Terms Of Service

Introduction

Thank you for using Rivers Bend Landscaping and Construction.

Please read these terms of service carefully. By using the services of Rivers Bend Landscaping and Construction or signing up as a customer, you are agreeing to these terms of service, which will result in a legal agreement with binding legal obligations between you and RBLC.

Agreement

The agreement is concluded between Rivers Bend Landscaping and Construction (registration number 2026/287782/07), a Private Company incorporated in terms of the Private Company laws of the Republic of South Africa, whose registered address is at 3 Industrial Road, Riversbend, Bushman’s River Mouth, Eastern Cape, South Africa (“RBLC”, “we”, “our” or “us”) and you, the person or business entity who uses RBLC as their service provider (“you”, “your” or “customer”). RBLC may at its own discretion, amend or amplify the terms of service. RBLC will notify you of any such amendments.

The provision of the services stipulated in an estimate issued by RBLC to you, which you have accepted, (“estimation”) or alternatively, and only in the event of the absence of an estimate, in terms of a standing arrangement between you and RBLC (“standing arrangement”), shall be subject to the terms and conditions contained herein (“terms”) (an estimate and/or a standing arrangement and these terms shall collectively be referred to as the “service agreement”), which supersede and replace all prior terms, conditions, proposals or quotations exchanged between the parties. Your acceptance of any services (including services covered by an estimate and/or provided in terms of a standing arrangement) shall constitute your acceptance of the terms contained herein.

We agree to perform the services in compliance with the specification and description of the services on the estimate alternatively as per a standing arrangement, read with these terms. These terms shall apply to the provision of services by RBLC to customers that require their services. Services shall be provided at the customer’s address as may be recorded in the estimate or otherwise as recorded in RBLC’s records from time to time (the “premises”). The specific type of service/s required appear in the estimate or alternatively, are as per the standing arrangement (“service” or “services”).

Service description

Removal of refuse

• All refuse collected on the premises will carry an additional charge for the customer, which will be calculated per 4T truck/trailer load or any part thereof. All fibrous plant material (banana leaves, palm leaves, Strelitzias plants and leaves) will be taken to the nearest refuse site. Tree branches or stumps thicker than a 100mm in diameter will be sorted and removed to the Port Alfred landfill site, and for this service the customer will be charged a further additional “landfill” fee, which is an amount over and above the normal refuse collection fee.• Under no circumstances will RBLC remove any building rubble and/or non-organic material from the premises.

• RBLC will not remove any refuse, other than refuse created by RBLC during the rendering of service(s), from the premises unless the customer has expressly requested RBLC to do so, whether it be by way of a once-off verbal arrangement, or a standing arrangement as agreed upon between the parties in writing.

Tree felling and tree trimming

• All trees taller than 2.5 meters shall be excluded from the scope of tree pruning and will only be attended to as part of our tree felling and tree trimming service.

• Tree felling and tree trimming attended to by RBLC will carry an additional charge and will only be done on your request, and only once you have accepted a written estimate from RBLC in this regard.

• You acknowledge that pruning of Milkwood trees requires a special (separate) permit to be obtained from the local municipal authority prior to such pruning taking place and that, as owner of the premises, it is your responsibility to obtain such permit. RBLC will assist in applying for the permit at an additional charge, if requested. In such circumstances, the details of the property owner (including his/her identity number) and/or such other documents and particulars as may be advised from time to time must be made available to RBLC.

• RBLC will only cut and remove tree branches which support bird nests once the nests have been abandoned naturally.

Gutter cleaning

• Gutter cleaning will be done during the pre-holiday clean-up session, unless otherwise agreed upon between the parties in which event, it will be attended to at an additional charge.

Pre-holiday clean-ups

• Pre-Holiday clean ups are a service that gets offered 3 times a year on a pay as you go basis:

o The pre-December clean-up period will be from October until the first week in December;

o The pre-Easter clean-up period will be the entire month before the Easter long-weekend.

o The mid-winter clean-ups will take place during July and August.

• The clean-ups do not take place in a specific order and are also subject to weather conditions.

• Mid-winter clean-ups will be discretionary and will only be done if RBLC deems it necessary.

You will however not be entitled to a rebate, discount or reduction in price in circumstances where a mid-winter clean-up is not deemed necessary.

• Pre-holiday clean ups will only be attended to if the customer elects this service in writing to RBLC. Once the election is received in writing, the customer’s details will be added to the pre-holiday clean-ups list. A letter will be sent out to these customers informing them of when the clean-ups will commence.

Garden drum service

• Garden drum service is a service that will be charged on a monthly basis.

• One drum per customer is supplied at no extra cost. In case of theft of the drum, the customer will be responsible for the replacement value of the drum.

• Drums will be emptied on a weekly basis.

• Provision for one drum refuse per week has been made. Should more than one emptying be required, each extra refuse will be charged at an additional rate.

• Only organic material will be removed. Non-organic material will be left on site.

Terms

1. These terms shall apply to and be incorporated into the service agreement and prevail over any inconsistent terms or conditions contained, or referred to, in the customer’s acceptance of a quotation, or specification or other document supplied by the customer.

2. The customer’s acceptance of an estimate for the services by RBLC constitutes an offer by the customer to purchase the services on these terms. No offer placed by the customer shall be accepted by RBLC other than:

a. by written acknowledgement issued and executed by RBLC; or

b. on receipt by RBLC of the agreed deposit monies in respect of the services, in full and in cleared funds; or

c. (if earlier) by RBLC starting to carry out the services at which point a contract for the supply and purchase of the services on these terms will be established (“contract”).

3. The services carried out under the contract shall be provided by RBLC to the customer from the date specified in the service agreement (estimate) or, where no date is so specified, from the date on which the contract is established in terms of clause 2 above.

4. The Customer shall provide RBLC with a key and/or a remote to gain access to the outside of the premises only, and particularly the entire area to be serviced at the premises, whenever the services are to be performed.

5. Should RBLC not be able to obtain full access to the service area on a specific allocated day/time due to an occurrence which is attributable to the customer, or should RBLC only obtain access after the start of the allocated time as a result of this occurrence, then in those instances the time lost as a result of the delay will be deducted from the allocated time, which may lead to the premises not being serviced in full on that particular day, or in some circumstances, not being serviced at all.

6. In order to be able to attend to the gardening service needs of all of its customers, RBLC will as far as reasonably possible adhere to the predetermined work schedule for a particular day, and the specific timeslots allocated for each service. Poor weather conditions may however cause a delay in service, and in certain instances it may even be necessary to abandon the services completely on a particular day.

7. All work carried out by RBLC during the servicing of gardens will be done strictly in accordance with the service agreement. Should the customer require any additional services during a specific visit the customer will have to inform RBLC of this at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled services.

8. None of the RBLC employees are permitted to engage in any work which will require of them to climb higher than the standard size stepladders provided by RBLC. Should the need arise for RBLC to perform work of this nature then specific prior arrangements will have to be made with RBLC to do a formal assessment, and to provide a separate quotation.

9. Should RBLC discover any problems with pests, weeds, or termites during the servicing of a premises a report of this will be compiled and emailed to the relevant contact person as listed in the service agreement.

10. Please note that due to health and safety reasons no employee of RBLC will be permitted to carry out work on any portion of the premises where bees and/or hornets are detected, and in such instances the customer will be required to have the bees removed before RBLC will continue with the services.

11. RBLC will from time to time use noisy machinery to carry out certain maintenance work, and it will therefore be incumbent on customers to notify RBLC timeously should any specific day/time not be convenient due to unwanted noise disturbance. Please also note that since these machines may cause excessive dust and smoke, it is advised that all doors and windows on the premises are kept closed at all times while maintenance work is being carried out.

12. Under no circumstances will RBLC or any of its employees be permitted to wash any cars or windows during the scheduled services.

13. RBLC and its employees agree to enter the customer’s premises at their own risk.

14. Should any customer at any time be dissatisfied with the standard of work, timekeeping of the RBLC personnel, or any other unwanted act of an employee of RBLC, then this should be brought to the attention of the RBLC management immediately in order for RBLC to investigate the allegation, and to take appropriate action.

15. Although RBLC will take all reasonable measures to ensure that no damage and/or harm is caused to the customer’s property and/or the customer, and/or his/her family members and/or visitors while the garden is being serviced and/or maintained by RBLC, neither RBLC nor any of its employees shall be liable for any losses or damage to any property, or any personal injuries or death suffered by the customer, and/or his/her family members, and/or any visitors, irrespective of the cause of such losses, damage or injuries

16. PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS

a. Upon conclusion of the service agreement the customer will be required to make an immediate full payment for all the services contracted. Customers are advised to contact the RBLC accounts department on 046-648-1846 to make other payment arrangements.

b. Customers are to use their unique customer account number as payment reference for all payments made to RBLC. This number is obtainable from the RBLC accounts department.

c. The RBLC service rates will increase each year during the month of November or during any month of the year, should fuel prices necessitate an increase, and notices in this regard will be sent to customers by way of email at least 30 (thirty) days prior to the date on which the increase will become effective. Emails will be sent to the email address provided by the customer in the service agreement, as updated from time to time, and it will therefore remain the responsibility of the customer to ensure that RBLC is in possession of the customer’s correct contact details.

d. PLEASE NOTE that any outstanding payments from the customer which has become due and payable to RBLC in terms of the service agreement, as read with this terms and conditions shall bear interest at a rate of two percent (2%) per month from the due date until paid in full, as well as a further once-off administration fee of R500.00 (five hundred rand).

e. In all instances where RBLC services the garden of a customer who resides overseas all service payments to RBLC will have to made by the customer by way of stop order.

17. CANCELLATION OF SERVICE AGREEMENT:

a. The service agreement shall be for the fixed term as indicated in the service agreement.

b. On the expiry of the fixed term service agreement the agreement will continue on a month-to-month basis, unless the parties have already agreed to renew the agreement for a further fixed term, or unless RBLC or the customer has expressly indicated that they would not like to renew the agreement.

c. After the expiry of the fixed term, the service agreement may be cancelled by either party on one calendar months’ written notice to the other party, such notice to be provided by either email, or in person.

18. The customer will not be permitted to employ any of RBLC’s personnel in any capacity whatsoever during the currency of the contract or for a period of at least two (2) years from the date of cancellation.

19. Please note that the service agreement entered into by the parties, which incorporates these terms and conditions shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties, and no alteration, variation or amendment of the service agreement by the customer shall have any force or effect unless agreed upon between the parties, reduced to writing, and signed by both parties.