WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, LAWYERS

Bespoke website terms and conditions at affordable prices, drafted by specialist expert digital media and entertainment lawyers with a guarantee of compliance

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Bespoke website terms and conditions at affordable prices, drafted by specialist expert digital media and entertainment lawyers with a guarantee of compliance. Contact us via the above form or on +44 (0)20 7305-7491 or via email at peter@pailsolicitors.co.uk.

Why do you need website terms and conditions?

Let us ask you a question that's critical to your success as a business. Do you know what NOT to do when giving instructions on your website terms of business? We receive several complaints from e-commerce businesses that their terms and conditions are challenged continually by customers, particularly on lead times, estimates, extensions, and returns.

There is an understandable view that e-commerce legislation is a bureaucratic box-checking exercise that gets in the way of maximizing profits. E-commerce legislation is an opportunity to increase customer confidence in your business. Simply put, a clear well-written contractual process with your customers will reduce complaints and can make your business more profitable. Professionally drafted terms of business will protect your business from the collateral damage you incur from returned goods faulty or otherwise and time spent dealing with complaints about order completion times. Well-written terms of business assist in building customer loyalty giving you an increased return on excellent customer service.

Badly drafted terms and conditions will increase the chances of contested terms and conditions by customers and partners. Here's my list of 10 terms and conditions writing Don'ts based on the number-crunching of e-commerce terms and conditions I’ve had the opportunity to review:

1. Don't forget the overall contractual structure of your terms and conditions.

Terms and conditions should be binding contracts between your business and the customer. Website terms are not running commentary on the challenges of running an e-commerce business. Your terms need to read like contracts. You need to cover the elements of a contract which are an invitation to treat, offer, acceptance and consideration. Here is an example of the wrong way to structure the introduction to your terms and conditions:

Terms and Conditions By using this website and placing an order with us, you agree to be legally bound by the terms and conditions below.

There is a lack of sufficient clarity of the contractual process in starting your terms as set out above. Although the wording might sound legal enough, you should have an introductory paragraph that outlines the terms and policies that make up the entire agreement with the customer. The introduction is the opportunity to set out the contractual structure. There should be clear headings and sub-headings which reach out and grab your customer's attention throughout the contract. Additionally, the acceptance process needs to be clear and unequivocal.

2. Don't be vague.

Here is an example of the wrong way to state who you are:

This website is owned and operated by Winnie Pooh Rabbit Tigger Associates, and any order made in any way with Winnie Pooh Rabbit Tigger Associates is deemed to be bound by these terms.

You have a legal obligation under Fair Trading UK Consumer Laws, and E-commerce Regulations to correctly identify your business, and to provide a trading address.

Being vague gives the impression that your business lacks legitimacy which encourages customers to challenge your terms of business even if they are lawful. Your headings should reach out and grab your customer's attention. Keep your headings and sub-headings short. Don't put quotation marks around the headings since search engines don't like it.

3. Don't put down lead times, delivery, and unlawful cancellation times.

Here is an example of stating unlawful lead, delivery, and cancellation times:

We aim to process and deliver goods within 14 days. Please allow 30 days minimum before chasing your order.

You may not cancel your order because it takes longer than 30 days to deliver your order.

If your goods are damaged in transit, then that is not our responsibility. You are responsible for checking the goods when you receive them, and you must sign the delivery note indicating the condition of the goods on delivery; otherwise, you may not return them.

You may not return the goods simply because you change your mind. If we do accept the return of the goods, you must pay a £20 charge for postage.

Please let us know if your order is urgent and we will do our best to help. If we accept that the goods are poor quality, unfit or not as described, we may at our sole discretion refund you the purchase price within our internal timetable for refunds. Our refund form is available on request.

I have reviewed several e-commerce terms and conditions that have contained the above Don’ts. The problem with the above is that it not only doesn't comply with Laws and Regulations including the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 which replaced the Distance Selling Regulations 2000, but it also breaches many "soft" laws and practices. It is very unhelpful to the customer even where the term might be lawful. I would suggest that the terms and conditions set out different policies dealing with each aspect of the sales, delivery, and returns process. There are then sub-headings dealing with each element. So, under the sales process, there might be a heading such as Delivery of Goods this will then be divided into sub-headings such as Goods That Arrive Damaged, Goods That Have Not Arrived, and Samples.

4. Don't neglect flow.

Before writing, the terms and conditions need all the main clauses and sub-clauses outlined so that they flow better and do not you don't veer off track. Every paragraph should be considered with respect to the overall terms. The main issue a lack of clarity and missing information. The second thing is that the contractual process should be properly set out. It should read like a contract not a series of clauses clubbed together over time as a new issue arises.

5. Copyright theft.

It goes without saying that the text must be original content. Copying another business website's terms is copyright theft and is unlawful. Websites’ may get by with the unethical and sometimes illegal practice of copying a competitor at first, but in the long run, they'll be discovered. Competitors probably often monitor other websites, and if they discover you've been copying the text on their website, they can sue for copyright infringement. It's fine to get ideas from other sources.

6. Humor is not ok.

For example, terms and conditions should not try to sell products. All your customers are interested in are their rights, giveaways they receive, and the cost of your goods.

7. Pointless clauses in your terms and conditions. Here is an example of an unnecessary additional clause:

CERTAIN LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS, SITE POLICIES, MODIFICATION, AND SEVERABILITY.

Apart from being grammatically incorrect, this clause does not make legal sense. More importantly, I’m sure it would never be relied upon by either of the parties in an e-commerce transaction gone wrong, yet I have found it or different variations of it in the terms and conditions of several fashion websites and apps.

8. All policies must be interconnected. A privacy policy, for example, must be connected to the rest of the policies in your contracts with your customer. Here is an example of a disconnected policy wording:

Please review our other policies, such as our privacy policy, posted on this site. These policies also govern your visit to www.WinniePoohRabbitTigger.com.

This clause does not connect the privacy policy as part of the single Agreement with your customer.

9. Privacy policy must be meaningful.

A privacy policy should comply with the Data Protection Legislation which is currently the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into force on 25 May 2018. As of 25 May 2018, all organisations within the UK and EU were expected to be compliant with GDPR. The Data Protection Act of 2018 reflects the changes effected by GDPR. Our firm offers a full service for GDPR compliance including a full GDPR review. So, for example, if your website is hosted on a US server, and you're transferring data outside of the EEA under Principle 8, it is far more important that you deal with that, and cover the other 7 principles in your privacy policy than have lots of irrelevant information about social media platforms and newsletters. Believe me I’ve done the number crunching and most privacy policies completely miss the boat.

10. Remove errors and detractors.

Terms and conditions must be carefully checked for spelling and grammar errors before posting. Your solicitor and you should proofread your terms and conditions several times. In no time, your terms and conditions will be out of date with the continually changing e-commerce laws. If you keep the same solicitor, then you might get a discounted rate when you return for an update.

act now

Paying attention to these ten don’ts will help you avoid some of the biggest blunders in instructing solicitors to write your website terms and conditions. There is no universal template website terms and conditions that can solve every customer challenge your business faces. You will never please everybody. However, by instructing the right solicitors who follow the above rules of Do's you should be able to avoid the standard mistakes, no matter what the website e-commerce business.