Legal
Terms & Conditions
The agreement between SideQuest Services and our clients.
1. Who You Are Contracting With
This website is operated by SideQuest Services, a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Shane Albertyn.
- Trading name: SideQuest Services
- Legal status: Sole proprietorship (not a registered company)
- Owner: Shane Albertyn
- Trading address: Windgate Park, Pretoria East, Gauteng, 0153, South Africa
- Email: support@sidequestservices.co.za
- Telephone: 082 042 1460
- Website: sidequestservices.co.za
- VAT: Not registered for VAT. Prices exclude VAT and no VAT is charged.
These details are provided in accordance with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA). In these terms, "we" and "us" mean SideQuest Services, and "you" means the client.
Which document applies
These terms, together with the written quote or invoice we send you, form our agreement for web design, development, hosting, SEO, IT support and the SideQuest Services CRM.
If you subscribe to MediStockZA, that subscription is governed by the MediStockZA Service Level Agreement, which you sign separately. Where the Service Level Agreement and these terms deal with the same subject and say different things, the Service Level Agreement applies to your MediStockZA subscription and these terms continue to apply to everything else we do for you.
2. Scope of Services
SideQuest Services provides digital and web services including web design, website development, domain and hosting setup assistance, custom software development, AI-assisted Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and IT support. We also provide the SideQuest Services CRM as an included tool on monthly packages, and MediStockZA as a separately subscribed product.
Custom software means business software written for your operation — stock control, job cards, quoting, scheduling, reporting and similar. It is governed by section 5, which differs from the website terms in section 4 on one important point: ownership. Read both before you commission either.
The specific services we will provide to you, and what they cost, are set out in the written quote or invoice we send you. That quote, together with these terms, forms our agreement.
Features described anywhere as planned, coming or in development are not part of what you are buying until they are released and made available to you.
3. Quotes, Fees and Payment
Everything is quoted in writing first
Because every build is different, the prices shown on our website are indicative and marked as a custom quote. Before any work starts we send you a written quote setting out the full price for the work described. That quoted figure is the total you pay for that scope of work — there are no administration fees, setup fees or other charges added later.
VAT
Not registered for VAT. Prices exclude VAT and no VAT is charged. If our VAT status changes, billing will be adjusted in accordance with applicable law and we will tell you in writing before it affects your invoices.
What is not included
Anything outside the scope described in your quote is charged separately and only after you have approved a further written quote. Third-party costs that we pay on your behalf — for example a premium domain, a paid plugin or a stock image licence — are listed separately and passed on at cost.
Deposit on once-off projects
Once-off website builds and custom software projects are split in two. A 50% deposit of the quoted total is payable before work begins, and the remaining 50% is payable on delivery, before the site is published live or the software is handed over.
The deposit is payment towards the quoted total, not an additional charge. It is not a booking fee and it is not forfeited by default — if the project does not run to completion, the deposit is reconciled against the work actually done, as set out in section 20.
Monthly support packages and MediStockZA subscriptions carry no deposit. They are billed monthly.
Payment
Payment details appear on each invoice. Invoices are payable on the due date shown on the invoice. Monthly fees are payable monthly in accordance with the agreed billing arrangement.
4. Web Design, Development & SEO
Billing workflow
A 50% deposit of the quoted total books the work in and starts it. We then design and build your website and demonstrate the completed build to you. Once you are satisfied, we invoice the remaining 50%. The website is published live to the public domain upon receipt of valid Proof of Payment (POP) for that balance.
You therefore see the finished build before you pay the second half, and nothing goes live until the account is settled.
Revisions & scope creep
Web design packages include a set number of revisions as outlined in the initial quote. Any additional design changes, pages, or features requested outside the original scope of work will be quoted and billed separately.
Client content
You are responsible for providing all text, images, and branding materials for the website. You confirm that you own the copyright in that material or have permission to use it.
Ownership of the finished website
We retain ownership of the website's code and design structure until the final invoice is paid in full, at which point ownership of that website transfers to you. This transfer does not extend to our own underlying tools, libraries, frameworks or reusable components, which remain ours and which you may continue to use as part of your website. Hosting and domain management remain services we provide, subject to an active monthly package.
SEO
We apply current best-practice and AI-assisted optimisation techniques to improve search visibility. Search engines control their own algorithms, so we cannot and do not guarantee a particular ranking, specific search placements, or traffic volumes. What we commit to is doing the work properly.
5. Custom Software Development
This section applies to business software we write for you. It does not apply to websites, which are covered by section 4, and it does not apply to MediStockZA, which has its own Service Level Agreement.
How a project runs
We agree the scope in writing first — what the software must do, and what it will cost. A 50% deposit starts the work and the balance is payable on delivery, as set out in section 3. Larger projects may be split into stages with their own payment points; where that happens, the stages are set out in your quote.
Ownership and your licence
This is the part that differs from a website, so it is stated plainly.
SideQuest Services retains ownership of the software, its source code and its underlying components. You do not receive ownership of the code, and you do not receive the source code unless we have separately agreed in writing that you do.
What you receive on full payment is a paid-up, perpetual, non-exclusive and non-transferable licence to use the software in your own business, for as long as you wish. The licence does not expire, is not tied to a monthly package, and cannot be withdrawn because you later stop buying other services from us. You may use it across your own sites and staff.
The licence does not permit you to resell, sublicense, redistribute or commercially exploit the software, or to provide it or its code to another developer for replication. Section 7 sets out the restrictions in full.
If your project needs source code ownership or an escrow arrangement — some funders and larger clients require it — say so before we quote. It is a different commercial arrangement and it changes the price, but it is one we can do. What we will not do is leave it ambiguous.
Your data inside the software
The records you create in software we build are yours, as set out in section 9. Our ownership of the code gives us no claim over what you put into it. You can ask for an export of your data at any time.
Defects after delivery
For 30 days after delivery we will fix, at no charge, any defect where the software does not do what the agreed scope said it would. Report it to us in writing within that period and we will correct it.
The 30-day period covers defects, not changes. New features, changes to agreed behaviour, work caused by changes in your own systems or third-party services, and problems arising from modifications made by anyone other than us, are quoted separately. After 30 days, ongoing fixes and enhancements are either quoted per job or covered by a monthly support package.
Nothing in this section limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, including the right to goods and services that are reasonably suitable for their intended purpose.
Hosting and running costs
Software we build may depend on third-party hosting, databases, email delivery or other paid services. Where those carry an ongoing cost, it is identified in your quote and is separate from the build price. Section 15 covers third-party dependencies.
6. SideQuest Services CRM — Licence and Authorised Users
SideQuest Services CRM is a browser-based business management tool we provide. It is included at no additional cost with every active monthly support package (Standard, Standard+ and Premium). There is no separate licence fee and no per-user charge. It is not included with once-off builds.
Your licence
For the duration of an active monthly package, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable licence to access and use the CRM for your own internal business purposes. The licence is a right to use the CRM. It does not transfer ownership of the software, its source code, its system architecture, its workflows, its documentation or its branding.
Authorised users
The CRM is for use by your own business and its staff. Login credentials must not be shared with another business, an unauthorised person, a competitor, a developer or any third party. You are responsible for promptly removing access that is no longer required, and for the actions taken under your accounts.
Availability
The CRM is provided as an included value-added tool on an "as available" basis. It is not sold as a standalone licensed product. We maintain and improve it on an ongoing basis, and features may be added, changed or retired over time. We will give you reasonable notice of any change that materially reduces functionality you rely on.
Access may be suspended alongside other services in the event of non-payment, as set out in section 19.
7. Intellectual Property and Prohibited Use
Our software, tools and platforms — including the SideQuest Services CRM and MediStockZA — and their protected intellectual property remain the property of SideQuest Services and its applicable licensors.
Except where applicable law does not permit a restriction, you and your users may not copy, reproduce, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, extract, scrape, redistribute, resell, sublicense or commercially exploit our software or protected material without our written authorisation.
You may not provide our protected code or confidential technical material to another developer, use it in another application, commission another person to reproduce it, or knowingly provide a competitor or unauthorised third party with access for product replication or unauthorised technical analysis.
Nothing in these terms claims exclusive ownership of a general idea, concept or method that is not legally protectable. Nothing here limits your ownership of the website we build for you once it is paid for, as set out in section 4.
8. Confidentiality
Both of us must protect confidential information received from the other and use it only for legitimate purposes connected with the work. Confidential information includes non-public technical, commercial, security, financial and operational information that would reasonably be understood to be confidential.
Your client data, business strategies and credentials remain confidential. They are never sold, and never shared with external marketing agencies.
9. Your Data
You retain your rights in the information and documents you supply to us, or that are created by or for you in our systems ("your data"), subject to applicable law.
We may host, process, transmit, secure, back up and otherwise handle your data as reasonably required to provide, support and secure the service, to follow your lawful instructions, and to meet our legal obligations.
Our source code, proprietary system configuration and our own intellectual property are not your data.
You can ask us for a copy of your data at any time, and we will provide it in a standard format we support, within a reasonable period.
10. Privacy, POPIA and Data Processing
We handle personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable South African law.
Who is responsible for what
For personal information you enter into our systems for your own purposes — your customer records, your staff details, your suppliers — you ordinarily determine the purpose and means of processing and act as the responsible party. Where we process that information on your instructions, we act as an operator.
We act separately as responsible party for our own business records: subscription administration, billing, support, security and account records. Which role applies depends on the particular processing activity.
Our obligations as operator
Where we act as an operator, we will process personal information with your knowledge or authorisation and in accordance with lawful instructions, treat the information as confidential, maintain reasonable safeguards, and restrict access to authorised persons.
Your obligations
You are responsible for the lawfulness of the personal information you collect and enter, for appropriate privacy notices to the people it concerns, for reasonable data accuracy, for user access controls, and for responding to requests concerning information you control.
Our Privacy Policy sets out in full what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do about it.
11. Security and Security Incidents
We maintain reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the service and the information processed. These may include authentication, access controls, role permissions, secure transmission, logging, backups and incident-response procedures.
You are responsible for reasonable security of your own devices, networks and credentials, and must promptly report suspected compromised credentials or unauthorised access.
If something goes wrong
We will assess, contain and investigate suspected security incidents. Where notification is required by applicable law or by our agreement, the affected party will be informed through a suitable communication channel. Where we act as operator, we will provide you with the information you reasonably need to meet your own obligations as responsible party.
No system is perfectly secure. Where a breach affects personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
12. Automated and AI-Assisted Features
Some of what we build and provide uses automation, rules-based processing, and in places AI-assisted techniques — for example in SEO work, and in features that extract, match or summarise information.
Automated results may contain errors. Where a feature produces an extracted, suggested or forecast value, you must review it before relying on it, particularly where it concerns quantities, prices, product or tax identifiers, dates, invoice or reference numbers, supplier details or payment information.
Automated output is an operational aid. It does not replace your own verification, and it is not professional, financial, tax, legal or clinical advice.
13. Service Availability
We will use reasonable efforts to keep the services we provide available and operational. No 100% uptime guarantee is provided.
Your website is hosted on infrastructure operated by a third-party hosting provider, which monitors availability. We respond to alerts and to issues you report, within the response times set out in your Service Level Agreement where you have one.
Availability may be affected by planned maintenance, emergency security maintenance, your own internet or device failures, third-party outages, force majeure events, authorised suspension, and circumstances outside our reasonable control.
14. Support and Maintenance
Support is available through the contact channels in section 22 and is provided on a reasonable-efforts basis during normal business operations.
We may perform planned or emergency maintenance and may release security updates, bug fixes, performance improvements and new functionality. Where reasonably practicable, material planned downtime will be communicated in advance.
15. Third-Party Services and Platforms
The services we provide may rely on external hosting, email, messaging, storage, telecommunications, APIs, content management systems, plugins and other service providers. We will use reasonable care in managing material providers within our control, but we cannot guarantee the independent availability of every third-party service.
We are not responsible for server outages, data breaches or performance drops caused by third-party hosting companies, content management system updates that break a layout, or external plugin failures. Where such an issue affects you, we will tell you what has happened and work with you and the provider to resolve it.
A message, order, notification or other communication generated through a system we provide does not by itself guarantee successful external delivery, receipt or acceptance.
16. Backups and Recovery
We maintain reasonable backup and recovery arrangements appropriate to the services we provide. Backups are primarily intended for service resilience and disaster recovery. They are not a substitute for your own archival requirements. If you need a copy of your data kept independently of our systems, ask us and we will provide an export.
17. Your Responsibilities
You remain responsible for the accuracy of what you enter into our systems, for verification of your own commercial and financial information, for appropriate staff supervision, and for decisions taken in your business.
Reports, alerts and forecasts produced by our tools are operational aids. You must investigate discrepancies and verify critical information where appropriate.
You are also responsible for keeping your contact and billing details current, and for telling us promptly when the people authorised to act for your business change.
18. Data Retention and Account Closure
Your data and personal information will be retained only for as long as reasonably required for the relevant purpose, contractual obligations, security, disputes, backups and applicable legal requirements. Client and billing records are kept for at least five years, as South African tax legislation requires.
When an engagement or subscription ends, you may request an available export of your data in a standard format we support. Data may thereafter be deleted or de-identified, subject to applicable legal retention requirements and normal backup cycles.
You may ask us to transfer your domain and website files to you or to another provider. We will quote any transfer or administration costs at the time, and we will not unreasonably withhold a transfer where your account is paid up.
19. Suspension and Payment Default
Invoices are payable on the due date shown on the invoice. If an invoice is not paid, we will contact you before taking any action.
We may temporarily suspend access where reasonably necessary because of material non-payment, material breach, suspected account compromise, unlawful use, serious security risk, misuse of a platform, or an emergency technical situation. Where reasonably practicable, we will tell you the reason and the steps required to restore access.
Where an account remains unpaid, we reserve the right to withhold product keys and to suspend or take offline any website we host, after giving you written notice and a reasonable opportunity to settle. Services are restored once the balance is settled.
Domain & hosting asset control
Domain registrations and hosting provided as part of a monthly package are managed and paid for by us for the duration of that package. We are not liable for loss of business or data resulting from a suspension caused by non-payment, but we will not delete your data without first giving you written notice and a reasonable chance to retrieve it.
20. Cancellation, Cooling-Off and Refunds
Monthly packages
Monthly support packages run month to month. There is no fixed term or minimum contract period unless we have agreed one with you in writing.
Either of us may end a monthly package by giving one calendar month's written notice. Email is fine. Services continue, and remain payable, to the end of that notice period. We do not charge a cancellation penalty on monthly packages.
The same one calendar month notice applies to a MediStockZA subscription, as set out in the MediStockZA Service Level Agreement.
Termination for breach
We may terminate for material breach, deliberate unauthorised exploitation of our software, serious unlawful use or persistent non-payment, subject to applicable law and any required notice or opportunity to remedy.
Your statutory right to cancel
Where the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) applies to your agreement with us, nothing in these terms limits your right under section 14 of that Act to cancel a fixed-term agreement by giving 20 business days' written notice. Where the law gives you a shorter notice period than the one above, the shorter period applies.
Seven-day cooling-off on electronic transactions
Where section 44 of ECTA applies — broadly, where you are a natural person and the agreement was concluded entirely electronically — you may cancel within seven days of concluding the agreement, without reason and without penalty. If you asked us to start work during that seven-day period, we may charge a reasonable amount for the work actually performed before you cancelled. Any deposit you have paid is refunded less that amount, within 30 days of the cancellation.
Once-off builds and software projects
Once-off work carries a 50% deposit, as set out in section 3. If a project does not run to completion, that deposit is reconciled, not forfeited.
If you cancel before delivery, we work out the value of what has actually been done to that point — the hours worked and any third-party costs already committed on your behalf, such as a domain, licence or paid plugin. That amount is invoiced against your deposit and the remainder is refunded to you. If the work already done is worth more than the deposit, we will tell you and we will discuss it rather than simply invoicing you for the difference.
We will show you the basis of that calculation in writing. If you disagree with it, section 22 applies.
If we are the ones who cannot complete the work, your deposit is refunded in full less the value of any completed work you choose to keep.
Once the balance has been paid and the site has been published live or the software handed over, the work is complete and fees are not refundable, except where the CPA or ECTA gives you a right to a refund, or where section 5 gives you a free defect fix.
If we get it wrong
If a service we have supplied is defective or not as described, tell us and we will fix it. Where the law entitles you to a refund, repair or replacement, you will get it. Nothing in these terms takes away a right you have under South African law.
What survives
Intellectual property, confidentiality, accrued payment, data-handling and other provisions that by their nature should continue will survive termination.
21. Liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, we are not responsible for loss caused solely by inaccurate information supplied by you, unauthorised sharing of credentials you control, failure to verify critical automated results, hardware or networks you control, or independent third-party outages outside our reasonable control.
We are not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from website downtime, cyber-attacks on third-party servers, or search engine algorithm changes.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability or statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for gross negligence, and nothing limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act.
22. Complaints and Contact
If something is wrong, tell us first — most things are fixed quickly.
- Email support@sidequestservices.co.za or call 082 042 1460, setting out what the problem is and what outcome you are looking for.
- We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 business days and give you a written response within 10 business days.
- If we cannot resolve it between us, you are entitled to escalate. Consumer complaints may be referred to the National Consumer Commission (thencc.org.za). Complaints about how we have handled personal information may be referred to the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).
For MediStockZA specifically, email medistockza@sidequestservices.co.za.
23. Changes, Governing Law and Acceptance
Changes
We may improve or change our services over time. We may also update these terms. The version published on this page is the version that applies, and the date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed. Material changes to contractual, privacy or subscription terms will be communicated through an appropriate channel before they take effect where required.
Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them. We will first attempt in good faith to resolve a dispute through direct written escalation before formal proceedings, except where urgent relief is reasonably required.
Acceptance
These terms, together with your written quote or invoice, constitute the terms applicable to the services we provide to you, unless amended in writing or replaced by a later version accepted in accordance with applicable law.
Questions about these terms? Email support@sidequestservices.co.za or call 082 042 1460.