Terms & Conditions
Last Updated: 26th February 2024
THIS IS AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (“YOU”, “YOUR”) AND DOT ACADEMY (“WE”, “US”, “OUR”, “THE CLUB”) GOVERNING YOUR USAGE OF ALL SERVICES PROVIDED, INCLUDING OFFLINE AND ONLINE SERVICES.
Acceptance of this Agreement
You must be 16 years of age or older in order to enter into a binding agreement in order to accept this Agreement. If you do not agree with any of the terms, do not use our online or offline services. You can accept the Agreement by checking a checkbox indicating acceptance of the Agreement, upon selecting a membership level at membership sign-up, or by booking any of our classes or consulting services, where this agreement will be implicitly accepted upon booking.
Description of Service
DOT Academy is a Private Club and consulting service aimed at providing advice, practical tuition and online resources (“Service” or “Services”) in respect to the training of companion dogs by educating their owners in aspects of dog obedience and behaviour training, so that they may train their dog to an obedience level that they determine is suitable is best for both them and their dog.
Terminology
To “Handle” or to be “Handling” your dog, means that you are the one in control of the dog. The “Handler” is the one who is in control of the dog and may differ from the owner.
“Events” refers to any activity that is determined to be an event by the Club, including but not limited to, training classes, talks, seminars, competitions, walks and outings.
Membership
DOT Academy in a Private Club and requires this Agreement to be accepted in order to join. All Services provided by the Club are not publicly available and require a membership and acceptance of this Agreement to access. Membership options may change without notice. You will be notified of any changes to this Agreement by notification on our website, or by email and your continued membership will be your acceptance of these changes. You are able to manage and cancel your membership at any time through the account management area of the website. The Club retains the right to terminate your membership at any time under the terms of this Agreement.
Fees and Payments
The Services provided by the Club are available under various membership subscription plans. With the exception of the “Free” subscription plan, all other plans will be automatically renewed on a monthly basis unless you downgrade to a free subscription. Payments for subscription plans can be made only by Credit (or Debit) Card. At the time of the automatic renewal, the subscription fee will be charged to the Credit Card last used by you. We provide you the option of changing the details, through your membership account, if you would like the payment for the renewal to be made through a different Credit Card. If you do not wish to renew the subscription, you can cancel at any time through your membership account, or downgrade to a free membership option. If you have not downgraded to a free subscription or cancelled your subscription, you will be presumed to have authorised the Club to charge the subscription fee to the Credit Card last used by you.
From time to time, we may change the price of any membership or charge for Memberships, Events or Services that are currently available free of charge. Any increase in charges will not apply until expiry of your then current billing cycle. You will not be charged for using any Service unless you have opted for a paid Membership.
There will be a charge for any Event held by the Club to anybody on a Free Membership plan, unless otherwise stated prior to signing up for the Event. Fees for an Event are free or discounted for those who hold a Paid Membership Subscription.
Fees for classes are to be paid upfront in full prior to attending class and reserves a place.
Fees for private consultations are paid upon booking of the consultation and confirms the appointment.
Block Sessions
Private consultation block sessions, are to be taken within 3 calendar months of the booking date. Sessions that are not taken after this period will be lost, can no longer be utilised and will be deemed “expired”.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations are handled as follows:
Where a cancellation is requested less than 24 hours prior to a private consultation, class or other session, the full amount of the session will required to be paid and will not be refunded, as the place is unlikely to be filled.
Where a cancellation is requested more than 24 hours prior to a private consultation, class or other session, it may be a possibility to re-arrange the session subject to availability and at the discretion of DOT Academy.
Refunds will not be given in any event (see “Refund Policy”).
Refund Policy
Refunds will not be given for any membership, or part membership, to the Club at any time or after cancellation of a membership subscription.
Refunds for purchased events, classes or private consultations will not be given.
Responsibility and Liability
The Club advises owners on aspects of dog obedience training. It is your responsibility to handle and train your own dog following the training advice given by an employee, representative or trainer of the Club. You will therefore accept full responsibility for the welfare and safety of both you and your dog at all times while partaking in any Event held by the Club. It is your responsibility to ensure that any advice or guidance given by any representative of the Club is in the best interests of you and your dog.
Although activities are designed to improve the obedience and sociability levels of your dog, you can decline at any time to take part in any activity or part thereof. There is no requirement for you to follow any advice given and you alone must decide whether you wish to follow any advice or guidance and whether there is any risk to you or your dog in undertaking such advice and guidance. You also accept full responsibility for your welfare and the welfare of your dog if you agree to follow any technique, activity or advice given by an employee, trainer or representative of the Club.
If you give your permission for an employee, trainer or representative of the Club to handle your dog in order to assist with training techniques, you retain responsibility for your dogs safety and welfare. You are liable for any damage or injury caused by you or your dog, in the event your dog causes damage in any way whatsoever, to any other dog, member, participant, venue or venue property, or a representative of the Club, whether you are handling your dog or whether you have given permission for a representative of the Club or another member, to handle your dog. The Club will not accept any liability for the behaviour of you or your dog and any damage or injury caused by you or your dog.
It is solely your responsibility to work with your dog outside of the activities of the Club, in order to improve your dogs obedience level and behaviour. The idea of obedience training classes is to communicate methods of training and dog-human behaviour and interaction, practice techniques and to highlight any issues you or your dog are having in relation to training. These techniques need to be practiced outside of these classes and on a regular and consistent basis in order for new behaviours to be retained, by both you and your dog. This can never be accomplished solely at a short-interval obedience class or meetup.
The Club and any representative of the Club will not accept any responsibility or liability for the welfare of you and your dog, any damage or injury caused by you or your dog, any injury to you or your dog, any damage or injury caused by you or your dog to other members or participants, or any damage caused by you or your dog to any venue or venue staff, in any event, while partaking in any Event run by the Club.
Your dog is totally your responsibility at all times.
Personal Information and Privacy
Communications from The Club
Your membership to the Club may include certain communications, such as announcements, administrative messages and newsletters. You agree that these communications shall be considered as part of holding a membership subscription to the Club, or if you have purchased any product or service from the DOT Academy. As part of our policy to provide you total privacy, we also provide you the option of opting out from receiving newsletters from us. However, you will not be able to opt-out from receiving administrative messages.
Inactive User Accounts Policy
We reserve the right to terminate unpaid user accounts that are inactive for a continuous period of 180 days. In the event of such termination, all data associated with such user account will be deleted.
Disclaimer of Warranties
YOU EXPRESSLY COMPREHEND AND AGREE THAT THE USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS BASIS. THE CLUB EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE CLUB MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE. USE OF ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES SHALL BE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOU COMPUTER SYSTEM, MOBILE TELEPHONE, WIRELESS DEVICE OR DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER WRITTEN OR ORAL, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM THE CLUB, ITS EMPLOYEES OR REPRESENTATIVES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE AGREEMENT.
Limitation of Liability
YOU AGREE THAT THE CLUB SHALL, IN NO EVENT, BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER LOSS, INJURY OR DAMAGE WHATSOEVER OR FOR LOSS, INJURY OR ILLNESS OF YOU OR YOUR DOG ARISING OUT OF OR CAUSED BY YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE ANY SERVICE OR FOLLOW ANY ADVICE, EVEN IF THE CLUB HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE, INJURY OR LOSS. IN NO EVENT SHALL DOT ACADEMY’S ENTIRE LIABILITY TO YOU IN RESPECT OF ANY SERVICE, WHETHER DIRECT OR INDIRECT, EXCEED ONE HUNDRED POUNDS (£100).
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Club, its officers, directors, employees, suppliers, partners and affiliates, from and against any losses, damages, fines and expenses (including lawyer’s fees and costs) arising out of or relating to any claims that you have used the Services in violation to another party’s rights, in violation of any law, in violations of any provisions of the Agreement, or any other claim related to your use of the Services, except where such use is authorised by the Club.
Suspension and Termination
We may suspend your user account or temporarily disable access to whole of part of any Service in the event of any suspected bad behaviour or illegal activity.
In addition, we reserve the right to terminate your membership and deny access to Services upon reasonable belief that you have violated the Agreement. You have the right to terminate your membership if the Club breaches its obligations under this Agreement. Termination of Membership will include denial of access to all Services, deletion of information in your user account, such as your email address and password, and deletion of all data in your user account.
Modification of Terms and Conditions
We may modify this Agreement upon notice to you at any time through a service announcement or by sending you email to your primary email address. If we make significant changes to the Agreement that affect your rights, you will be provided with at least 30 days advance notice of changes by email to your primary email address. You may terminate your use of the Services, through the management portal of your user account, if the Agreement is modified in a manner that substantially affects your rights in connection with the use of the Services. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any change to the Agreement will be deemed to be your agreement to the modified Agreement.