Terms of Service
Effective Date: January 21, 2023
A. The Terms
1. Acceptance of Terms
- Welcome to AdviceHat (“Service” or “Site”), owned and operated by Strohat, LLC. (“AdviceHat”). By signing up on the account registration or using the Site in any way, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by this Agreement, the Privacy Policy and all rules, policies, and disclaimers posted on the Site or about which you are notified (collectively “Terms”). Please review all of the Terms carefully before using the Site.
- By using the Site, you (i) agree to be bound by the Terms, (ii) represent that you are over the age of thirteen (13) and able to form legally binding contracts, (iii) agree and acknowledge that by using the Service you are accepting a benefit that cannot be disgorged
2. Definitions
- The words “User,” “you” and “your” refer to the individual or entity that creates a AdviceHat account as a Customer and/or Advisor. “AdviceHat,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to AdviceHat. “Customer” refers to the person who asks a question on the Site. “Advisor” refers to the person who answers a question on the Site.
3. Communications and Rights to Modify Terms
- When you visit AdviceHat or send us e-mails, you are communicating with us electronically as well as via e-mail, text message, calls, video calls, and push notifications. You consent to receive communications from us through the means outlined above or by posting notices on the Site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically or through other means, satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You agree to provide us with, and maintain in your AdviceHat account profile, your current and active email address.
- AdviceHat may modify any of the Terms at any time by posting them on the Site. Changes shall automatically be effective upon posting; provided, however, that those changes that AdviceHat, in its sole discretion, deems material changes to the Terms will be effective as to an existing User upon the earlier of: (1) the agreement of the User; or (2) thirty (30) days after notice to the existing User from an @AdviceHat.com email address to the User’s email address on file with AdviceHat or via other means including, but not limited to, a pop-up or banner, message, or other conspicuous notice on the AdviceHat website. If you affirmatively agree to the new terms, your agreement will be effective immediately. You agree to make any and all necessary arrangements so that you (and not your spam filter) receive all emails from AdviceHat email addresses. Your continued use of the Service will signify your acceptance of the changes. If you do not accept the changes, your sole and exclusive remedy is to cancel your account and discontinue using the Site. The latest Terms will be posted on the Site, and you should always review them prior to using the Site.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Disclosure
- Communications from AdviceHat, including its agents, representatives, affiliates, or business partners, may include but are not limited to: operational communications concerning your account or use of the AdviceHat Site, updates concerning new and existing features of the site, marketing information and promotions run by us, our agents, representatives, affiliates, or business partners, and any news concerning AdviceHat.
- By entering your telephone number into the AdviceHat website, you expressly agree to receive communications for the purposes identified above from us, our agents, representatives, affiliates, or business partners, via e-mail, SMS or text messages, WhatsApp messages, phone calls, video calls, and push notifications. You further expressly agree that these communications, including phone calls, SMS or text messages, WhatsApp messages, may be generated using automated technology, such as an automatic telephone dialing system, or artificial or prerecorded voice, and even if your telephone number(s) is listed on any Do-Not-Call lists.
- You represent that for the telephone number(s) that you have provided to us, you are the current subscriber or customary user and that you have the authority to provide the consent described above to be contacted at such number(s). You agree to promptly alert us whenever you stop using a particular telephone number. Standard charges may apply to the receipt of these calls or text messages.
- Opting-out of Promotional Communications. If you wish to opt out of promotional emails, you can unsubscribe from our promotional email list by following the unsubscribe options in the promotional email itself. If you wish to opt out of marketing or promotional calls or texts, text back “STOP” to the number you received outreach from, from the mobile device receiving the messages. You acknowledge that you are not required to consent to receive promotional texts or calls as a condition of using the site or the services provided by non-AdviceHat entities.
- Information collected, including personal information may be shared with affiliates and third-party providers, who will use that information in accordance with their own privacy policies. Please visit our Privacy Policy for more information.
B. The Website
5. AdviceHat is a Venue; Third-Party Content
The AdviceHat Site is a venue for informational and educational purposes, owned and operated by AdviceHat, that exists solely to broker relationships between Advisors and potential Customers of those Advisors who are interested in purchasing their Advisor services. AdviceHat is not in the business of providing or selling information or education that is within any Advisor’s area of Expertise. Users of the Site, not AdviceHat, provide the content in Posts (defined below). The Advisors determine which questions to answer; Advisors are not employees or agents of AdviceHat but are independent service providers using the Site to sell their Advisor knowledge to Customers and, as such, together with Customers, are simply Users of the Site.
AdviceHat is not involved in the conversations between Customers and Advisors. You understand and acknowledge that AdviceHat cannot and does not edit, modify, filter, screen, monitor, endorse or guarantee the content of calls. AdviceHat shall not be liable for any acts or omissions of Advisors, content in Posts or the ability of Advisors to answer questions. We cannot ensure that an Advisor will complete a transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, AdviceHat reserves the right, but is not obligated, to refuse to post or to remove any content and/or remove any User’s access to the Site.
EMERGENCY QUESTIONS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS (particularly regarding medical or mental health issues) should not be directed to the Site and should, instead be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. The Site is not the appropriate venue to deal with such situations.
6. Posts Are Not Private or Confidential; Anonymity
The Site is an Internet-based forum. Information and materials submitted in the content of your calls, questions, answers, requests for information, responses, profiles, signatures, qualifications, documents, pictures, videos, audio, files, links, comments, and posts in the Advisor Forum and other places where Users communicate on the Site (collectively "Posts") is not private or confidential, nor is it protected by attorney-client, doctor-patient, or any other privilege, and it may be read, collected, and used by others. For example, search engines may index your calls, questions, answers, and other Posts to allow them to appear in search engine results (e.g. if someone does a search on google.com or another search engine, your questions, answers, and other Posts on AdviceHat.com that relate to the search may appear in the search results list).
7. No Reliance on the Term “Advisor”
Use of the term "Advisor" by AdviceHat and on the Site is only meant to describe Users who answer questions on the Site, and not to guarantee any particular level of expertise of these Advisors.
AdviceHat cannot warrant or guarantee an Advisor’s purported identity; user identification on the Internet is difficult. For these reasons, AdviceHat cannot and does not represent, warrant or guarantee the truthfulness or accuracy of the credentials or identities of Users and information provided by Users including Advisors. You acknowledge that AdviceHat will not be liable for any loss or damages caused by your reliance on any information or content contained in Posts or on Advisory profiles.
8. Information Not Advice; No Client-Professional Relationship
Answers of Advisors on the Site are provided by Advisors and are to be used by Customers for general information purposes only, not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional (medical, legal, veterinary, tax, financial, etc.) advice. For example, Advisors in the Legal category will provide only general information about the law, and will not provide legal advice nor propose a specific course of action for a Customer. By answering questions, Advisors do not intend to form, and do not form attorney-client or doctor-patient relationships with Users of the Site. The laws, regulations, other governing authorities, standards, practices and procedures that apply to your particular question may differ depending on your location and information typically discovered through in-person evaluations or visits. Advisors in some categories may be licensed, certified, educated, employed by or have experience in only particular jurisdictions.
No professional-client relationships shall be formed on the Site. Communications on this Site are not confidential and shall not be the subject of any associated privileges. Communications on this Site are limited, as described above, do not involve in-person evaluations or visits, and do not include safeguards and procedures typical of in-person evaluations and visits.
C. User Accounts
9. User Accounts; Restricted Activities; Suspension or Termination of Service
User Accounts. When you register as a User on the Site, you can establish a user name. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your user name, and account data, and you may not share this information or your account with anyone else, and you will be solely responsible for all acts or omissions that occur under your account. You will immediately notify AdviceHat of any unauthorized use of your account. You should only create one account on the Site. If your AdviceHat account has been suspended or terminated, you may not open another account on the Site.
You agree to keep your contact and billing information (including but not limited to email address) up-to-date, and to comply with all billing procedures, including providing and maintaining accurate and lawful billing information for active AdviceHat accounts.
Bound by Representatives. You are responsible for and bound by the actions of, and transactions entered into by, your actual and appointed representatives whether authorized by you in writing, verbally, or otherwise to represent you at or with AdviceHat. You are responsible for monitoring your appointed representatives and protecting the privacy of your username, login information and any other account or financial information provided to AdviceHat or its vendors and agree to inform us immediately, in writing, of any unauthorized use of same. If you are checking in or logging in as a representative for anyone other than yourself, you agree that you are a duly appointed and authorized representative for that person or entity and have authority to bind that person or entity to any actions or transactions you conduct.
Restricted Activities. You agree that any content you provide on the Site and your use of our Site or any Additional Services (whether such Additional Services are Informational or Beyond-Information Only, as defined below) initiated through the Site shall not: (a) be fraudulent, inaccurate or misleading; (b) infringe any third party’s proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy (AdviceHat can remove unauthorized use of copyrighted material); (c) be illegal or violate any laws, statute, ordinance, regulation or ethical code; (d) be defamatory, trade libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing; (e) be obscene or contain child pornography or, if otherwise adult in nature or harmful to minors, but without containing child pornography; (f) contain any viruses, Trojan horses, or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (g) create liability for us or cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers; or (h) link directly or indirectly to or include descriptions of goods or services that are prohibited under the Terms or that you do not have a right to link to or include. If you post material that is adult in nature, such material shall be posted with “Mature Audiences Only” in text and appropriate notices to prevent unauthorized underage viewing and shall be distributed only to people legally permitted to receive such content. You may not consummate any transaction that was initiated using our Service that, by paying to us a fee, could cause us to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation. Furthermore, you may not resell or make any commercial use of our system or the content on the Site without AdviceHat’s prior written consent. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age, and if we become aware that a child under the age of 13 has submitted personal information to us, we will promptly remove it from our systems.
Suspension or Termination of Service. Customers may terminate your service and account at your sole discretion and at any time by written notice via e-mail to assistance@advicehat.com. Terminations typically will be effective within thirty business days after our receipt of your termination notice, at which time your account will be closed and you will no longer enjoy access to your former account. Any fees accrued as of the effective date of termination will be payable according to the Terms. The procedure for Advisors to terminate their accounts is set forth in the Advisor Agreement.
At any time, with or without notice, for any or no reason, AdviceHat reserves the right to modify or discontinue any portion or all of the Site or Services, and to restrict, suspend and terminate Customers’ and/or Advisor accounts.
10. Charges, Rating the Advisor, Refund and Cancellation Policy
AdviceHat’s platform allows Customers to post questions to Advisors in subject-matter categories, facilitates communication with Advisors via text, emails, calls, video calls, and online messages, and enables delivery of answers to your questions, among other services (“Site Access Benefits”). Customers on the Site or may be presented with one of one payment model: (1) pay-per-advice model;
Pay-Per-Advice. With the pay-per-advice model, you select the Advisor that you are willing to pay for to ask questions. Once you have selected Advisor and stated your question to the Advisor, you will be asked to pay the price presented on Advisor page. Customers are charged when sending the question to the Advisor.
Rating the Advisor. Advisors typically answer Customers’ requests quickly. Once the Advisor answers your question, you will be asked to rate the Advisor. If you provide a rating of 1 or below, AdviceHat will view the answers to better access your claims, so the Advisor may try to help you better on a later request, Repetitive low ratings for an Advisor may prompt AdviceHat to review the Advisor’s account for any necessary action needed to protect the quality of the service provides
AdviceHat does not guarantee that you will receive a response from an Advisor, or that you will be satisfied with your communication with an Advisor. For Pay-Per-Advice Customers, in the rare instance that no Advisor responds at all to your question, you agree that any amount up to 0.99$ + 5% of the advisor fee that was charged upon posting of your question may be retained by AdviceHat in consideration that these costs may have been incurred as part of payment processing costs, notifications, and other operational costs. See Refunds section below for more information.
Charities. Advisors can choose to declare that they will be donating a portion of their proceeds, up to 100%, to a charitable organization of their choice. This donation happens off-platform, after the platform pays the Advisor their full proceeds, and Strohat, LLC (“AdviceHat”) is in no way affiliated with charitable organizations.
Refunds, Cancellations, Abuse and Special Programs.
No Refunds except as set forth herein. Customers are only eligible for Refunds when the Advisor has not answered their question within 2-4 days from when the question was asked or when the Advisor declined to answer. The Refund amount will be in full, except for 0.99$ + 5% of the advisor fee which will be retained by AdviceHat. That amount will not be refunded, as it may have been incurred as part of payment processing costs, notifications, and other operational costs. A notification to the email provided by the Customer, will be sent notifying them of the Refund issuance. Refunds usually take up to 15-20 business days to be credited to the Customer’s account, depending on their payment method.
AdviceHat maintains the right to initiate special incentive pricing, membership, and other programs. These may be limited, at AdviceHat’s sole discretion, to defined and limited Users or non-Users. Any promotional monies or credits placed into Customer accounts by AdviceHat for use towards Site Access Benefits on the Site remain the property of AdviceHat (they never become the property of Customers and never become refundable to the Customer), and unless otherwise stated on the Site or in an email to a Customer, will be usable only for thirty (30) days.
11. Receipt of Special Offers and Other Communications
By accepting these Terms, you agree to receive coupons, special offers, and other communications from AdviceHat per the terms of the Privacy Policy.
D. Legal Statements
12. Release
Users are responsible for their acts and omissions and content placed on the Site. AdviceHat will not be liable to Users for any disputes that may arise between or among Users.
13. Confidentiality
You acknowledge that AdviceHat and its licensors and suppliers own the rights to the AdviceHat website and the content displayed on the Site. You shall not modify, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code of the AdviceHat website, any software distributed by or assist any other person or entity in doing so. You acknowledge that all content, including, but not limited to, text, software, music, sound, photographs, video, graphics or other material contained in listings, sponsor advertisements or email-distributed, commercially produced information presented to you by the Service, by AdviceHat, AdviceHat Users, or AdviceHat Advertisers or other content providers, is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute in any way content available through the Service, whether done directly or through intermediaries (including, but not limited to, by means of spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers, framing, iframes or RSS feeds) including code and software for commercial purposes. For permission to use third-party materials appearing on the Site, please contact the copyright owner. You do not acquire ownership rights to any content, document or other materials viewed through the Site. The posting of information or materials on the Site does not constitute a waiver of any right in such information and materials.
Any access to or use of AdviceHat to design, develop, test, update, operate, modify, maintain, support, market, advertise, distribute or otherwise make available any program, application or service (including, without limitation, any device, technology, product, computer program, mobile device application, website, or mechanical or personal service) that enables or provides access to, use of, operation of or interoperation with AdviceHat (including, without limitation, to access content, post content, cross-post content, re-post content, respond or reply to content, verify content, transmit content, create accounts, verify accounts, use accounts, circumvent and/or automate technological security measures or restrictions, or flag content) without the prior written authorization of AdviceHat is prohibited. This prohibition specifically applies, but is not limited to, software, programs, applications and services for use or operation on or by any computer and/or any electronic, wireless and/or mobile device, technology or product that exists now or in the future.
If you access AdviceHat or copy, display, distribute, perform or create derivative works from content displayed on the Site or other intellectual property in violation of the Terms of Service or for purposes inconsistent with the Terms of Service, your access, copying, display, distribution, performance or derivative work is unauthorized. Circumvention of any technological restriction or security measure on AdviceHat or any provision of the Terms of Service that restricts content, conduct, accounts or access is expressly prohibited. For purposes of this paragraph, you agree that cached copies of AdviceHat webpages on your computer or computer server constitute as “copies”
You agree that Posts on the Site, materials, ideas, comments and testimonials you submit on the Site or other venues, including, but not limited to, the AdviceHat blogs; the AdviceHat venues on www.facebook.com, www.instagram.com, www.twitter.com, www.linkedin.com, www.youtube.com, www.pinterest.com, plus.google.com, www.flickr.com; the Site administrator; or any employee, officer or agent of AdviceHat (“User Content”), will not be considered confidential and may be used by AdviceHat, in its sole discretion, without any obligation to compensate for use of or to return any submitted materials. You also agree that AdviceHat owns, and has the right to register in its name, trademarks and service marks for any category names that you create on AdviceHat, so do not use a category name that you want to reserve for your own benefit. AdviceHat may use other trademarks or service marks in lieu of the category names that you create.
You grant to AdviceHat a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights, including the right to use, reproduce, display, edit, copy, modify, transmit, publicly perform, extract and create derivative works thereof, that you have in your Posts, recorded calls, and User Content, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to any such Posts and other User Content.
14. No Endorsement of Non-AdviceHat Entity; No Relationship with Users
AdviceHat may endeavor to offer to its Users products and services offered by non-AdviceHat entities. The Site may contain links to third party websites and service providers (collectively, “Third Party Services”) that are not owned or controlled by AdviceHat. AdviceHat has no control over and assumes no responsibility for the content, practices, and privacy policies of such Third Party Services. AdviceHat encourages you to, and you acknowledge that you are solely responsible for, reviewing and complying with any third party terms and conditions and privacy policies. AdviceHat cannot and will not censor or edit the content of any Third Party Service. Placement of information, logos, links or names of such non-AdviceHat entities on the Site does not constitute an endorsement or warranty of these entities, their products or services. By using this Site, you agree that AdviceHat is not responsible for, and you take full responsibility for, a decision to visit or patronize any such Third Party Service or entity, you hold AdviceHat harmless from any and all liability arising from such actions, and you expressly relieve AdviceHat from all liability arising from your use of Third Party Services. You further acknowledge that no relationship (such as partnership, agent, joint venturer, or employee) is created between you and AdviceHat or between any User (including Customers and Advisors) and AdviceHat by formation of this Agreement (or any of the Terms) or by your participation on the Site. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND USEFULNESS OF ANY OPINION, ANSWER OR OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE, FROM THIRD PARTIES OR OBTAINED FROM A LINKED SITE. PLEASE SEEK THE ADVICE OF PROFESSIONALS, AS APPROPRIATE, REGARDING THE EVALUATION OF ANY SPECIFIC OPINION, ANSWER, PRODUCT, SERVICE, OR OTHER CONTENT.
15. Information Control and Storage
We do not control the information provided by Users, which you may find to be offensive, harmful, inaccurate, or deceptive. Please use caution and common sense when using the Site. There are also risks of dealing with underage persons or people acting under false pretenses. Additionally, there may be risks dealing with international trade and foreign nationals. By using this Site, you agree to accept such risks and that AdviceHat is not responsible for the acts or omissions of Users on the Site.
The amount of storage space per User is currently limited. You agree that AdviceHat is not responsible or liable for the deletion or failure to store content and/or other information.
16. Exclusion of Warranties
ADVICEHAT SERVICES, SOFTWARES, AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US THROUGH THIS SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION OR GUARANTEE NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS. ADVICEHAT DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ADVICEHAT DOES NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, FROM THIRD PARTIES OR A LINKED SITE WILL BE CORRECT, ACCURATE, TIMELY, RELIABLE OR OTHERWISE. SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ADVICEHAT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A USER’S RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE, FROM THIRD PARTIES (SUCH AS ADVISORS OR OTHERS) OR A LINKED SITE, OR USER’S RELIANCE ON ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE OBTAINED FROM A THIRD PARTY OR A LINKED SITE. USE OF THIS SITE IS AT USER’S SOLE RISK.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM ADVICEHAT OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.
17. Limitation of Liabilities
IN NO EVENT SHALL ADVICEHAT, ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, JOINT VENTURERS, CONSULTANTS, SUCCESSORS OR ASSIGNS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF BUSINESS, PROFITS, DATA, USE, REVENUE OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE), ARISING OUT OF, OR IN CONNECTION WITH, OUR SITE, OUR SERVICES OR THE TERMS BASED ON ANY THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE LIMITATION OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN US AND YOU. THIS SITE AND THE INFORMATION WOULD NOT BE PROVIDED WITHOUT SUCH LIMITATIONS. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR LIABILITY, AND THE LIABILITY OF OUR PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS, TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT OF FEES YOU PAY TO ADVICEHAT IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACTION GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, OR (B) US$100.
18. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold AdviceHat, its parents, subsidiaries, officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, joint venturers, consultants, successors and assigns harmless from and against all losses, costs, liabilities and expenses including reasonable attorneys’ fees, asserted by any third-party that are in any way due to, or arising out of, your use of or conduct on the Site.
19. Press Releases and Third-Party Press about AdviceHat
The Site may contain press releases and other information about AdviceHat. While this information was believed to be accurate as of the date prepared, we disclaim any duty or obligation to update this information or any press releases. Information about companies other than ours contained in the press release or otherwise, should not be relied upon as being provided or endorsed by AdviceHat. Likewise, third-party press about AdviceHat or the Site should not be relied upon as being provided or endorsed by AdviceHat.
20. Choice of Law
Except as set forth in Section D.21 below, the parties agree that this Agreement and any and all claims, causes of action or disputes (regardless of theory) between you and AdviceHat arising out of or related to this Agreement, the Site and any services or content accessed therein will be governed by the laws of Saudi Arabia, without regard to conflict or choice of law principles.
21. Dispute Resolution
If you are an Advisor with a dispute, claim or controversy of any sort and of any nature (collectively, “dispute”) against AdviceHat in your capacity as an Advisor, then the arbitration agreement in the Advisor Agreement applies instead of this one. If your dispute with AdviceHat is made in your capacity as User who is not an Advisor, then the following dispute resolution provisions apply.
This Section D.21 may be referred to as the parties’ “Dispute Resolution Agreement.” If you have a dispute with AdviceHat or if AdviceHat has a dispute with you and such dispute cannot be resolved informally, such dispute will be resolved on an individual basis in accordance with the provisions set forth below:
(a) Informal Resolution. Prior to initiating mediation or arbitration, the party with a grievance must:
(i) Notify the other party, in writing, of the facts of the dispute and all damages claimed. Such a writing must be sent to the User’s email address on file with AdviceHat, or assistance@AdviceHat.com, whichever is applicable (“Dispute Notification”);
(ii) The party receiving the Dispute Notification has thirty (60) days from receipt of the Dispute Notification to respond.
(iii) The other party then has 30 days to reply to the response.
(b)Mediation.. If the dispute is not resolved informally, either party may make a demand for mediation, with the other party’s consent. If either party requests mediation and both parties consent to mediation, the costs of mediation will be borne equally by the parties.
(c) ARBITRATION. ANY DISPUTE NOT RESOLVED INFORMALLY OR THROUGH MEDIATION SHALL BE RESOLVED BY FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION SO LONG AS SUCH DISPUTES ARISE IN ANY WAY OUT OF THESE TERMS, ANY TRANSACTION WITH ADVICEHAT, YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND/OR ANY ADVICEHAT SERVICE, OR ANY AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND ADVICEHAT.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE ARBITRATOR’S DECISION WILL BE BINDING AND MAY BE ENTERED AS A JUDGMENT IN ANY COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION.
Consent to Jurisdiction in Saudi Arabia: The parties agree that the arbitration will be conducted in Saudi Arabia unless you and AdviceHat agree otherwise.
(d) CLASS ACTION WAIVER. YOU AND ADVICEHAT EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT:
(i) ANY ARBITRATION PROCEEDING WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS;
(ii)YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE YOUR ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, MASS, COLLECTIVE, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING;
(iii)THERE SHALL BE NO CLASS CLAIMS, CONSOLIDATION, OR JOINDER ALLOWED IN ANY ARBITRATION BETWEEN THE PARTIES; (iv) IF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT IS FOUND INAPPLICABLE TO YOUR DISPUTE WITH ADVICEHAT, THIS CLASS ACTION WAIVER WILL CONTINUE TO APPLY IN LITIGATION; AND (v) YOU AGREE THAT THIS CLASS ACTION WAIVER IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF OUR CONTRACT AND THESE TERMS AND THAT IT MAY NOT BE SEVERED. THE ARBITRATOR SHALL NOT CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS OF DIFFERENT USERS INTO ONE PROCEEDING, NOR SHALL THE ARBITRATOR HAVE THE POWER TO HEAR ARBITRATION AS A CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. SIMILARLY, ANY CLAIMS COVERED BY THIS DISPUTE RESOLUTION AGREEMENT THAT ADVICEHAT MAY HAVE AGAINST USER MAY NOT BE BROUGHT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION PROCEEDING.
(e) Survivability; Right to Consult. This Dispute Resolution Agreement shall survive expiration or termination of this Agreement for any reason. User acknowledges and agrees that he/she is entering into this Dispute Resolution Agreement voluntarily and without any duress or undue influence by AdviceHat or anyone else. User further acknowledges and agrees that he/she has carefully read this Dispute Resolution Agreement and that User has asked any questions needed for User to understand the terms, consequences and binding effect of this Dispute Resolution Agreement and fully understand it. Finally, User agrees that he/she has been provided an opportunity to seek the advice of an attorney of User’s choice before agreeing to this Dispute Resolution Agreement.
22. Agreement; Assignment; Miscellaneous
The Terms constitute the complete and exclusive statement of the Agreement between you and us on the subject matter addressed herein. It supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous agreement, oral or written, and any other communications, representations, warranties and understanding relating to the subject matter of the Terms. For those Users who have become Advisors, nothing in this Agreement supersedes the terms of the Advisor Agreement, and in the event of a conflict between this Agreement (or later versions of this Agreement) and the Advisor Agreement, the terms of the Advisor Agreement shall prevail. If there is a conflict between an oral or written representation of any AdviceHat employee or agent and the Terms (other than modifications to the Terms executed in writing by the CEO or authorized-in-fact representative of AdviceHat), the Terms will prevail. To the extent the Terms are in conflict or inconsistent with one another, this Agreement and the Privacy Policy will prevail over other Terms of the Site; also, this Agreement, the Privacy Policy, and disclaimers will prevail over FAQs, and other rules and policies on the Site. If any provision(s) of the Terms is held by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, then such provision(s) shall be construed, as nearly as possible, to reflect the intentions of the parties and the other provisions shall remain in full force and effect. AdviceHat’s failure to exercise or enforce any of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of AdviceHat’s right to exercise or enforce the Terms as to the same or another instance. Headings in this Agreement are for purposes of reference only and shall not limit or otherwise affect the meaning of the Terms.
You agree that AdviceHat may assign the Terms to any other entity of its choosing, with or without notice to you. You may not assign the Terms to any other party for any reason, including, but not limited to, because your interaction with other users of the Site, the pricing offered, and fraud mechanisms in place, are based upon individual usage. AdviceHat shall not be deemed to have waived any of its rights or remedies unless such waiver is in writing and signed by an officer of AdviceHat. No delay or omission on the part of AdviceHat in exercising any rights or remedies shall operate as a waiver of such rights or remedies or any other rights or remedies on future occasions. The section titles in the Terms are solely used for the convenience of the parties and have no legal or contractual significance.
This Section, along with Sections 6, 10 (with respect to amounts remaining in your account as of termination), 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, and 21 above will survive any termination of this Agreement.
E. Additional Services
You may be presented with an offer by the Advisor for services outside of the Site’s standard platform (“Additional Services”).
AdviceHat is only a venue which facilitates communication between Advisors and potential Users. In these communication exchanges, Additional Services may be offered from the Advisor. AdviceHat will in no way be liable for any acts or omissions of Advisors in performing Additional Services (or any services) for you. AdviceHat will not & in no way be a party, involved, or liable for Additional Services carried out between the Customer & the Advisor.
23. Special Provisions Relating to Remote Desktop Users
If you agree to accept Remote Desktop services (whether such services are Information Only or Beyond Information Only) from an Advisor, you understand and agree that by accepting such offer for services, you are agreeing to give the Advisor full access to and control over your computer (including permission to download and use software on your computer, gather system data, modify settings, etc.) for computer diagnosis, service and repair. You agree that any third-party software acquired, installed or used during the Remote Desktop session, by you or by the Advisor, will be licensed to you, and that any terms of use relating to the third-party software are agreed to by you, that AdviceHat may record via video the Remote Desktop Session for internal purposes, and that you will not use the Advisor’s services to do anything unlawful.
Advisor Agreement
Effective Date: January 21, 2023
1. Acceptance of Terms
Welcome to AdviceHat (“Service” or “Site”) owned and operated by Strohat, LLC (“AdviceHat”).
By applying to become an Advisor on the Site, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the terms of this Advisor Agreement (the “Agreement”), the privacy policy, Advisor community guidelines, and all rules, policies and disclaimers posted on the Site or about which you are notified (collectively “Terms”). Please review all of the Terms carefully before applying to become an Advisor on the Site.
By using the Site, you: (i) agree to be bound by the Terms; (ii) represent that you are over the age of eighteen (18) and able to form legally binding contracts; and (iii) agree and acknowledge that by using the Service you are accepting a benefit that cannot be disgorged.
2. Definitions
The words “User,” “you” and “your” refer to the individual or entity that creates an AdviceHat account. “AdviceHat,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to AdviceHat. “Customer” refers to the person who asks a question on the Site. “Advisor” refers to the person who answers a question on the Site.
3. Electronic Communications and Right to Modify Terms
When you visit AdviceHat or send us e-mails, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. We will communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the Site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You agree to provide us with, and maintain in your AdviceHat account profile, your current and active email address.
AdviceHat reserves the right to change, revise or modify the Terms (including, but not limited to, fees) at any time by posting the amended terms on the Site. All amended terms shall automatically be effective upon posting; provided, however, that those changes that AdviceHat, in its sole discretion, deems material changes to the Terms will be effective upon the earlier of: (1) the agreement of the User; or (2) thirty (30) days after notice to the existing User via an email from an @AdviceHat.com email address to the User’s email address on file with AdviceHat or via other means including, but not limited to, a banner, message, or other conspicuous notice on the AdviceHat website. Your continued use of the Service will signify your acceptance of the changes regardless of whether you actually saw or read the notice regarding such change(s). If you do not accept the changes, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using AdviceHat. The latest Terms will be posted on the Site, and you should review them prior to using the Site.
4. The Website
The AdviceHat Site is an online venue for informational and educational purposes, owned and operated by AdviceHat, that exists solely to broker relationships between Advisors and potential Customers of those Advisors who are interested in purchasing their Advisor services. AdviceHat is not in the business of providing or selling information or education that is within any Advisor’s area of expertise. Users of the Site, not AdviceHat, provide the content in Posts (defined below). The Advisors determine, in their sole discretion, which questions to answer and engage. Advisors are not employees or agents of AdviceHat. Rather, they are independent service providers using the Site to sell their Advisor knowledge to Customers and, as such, are along with Customers simply Users of the Site.
AdviceHat is not involved in the conversations between Advisors and Customers. AdviceHat shall not be liable for any acts or omissions of Advisors, content in Posts, the ability of Advisors to answer questions, or the ability of Customers to pay for answers. We cannot ensure that a Customer will complete a transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, AdviceHat reserves the right, but is not obligated, to refuse to post or to remove any content on the Site.
EMERGENCY QUESTIONS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS (particularly regarding medical or mental health issues) should not be directed to the Site and should, instead be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. The Site is not the appropriate venue to deal with such situations.
5. Posts Are Not Private or Confidential; Anonymity
The Site is an Internet-based forum. Information and materials submitted in the content of questions, answers, calls, requests for information, responses, profiles, signatures, qualifications, documents, pictures, videos, audio, files, links, comments, and posts in the Advisor Forum and other places where Users communicate on the Site (collectively “Posts”) is not private or confidential, nor is it protected by attorney-client, doctor-patient, or any other privilege, and it may be read, collected, and used by others. For example, search engines may index questions, answers, and other Posts to allow them to appear in search engine results (e.g., if someone does a search on google.com or another search engine, questions, answers, and other Posts on AdviceHat.com that relate to the search may appear in the search results list).
6. Advisor Representations and Covenants
By agreeing to this Advisor Agreement and completing the online registration process, you are representing and agreeing that:
(a) All information you provide in your registration with AdviceHat relates to yourself only and is accurate, complete, and not misleading.
(b) You accurately describe your background, skills, knowledge, and your level of experience (including professional licenses, certifications, education, employment, etc.).
(c) You will not misrepresent yourself, such as, but not limited to, using or creating a misleading username.
(d) (1) You will maintain and update the information described in subsections (a) – (d) above within twenty-four (24) hours of any changes so that it remains true, accurate, and complete. In addition, if any change to such information alters the status of any of your credentials that have been verified for purposes of being an Advisor on the Site (e.g., active license becomes inactive or suspended, disciplinary investigation is opened, etc.), you will update your Advisor profile within twenty-four (24) hours of the change. In addition, if such change makes you ineligible to be an Advisor on the Site, then you must immediately cease answering questions on the Site.
(2) AdviceHat reserves the right, and Advisor agrees to comply, to periodically audit the profile of any Advisor on the platform.
(e) You will not answer questions in any of the other categories or subcategories if you do not meet the requirements of those categories or subcategories. As an example, you will not answer questions in any of the Legal, Medical or Veterinary categories or subcategories unless you are a licensed attorney, MD/DO or veterinarian (or the local equivalent), respectively, with an active license in good standing. If you are unclear about the requirements for Advisors in particular categories or subcategories, please email assistance@AdviceHat.com.
(f) You will provide competent answers that are within your realm of expertise and any applicable credentials only, and will use at least a reasonable standard of care in providing answers. A reasonable standard of care is the higher of: (i) the standard you apply in your profession or area of expertise not conducted on the Site; or (ii) the standard of care required by the applicable profession or area of expertise.
(g) Advisors in the Medical, Health, Veterinary, Pet, or Large Animal categories shall provide general information only, not medical or veterinary advice. They shall not diagnose, treat, or recommend treatment or a course of action that should only be performed or recommended after an in-person examination or meeting, and they shall not act in a manner or engage in a form of communication that would establish a professional-client relationship on the Site; however, they may do so outside of the Site.
(h) Advisors in the Financial categories shall provide general information only, not financial advice. They shall not assess, analyze, or recommend a course of action that should only be performed or recommended after an in-person meeting and a proper risk tolerance, investment time frame & goal assessment among other things. They shall not act in a manner or engage in a form of communication that would establish a professional-client relationship on the Site; however, they may do so outside of the Site.
(i) Advisors in the Legal categories must be attorneys licensed to practice law, and be in good standing. Such Advisors shall provide general information only, such as providing descriptions of general principles of law, and shall not provide legal advice. In responding to questions, Advisors in the Legal Category shall not apply their legal knowledge or skills to resolve or advise on the Customer’s specific factual circumstances described in the question, such as by proposing a specific course of action (other than advising the User to seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in the relevant jurisdiction). Advisors in the Legal Category shall not form an attorney-client relationship on the Site; however, they may do so outside of the Site.
(j) You will not do anything to manipulate, undermine, or disrupt the integrity of any Customer, Advisor, or other feedback ratings, reports, or systems on the Site, including, but not limited to, by filing false reports about other Advisors. You will not harass or threaten any other User of the Site.
(k) You will not disclose (which a Customer will be prompted to rate) any information that is classified more aptly as an “Information Request.”
(l) You will abide by all the laws, rules, regulations, and ethical standards pertaining to your profession or area of expertise and/or the profession applicable or area expertise to categories in which you are an Advisor (including, if applicable, any ethical obligations relating to conflicts of interest).
(m) You agree that any content you provide on the Site and your use of the Site or any services initiated through the Site shall not: (a) be fraudulent, inaccurate or misleading; (b) infringe any third party’s proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy (c) be illegal or violate any laws, statute, ordinance, regulation, or ethical code; (d) be defamatory, trade libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing; (e) be obscene or contain child pornography; (f) contain any viruses, Trojan horses, or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (g) create liability for us or cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers; or (h) link directly or indirectly to, or include descriptions of, goods or services that are prohibited under the Terms or that you do not have a right to link to or include. If you post material that is adult in nature, such material shall be posted with “Mature Audiences Only” in text and appropriate notices to prevent unauthorized underage viewing and shall be distributed only to people legally permitted to receive such content. You may not consummate any transaction that was initiated using our Service that, by paying to us a fee, could cause us to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, or regulation. Furthermore, you may not resell or make any commercial use of our system or the content on the Site without AdviceHat prior written consent. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under thirteen (13) years of age, and if we become aware that a child under the age of thirteen (13) has submitted personal information to us, we will promptly remove it from our systems.
7. Duration and Termination of Agreement
(a) This Agreement shall be effective from the Advisor account creation and will remain effective throughout the life of the account. You may terminate your service and account by written notice via e-mail to assistance@advicehat.com. Terminations typically will be effective within ten (10) business days after our receipt of your termination notice, at which time your account will be closed, and you will no longer be able to access your former account. Any payments accrued as of the effective date of termination will be payable according to the Terms.
(b) AdviceHat can terminate this Agreement in the event of a breach of this Agreement by the Advisor, in situations involving, for example, failure to qualify to provide services as an Advisor in a certain subject matter, or AdviceHat’s good faith belief that the Advisor poses a risk to the safety or health of others; or the Advisor’s engagement in fraud, gaming, or other improper use of the Site or the Services with. AdviceHat can also terminate an Advisor’s account immediately, without notice, after evaluating an Advisor performance or quality of information provided to Customers at its own discretion.
(c) Either party may terminate the Advisor Agreement immediately and without notice upon a material breach.
8. Informational and Educational Purposes Only
The AdviceHat Site is a venue for informational and educational purposes only. The formation of a professional-client relationship on the Site is prohibited; however, the formation of a professional-client relationship outside the Site is not prohibited, as long as the User requested those services. Promoting non-free services, provided by the Advisor, outside of the AdviceHat site is prohibited, except in the case the User requests this information.
9. Content and License
Any information or communications provided in questions, answers, calls, video calls, messages, audio, files, links, videos, photos, documents of all types, text, requests for information, responses, profiles, Advisor signatures, qualifications, comments, and posts in the Advisor Forum and other places where Users communicate with one another on the Site (“Posts”) will not be considered confidential and may be used by AdviceHat for any purpose. This may include, but is not limited to, using your signature and/or profile information in emails, SMS, or other forms of notifications sent to Customers alerting them to your postings. You understand and agree that AdviceHat may send Customers emails, SMS, or other forms of notifications pertaining to their questions and your answers that are signed by your username (but sent on your behalf from a AdviceHat email address, SMS, or other forms of notifications). For example, AdviceHat may let the Customer know that you have sent the Customer an email, have responded to their question. As between you and AdviceHat, AdviceHat will maintain whatever ownership interest you have in and to the Posts you provide on the Site. AdviceHat reserves the right to remove any or all of your Posts, in whole or in part, at any time with or without notice.
You grant to AdviceHat a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights, including the right to use, reproduce, display, edit, copy, modify, transmit, publicly perform or create derivative works thereof, that you have in your Posts, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to any such Posts.
To allow AdviceHat to assist you in protecting your copyrights in your Answers, at its sole discretion, you grant AdviceHat the right to act on your behalf solely in submitting DMCA takedown notices to other websites to remove copies of your Answers on AdviceHat.com from other websites. You agree to notify AdviceHat at assistance@AdviceHat.com within twenty-four (24) hours of posting any portion of your Answers on another website or granting permission to another person or entity to do so, so that AdviceHat does not submit a DMCA takedown notice for such content. If you do not wish AdviceHat to assist you in protecting your copyrights in this manner, please send an email to that effect to assistance@AdviceHat.com . You agree that AdviceHat has no obligation to make any searches or submit any DMCA takedown notices on your behalf.
10. Fees
Customers on AdviceHat may be presented with one payment model: (1) pay-per-advice (“PPA”) model. Advisors can set their own fees for the PPA model & Customers are expected to pay that fee prior to receiving the answer. The Advisor will be credited 80% of fee paid by the Customer to their account.
You acknowledge that AdviceHat has no control over, and makes no representation or warranty of any kind, as to the ability or willingness of other Users to pay for the answers provided by Advisors. In addition, you acknowledge that you are never required by AdviceHat to answer any questions on the Site.
Once you have more than Twenty U.S. Dollars (US$20) of payments from Customers in your account (you cannot place funds into your account to reach $10; it must be accumulated through Customer payments), you may request payment via your account. AdviceHat transfers properly requested Customer payments to Advisors via PayPal or STCPay, within 10 days (or, in its discretion, AdviceHat may choose to forward Customer payments even without an Advisor’s request for payment). You agree that any transfer fees or FX conversion fees will be charged to you upon transfer. You agree that AdviceHat has the right to produce discounts, coupons, and/or credits that Users can apply towards reducing the price of a service, affecting the fee that AdviceHat collects from the Advisor. You agree that AdviceHat has the right to resolve Customer complaints as it deems necessary or advisable, including, in AdviceHat’s sole discretion, issuing refunds to Customers to settle disputes. If AdviceHat decides to issue a refund to a Customer, AdviceHat may seek reimbursement from the Advisor for such refund, or AdviceHat may offset any refunds against any future Customer payments to be forwarded to the Advisor. AdviceHat also reserves the right to resolve accounting discrepancies with Customers in its sole discretion.
If AdviceHat believes, in its sole discretion, that any Customer funds were paid to an Advisor under suspicious circumstances or that funds were derived from a suspicious Customer account, AdviceHat will investigate the situation until it has reached an adequate resolution, as determined by AdviceHat in its sole discretion. The investigation or resolution may require the involvement of certain third parties, such as an applicable credit card company. Such an investigation may require AdviceHat to put a hold on an Advisor’s account. AdviceHat will make commercially reasonable efforts not to exceed a 90 day hold on an Advisor’s account during such an investigation.
AdviceHat disclaims any warranty that its billing and payment system is without error. If an Advisor believes there is a problem with AdviceHat’s billing or payment system, the Advisor should notify AdviceHat by email to assistance@AdviceHat.com within thirty (30) days of such problem. Upon receipt of the notification of such a problem, AdviceHat will, in good faith, work to remedy any alleged payment errors.
11. Question Value
You are prohibited from negotiating payment with a User, regarding answers you post to the Site, unless expressly allowed by AdviceHat.
12. Advisor Accounts and Relationship to AdviceHat
You may not share your account with, nor use the account of, anyone else. You will be solely and fully liable and responsible for all activities and answers provided under your username and account. In addition, if any AdviceHat account of yours has been suspended or terminated, you may not open another account on the Site.
No relationship (such as partnership, agent, joint venturer, or employee) between you and AdviceHat is created by this Agreement or your participation on the Site. You acknowledge that you are not an employee or agent of AdviceHat but are, like Customers, only Users of the Site. You shall act in accordance with this status and shall not hold yourself out as an officer, employee or agent of AdviceHat, nor make any claim based on any right or privilege applicable to AdviceHat’s employees. Under no circumstances shall you look to AdviceHat as your employer, or as a partner, agent, or principal. Nothing regarding your participation on the Site will be considered as an endorsement, referral or recommendation by AdviceHat of you or the answers you provide and you will not, either on the Site or in any other forum or by any other means, suggest such an endorsement.
It is the express intention of AdviceHat and the Advisor that the Advisor be an independent contractor. Nothing in this Agreement shall in any way be construed to constitute the Advisor as an agent, employee, or representative of AdviceHat. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Advisor is not authorized to bind AdviceHat to any liability or obligation or to represent that the Advisor has any such authority. Advisor agrees to furnish all tools and materials necessary to answer questions on the Site and shall incur all expenses associated with such performance. Advisor further agrees that any use of site tools, or any other tools (“Tools”) offered by AdviceHat is optional and such Tools are purely offered for Advisor’s convenience and usage of such Tools are not mandatory. Advisor acknowledges and agrees that Advisor is obligated to report as income all compensation received by AdviceHat pursuant to this Agreement. Advisor agrees to and acknowledges the obligation to pay all self-employment and other taxes on such income. Advisor will receive no AdviceHat-sponsored benefits such as, but not limited to, paid vacation, sick leave, medical insurance. If Advisor is reclassified by a court, or arbitrator as AdviceHat’s employee, Advisor will become a reclassified employee and will receive no benefits from AdviceHat, except those mandated by law, even if by the terms of AdviceHat’s benefit plans or programs of the Company in effect at the time of such reclassification, Advisor would otherwise be eligible for such benefits.
13. Limited Exclusivity and Other Agreements
By agreeing to this Advisor Agreement and completing the online registration process, you are agreeing that:
(a) You will not post – or authorize anyone else to post – any portion of your answers on AdviceHat or any other fee-based question-and-answer website. This does not prohibit you from providing the same substantive answer to a question, but only from providing it using the same words as used on the Site.
(b) The provisions of this Agreement are not intended to prevent you from practicing your profession, but only from engaging in the limited activity described therein.
(c) You will not make any statement that disparages AdviceHat, its services, products, directors, officers, employees, shareholders or agents, except as required by law or in communications exclusively to AdviceHat.
(d) You will not provide information on any other websites about AdviceHat, unless you expressly state that your statements are not made on behalf of and have not been approved by AdviceHat.
(e) You will not use any automated programs to automatically lock questions that are posted on the AdviceHat website or responded to messages sent to you.
14. Confidentiality
You acknowledge that AdviceHat and its licensors and suppliers own the rights to the AdviceHat website and the content displayed on the Site other than Posts. You shall not modify, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code of the AdviceHat website, any software distributed by or assist any other person or entity in doing so. You acknowledge that all content, including, but not limited to, text, software, music, sound, photographs, video, graphics or other material contained in listings, sponsor advertisements or email-distributed, commercially produced information presented to you by the Service, by AdviceHat, Users, or AdviceHat advertisers or other content providers, is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute in any way content available through the Service, whether done directly or through intermediaries (including, but not limited to, by means of spiders, robots, crawlers, scrapers, framing, iframes or RSS feeds), including, but not limited to, code and software for commercial purposes. For permission to use third-party materials appearing on the Site, please contact the copyright owner. You do not acquire ownership rights to any content, document or other materials viewed through the Site. The posting of information or materials on the Site does not constitute a waiver of any right in such information and materials.
Any access to or use of AdviceHat to design, develop, test, update, operate, modify, maintain, support, market, advertise, distribute or otherwise make available any program, application or service (including, without limitation, any device, technology, product, computer program, mobile device application, website, or mechanical or personal service) that enables or provides access to, use of, operation of or interoperation with AdviceHat (including, without limitation, to access content, post content, cross-post content, re-post content, respond or reply to content, verify content, transmit content, create accounts, verify accounts, use accounts, circumvent and/or automate technological security measures or restrictions, or flag content) without the prior written authorization of AdviceHat is prohibited. This prohibition specifically applies to, but is not limited to, software, programs, applications, and services for use or operation on or by any computer and/or any electronic, wireless and/or mobile device, technology, or product that exists now or in the future.
If you access AdviceHat or copy, display, distribute, perform, or create derivative works from content displayed on the Site or other intellectual property in violation of this Agreement, your access, copying, display, distribution, performance, or derivative work is unauthorized. Circumvention of any technological restriction or security measure on AdviceHat or any provision of this Agreement that restricts content, conduct, accounts or access is expressly prohibited. For purposes of this paragraph, you agree that cached copies of AdviceHat webpages on your computer or computer server constitute as “copies”.
You agree that Posts on the Site, materials, ideas, comments, and testimonials that you submit on the Site or other venues, including, but not limited to, the AdviceHat blogs and the AdviceHat venues on www.facebook.com, www.instagram.com, www.twitter.com, www.linkedin.com, www.youtube.com, www.pinterest.com, plus.google.com, www.flickr.com, or to the Site administrator or any employee, officer or agent of AdviceHat (“User Content”), will not be considered confidential and may be used by AdviceHat, in its sole discretion, without any obligation to compensate you for the use of or to return any submitted materials. You also agree that AdviceHat owns, and has the right to register in its name, trademarks and service marks for any category names that you create on AdviceHat, so do not use a category name that you want to reserve for your own benefit. AdviceHat may use other trademarks or service marks in lieu of the category names that you create.
You grant to AdviceHat a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights, including the right to use, reproduce, display, edit, copy, modify, transmit, publicly perform, extract and create derivative works thereof, that you have in your Posts, recorded calls, and User Content, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to any such Posts and other User Content.
Notwithstanding the above, please note that Advisors are granted access to the Site beyond the access granted to other Users and, as such, have access to information not known by non-Advisor Users of the Site (“Confidential Information”). Advisors shall maintain all Confidential Information in confidence; shall use such Confidential Information in confidence; shall use such Confidential Information only in connection with their legitimate activities on the Site; shall not use Confidential Information for the purpose of developing, operating, or participating in any competing service; and shall not disclose Confidential Information to non-Advisors unless required by law.
15. No Endorsement of Non-AdviceHat Entity; No Relationship with Users
AdviceHat may endeavor to offer to its Users products and services offered by non-AdviceHat entities. The Site may contain links to third party websites and service providers (collectively, “Third Party Services”) that are not owned or controlled by AdviceHat. AdviceHat has no control over and assumes no responsibility for the content, practices, and privacy policies of such Third Party Services. AdviceHat encourages you to, and you acknowledge that you are solely responsible for, reviewing and complying with any third party terms and conditions and privacy policies. AdviceHat cannot and will not censor or edit the content of any Third Party Service. Placement of information, logos, links, or names of such non-AdviceHat entities on the Site does not constitute an endorsement or warranty of these entities, their products or services. By using this Site, you agree that AdviceHat is not responsible for, and you take full responsibility for, a decision to visit or patronize any such Third Party Service or entity, you hold AdviceHat harmless from any and all liability arising from such actions, and you expressly relieve AdviceHat from all liability arising from your use of Third Party Services. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, AND USEFULNESS OF ANY OPINION, ANSWER OR OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE FROM THIRD PARTIES OR OBTAINED FROM A LINKED SITE. PLEASE SEEK THE ADVICE OF PROFESSIONALS, AS APPROPRIATE, REGARDING THE EVALUATION OF ANY SPECIFIC OPINION, ANSWER, PRODUCT, SERVICE, OR OTHER CONTENT.
16. Information Control and Storage
We do not control the information provided by Users, which you may find to be offensive, harmful, inaccurate, or deceptive. Please use caution and common sense when using the Site. There are also risks of dealing with underage persons or people acting under false pretenses. Additionally, there may be risks dealing with international trade and foreign nationals. By using this Site, you agree to accept such risks and that AdviceHat is not responsible for the acts or omissions of Users on the Site.
The amount of storage space per User is currently limited. You agree that AdviceHat is not responsible or liable for the deletion or failure to store content and/or other information.
17. Exclusion of Warranties
ADVICEHAT SERVICES, SOFTWARES, AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US THROUGH THIS SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION OR GUARANTEE NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS. ADVICEHAT DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ADVICEHAT DOES NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, FROM THIRD PARTIES OR A LINKED SITE WILL BE CORRECT, ACCURATE, TIMELY, RELIABLE OR OTHERWISE.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ADVICEHAT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A USER’S RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE, FROM THIRD PARTIES (SUCH AS ADVISORS OR OTHERS) OR A LINKED SITE, OR USER’S RELIANCE ON ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE OBTAINED FROM A THIRD PARTY OR A LINKED SITE. USE OF THIS SITE IS AT USERS’ SOLE RISK.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM ADVICEHAT OR THROUGH OR FROM THE ADVICEHAT SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.
18. Right to Discontinue
At any time, with or without notice, for any or no reason, and in its sole discretion, AdviceHat reserves the right to modify or discontinue any portion or all of the Site or the Services. Advisor has no rights in and to the Site and Services.
You are never required to answer any questions posted on the website.
19. Press Releases and Third-Party Press about AdviceHat
The Site may contain press releases and other information about AdviceHat. While this information was believed to be accurate as of the date prepared, we disclaim any duty or obligation to update this information or any press releases. Information about companies other than ours contained in the press release or otherwise, should not be relied upon as being provided or endorsed by AdviceHat. Likewise, third-party press about AdviceHat or the Site should not be relied upon as being provided or endorsed by AdviceHat.
20. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold AdviceHat, any and all parent, subsidiary and affiliate organizations, officers, directors, agents, shareholders, consultants, employees, successors, and assigns harmless from and against all losses, costs, liabilities and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, asserted by any third party that are in any way due to, or arising out of, your use of or conduct on the Site, including, without limitation, that results from any answer provided or relied upon on the Site.
21. Dispute Resolution: Mediation and Arbitration
This Section 21 may be referred to as the parties’ “Dispute Resolution Agreement.” If you have a dispute with AdviceHat or if AdviceHat has a dispute with you and such dispute cannot be resolved informally, such dispute will be resolved on an individual basis in accordance with the provisions set forth below:
(a) Informal Resolution. Prior to initiating mediation or arbitration, the party with a grievance must:
(1) Notify the other party, in writing, of the facts of the dispute and all damages claimed. Such a writing must be sent to (a) the Advisor’s email address on file with AdviceHat, or (b) assistance@AdviceHat.com , whichever is applicable (“Dispute Notification”).
(2) The party receiving the Dispute Notification has thirty (30) days from receipt of the Dispute Notification to respond.
(3) The other party then has 15 days to reply to the response.
(b) Mediation. If the dispute is not resolved informally, either party may make a demand for mediation, with the other party’s consent, by emailing contact assistance@AdviceHat.com at AdviceHat for updated information. If either party requests mediation and both parties consent to mediation, the costs of mediation will be borne equally by the parties.
(c) Arbitration.
(i) Mutual agreement to arbitrate. If mediation does not occur or if mediation does not resolve the dispute, then both parties agree that all disputes between them, including without limitation, those disputes arising out of or related to this Agreement, the Services provided under this Agreement, the termination of this Agreement, the use of the Site, and the “Terms” as defined in the Agreement, shall be determined exclusively by final and binding arbitration before a single, neutral arbitrator as described herein.
(ii) Covered claims. Claims subject to arbitration under this Dispute Resolution Agreement include, but are not limited to, the following types of claims between and among Advisor on the one hand, and AdviceHat, its subsidiaries, affiliates, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, benefit plans, or agents, any alleged joint employers, and any of AdviceHat’s Users (including Customers and Advisors), on the other hand: breach of contract; discrimination, harassment, or retaliation; wrongful discharge; negligence or other tort claims including defamation, libel, slander, fraud, invasion of privacy, and infliction of emotional distress; claims for wages, overtime, benefits, or other compensation; and all other statutory, regulatory, contractual, or tort claims or claims of violation of any international, national, provincial, or local statute, ordinance, governmental enactment, common law duty, provision, or doctrine. Except as provided below, the parties voluntarily waive all rights to trial in a court of law on claims between them. Judgment upon the arbitrator's award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The only disputes and actions excluded from this Dispute Resolution Agreement are: (a) actions to enforce this Dispute Resolution Agreement, compel arbitration, or claims by either party seeking temporary injunctive relief prior to the appointment of the arbitrator; and (b) claims for which this Dispute Resolution Agreement would be invalid as a matter of law. Individual knowingly and voluntarily waives the right to file or seek relief in a court seeking recovery of money damages. iii
(iv) Commencement of arbitration and location of hearing. A party wishing to initiate arbitration must notify the other party in writing by hand delivery or certified mail. The notice must identify the party requesting the arbitration, and it must describe the facts upon which the claim is based, the date and location of any occurrences giving rise to the claim, and the remedy requested. Notice must be sent to the Advisor’s email address on file with AdviceHat, or assistance@AdviceHat.com . The arbitration hearing shall be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(v)
(vii) Waiver of class, collective, and/or representative actions. Advisor understands and agrees that all claims covered by this Dispute Resolution Agreement that Advisor may have against AdviceHat must be brought in Advisor’s individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action, collective action or representative action proceeding. Similarly, any claims covered by this Dispute Resolution Agreement that AdviceHat may have against Advisor may not be brought as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action, collective action or representative action proceeding. Advisor understands that there is no right or authority for any dispute covered by this Dispute Resolution Agreement to be heard or arbitrated on a collective action basis, class action basis, as a private attorney general, or on bases involving claims or disputes brought in a representative capacity on behalf of the general public, on behalf of other AdviceHat company employees (or any of them) or on behalf of other persons alleged to be similarly situated. Advisor understands that there are no bench or jury trials and no class actions or representative actions permitted under this Dispute Resolution Agreement. The arbitrator shall not consolidate claims of different Advisors into one proceeding, nor shall the arbitrator have the power to hear arbitration as a class action, collective action, or representative action. Any disputes regarding the enforceability or scope of this provision including, but not limited to, whether class, collective, or representative actions are authorized in arbitration by this Dispute Resolution Agreement, shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction rather than by an arbitrator.
(viii) Form of the award. The arbitrator shall render a written award setting forth his or her findings of fact and conclusions of law.
(ix) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED EXPRESSLY HEREIN, THE PARTIES VOLUNTARILY WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO A TRIAL IN COURT BEFORE A JUDGE ON ALL CLAIMS BETWEEN THEM COVERED BY THIS AGREEMENT.
(x) Governing law applicable to this Dispute Resolution Agreement. The parties acknowledge that Section 21 contains the parties' "Dispute Resolution Agreement"; that this Dispute Resolution Agreement is made in the course of commerce; that any arbitration under this Dispute Resolution Agreement is governed by the laws of Saudi Arabia. This choice of law provision applies only to this Dispute Resolution Agreement, and not to the rest of this Agreement or Terms.
(xi) Attorney’s fees; survival; and right to consult. The arbitrator shall award attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing party in any arbitration arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the Terms, and where otherwise provided by applicable law. This Dispute Resolution Agreement section shall survive termination of this Agreement. Advisor acknowledges and agrees that he/she is entering into this Dispute Resolution Agreement voluntarily and without any duress or undue influence by AdviceHat or anyone else. Advisor further acknowledges and agrees that he/she has carefully read this Dispute Resolution Agreement and that Advisor has asked any questions needed for Advisor to understand the terms, consequences and binding effect of this Dispute Resolution Agreement and fully understand it. Finally, Advisor agrees that he/she has been provided an opportunity to seek the advice of an attorney of Advisor’s choice before agreeing to this Dispute Resolution Agreement.
22. Choice of Law
The Terms shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of Saudi Arabia, without regard to its conflicts of law provisions, except as set forth in Section 21 of this Agreement (the “Dispute Resolution Agreement”).
23. Miscellaneous
Failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement by AdviceHat shall not constitute a waiver of any provision by AdviceHat. If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be ineffective only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity without invalidating the remainder of such provision or the remaining provisions of the Agreement. All provisions not affected by the invalidity shall remain in full force and effect.
The Terms constitute the complete and exclusive statement of the Agreement between you and us. It supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous agreement, oral or written, and any other communications, representations, warranties and understanding relating to the subject matter of the Terms. If there is a conflict between an oral or written representation of any AdviceHat employee or agent and the Terms (other than modifications to the Terms executed in writing by the CEO or authorized-in-fact representative of AdviceHat), the Terms will prevail. To the extent the Terms are in conflict or inconsistent with one another, this Agreement and the Privacy Policy will prevail for Advisors over other terms, rules, policies, and FAQs on the Site. If any provision(s) of the Terms is held by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, then such provision(s) shall be construed, as nearly as possible, to reflect the intentions of the parties and the other provisions shall remain in full force and effect. AdviceHat’s failure to exercise or enforce any of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of AdviceHat’s right to exercise or enforce the Terms as to the same or another instance.
Headings in this and Related Agreements are for purposes of reference only and shall not limit or otherwise affect the meaning of the Terms.
You agree that AdviceHat may assign the Terms to any other entity of its choosing, with or without notice to you. You may not assign the Terms to any other party for any reason. AdviceHat shall not be deemed to have waived any of its rights or remedies unless such waiver is in writing and signed by an authorized officer of AdviceHat. No delay or omission on the part of AdviceHat in exercising any rights or remedies shall operate as a waiver of such rights or remedies or any other rights or remedies on future occasions.
Certain sections of this Agreement, by their terms, survive the termination of this Agreement.