Terms and conditions

Who we are

HCODE is a software development studio in Quito, Ecuador. These terms apply to this site, to the subscription websites we create on hcode.ec and to custom development. By using the site or hiring a service, you accept them.

Prices and proposals

Prices on the site are for reference until we confirm them in writing. Quoting custom development is free: after we talk, we send you the proposal in writing, with the price, timeline, payment terms and what it includes. Work begins when you accept the proposal.

Subscription website

You choose a template and pay a monthly fee plus VAT, by bank transfer or deposit; the current price is shown in Plans and pricing. Your website is ready and you get access to your dashboard within 24 hours of our confirming your payment. It includes hosting, the security certificate, daily backups, WhatsApp support and the improvements we make to your template. No lock-in.

Payments, late payments and cancellation

The subscription is paid monthly in advance and we send you an electronic invoice for each payment. If a payment is late we let you know; if it is not settled, your website stops being public and your dashboard is locked, without deleting anything, and it works again as soon as you are up to date. If you cancel, your website stays active until the end of the paid month.

Your content and your customers' data

What you upload to your dashboard (texts, photos, videos, prices and products) is yours, and you are responsible for having the rights to use it. The data your customers leave on your website (appointments, bookings, orders, members and their app) is also yours: you decide what it is used for. HCODE only stores it, encrypted, and processes it so your website works, and does not use it for anything else; under the Organic Law on Personal Data Protection, HCODE acts as the data processor and you as the data controller.

Your business's sales, payments and invoices

Your website's store and bookings record orders and appointments; you handle payment and delivery. HCODE does not charge your customers and is not part of your sales. You issue electronic invoices before the SRI with your own system or authorized provider: the receipts your dashboard sends do not replace them.

Deleting your website

You can ask us to delete your website at any time: we delete your site with all its content and your customers' data. Backups renew automatically and the oldest disappear within 8 weeks at most. If you ask beforehand, we give you your texts, photos and videos.

Custom development

Includes 1 year of maintenance from delivery: bug fixes, security updates and minor adjustments. What each stage covers, who owns the code and what follows from the second year are set out in writing in the proposal.

Web address and domain

With the subscription, your website lives at an hcode.ec address (for example, hcode.ec/a/your-business) with a security certificate. A domain of your own (.com or .ec) is not included: if you want one, we quote it separately and it is registered in your name.

Availability

We monitor your website so it stays online at all times, but there may be short pauses for maintenance or because of failures at internet or hosting providers. That is why we make backups every day.

Acceptable use

The websites and dashboards may not be used for illegal or misleading content, to infringe the rights of others or to try to access other people's accounts or systems. If that happens, we may suspend the website.

Intellectual property

The template designs, the texts on this site and the platform's code belong to HCODE. With the subscription you get the right to use them while your plan is active.

Changes to these terms

If we change them, we publish the new version here with its date. If the change affects a service you have already paid for, we let you know beforehand.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Ecuador. We first try to resolve any disagreement by talking; if that does not work, before the courts of Quito.

Contact

Write to us at contacto@hcode.ec.