Terms & Conditions of Trade

1 - Definitions: Bournemouth IT Solutions Ltd. incorporates BournemouthITSolutions; PooleITSolutions and ChristchurchITSolutions, trading as Bournemouth IT Solutions or BITS; hereinafter referred to as “BITS”. BITS is a small limited company registered in England, number 7216794 with its registered office at: Gild House, 72 Norwich Avenue West, Bournemouth. BH2 6AW.

The customers of BITS may include individuals, unincorporated businesses, partnerships, limited companies and other organisations or anyone requiring the services of BITS; hereinafter referred to as “the customer”.

“Item” within this document refers to any article, software, hardware and associated accessories or other tangible objects belonging to the customer that is the subject of any discussion with BITS. Item is also inferred to be singular or plural.

2 - The £30 Fee: There will be a charge of £30 in the following cases. The fee will cover the time spent on fault diagnosis, re-assembly of the item and cost of collection & return of the item if applicable. (We may waive the fee at our discretion):

(a) Diagnosis is free if the customer goes ahead with the repair. A £30 fee will be charged if the customer does not wish to go ahead with the repair after the item has been diagnosed.

(b) A £30 fee will be charged if no fault is found (NFF) after diagnosing an item.

(c) A £30 fee will be charged if the repair process is halted due to unavailability of parts necessary for the repair, thereby cancelling the repair by default and the item returned to customer without repair.

(d) Some repairs may require the customer to purchase a new or updated product key or software for the reinstallation of the operating system (for example Windows). If the customer decides not to purchase the product key or software, meaning that the repair cannot be carried out, the £30 fee will be charged. BITS will be pleased to quote the customer for obtaining any necessary product key or software. If any necessary product key or software is not purchased, BITS will return the item in its present unrepaired state.

(e) A £30 fee will be charged if the customer cancels the repair after it has been agreed upon and the item has been received. If BITS has purchased any parts necessary to effect the repair, this charge will be passed on to the customer.

(f) In the event of an item returned under the 100 day guarantee, where the item is found to have a fault that is not covered by the guarantee as stated in the invoice, a £30 fee will be charged. However if the customer wishes to go ahead to repair the new fault found, we will waive the £30 fee, and this new fault will be subject to our standard terms and conditions.

(g) No-fix No-fee means, in the unlikely event that we cannot repair your item, we will return it to you free of charge. The exception to the rule is data recovery. If the data is non-recoverable, the customer will not be liable to pay the labour charge, but a fee of £30 will be applied.

3 - Data Recovery / Back up of Computerised Data: BITS strongly recommends that all customers back up their computerised data on a regular basis and before any item is given to or left with BITS for any reason. If required BITS will recover / back up data on its premises before any work commences, if it is possible, but cannot guarantee this. BITS will in no way be responsible for any loss of business or data or software due to any failure of the system. The customer is 100% responsible for backing up such data.

4 - Collection and Return: BITS offers a collection and return service (hereinafter called a “visit”) within a 10 mile radius of its trading premises, but reserves the right to withdraw or alter this service at any time. Where a customer has made an arrangement for a visit by BITS and the customer is not at the agreed premises at the agreed time and date on arrival of BITS representative, then for any subsequent visit BITS reserves the right to charge £25 per visit.

Customers may collect or deliver to BITS during normal hours of opening. It is recommended that customers telephone prior to setting out, to confirm that BITS personnel will be available.

5 - Free Loan of a Laptop Computer: “Laptop” refers to a laptop computer and accessories. BITS offers, at its discretion, a free loan of a laptop whilst a customer’s laptop, PC or similar is with BITS for repair. BITS reserves the right to verify the identity of the customer, to its own satisfaction, by sight of suitable documentation. BITS will load a suitable operating system, wherever possible, as well as word processing software. The customer is responsible for loading any personal data that they require whilst the laptop is on loan. At the end of the loan period BITS recommends that the customer deletes all personal data. BITS does undertake to wipe all software and files at the end of the loan period at its premises. BITS cannot be held responsible for loss or theft of data if the laptop computer is stolen or mislaid before the process of wiping the hard drive has occurred.

When collecting/delivering/returning the customer’s item and the returning of the BITS loaned laptop, the customer should at that time have removed any data from the loaned laptop they wish to retain. BITS will make an hourly charge of £25 if its representatives have to wait whilst this is done – or – if the customer wishes to retain the BITS loaned laptop for a further 48 hours to accomplish this, then there will be a fee of £15 per day.

The customer is responsible for the care of the BITS loaned laptop whilst on loan to the customer. Any damage will be charged at the cost of repair or replacement, whichever is the lesser amount. Should the loaned laptop not be returned, for whatever reason, within 5 working days of a request by BITS to return it, or if the laptop is lost, stolen or for any reason is unable to be returned to BITS, then the customer will be liable for a charge of £500. The ownership of the laptop is transferred to the customer and becomes the customer’s property.

6 - Unclaimed Items: Once the customer’s item has been repaired, declared irreparable or awaiting a response from the customer after a quotation has been given, it must be collected within 60 days from the time the customer is informed. If the customer fails to collect the said item, the customer will lose ownership of the item. BITS reserves the right to dispose of the item.

7 - Quotations: Where the customer requires a quotation, it must be accepted or rejected within 3 days of it being quoted. This applies to customers whose item is already at BITS premises awaiting repair. The quotation may be intimated by email, telephone, text or post. If the customer fails to either accept or decline the quotation, the item will be regarded as ‘Unclaimed Items’ (See number 6).

8 - Payment: BITS accepts payment by cash, online payment or a guaranteed cheque. Online payment must be received in the BITS bank account prior to return/collection of the repaired item or where BITS sees the transaction being made and enacted on return/collection of the repaired item. If the customer has received the repaired item in good faith, but has not made a payment, that Payment is due within 14 days of the invoice date.

Once the customer has agreed to any work being undertaken, BITS reserves the right to ask for full or part payment prior to the work being commenced. Where part or full payment is still pending, it will be required on collection/return of the repaired item.

Should payment not be received on the due date, a cheque not honoured or an online payment not received or is reversed, then BITS will charge interest as detailed in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 which allows interest to be charged at 8% over the Bank of England Base rate and allows recovery of other expenses (http://payontime.co.uk).

Any item received for repair, will remain the property of BITS until the invoice is paid in full within a maximum period of 60 days. If the invoice is still not paid, then the customer will lose ownership of the item. BITS reserves the right to dispose of the item.

BITS takes the non-payment of its invoices very seriously and does pursue outstanding accounts.

9 - Discounts: Any discounts offered are only applicable to labour charges.

10 - Guarantee: BITS offers a 100 day guarantee (unless stated otherwise) on hardware repairs only. However, in the case of motherboard replacements, the customer will only receive the guarantee which is offered by the third-party seller.

If BITS believes that the item has been misused or tampered with in anyway, the guarantee will be rendered void. Problems with Operating Systems, games and other software are not included and are the responsibility of the software publisher.
In the event of a guarantee return where a hardware repair has been done with no parts purchased, we will do our best to repair it. However, if the guarantee repair requires any parts, the customer should pay for them. If the customer wishes not to pay for the parts, BITS will return the item without repair to the customer and no part/full refund of the costs of the original repair will apply.

If a hardware repair is undertaken and any of the parts provided / installed fail after the 100 day guarantee period is over, but still has some manufacturer’s warranty, we can undertake the repair, however, a labour charge will apply.

11 - Complaints: Any complaints must be advised to BITS as soon as possible and within 7 days of the problem occurring. BITS will try to rectify any problems at this point. If the complaint is not rectified to the customer’s satisfaction then the complaint should be put in writing to be received within 7 days. BITS will investigate and its decision is final.

12 - Reporting of anything suspicious: BITS will report to the relevant authorities anything BITS believes to be suspicious with regard to any files, software or similar found on a customer’s item or on a loaned laptop on its return to BITS.

13 - Disclaimer: BITS accepts no liability in respect of any problem(s) it may not be able to remedy due to any matter beyond its control. This includes, but is not limited to the age, specification or condition of the customer’s item.

Under no circumstances shall BITS be liable, either in contract, tort or otherwise, to the customer, its employees, agents, or any third party, for any injury or damages, including without limitation, any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages, expenses, costs, profits, lost savings or earnings, interruption to business activity, lost or corrupted data, or other liability arising out of, or related to the services provided by BITS, or out of the installation, de-installation, use of, or inability to use the customer’s computer equipment, hardware, software or peripherals. The customer will, upon demand, indemnify BITS in respect of any loss, damage or injury arising from the provision of the services. For the avoidance of doubt BITS has no liability for customer data lost, or damage incurred in any circumstances whatsoever.