, the value of the Fee payable under the Contract.

12.5 Neither Party shall be liable to the other, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with these Terms or any Contract for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profits or loss of sales or business.

12.6 Use of Couriers.  In collecting your Equipment prior to the commencement of the Services, or in delivering the recovered Data and/or original Equipment, we outsource such service to nationally recognised courier companies.  By agreeing to us using them for the Services, you agree that any loss or damage to the Equipment or Data shall be expressly subject to the terms and conditions provided by the applicable courier company, including limitations of liability and compensation limits.  You hereby waive all right to bring any claim against Bell ICT for any loss or damage to Data or Equipment arising from negligence and/or breach of contract by the courier company beyond any compensation scheme set out by them.  

13. INDEMNITY

13.1 You shall indemnify us in full against and hold us harmless from all claims, costs, damages, liabilities, expenses (including without limitation legal expenses) demands and judgments awarded against or incurred or paid by us as a result of or in connection with any and all of your acts, inactions and/or omissions connected with the Contract and these Terms.

14. HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA (CONSUMER CUSTOMER AND BUSINESS CUSTOMER CONTACT DATA

14.1 We will use the personal data you provide to us to supply the Services to you and to process your payment for the Services.  Providing your personal data is voluntary, however, Bell ICT may be unable to provide the Services if you choose not to provide your personal data or withdraw consent at any time.  We collect your personal data: (i) when you contact us via email, telephone or by any other means and (ii) in the ordinary course of our relationship with you when providing Services (including personal data we obtain in the course of administering your payments).

14.2 The purposes for which we process your personal data include: (i) to provide the Services and fulfil your Order; (ii) obtaining your views on our Services, and (iii) with the appropriate legal permission, direct marketing.

14.3 We may disclose your personal data to other entities of Bell ICT, a full list of which is provided in our Privacy Policy, and to (i) legal and regulatory authorities for the purposes of reporting any actual or suspected breach of applicable law or regulation; (ii) our accountants, auditors, lawyers and other outside professional advisors; (iii) third party Processors (such as payment services providers; shipping/courier companies; technology suppliers, processors who provide compliance services).  The purpose of disclosure to other entities is to fulfil our contractual obligations towards you or for legitimate business purposes, in accordance with applicable law. We have implemented security measures described in our Privacy Policy and all entities are under an obligation to implement security measures ensuring a high level of protection.

14.4 Without affecting any of your statutory rights, you shall at any time have the right to: (i) access and obtain information about the nature, processing or disclosure of your personal data; (ii) rectify your personal data; (iii) request, on legitimate grounds, erasure or restriction of processing of your personal data; (iv) object, on legitimate grounds, to the processing of your personal data; (v) request to have your personal data transferred to another controller; (vi) withdraw your consent to processing of personal data; and (vii) lodge complaints with the applicable Data Protection Authority.

14.5 By agreeing to these Terms, you are also agreeing to the storage and use of your personal data pursuant to the terms of our Privacy Policy, which is available at www.bellict.com

15. HOW WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA (RECOVERED DATA)

15.1 By agreeing to these Terms, in respect of any recovered Data, our Customers are also agreeing to the storage and use of your personal data pursuant to the terms of our Data Processing Agreement.

16. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

16.1 Each party agrees to not disclose any Confidential Information of the other party to any third party without the prior written authorisation of the party disclosing the Confidential Information and to:  (i) use such Confidential Information only for the purposes of carrying out its obligations pursuant to these Terms; (ii) use the same methods and degree of care to prevent disclosure of such Confidential Information as it uses to prevent disclosure of its own proprietary and Confidential Information but in no event less than reasonable care; and (iii) disclose Confidential Information to its employees and approved third parties, only on a need-to-know basis provided that all such persons are bound by duties of confidentiality no less onerous than are set out in these Terms.

16.2 Confidentiality obligations shall not apply to any Confidential Information: (i) which enters the public domain through no fault of the recipient party; (ii) which was known to the recipient party prior to receipt from the other party; (iii) which is disclosed to the recipient party by a third party (other than employees or agents of either party) in circumstances that such disclosure is not in violation of any confidentiality obligation to the party disclosing the Confidential Information; or (iv) which is independently developed by the recipient party without recourse to Confidential Information.

17. OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS

17.1 This Contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.  Each of the paragraphs of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful and/or unenforceable, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.  If we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, this will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.

17.2 We may change the Services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the Services. In addition, we may make more material changes to these Terms or the Services, but if we do so we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the Contract before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any Services paid for but not received.

17.3 As well as any other rights you have under law or regulation, if you are resident in the European Union, you may have the option to submit complaints on the European Union’s Online Dispute Resolution platform (the “Platform”) which facilitates the settlement of disputes online.  For more information, please visit the Platform on https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/.  Bell ICT does not intend to use the Platform to settle disputes and you accept that Bell ICT is under no obligation to use the Platform to settle any disputes.

17.4 These terms are governed by English law and each Party may bring legal proceedings in the courts of England and Wales.

Schedule - Model cancellation form

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)

To

[TRADER'S NAME, ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER AND, WHERE AVAILABLE, FAX NUMBER AND E-MAIL ADDRESS TO BE INSERTED BY THE TRADER]

I/We* hereby give notice that I/We* cancel my/our* contract of sale of the following goods*/for the supply of the following service*,

Ordered on*/received on*,

Name of consumer(s),

Address of consumer(s),

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),

Date

*Delete as appropriate

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