Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Service form a binding agreement between you and SuiZhou XiaoXu E-Commerce Co., Ltd. They take effect when you first use the website or when you send a request to the harbor office, whichever happens first. If you do not agree with a part of these terms, please do not use the website or request a berth window.

Where a separate written agreement has been signed by both parties for a specific piece of work, that agreement prevails over these terms to the extent of any conflict. In every other case these terms apply together with the Privacy Policy, which describes how personal information is handled.

2. Definitions

In these terms the following words have the meaning given below. The definitions are listed so that a client and a clerk can discuss the same thing and know that they mean the same thing.

• Company, we, us and our mean SuiZhou XiaoXu E-Commerce Co., Ltd.
• You and your mean the visitor or the client, including the organization you represent.
• Website means the pages served at https://www.v-t.world.
• Desk means the harbor mornings desk operated by the Company.
• Service means any of the six trades described on the services page, together with any written advice given as part of them.
• Commission note means the written instruction prepared at a bay and signed by the day clerk.
• Berth window means the agreed hour in which a client may send work to the desk.
• Harbor record means the register, sheets, letter book, calendar, review notes and sitting summary held for a client.

3. Eligibility and business use

The website and the desk are offered to businesses and professional users. By using the website you confirm that you are at least eighteen years old and that you have the authority to act for the organization you represent. If you use the website on behalf of an organization, that organization also accepts these terms.

The service is designed for trading houses, freight offices, integrators and similar businesses. It is not intended for consumer use, and it is not directed to children. A request that appears to come from a person under the age of eighteen will be answered with a polite note asking for a responsible contact before any record is opened.

4. The harbor mornings service

The Company provides computer integrated systems design and related professional services through six standing trades: commission note bays, tide sheet runs, market letter desks, berth windows, mooring review rounds and harbor sittings. The trades are described in detail on the services page, which forms part of these terms by reference.

The desk is a professional service, not a guarantee of a business result. We will carry out each trade with reasonable skill and care, follow the written instruction that has been signed for the work, and keep the harbor record in good order. We do not promise that a market letter will produce a particular trade, that a tide sheet will be free of every transcription error in the source document the client supplied, or that a berth window will be available on any particular hour.

Where the desk needs to change a routine or a document format, the change is described in a commission note before it is applied. Clients who prefer the earlier routine may ask for it to be restored, and the desk will restore it where the request is reasonable and the harbor record allows.

5. Berth windows

A berth window is the agreed hour in which a client may send a batch of work to the desk and expect it to be received, read and acknowledged. Windows are held on a single calendar, confirmed in writing with a named clerk and released at the end of the hour. The client should send the batch during the window and should not send it in several separate messages spread across the day.

If a batch is larger than the window can carry, the desk will ask for the batch to be split across two windows rather than extend the first window. A client who misses a window may request the next free hour; a missed window is not automatically carried forward. Where the desk itself is unable to open a confirmed window, it will give notice as early as possible and offer a replacement hour at no additional charge.

Windows are reserved for the client named in the confirmation. A client may not pass a window to another organization without a written instruction that the desk accepts in advance.

6. Commission notes and signatures

A commission note is the written instruction for a piece of work. It is drafted at a bay from the instruction the client gives, read twice for what it says and what it leaves unsaid, and sent back for one short confirmation where a point is unclear. When the wording is settled, the day clerk signs the note and the note enters the register.

A signed note is the authoritative record of what the desk has been asked to do. A client may not rely on a conversation that is not reflected in a note. Where a client believes that a note misstates the instruction, the client should tell the desk before the note is acted on. A note may be corrected by a further signed note, and the earlier note remains in the record with a note that it was superseded.

The client is responsible for naming the person who may sign for the organization and for telling the desk when that person changes. A signature given by a person the client has named binds the client.

7. Tide sheets and records

The tide sheet run reads each sheet against the harbor office record, corrects a mis-transcribed reading in the margin and files the sheet in the same run. The desk relies on the accuracy of the source documents supplied by the client or obtained from an official record. Where the source document itself is wrong, the desk will correct the sheet only where the client confirms the correction in writing.

Tide sheets are working documents. They are not certified by a maritime authority unless the desk has separately agreed in writing to seek that certification. A client who needs a certified reading should say so before the run begins, because the certification route follows a different schedule from the ordinary run.

8. Market letters

A market letter is a trading letter prepared from the morning record. The desk drafts, proofs and files the letter and keeps a proof copy beside the sent copy. The letter is a commercial document and is not legal, tax, investment or regulatory advice. A client should not rely on a market letter for a decision that requires professional advice, and the desk will say so plainly if asked.

The distribution list is a controlled record. A recipient is added or removed only against a commission note, and the change takes effect on the day page on which it is noted. A client who supplies a list of recipients is responsible for confirming that the desk may send the letter to those recipients. The desk may refuse to send a letter to a recipient where it has reason to believe that the contact is not appropriate.

Market letters are written in the house style of the desk. A client may ask for a variation in wording, and the desk will consider the request where the variation does not conflict with the style or with an applicable law.

9. Mooring review rounds

A mooring review round walks the harbor record from the first commission note to the last filed market letter. The round produces a short written review that marks any gap between the register and the file contents. Reviews are held on a fixed weekday so that the client can be present if the client wishes.

A review finding is not a correction in itself. It becomes a correcting note, signed like any other note, before the record is changed. A client who disagrees with a finding may say so in writing, and the desk will record the disagreement beside the finding. The review notes remain part of the harbor record.

10. Harbor sittings

A harbor sitting is the long opening conversation of an engagement. The desk accepts a limited number of sittings each month to keep the quality of the sitting steady. A sitting ends with a written summary naming the records the desk will keep, draft and retire, signed by both sides before any commission note is opened.

A sitting is a professional assessment and not a promise of particular results. Where the sitting reveals that the desk cannot help with the situation, the summary will say so and the engagement will close with no further obligation apart from any fee already agreed for the sitting itself.

11. Client obligations

The desk can only keep a good record if the client supplies accurate material and answers confirmation requests quickly. The client agrees to the following.

• Provide accurate, complete and current information when a request is made.
• Name the person who may sign for the organization and keep that name current.
• Send work during a confirmed window and keep a batch within the agreed size.
• Tell the desk promptly if a commission note misstates the instruction.
• Hold the necessary rights to any document, list or image supplied to the desk.
• Pay the agreed fee for each trade on the terms stated in the invoice.
• Respect the confidentiality of the harbor record and of any draft received before it is filed.

Where a client fails to meet an obligation and the desk cannot carry out the work as a result, the desk may move the work to a later window and the client remains responsible for any fee already agreed for the work.

12. Fees and payment

Fees are agreed in writing before a trade begins. The desk quotes a separate fee for a sitting, a season of berth windows, a set of commission notes and any additional letter work. The quote is valid for thirty days from the date it is issued unless the quote says otherwise.

Invoices are issued for each trade or on a monthly basis where the client has agreed to a monthly cycle. Payment is due within the period stated on the invoice, ordinarily fifteen days from the date of the invoice. Where a payment is overdue, the desk may pause new work and may charge interest at the rate permitted by applicable law.

Amounts are stated exclusive of any tax that applies. The client is responsible for any tax that the law requires the client to account for and for any bank charge incurred on a transfer. A fee for a sitting is not refundable once the sitting has begun.

13. Cancellation and rescheduling

A berth window may be rescheduled at no charge if the request reaches the desk at least one working day before the window opens. A request made later is accommodated where a free hour exists but may be charged in full if the hour cannot be released.

A harbor sitting may be rescheduled or cancelled at no charge if the request reaches the desk at least three working days before the sitting. A later cancellation is charged at half the sitting fee. If the desk cancels a sitting, the client is offered the next available sitting or a full refund of any fee paid for it.

A season of berth windows may be ended on thirty days written notice. Any windows already confirmed within that period remain available to the client, and any fee already charged for work carried out remains due.

14. Intellectual property

The website, its design, its written copy and the system of commission notes, tide sheets and market letters are owned by the Company and are protected by copyright and related rights. You may read the website and keep a copy of a page for your own use, but you may not reproduce, distribute or adapt a substantial part of it without written permission.

Documents you supply to the desk remain yours. You grant the desk a limited permission to read, copy and store those documents for the purpose of the trade, and that permission ends when the harbor record reaches the end of its retention period. A market letter or a tide sheet prepared by the desk for you may be used within your organization, and it may be sent to your counterparties in the ordinary course of trade.

The name SuiZhou XiaoXu E-Commerce Co., Ltd., the harbor desk name and the visual identity of the desk may not be used in a way that suggests a relationship or an endorsement that does not exist.

15. Acceptable use of the website

You agree not to use the website in a way that interferes with the desk or with another visitor. The following are not permitted.

• Attempting to gain unauthorised access to the website, the server or the harbor records.
• Sending malware, a script designed to disrupt the website or a request intended to overload it.
• Scraping the website on a large scale or copying its content for a competing site.
• Sending an unlawful, defamatory or harassing message to the desk.
• Impersonating the Company, a clerk or another client.
• Using the contact form to send unsolicited commercial messages that are unrelated to the desk.

Where the desk has reason to believe that a visit breaches this section, it may block the address, preserve the relevant log entry and report the matter to the competent authority.

16. Confidentiality

Each side will keep confidential the other side business information that it receives in connection with the service and will use it only for the purpose of the service. The desk applies this rule to the records of a sitting, the contents of a commission note and the details of a market letter that have not yet been sent.

The duty of confidence does not apply to information that is already public, that is lawfully received from another source, that is independently developed by the receiving side or that a law or a court order requires to be disclosed. Where disclosure is required, the side that must disclose will give the other side as much notice as the law allows.

The duty continues after the service ends and lasts for as long as the information remains confidential.

17. Limitation of liability

The website and the desk are provided with reasonable skill and care. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Company is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential loss, for loss of profit, for loss of goodwill or for loss of business opportunity arising out of the use of the website or the service.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the total liability of the Company for a claim arising out of a trade is limited to the fee paid for that trade in the twelve months before the claim arose. Where the trade is a sitting, the total liability is limited to the fee paid for the sitting.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits a liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Nothing in these terms affects a statutory right that a client has under a law that cannot be varied by agreement.

18. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify the Company against a loss, a claim or a cost that the Company incurs as a result of your breach of these terms, your unlawful use of the website or your supply of a document that infringes the rights of another person. The indemnity is limited to the loss that is a direct result of the breach.

The Company will tell you promptly about a claim that may fall within this section, will let you take part in the defence where the law allows and will not settle a claim without your written agreement where the settlement would admit a liability on your part.

19. Suspension and termination

The Company may suspend or end access to the website where a visitor breaches the acceptable use section. The Company may end a service where a client has failed to pay an invoice within a reasonable period after a reminder, where a client has misused a berth window, or where continuing the service would require the desk to act unlawfully.

Where the service ends, the harbor record is handled in the way described in the Privacy Policy. Documents that belong to the client are returned on request, and any fee already due for work carried out remains payable. A client may end a service at any time on the notice described in the cancellation section.

20. Events outside our control

The desk will not be liable for a delay caused by an event outside its reasonable control, including a natural disaster, an epidemic, a strike, a failure of a public network, a power failure or an act of a government. Where such an event occurs, the desk will give notice as early as possible, will move the work to the next available window and will resume the service when it can do so safely.

If the event continues for more than thirty days, either side may end the affected service by written notice. Any fee for work carried out before the event remains due, and any fee paid in advance for work that cannot be carried out is refunded.

21. Privacy and data protection

The Privacy Policy describes how the harbor office collects, uses, stores and protects personal information. It forms part of these terms. Where a client supplies personal information about its own staff, customers or counterparties, the client confirms that it has a lawful basis for doing so and that the desk may use the information to carry out the trade.

The desk will handle personal information in the way described in the Privacy Policy. A client that needs a written processing arrangement may ask the desk for one, and the desk will provide a short arrangement suited to the trade.

22. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of China, without regard to a conflict of law rule. A dispute that cannot be settled by a written exchange will first be referred to a meeting between a responsible representative of each side, held within thirty days of the request for the meeting.

If the meeting does not settle the dispute, either side may bring the matter before the competent court at the place where the Company is established, unless a mandatory law in the client home jurisdiction gives the client a right to a different forum. A client who is a consumer under a mandatory law keeps every right that the law gives to that client.

23. Changes to these terms

The Company reviews these terms once each year and may update them sooner when a service changes or a law is amended. A material change is published on this page with a new date at the top. Where a change materially affects an active service, the desk will send a written notice to the client before the change takes effect.

A client who does not accept a change may end the affected service on written notice given before the change takes effect. Continued use of the website or the service after the change takes effect is treated as acceptance of the revised terms.

24. Contact and notices

A notice to the Company under these terms should be sent by email to coordination@v-t.world or by post to SuiZhou XiaoXu E-Commerce Co., Ltd., No 11 Guangzhou 2nd Street, Xiangjiang Trade Center, Dongcheng, Zengdu District, SuiZhou City - 441300, China (CN). A notice is treated as received on the next working day after it is sent by email, or five working days after it is posted.

A notice from the Company to a client is sent to the email address or the postal address the client has most recently given. A client should tell the desk promptly if those details change. The telephone number for the harbor office is +19455995395, and the desk answers it during the hours listed on the contact page.

If a provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force. A failure by the Company to enforce a provision is not a waiver of that provision. These terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any signed written agreement, form the entire agreement between the parties for the service.