TERMS & CONDITIONS
It is very important that you read the SEEKINGSITTERS Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions identify the relationship of the sitter to your family, how our service works and our privacy information. All the questions you might have about our service are contained here and by agreeing to the terms and conditions, you have verified that you have read the following statements.
You may not use this Site or the information herein for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use. All contents of this Site are protected by Copyright. You may not modify, reproduce, copy, redistribute, adapt, upload, download, extract or transmit the design, any content or layout of the Site, individual elements of the Web site design, SEEKINGSITTERS logos or other logos appearing on this Site, photographs, and graphics, without express written permission of SEEKINGSITTERS. You may not use any automated programs or technology to mine, crawl or otherwise enter the site's servers for any purpose. You may print or download selected materials only for non-commercial use provided that you do not change or delete any copyright, attribution, or proprietary notice from the materials.
1. GENERAL TERMS (Use of sitters, your responsibility, background screening, termination)
Your account must undergo review prior to approval as an active member of SEEKINGSITTERS service. This review will consist of verifying the information provided on your membership application including your name and address history verification and criminal and sex offender record screening. If it is discovered that you have made inaccurate representations or attempted to conceal any information required on the SEEKINGSITTERS application, your account and access to the online program will be immediately terminated without a refund of fees. We reserve the right to decline membership.
All Contract Professional Sitters are independent contractors. They are ultimately employed by you on a job-to-job basis. SEEKINGSITTERS pre-screens sitters and refers them to your family for employment. SEEKINGSITTERS does not provide any sitter training. Only the most trustworthy, ethical and experienced individuals are accepted onto the SEEKINGSITTERS sitter referral list, known as the Sitting Team. If a Contract Professional Sitter is ever referred to you that you do not feel comfortable working with, contact SEEKINGSITTERS immediately and SEEKINGSITTERS will match you with another sitter. Any background history on any of the Contract Professional Sitters assigned to your family is available for your review.
As a convenience to its members, SEEKINGSITTERS utilizes a third party payment service - OBT Online - to process all member charges. As a condition of your membership with SEEKINGSITTERS, you are required to establish an account with OBT Online and register a valid credit card number to be used for all charges incurred with SEEKINGSITTERS. After completion of each sitting assignment, the Contract Professional Sitter will submit an on-line invoice to OBT Online; your account will thereafter be charged upon your log-in and electronic signature authorizing the invoice or SEEKINGSITTERS' receipt of a Time Card bearing your signature. Your credit card will reflect Online Business Transactions.
All Contract Professional Sitters have undergone the following background screening checks:
Previous Childcare experience
Identity Verification
Criminal Records
Fiduciary Responsibility Evaluation
Personal Character Evaluation (through one on one interview with SEEKINGSITTERS)
Driver Record History is only performed at the request of a SEEKINGSITTERS member and additional fees may apply. *We cannot make any recommendations regarding the capability of our sitters as drivers for your children, please use your own discretion.
Background screening is only performed at the time the sitter signs up with SEEKINGSITTERS. SEEKINGSITTERS cannot be responsible for any errors and/or omissions contained in the databases used to perform background checks. Background checks are not updated unless a subsequent review is warranted. SEEKINGSITTERS cannot be responsible for any actions taking place at the member's home.
You may terminate your membership at any time and for any reason. Likewise, SEEKINGSITTERS reserves the right to terminate any member's membership at any time and for any reason, including (but not limited to) rude, abusive, harassing or inappropriate conduct toward a sitter or SEEKINGSITTERS' staff, maintaining an unsafe environment for a sitter or placing a sitter at risk of harm, failure to pay on an account, and/or providing false information on a membership application. Upon termination of your membership, your account and access to the online program will be immediately terminated without a refund of fees.
2. WAIVER AND RELEASE
By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, you hereby expressly understand and agree that SEEKINGSITTERS is a referral source for Contract Professional Sitters. By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, and in consideration of SEEKINGSITTERS' agreement to refer one or more Contract Professional Sitter(s) for sitting servicing, you, on behalf of yourself and your minor child(ren), as well as your respective heirs, assigns, administrators, personal representatives, and next of kin, do hereby release and hold harmless SEEKINGSITTERS, any Contract Professional Sitter(s), and their affiliates, subsidiaries, agents, assigns, employees, representatives, officers, directors, and shareholders (hereinafter the "Releasees") from any and all liability, damages and/or claims for injury or death to persons, pets or damage to property arising from any and all actions or omissions of any and all persons or entities, including (but not limited to) those injuries and damages caused by Releasees' alleged or actual negligence. You further agree to defend and indemnify the Releasees from any and all claims brought by any party for injury to person(s), pet(s) and/or damage to property which may be caused by or result from actions or omissions committed by yourself or your minor child(ren).
You acknowledge that there are inherent risks associated with sitting activities, and you, on behalf of yourself and your minor child(ren), knowingly and freely assume all such risks, both known and unknown, including those that may arise out of the negligence of the Contract Professional Sitter(s) and/or others.
You hereby authorize any Contract Professional Sitter(s) assigned to you to act according to their best judgment in any situation requiring medical attention related to your minor child(ren), whether an emergency or not, until such time as you can be contacted and permitted to make decisions regarding medical treatment.
You further agree and understand that this Waiver and Release is intended to be as broad and as inclusive as is permitted by applicable law, and that if any portion of this Waiver and Release is held invalid, the remaining portions will continue in full legal force and effect. You acknowledge having read this Waiver and Release and voluntarily executed your acknowledgment below, and further acknowledge and agree that neither SEEKINGSITTERS, nor any of the Releasees, has made any oral representations, statements or inducements apart from the statements contained in this Waiver and Release. Anyone executing this Waiver and Release is urged to consult an attorney regarding the effect of agreeing to the terms hereof.
This paragraph is limited to employee members only: You further agree and understand that SEEKINGSITTERS is in no way affiliated or associated with your employer, and that with the exception of billing and payment for the subject services, your employer has no responsibilities or obligations for the services rendered to you by SEEKINGSITTERS or its Contract Professional Sitter(s). You, and you alone, knowingly and freely assume all risks associated with the sitting services provided by SEEKINGSITTERS and its Contract Professional Sitter(s), and you understand and agree that your employer bears no responsibility for such services. Furthermore, you hereby authorize SEEKINGSITTERS to disclose to your employer certain limited information related to the status of your SEEKINGSITTERS employee membership, including but not limited to information indicating that your employee membership with SEEKINGSITTERS has been denied or canceled.
3. TRANSACTIONS (Pricing and Fees)
All transactions are processed by credit card through a third party payment provider, OBT Online. Payments for sitting services are charged to your credit card once the Contract Professional Sitter submits an on-line invoice and SEEKINGSITTERS receives a Time Card bearing your signature and your credit card will reflect Online Business Transactions. SeekingSitters does not receive payment for the contract sitter services. Please check with your tax adviser as to proper tax filing for your specific needs.
Service Fees:
Please note, all fees are subject to change without notice.
Families and Corporate Members Activation Fee: All SEEKINGSITTERS Members pay a one-time initial activation fee upon sign-up per family household or business entity. The sign-up fee is shown on the website. This fee is non-refundable.
Service Plan Fee: (Service fees do not include hourly sitting fees.)
Pay per use members will be charged the preset service fee applicable in the member's location per sitting event. A list of prices by location is available on our Web site.
Unlimited use members are charged a monthly fee for unlimited sitting event requests. This monthly fee is billed for the period of one year. After one year, the fee is billed on a month to month basis until SEEKINGSITTERS receives written notice of cancellation. If the membership is canceled for any reason prior to one year, the remaining monthly fees will be assessed. No fees will be refunded. If membership is interrupted for any reason, a new activation fee will be charged.
Hourly Babysitting Charges:
Hourly babysitting charges designated for each location apply. All babysitting events require a four-hour minimum. Holiday rates are applied as noted per location.
Hourly Pet Sitting Charges:
Hourly pet sitting charges designated for each location apply. All pet sitting events require a one-hour minimum. Holiday rates are applied as noted per location.
Hourly House Sitting Charges:
Hourly house sitting charges designated for each location apply. All house sitting events require a one-hour minimum. Holiday rates are applied as noted per location.
Hour Study Support Charges:
Hourly study support charges designated for each location apply. All study support events require a one-hour minimum. Holiday rates are applied as noted per location.
Extended Driving Area:
Families within the extended driving area, designated by each SEEKINGSITTERS individual location, will incur an extended driving area charge which is passed directly to the sitter.
BOOKING DEPOSIT:
A non-refundable booking deposit (amount varies by location) will be charged at the time that a sitter accepts job and the job is secured with a sitter. If the job is reassigned for any reason, the booking deposit will roll over to the new sitter. The booking deposit is not refundable.
Cancellation Policy:
A preset cancellation fee determined by location will be charged on all scheduled* sitting events canceled with less than 48 hours notice. See our Web site for a list of cancellation fees by location.
*Once the sitter has accepted the job the request will change from blue to green on the member's online calendar and at that time the job is then considered scheduled.
When you make a sitter request, you agree that you will fulfill the 4 hour minimum when the job is accepted. If you fail to cancel and the sitter shows up at your home, you will be billed the 4 hour minimum for the event.
Communication and Invoices:
Billing and Job related information is provided to you by email and as a member of SEEKINGSITTERS you agree to receive this information in electronic form. As an active member, you are able to retrieve billing records through your online SEEKINGSITTERS account. If your account has been made inactive, this information will not be available to you unless requested in writing to your local SEEKINGSITTERS office.
This paragraph is limited to corporate members only: You understand and agree that you are responsible for all sitting charges incurred by you or your company, and should you offer employee memberships to your employees, then you will be solely and exclusively responsible for all sitting charges incurred by your employees as part of the SEEKINGSITTERS sitting referral services.
**SeekingSitters does not receive payment for sitting services. You are responsible for tax filing as related to your specific needs.
4. GUARANTEE OF FILLING REQUESTS*
We cannot guarantee any request can be filled. Will treat all events requested 7 days in advance with priority. Families will receive confirmation via email and on-line calendar that their request for a sitter has been filled. We cannot guarantee that any requests made less 72 hours before an event will be filled.
SEEKINGSITTERS cannot be held responsible for situations that are out of our control, such as sitters getting sick, inclement weather or emergencies that will prevent them from working their assigned events, although SEEKINGSITTERS will make its best efforts to find a substitute sitter in such a situation.
SEEKINGSITTERS will not send sitters to families that have sick (contagious) children. Please contact SEEKINGSITTERS directly for your specific situation.
*No guarantees are provided for holidays.
5. SITTER REQUEST POLICY:
It is SEEKINGSITTERS policy that all sitter requests are made through SEEKINGSITTERS either from the member's online account or contact with the local SEEKINGSITTERS office. SEEKINGSITTERS will always work to assign your preferred or previously used sitter for your requested date and time and then match from available sitters. If you are ever uncomfortable with your assigned sitter, contact SEEKINGSITTERS immediately.
It is against policy to contact a sitter directly without going through the request process described above. If you hire a Contract Professional Sitter outside of the SEEKINGSITTERS request process or provide SeekingSitters Professional Sitter's names to others for hire, you will be charged for a $1,500 one-time referral fee, the sitter will be removed from our referred sitter list and your membership will be immediately terminated and no membership charges will be refunded.
6. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
We make no representations about the suitability of the information contained on or obtained through this site for any purpose, or the results that may be obtained from using the site. All information and services are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. SEEKINGSITTERS hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to this information and services, including all implied warranties and conditions of merchant-ability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. In no event shall SEEKINGSITTERS be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of or in any way connected with the use of this site or with the delay of or inability to use this site, or for any information or services obtained through this site, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if SEEKINGSITTERS has been advised of the possibility of damages. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you.
7. LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES
This Site may contain hyperlinks to Web sites operated by parties other than SEEKINGSITTERS. Such hyperlinks are provided for your reference only. We do not control such Web sites and are not responsible for their contents. SEEKINGSITTERS inclusion of hyperlinks to such Web sites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such Web sites or any association with their operators. If you decide to access third-party Web sites, you do so at your own risk.
8. CHILDREN UNDER 13
We do not knowingly collect, maintain or use personal information on our website about children under age 13. Children under the age of 13 may not participate in any online activities on SEEKINGSITTERS Web sites. If a child whom we know to be under age 13 sends personal information to us online, we will only use that information to respond directly to that child, notify parents, or seek parental consent.
9. FORUMS
This Site contains bulletin boards, chat rooms or other message or communication facilities (collectively, "Forums"). You agree that you are responsible for your own communications and for any consequences thereof. You agree to use the Forums only to send and receive messages and material that are legal, proper and related to the particular Forum. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using a Forum, you will not:
1) Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
2) Publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate or offer to do the same (hereinafter "Post") any defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful material or information.
3) Any material that infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right of any party (the "Rights"), unless you are the owner of the Rights or have the permission of the owner to post or transmit such material.
4) Post any files that contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer.
5) Advertise or offer to sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose, other than in Forums intended for such uses.
6) Conduct or forward surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or chain letters, other than in Forums intended for such uses.
7) Download any file posted by another user of a Forum that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner.
8) Impersonate another person or entity, or falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is Posted.
9) Restrict or inhibit any other user from enjoying the Forums.
10. PRIVACY NOTICE
This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for www.SEEKINGSITTERS.com. This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this Web site. It will notify you of the following:
1. What personally identifiable information is collected from you through the Web site, how it is used and with whom it may be shared.
2. What choices are available to you regarding the use of your data.
3. The security procedures in place to protect the misuse of your information.
4. How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.
Information Collection, Use, and Sharing
We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone. We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. Except as otherwise expressly stated herein, we will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request (e.g. to ship an order) or (in the case of employee memberships) to advise your employer that your application for employee memberships has been denied or cancelled. Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.
Your Access to and Control Over Information
You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number given on our Web site:
- See what data we have about you, if any.
- Change/correct any data we have about you.
- Have us delete any data we have about you.
- Express any concern you have about our use of your data.
While you are an active member of SEEKINGSITTERS, billing and Job related information is provided to you by email and as a member of SEEKINGSITTERS you are required to receive this information in this manner.
Security
We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the Web site, your information is protected both online and offline. Wherever we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your Web browser, or looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the Web page.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately via telephone at 918-749-3588 or via email.
11. TERMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
The information published on this site may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. SEEKINGSITTERS may make improvements and/or changes in this site at any time. Your continued use or access of this site will mean that you accept these changes.
I HAVE THOROUGHLY READ AND AGREE TO THE TERMS OF SEEKINGSITTERS SERVICE.
