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TERMS OF USE
ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTATION, PAYMENT SERVICES, AND
PAPERLESS BILLING TERMS OF USE
Effective Date: June 4, 2007
Welcome to The Ponderosa Telephone Co. ("Ponderosa", "we",
"us") Electronic Bill Payment Service ("Service"). Before
using this Service, you must complete the enrollment process
as indicated in the "New Account Registration." By
completing the user registration, the user of our Service
("you") agrees to the following terms of use, as well as the
goponderosa.com website ("Website")
Terms of Use that can be found
by clicking here.
ELECTRONIC BILL PAYMENT SERVICE
The
Service allows you to view, save, print, and pay your
current monthly bill online using your Visa or MasterCard
credit or debit card. You will have secure, 24/7 access to
your Ponderosa account through the Internet. You will also
have the option of stopping delivery of your paper bills,
and instead receiving monthly emails when your bill is ready
to view online. Upon successful registration for the
Service, you will be able to view up to four months of
online bill history.
You
may schedule single or regular monthly bill payments.
Regular monthly bill payments will be deducted on the tenth
(10th) business day of each month. Single or
regular monthly payments made from your Visa or MasterCard
credit or debit card will include all charges billed on your
Ponderosa statement, including but not limited to Ponderosa
Telephone service, Ponderosa Long Distance toll charges,
Ponderosa Internet service, Ponderosa Cablevision service,
and other services you may add in the future, plus any
applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges. Ponderosa does
not guarantee that the information provided, with respect to
the online bill history or current monthly charges is
accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
Therefore, Ponderosa reserves the right, at its discretion,
to correct any error in the Service or monthly billing
statements at any time.
You
agree to maintain sufficient available credit or funds in
your payment accounts on the business day of and just prior
to each payment deduction date to cover the amount of the
payment.
PRIVACY POLICY
Ponderosa respects your privacy, believes strongly in
protecting your privacy, and permits you to have some
control of the treatment of your personal information held
by us in the course of business. A complete statement of
Ponderosa's current
Privacy Policy can be found by clicking
here.
Ponderosa's privacy policy is expressly incorporated into
this Agreement by this reference.
PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION, ACCOUNT, AND SECURITY
In
order to use the Service, you must complete the registration
process by providing Ponderosa with complete and accurate
information as prompted by the registration form. Your
Ponderosa account number (found on your billing statement)
and personal password (created by you upon registration for
the Service) may be used by you to access your account. You
agree not to provide or make available your account number
and password to any unauthorized individuals to access the
Service.
You
are responsible for all bill payments made through the
Service using your account number and password. You are
entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur
through use of your account number and password with the
Service. You may be held liable for losses incurred by
Ponderosa or another party, and you understand and agree
that Ponderosa will not be held responsible for any such
losses you may incur, due to use or misuse of your account
number and password, credit card information or account
through the Service either with or without your permission.
CHARGES AND FEES
Ponderosa does not charge for use of the Service. You
remain responsible for any fees normally associated with
your credit or debit card accounts from which your bill
payments will be made.
If the
charges to your credit or debit card accounts are declined
by your bank or vendor for any reason, you remain obligated
to pay and will also be assessed a returned or refused
payment charge of $7.50. In the event that such charges are
incurred by you, the Service may be suspended, and you will
be responsible for making your payment to Ponderosa's
customer care facility in O'Neals, California on or before
the final date to pay in order to avoid a possible
interruption of phone, Internet or cable service. Please
refer to your monthly billing statement for further terms
regarding rendering and payment of bills.
PAPERLESS BILLING
You
understand and agree that stopping your paper bill means
that you will no longer receive a paper copy of your
Ponderosa bill through the mail. Ponderosa occasionally
includes notices in its billing statements including, but
not limited to, notices required by law or regulatory
agencies regarding changes in your service. You understand
and agree that stopping your paper bill means that you will
only be able to access such notices online through your
account. Your obligation to pay your Ponderosa bill by the
due date is not altered or modified in any way by stopping
your paper bill. Applicable late payment fees apply, and
late payment notices may also be sent through U.S. Mail.
SERVICE TERMINATION OR DISCONTINUATION
Ponderosa may terminate the Service at any time and/or
revoke your right to use the Service for any or no reason.
Ponderosa will send you reasonable notice if it suspends or
terminates the Service.
In the
event that you wish to discontinue the Service, you can do
so through the Service or by calling Ponderosa Customer Care
at 1-800-682-1878 or 559-868-6000.
Neither termination of the Service nor discontinuation shall
affect your liability or obligations under these Terms of
Use. Termination or discontinuation of the Service
terminates only your electronic billing, payment, and
paperless services, but does not cancel your bills related
to telephone, Internet or cable services from Ponderosa. If
you cancel your Service, Ponderosa will resume mailing your
paper bill and you continue to be responsible for making
your payments directly and in a timely manner.
CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION/BANKING CHANGES
You
may elect to have Ponderosa retain your payment information,
including but not limited to your billing name, address,
telephone number, credit or debit card numbers, and
expiration dates, for your convenience and use in future
transactions authorized by you. You are responsible for
maintaining up-to-date customer identification information
in your Service profile. You agree to notify Ponderosa at
least fifteen (15) days in advance of any change in your
banking status by updating your Service profile. You agree
that Ponderosa will not be responsible for any transactions
rejected due to erroneous or outdated payment information.
You also agree that Ponderosa will not be liable for any
use, misuse, lost, stolen, or incorrect payment information.
If any
email to you is returned to Ponderosa as "undeliverable", we
will contact you by phone to determine any necessary changes
in your customer identification information, and reserve the
right to re-activate your paper bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS
When
accessing the Site or using the Service, you agree to obey
the law and to respect the intellectual property rights of
others. Your use of the Service and the Site is at all
times governed by and subject to laws regarding copyright
ownership and use of intellectual property. You agree not
to upload, display, perform, transmit, or otherwise
distribute any information or content (collectively,
“Content”) in violation of any third party’s copyrights,
trademarks, or other intellectual property or proprietary
rights. You agree to abide by laws regarding copyright
ownership and use of intellectual property, and you shall be
solely responsible for any violations of any relevant laws
and for any infringements of third party rights caused by
any Content you provide or transmit, or that is provided or
transmitted using your telephone number or account number.
The burden of proving that any Content does not violate any
laws or third party rights rests solely with you.
NO
WARRANTIES
YOU
UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO
YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ANY
MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE
SERVICE. PONDEROSA HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES.
PONDEROSA IS MAKING THE SERVICE AVAILABLE “AS IS" WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF ANY AND ALL
DAMAGE OR LOSS FROM USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE
OR THE SERVICE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW,
PONDEROSA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICE,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR
NON-INFRINGEMENT. PONDEROSA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE
WEBSITE OR THE SERVICE IS FREE OF INFECTION OR VIRUSES,
WORMS, TROJAN HORSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS THAT MAY
CONTAMINATE OR DESTROY PROPERTIES. SIMILARLY, PONDEROSA IS
NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR OR OMISSION
RELATING TO PRICING. FINALLY, PONDEROSA DOES NOT WARRANT
THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS
OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICE WILL BE
UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
LIMITED LIABILITY
PONDEROSA'S LIABILITY TO YOU IS LIMITED. TO THE MAXIMUM
EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL PONDEROSA BE
LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST
PROFITS, OR LOST DATA, REGARDLESS OF THE FORESEEABILITY OF
THOSE DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE
OF THE SERVICE OR RELATED MATERIALS PROVIDED TO YOU BY
PONDEROSA. THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF US AND ANY AFFILIATED
PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR
RELATING TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED $100 AND THAT
AMOUNT SHALL BE IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER REMEDIES WHICH YOU MAY
HAVE AGAINST US AND ANY AFFILIATED PARTY. This limitation
shall apply regardless of whether the damages arise out of
breach of contract, tort, or any other legal theory or form
of action.
GOVERNING LAW
These
Terms of Use shall be construed in accordance with and
governed by the laws of the United States and the State of
California, without reference to their rules regarding
conflicts of law. You hereby irrevocably consent to the
exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts in Fresno County,
California, and federal courts in Fresno, California, U.S.A.
in all disputes arising out of or related to the use of the
Service.
MODIFICATIONS
Ponderosa may, in its sole discretion and without prior
notice, (a) revise these Terms of Use; (b) modify the
Service; and (c) discontinue the Service at any time.
Ponderosa shall post any revision to these Terms of Use to
the website, and the revision shall be effective immediately
on such posting. You agree to review these Terms of Use and
other online policies posted on the website periodically to
be aware of any revisions. You agree that, by continuing to
use or access the Service and/or website following notice of
any revision, you shall abide by any such revision.
MISCELLANEOUS
Any
cause of action by you with respect to the Service must be
instituted within one (1) year after the cause of action
arose or be forever waived and barred. All actions shall be
subject to the limitations set forth in the "NO WARRANTIES"
and "LIMITATION OF LIABILITY" sections, above. The language
in this Agreement shall be interpreted as to its fair
meaning and not strictly for or against any party. Any rule
of construction to the effect that ambiguities are to be
resolved against the drafting party shall not apply in
interpreting this Agreement. The headings in this Agreement
are included for convenience only and shall neither affect
the construction or interpretation of any provision of this
Agreement nor affect any of the rights or obligations of the
parties to this Agreement. Should any part of this
Agreement be held invalid or unenforceable, that portion
shall be construed as much as possibly consistent with
applicable law and the remaining portions shall remain in
full force and effect. To the extent that anything in or
associated with the Service is in conflict or inconsistent
with this Agreement, this Agreement shall take precedence.
Our failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall
not be deemed a waiver of such provision nor of the right to
enforce such provision. Neither the course of conduct
between you and us, nor trade practice, shall act to modify
any provision of this Agreement. Our rights under this
Agreement shall survive any termination of this Agreement.
ARBITRATION
Any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or
relating to this Agreement or the Site (excluding legal
action taken by us or you to collect or recover damages for,
or obtain any injunction relating to, intellectual property
ownership or infringement), shall be settled solely by
confidential binding arbitration in accordance with the
commercial arbitration rules of JAMS. Any such controversy
or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and
shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim
or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be
conducted in San Francisco, California. Each party shall
bear one-half of the arbitration fees and costs incurred
through JAMS, and each party shall bear its own attorneys'
fees.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
BY
USING THE SERVICE OR ACCESSING THE SITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS OF USE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND
BY THEM.
Contacting Us
If you
have any questions, comments or complaints concerning these
Terms of Use or the Service, please contact us at
1-800-682-1878 or 559-868-6000, e-mail us at
termsofuse@goponderosa.com,
or send any correspondence to Customer Operations Director,
The Ponderosa Telephone Co., P.O. Box 21, O'Neals, CA
93645. Our representatives will endeavor to contact you
within fifteen (15) days of your inquiry.
561120.2 / 7024-1000
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