This User Agreement, all policies and additional terms posted on and in our sites, applications, tools and services (collectively "Services") set out the terms on which HearingStockAid.com offers you access to and use of our Services. All policies are incorporated into this User Agreement. You agree to comply with all of the terms of this User Agreement when accessing or using our Services.
The entity you are contracting with is: HearingStockAid.com Inc., 800 Welcome Way SE, Salem, OR 97302. In this User Agreement, this entity is referred to as "HearingStockAid.com," "we," or "us."
Please be advised that this User Agreement contains provisions that govern how claims you and we have against each other are resolved (see Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability and Legal Disputes provisions below). It also contains an Agreement to Arbitrate, which will, with limited exception, require you to submit claims you have against us or our agents to binding and final arbitration, unless you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate (see Legal Disputes, Section B ("Agreement to Arbitrate")). Unless you opt out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims against us or our agents on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding and (2) you will only be permitted to seek relief (including monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief) on an individual basis.
In connection with using or accessing the Services you will not:
- list items that are inappropriate on our site or have nothing to do with the hearing care profession;
- breach or circumvent any laws, third-party rights or our systems, policies, or determinations of your account status;
- use our Services if you are not capable of forming legally binding contracts (i.e., if you are under 18 years old);
- fail to pay for items purchased by you, unless you have a valid reason as set out in an HearingStockAid.com policy. For example, the seller has materially changed the item's description after you bid, a clear typographical error is made, or you cannot contact the seller (see the Unpaid item policy);
- fail to deliver items sold by you, unless you have a valid reason as set out in an HearingStockAid.com policy, for example, the buyer fails to comply with the posted terms in your listing or you cannot contact the buyer;
- post false, deceptive, misleading, inaccurate, libelous, or defamatory content;
- take any action that may undermine the ratings systems.
- transfer your HearingStockAid.com account and user ID to another party without our consent;
- distribute or post content not related to our stated purpose, such as spam, unsolicited or bulk electronic communication;
- distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm HearingStockAid.com or the interests or property of users;
- interfere with the working of our Services, or impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
- harvest or otherwise collect information about users without their consent; or
- circumvent any technical measures we use to provide the Services.
Sellers must meet HearingStockAid.com's minimum performance standards. Failure to meet these standards may result in HearingStockAid.com suspending or terminating your membership.
If we believe you are abusing HearingStockAid.com and/or our Services in any way, we may, in our sole discretion and without limiting other remedies, limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to our Services, remove, not display, and/or demote listings, and take technical and/or legal steps to prevent you from using our Services.
We may cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a long time or modify or discontinue our Services. Additionally, we reserve the right to refuse or terminate all or part of our Services to anyone for any reason at our discretion.
When a buyer or seller issue arises, we may consider the user's performance history and the specific circumstances in applying our policies. We may choose to be more lenient with policy enforcement in an effort to do the right thing for both buyers and sellers.
When listing an item, you agree to comply with HearingStockAid.com's Listing and Selling practices policy:
- You are responsible for the accuracy and content of the listing and item offered
- Your listing may not be immediately searchable by keyword or category for several hours (or up to 24 hours in some circumstances). HearingStockAid.com can't guarantee exact listing durations
- Listings will remain until their expiration date or they have been sold. Unsold items may be relisted at the discretion of the Seller.
- Content that violates any of HearingStockAid.com's policies will be deleted at HearingStockAid.com's discretion
- We may revise product data associated with listings to supplement, remove, or correct information
- We strive to create a marketplace where buyers find what they are looking for. Therefore, the appearance or placement of listings in search and browse results will depend on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
- buyer's location, search query, browsing site, and history;
- item's location, listing format, price and shipping cost, terms of service, end time, history, and relevance to the user query;
- seller's history, including listing practices, Seller Ratings, HearingStockAid.com policy compliance; and
- number of listings matching the buyer's query
- To drive a positive user experience, a listing may not appear in some search and browse results regardless of the sort order chosen by the buyer
When buying an item, you agree to the Rules and policies for buyers and that:
- You are responsible for reading the full item listing before making a bid or commitment to buy
- You enter into a legally binding contract to purchase an item when you commit to buy an item.
- We do not transfer legal ownership of items from the seller to the buyer
You represent and warrant that, for all such content you provide, you own or otherwise control all necessary rights to do so and to meet your obligations under this User Agreement. You represent and warrant that such content is accurate. You represent and warrant that use of any such content (including derivative works) by us, our users, or others in contract with us, and in compliance with this User Agreement, does not and will not infringe any Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. HearingStockAid.com takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content provided by you or any third party.
We offer product data (including images, descriptions and specifications) that are provided by third parties (including HearingStockAid.com users). You may use that content solely in your HearingStockAid.com listings. HearingStockAid.com may modify or revoke that permission at any time in our sole discretion. The product data includes copyrighted, trademarked and other proprietary materials. You agree not to remove any copyright, proprietary, or identification markings in the product data and not to create any derivative works based on that data (other than by including the data in your listings).
We try to offer reliable product data, but cannot promise that the content provided through the Services will always be available, accurate, complete, and up-to-date. You agree that HearingStockAid.com is not responsible for examining or warranting the listings or content provided by third parties through the Services, and that you will not attempt to hold us or our data providers liable for inaccuracies. As a seller, you agree to ensure that content directly associated with your listings is accurate.
The name "HearingStockAid.com" and other HearingStockAid.com marks, logos, designs, and phrases that we use in connection with our Services are trademarks, service marks, or trade dress of HearingStockAid.com in the U.S. and other countries. They may not be used without the express written prior permission of HearingStockAid.com.
6. Authorization to Contact You; Recording Calls; Analyzing Message Content
HearingStockAid.com may contact you to: (i) notify you regarding your account; (ii) troubleshoot problems with your account; (iii) resolve a dispute; (iv) collect a debt; (v) poll your opinions through surveys or questionnaires; or (vi) as otherwise necessary to service your account or enforce this User Agreement, our policies, applicable law, or any other agreement we may have with you. HearingStockAid.com may also contact you for marketing purposes (e.g., offers and promotions), if you consent to such communications. Our collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of your personal information is governed by the User Privacy Notice. As described in our User Privacy Notice, HearingStockAid.com may collect other telephone numbers for you and may place manual non-marketing calls to any of those numbers and autodialed non-marketing calls to any landline. If you do not wish to receive such communications, you may change your communications preference at any time, including through the communication preferences section of your My HearingStockAid.com.
Privacy of Others; Marketing
If HearingStockAid.com provides you with information about another user, you agree you will use the information only for the purposes that it is provided to you. You may not disclose, sell, rent, or distribute a user's information to a third party for purposes unrelated to the Services. Additionally, you may not use information for marketing purposes, via electronic or other means, unless you obtain the consent of the specific user to do so.
For all new sellers, in listings where returns are accepted, HearingStockAid.com will set a default rule that automates the return process. You agree to comply with our returns policy. When an item is returned, to refund the buyer, you (as seller) authorize HearingStockAid.com to request that PayPal remove the refund amount (in same or other currency) from your PayPal account, place the amount on your invoice, and/or charge your payment method on file. The cost of return shipping for an item that is not as described is the seller's responsibility.
If you (as seller), choose to reimburse a buyer, or are required to reimburse a buyer or HearingStockAid.com under the HearingStockAid.com Money Back Guarantee, you authorize HearingStockAid.com to request that PayPal remove the reimbursement amount (in same or other currency) from your PayPal account, place the amount on your invoice, and/or charge your payment method on file. If we cannot get reimbursement from you, we may collect the outstanding sums using other collection mechanisms, including retaining collection agencies.
We may suspend the HearingStockAid.com Money Back Guarantee in whole or in part without notice if we suspect abuse or interference with the proper working of the policy.
8. Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability
We try to keep our Services safe, secure, and functioning properly, but we cannot guarantee the continuous operation of or access to our Services. Notification functionality in HearingStockAid.com's applications may not occur in real time. Such functionality is subject to delays beyond HearingStockAid.com's control.
You agree that you are making use of our Services at your own risk, and that they are being provided to you on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Accordingly, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we exclude all express or implied warranties, terms and conditions including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
In addition, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable, and you agree not to hold us responsible, for any damages or losses (including, but not limited to, loss of money, goodwill or reputation, profits, other intangible losses, or any special, indirect, or consequential damages) resulting directly or indirectly from:
- the content you provide (directly or indirectly) using the Services;
- your use of or your inability to use our Services;
- pricing, shipping, format, or other guidance provided by HearingStockAid.com;
- delays or disruptions in our Services;
- viruses or other malicious software obtained by accessing or linking to our Services;
- glitches, bugs, errors, or inaccuracies of any kind in our Services;
- damage to your hardware device from the use of any HearingStockAid.com Service;
- the content, actions, or inactions of third parties, including items listed using our Services or the destruction of allegedly fake items;
- a suspension or other action taken with respect to your account;
- the duration or manner in which your listings appear in search results; or
- your need to modify practices, content, or behavior, or your loss of or inability to do business, as a result of changes to this User Agreement or our policies.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of warranties or exclusion of damages, so such disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you.
Regardless of the previous paragraphs, if we are found to be liable, our liability to you or to any third party is limited to the greater of (a) any amounts due under the HearingStockAid.com Money Back Guarantee up to the price the item sold for on HearingStockAid.com (including any applicable sales tax) and its original shipping costs, (b) the amount of fees in dispute not to exceed the total fees, which you paid to us in the 12 months prior to the action giving rise to the liability, or (c) $100.
If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our affiliates and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. In entering into this release you expressly waive any protections (whether statutory or otherwise) that would otherwise limit the coverage of this release to include only those claims which you may know or suspect to exist in your favor at the time of agreeing to this release.
10. Indemnity
You will indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this User Agreement, your improper use of HearingStockAid.com's Services or your breach of any law or the rights of a third party.
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS AND WILL HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON HOW CLAIMS YOU AND HEARINGSTOCKAID.COM HAVE AGAINST EACH OTHER ARE RESOLVED.
You and HearingStockAid.com agree that any claim or dispute at law or equity that has arisen, or may arise, between you and HearingStockAid.com (including any claim or dispute between you and a third-party agent of HearingStockAid.com) that relates in any way to or arises out of this or previous versions of this User Agreement, your use of or access to the Services, the actions of HearingStockAid.com or its agents, or any products or services sold or purchased through the Services, will be resolved in accordance with the provisions set forth in this Legal Disputes Section.
A. Applicable Law
You agree that, except to the extent inconsistent with or preempted by federal law, the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern this User Agreement and any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and HearingStockAid.com, except as otherwise stated in this User Agreement.
You and HearingStockAid.com each agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen, or may arise, between you and HearingStockAid.com (including any disputes or claims between you and a third-party agent of HearingStockAid.com) that relate in any way to or arise out of this or previous versions of the User Agreement, your use of or access to the Services, the actions of HearingStockAid.com or its agents, or any products or services sold, offered, or purchased through the Services shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court. Alternatively, you may assert your claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify and so long as the matter remains in such court and advances only on an individual (non-class, non-representative) basis. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Agreement to Arbitrate.
- Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief
YOU AND HEARINGSTOCKAID.COM AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, OR REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND HEARINGSTOCKAID.COM AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S OR PARTY'S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, CLASS, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY'S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). ANY RELIEF AWARDED CANNOT AFFECT OTHER USERS. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph's limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court, subject to your and HearingStockAid.com's right to appeal the court's decision. All other claims will be arbitrated.
- Arbitration Procedures
Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, and court review of an arbitration award is very limited. However, an arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual. An arbitrator should apply the terms of the User Agreement as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that issues relating to arbitrability, the scope or enforceability of this Agreement to Arbitrate, or the interpretation of Section 1 of this Agreement to Arbitrate ("Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief"), shall be for a court of competent jurisdiction to decide. The arbitration will be conducted by the arbitration chosen by HearingStockAid.com. The use of the word "arbitrator" in this provision shall not be construed to prohibit more than one arbitrator from presiding over an arbitration; rather, the arbitrator’s rules will govern the number of arbitrators that may preside over an arbitration conducted under this Agreement to Arbitrate.
A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a Notice of intent to dispute (“Notice”). All information called for in the Notice must be provided, including a description of the nature and basis of the claims the party is asserting and the relief sought. If you and HearingStockAid.com are unable to resolve the claims described in the Notice within 30 days after the Notice is sent, you or HearingStockAid.com may initiate arbitration proceedings. You may send a copy to HearingStockAid.com at the following address: HearingStockAid.com, Inc., 800 Welcome Way SE, Salem, OR 97302. In the event HearingStockAid.com initiates an arbitration against you, it will send a copy of the completed form to the physical address we have on file associated with your HearingStockAid.com account. Any settlement offer made by you or HearingStockAid.com shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator.
The arbitration hearing shall be held in the county in which you reside or at another mutually agreed location. If the value of the relief sought is $10,000 or less, you or HearingStockAid.com may elect to have the arbitration conducted by telephone or based solely on written submissions, which election shall be binding on you and HearingStockAid.com subject to the arbitrator's discretion to require an in-person hearing, if the circumstances warrant. In cases where an in-person hearing is held, you and/or HearingStockAid.com may attend by telephone, unless the arbitrator requires otherwise.
The arbitrator will decide the substance of all claims in accordance with applicable law, including recognized principles of equity, and will honor all claims of privilege recognized by law. The arbitrator shall not be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving different users, but is bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving the same HearingStockAid.com user to the extent required by applicable law. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
- Costs of Arbitration
Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the Arbitrator’s rules, unless otherwise stated in this Agreement to Arbitrate. If the value of the relief sought is $10,000 or less, at your request, HearingStockAid.com will pay all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees associated with the arbitration. Any request for payment of fees by HearingStockAid.com should be submitted by mail to the arbitrator along with your Demand for Arbitration and HearingStockAid.com will make arrangements to pay all necessary fees directly to the arbitrator. If (a) you willfully fail to comply with the Notice of Dispute requirement discussed above, or (b) in the event the arbitrator determines the claim(s) you assert in the arbitration to be frivolous, you agree to reimburse HearingStockAid.com for all fees associated with the arbitration paid by HearingStockAid.com on your behalf that you otherwise would be obligated to pay under the Arbitrator’s rules.
- Severability
With the exception of any of the provisions in Section 1 of this Agreement to Arbitrate ("Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief"), if an arbitrator or court decides that any part of this Agreement to Arbitrate is invalid or unenforceable, the other parts of this Agreement to Arbitrate shall still apply.
- Opt-Out Procedure
IF YOU ARE A NEW USER OF OUR SERVICES, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO REJECT THIS AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE ("OPT-OUT") BY MAILING US A WRITTEN OPT-OUT NOTICE ("OPT-OUT NOTICE"). THE OPT-OUT NOTICE MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE YOU ACCEPT THE USER AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME. YOU MUST MAIL THE OPT-OUT NOTICE TO HEARINGSTOCKAID.COM INC., 800 WELCOME WAY SE, SALEM, OR 97302.
If you choose to opt-out, you must notify us in writing in order to opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate. You must include your name, address (including street address, city, state and zip code), and the user ID(s) and email address(es) associated with the HearingStockAid.com Service account(s) to which the opt-out applies. You must sign the Opt-Out Notice for it to be effective. This procedure is the only way you can opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate. If you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate, all other parts of this User Agreement and its Legal Disputes Section will continue to apply to you. Opting out of this Agreement to Arbitrate has no effect on any previous, other, or future arbitration agreements that you may have with us.
- Future Amendments to the Agreement to Arbitrate
Notwithstanding any provision in the User Agreement to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make any amendment to this Agreement to Arbitrate (other than an amendment to any notice address or site link provided herein) in the future, that amendment shall not apply to any claim that was filed in a legal proceeding against HearingStockAid.com prior to the effective date of the amendment. The amendment shall apply to all other disputes or claims governed by the Agreement to Arbitrate that have arisen or may arise between you and HearingStockAid.com. We will notify you of amendments to this Agreement to Arbitrate by posting the amended terms on www.HearingStockAid.com.com at least 30 days before the effective date of the amendments and by providing notice through the HearingStockAid.com Message Center and/or by email. If you do not agree to these amended terms, you may close your account within the 30-day period and you will not be bound by the amended terms.
C. Judicial Forum for Legal Disputes
Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that the Agreement to Arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or dispute, either as a result of your decision to opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate or as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and HearingStockAid.com must be resolved exclusively by a state or federal court located in Salem, Oregon. You and HearingStockAid.com agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Marion County, Oregon for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes.
Except as otherwise provided in this User Agreement, if any provision of this User Agreement is held to be invalid, void or for any reason unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. In our sole discretion, we may assign this User Agreement, and in such event, we will post notice on www.HearingStockAid.com.com. Headings are for reference purposes only and do not limit the scope or extent of such Section. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. We do not guarantee we will take action against all breaches of this User Agreement.
We may amend this User Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms on www.HearingStockAid.com.com. Our right to amend the User Agreement includes the right to modify, add to, or remove terms in the User Agreement. We will provide you 30 days' notice by posting the amended terms. Additionally, we will notify you through the HearingStockAid.com Message Center and/or by email. Your continued access or use of our Services constitutes your acceptance of the amended terms. We may also ask you to acknowledge your acceptance of the User Agreement through an electronic click-through. This User Agreement may not otherwise be amended except through mutual agreement by you and an HearingStockAid.com representative who intends to amend this User Agreement and is duly authorized to agree to such an amendment.
The policies and terms posted on our Services may be changed from time to time. Changes take effect when we post them on the HearingStockAid.com Service.
If you create or use an account on behalf of a business entity, you represent that you are authorized to act on behalf of such business and bind the business to this User Agreement. Such account is owned and controlled by the business entity. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this User Agreement.
The User Agreement and all terms and polices posted through our Services set forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and HearingStockAid.com, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements of the parties.
The following Sections survive any termination of this User Agreement: Fees, Content, Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability; Release, Indemnity, Legal Disputes, and General.
Registrar
Contact person
Name of the register
User register of the Hearing Aids service
Use of personal details (purpose of register)
Personal details are collected to make communication and use of service possible. Details can be used for communication between service providers and users and also for direct communication between users. Some personal details are visible on the profile page of the user, but those details are voluntary (except name).
The handling of personal details is not outsourced, but the register data is stored on a server that is rented from a third party company.
Information content of the register
The following information may be stored in the register:
- Personal details: Name, email address, phone number, street address
- Account details: username, password (stored in encrypted format)
- The description text that the user may write about him/herself
- The offers and requests the user has posted to the service
- The given and received feedback and badges
- Statistical data about service usage, e.g. number times the user has logged in
Regular sources of information
Personal details are given by the user on registration to the service or when using it later.
Regular handovers of the information
The information may be handed over for research purposes as described in the Terms of use that the user accepts before starting to use the service. The researchers may not publish any research results so that identifying information would be revealed or that any specific user could be detected.
Information considering users of a single Hearing Aids community may be handed over to the client who has founded that community or to the community administrators appointed by that client.
Register protection principles
The information is stored on computers. The access to the information is restricted with passwords and physical access to the computers is restricted by the server hosting company.