Welcome to Shipflock! Shipflock allows Users to connect with Transport Providers to readily and easily ship items throughout the world.
1.1. What these Terms Cover: These Terms contain the terms and conditions on which we supply the Platform to you, whether the Platform comprises of services and/or digital content. Please read these Terms carefully before you accept these Terms.
1.2. How to tell us about problems: If you have any questions or complaints about the Platform, please contact us to discuss (using our contact details below). You can telephone our customer service team or write to us by email using the contact details below.
Our contact details:
Shipflock LTD, a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 15042965.
Phone number: 07449543094
Geographical address: Retexa, Storage, Leicester, England, LE3 1UY, Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Email address: info@shipflock.com
2.1. These terms and conditions (Terms) are entered into between Shipflock LTD a company registered in England and Wales, with company registration number 15042965 (we, us or our) and you, together the Parties and each a Party. In these Terms, you or your means (as applicable) the person or entity registered with us, as either a User or a Transport Provider or the individual accessing or using the Platform.
2.2. If you are using the Platform on behalf of your employer or a business entity, you, in your individual capacity, represent and warrant that you are authorised to act on behalf of your employer or the business entity and to bind the entity and the entity’s personnel to these Terms.
2.3. We provide a platform where shipping and transport providers (Transport Providers) and individuals or businesses looking to send or ship items (Users) can connect and transact (Platform).
3.1. You accept these Terms by accepting these Terms on the Platform.
3.2. You must be at least 18 years old to use the Platform.
3.3. We may amend these Terms at any time, by providing written notice to you (including via the Platform). By clicking “I accept” or continuing to use the Platform after the notice or 30 days after notification (whichever date is earlier), you agree to the amended Terms. If you do not agree to the amendment and it adversely affects your rights, you may cancel your Membership with effect from the date of the change in these Terms by providing written notice to us. If you cancel your membership, (a) you will no longer be able to use the Platform on and from the date of cancellation, and (b) if you have paid Fees upfront you will be issued a pro-rata refund having regard to the date of termination and the period for which you have paid.
3.4. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable, worldwide, non-transferable licence to use our Platform in accordance with these Terms. All other uses are prohibited without our prior written consent.
4.1. You must register on the Platform and create an account (Account) to access the Platform’s features.
4.2. You may only have 1 Account as a Transport Provider and 1 Account as a User on the Platform.
4.2.1 You must provide basic information when registering for an Account including your business name (if applicable), contact name and email address and you must choose a password. As a Transport Provider, you must link your Stripe merchant account to your Account before you may start accepting Bookings and/or Purchase Requests, and you must provide your relevant transport licence/s and recent bank statements (or such other documentation that we reasonably require), so that we can verify your identification. The username you choose must not (1) be offensive or in other ways insulting or (2) contain characteristics which belong to a third party, including names of famous persons, or personal names to which you do not own the rights.
4.3. Once you have registered an Account, your Account information will be used to create a profile.
4.4. You agree to provide and maintain up to date information in your Account and to not share your Account password with any other person. Your Account is personal and you must not transfer it to others.
4.5. You are responsible for keeping your Account details and your username and password confidential and you will be liable for all activity on your Account, including purchases made using your Account details. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorised use of your Account.
4.6. If you are a Transport Provider, we will review your request for an Account before approving the request. We may request additional information. If you do not provide us with information we reasonably request, we may refuse to create an Account for you. If you provide us with any information which indicates you are not a fit and proper person to be provided with an Account, we may refuse to provide you with an Account, in our sole discretion.
4.7. We may make access to and use of certain parts of the Platform subject to conditions or requirements, including identity verification, cancellation history, quality of services and threshold of reviews. You agree to be bound by and to comply with these conditions or requirements.
5.1. The Platform is a marketplace where Users and Transport Providers can find each other and connect in relation to shipments of items. We provide the Platform (including hosting and maintaining the Platform) to users and process payments between Users and Transport Providers (together the Shipflock Services). We will provide the Shipflock Services in accordance with this Agreement and all applicable laws, and we warrant to you that the Shipflock Services will be provided using reasonable care and skill. You understand and agree that we only make available the Shipflock Services. We are not party to any agreement entered into between a User and a Transport Provider and we have no control over the conduct of Transport Providers, Users or any other users of the Platform.
5.2. A User may post an accurate and complete description of the services they require through the Platform (User Listing).
5.3. If a Transport Provider desires to provide services to a User in accordance with a User Listing, the Transport Provider will make an offer through the Platform detailing the services to be provided and the cost, including any VAT payable (Offer).
5.4. If the User accepts the Offer through the Platform, it becomes a Confirmed Booking and a confirmation email will be sent to the User and the Transport Provider.
5.5. By making an Offer, the Transport Provider confirms that it is legally entitled to and capable of supplying the services described in the Offer.
5.6. Users and Transport Providers may enter into written agreements in relation to the services. To the extent there is inconsistency between any additional terms and conditions and these Terms, these Terms will prevail.
5.7. Transport Providers must include all additional terms and conditions relating to their services in the relevant Transport Provider Listing or must clearly state that there are additional terms and conditions. By accepting an Offer, a User is accepting the additional terms and conditions of the relevant Transport Provider.
5.8. If you try to share contact details through the Platform before a Confirmed Booking has been made we may block your Account.
6.1. We may contact you via the Platform using in-Account notifications, or via off-Platform communication channels, such as text message or email.
6.2. Users and Transport Providers can communicate privately using our private messaging service (if available) or offline using the listed contact details only once a Confirmed Booking has been made. Users and Transport Providers must not use the contact details to organize the provision of the services off the Platform, or otherwise to attempt to circumvent the payment of Service Fees to us.
7.1. As a User, you agree to pay (and your chosen payment method will be charged) the deposit (10% of the value of the Confirmed Booking, or such other percentage notified on the Platform from time to time) (Service Fee) at the time of accepting an Offer. It is the responsibility of Transport Providers to obtain the remainder of their fees in relation to a Confirmed Booking off the Platform.
7.2. In consideration for providing the Platform, we will charge or retain the Service Fee to or from the User.
7.3. The payment methods we offer for the Service Fee are set out on the Platform. We may offer payment through a third-party provider. You acknowledge and agree that we have no control over the actions of the third-party provider, and your use of the third-party payment method may be subject to additional terms and conditions.
7.4. You must not pay, or attempt to pay, the Service Fee by fraudulent or unlawful means. If you make a payment by debit card or credit card, you warrant that you are authorised to use the debit card or credit card to make the payment. If payment is made by direct debit, by providing your bank account details and accepting these Terms, you authorise our nominated third party payment processor to debit your account in accordance with these Terms and you certify that you are either an account holder or an authorised signatory on the account for which you provide details.
7.5. You agree that we may set-off or deduct from any monies payable to you under these Terms, any amounts which are payable by you to us in connection with the Platform.
7.6. We do not store any credit card details, and all payment information is collected and stored through our third-party payment processor.
8.1. A User or Transport Provider may not may a request to cancel a Confirmed Booked until at least 7 days after the date the Confirmed Booking was made. When a User or Transport Provider makes a cancellation request the other Party to the Confirmed Booking will be notified and will have 72 hours to accept or reject the cancellation request. If accepted, the Confirmed Booking can be retracted and the Offer can be relisted or deleted. If rejected, it will be sent to us for review and we will determine whether the cancellation should occur or not. Our decision is final and we will not enter into correspondence in respect of it. If the relevant User or Transport Provider doesn’t respond within the 72 hour period, the cancellation request will be deemed accepted. Following a cancellation, our Service Fee may be refunded but this is at our absolute discretion.
8.2. We take any abuse of the cancellation policy very seriously. If any abuse is found this may impact any decision we make under clause 8.1.
8.3. For disputes between Users and Transport Providers, we encourage Parties to attempt to resolve disputes (including claims for returns or refunds) with the other Party directly and in good faith, either on the Platform or through external communication methods. In the event that a dispute cannot be resolved through these means, the Parties may choose to resolve the dispute in any manner agreed between the Parties or otherwise in accordance with applicable laws.
8.4. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of these Terms.
If we choose to conduct identity verification on any Transport Provider, to the extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties of any kind, either express or implied, that such checks will identify prior misconduct by a Transport Provider or guarantee that a Transport Provider will not engage in misconduct in the future. Any verification of Transport Providers on the Platform is not an endorsement or recommendation that the Transport Provider is trustworthy or suitable. You should do your own due diligence before using a Transport Provider's services.
10.1. Transport Providers may review their experience with the User on the Platform, and Users may review with the Transport Provider on the Platform, including the services (each a Review).
10.2. Reviews can be viewed by any user and will remain viewable until the relevant Account is removed or terminated.
10.3. You agree to provide true, fair and accurate information in your Review. If we consider that the Review is untrue, unfair, inaccurate, offensive or inappropriate, we may delete the Review or ban you from posting the Review. We do not undertake to review each Review. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for the content of any Reviews.
10.4. You can write a Review about a Transport Provider if you have had an experience with that Transport Provider, which means that (1) you have engaged the Transport Provider through the Platform; or (2) you can otherwise document your interaction with the Transport Provider in relation to the Platform, including via correspondence (collectively referred to as a User Experience).
10.5. You can write a Review about a User if you have had an experience with that User, which means that (1) you have been engaged by the User through the Platform; or (2) you can otherwise document your interaction with the User in relation to the Platform, including via correspondence (collectively referred to as a Transport Provider Experience).
10.6. You may not write a review about a Transport Provider you have previously owned, currently own, or which an immediate family member currently owns, or if you are an executive or employee of that Transport Provider, or work for the Transport Provider. Similarly, you may not write a Review about a direct competitor to the Transport Provider that you own, are employed by or work for.
10.7. Your User Experience or Transport Provider Experience must have occurred in the 12 months prior to you writing a Review.
10.8. You may only write about your own User Experience or Transport Provider Experience. You are not permitted to write a Review about somebody else’s User Experience or Transport Provider Experience, such as that of a family member or friend.
10.9. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of these Terms.
11.1. All intellectual property (including copyright) developed, adapted, modified or created by us or our personnel (including in connection with the Terms, any content on the Platform, and the products) (Our Intellectual Property) will at all times vest, or remain vested, in us.
11.2. We authorise you to use Our Intellectual Property solely for the purposes for which it was intended to be used.
11.5. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of these Terms.
12.1. You may be permitted to post, upload, publish, submit or transmit relevant information and content including Reviews (User Content)on the Platform. We may run campaigns via the Platform and via social media that encourage you to post User Content on social media using specific hashtags (#) (Tag).
If you make any User Content available on or through the Platform, including on social media using a Tag, you grant to us a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free licence to use the User Content, with the right to use, view, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, transfer, communicate, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, or otherwise exploit such User Content on, through or by means of the Platform and our social media platforms.
12.4. We do not endorse or approve, and are not responsible for, any User Content. We may, at any time (at our sole discretion), remove any User Content.
12.5. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of these Terms.
14.1. We understand that protecting your Personal Data is important. We set out how we handle your Personal Data in our Privacy Policy, available on our website.
14.2. We process Users' Personal Data, and Transport Providers process Users' Personal Data (for example, the User's name and delivery address) as separate and independent controllers. This means that we and Transport Providers are responsible for the Personal Data we each process.
Despite anything to the contrary, to the maximum extent permitted by law, if we and you (as a Transport Provider) are found to be joint data controllers of Users' Personal Data, you (as a Transport Provider) are liable for, and agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless in respect of, any Liability that we may suffer, incur or otherwise become liable for, arising from or in connection with your breach of this clause 14 or any applicable data protection laws.
15.1. Neither Party may not benefit from the limitations and exclusions set out in this clause 15 in respect of any liability arising from its deliberate default.
15.2. The restrictions on liability in this clause 15 apply to every liability arising under or in connection with this Agreement including liability in statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, restitution, indemnity or otherwise.
15.4. This clause 15.4 applies to the extent that the Platform is considered digital content and if you are a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If the Platform is defective and it damages a device or digital content belonging to you and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill, we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation.
15.7. Subject to clauses 15.1 (no limitation in respect of deliberate default), clause 15.4 (damage caused by defective digital content) and 15.3 (liability which cannot legally be limited), but despite anything to the contrary, if either Party fails to comply with this Agreement, neither Party will be responsible for any losses that the other Party suffers as a result, except for those losses which are a foreseeable consequence of the failure to comply with this Agreement.
15.8. We have given commitments as to the compliance of the Platform with this Agreement and applicable Laws. In view of these commitments, the terms implied by sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are, to the maximum extent permitted by law, excluded from this Agreement.
15.9. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of your Membership and these Terms.
16.1. Your Account and these Terms may be terminated by you at any time, using the ‘cancel Account’ functionality (or similar) in the Account page section of your Account settings. Your cancellation will take effect immediately.
16.3. Should we suspect that you are in breach of these Terms, we may suspend your Account while we investigate the suspected breach.
16.5. Where termination is due to our breach of these Terms, we agree to refund you for any prepaid unused Fees, Service Fees or Listing Fees on a pro-rata basis.
16.6. Termination of these Terms will not affect any rights or liabilities that a Party has accrued under it.
16.7. This clause will survive the termination or expiry of these Terms.
As a Transport Provider, we may request that you provide evidence of your insurance. Where we do so, we are not confirming that the insurance you have is sufficient or suitable for the services you choose to provide to Users. If we do not ask you to provide evidence of insurance this does not indicate that we believe you do not require insurance. You acknowledge and agree it is your responsibility to make your own investigations and receive professional advice on the insurance you require.
18.1. Assignment: Subject to the below clause 18.2, a Party must not assign or deal with the whole or any part of its rights or obligations under these Terms without the prior written consent of the other Party (such consent is not to be unreasonably withheld).
18.2. Assignment of Debt: You agree that we may assign or transfer any debt owed by you to us, arising under or in connection with these Terms, to a debt collector, debt collection agency, or other third party.
18.3. Confidentiality: Other than where the disclosure is permitted by law, each Party agrees not to disclose any confidential information it may access on or through the Platform to a third party, or otherwise misuse such confidential information. Confidential information may include confidential information supplied to you by us, by a User, or by a Transport Provider.
18.4. Disputes: Alternative dispute resolution is a process where an independent body considers the facts of a dispute and seeks to resolve it, without you having to go to court. If you are not happy with how we have handled any complaint, you may want to contact the alternative dispute resolution provider we use. You can submit a complaint to The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution via their website at https://www.cedr.com/. The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution will not charge you for making a complaint and if you are not satisfied with the outcome you can still bring legal proceedings.
18.5. Entire Terms: Subject to your consumer law rights, these Terms contains the entire understanding between the Parties and the Parties agree that no representation or statement has been made to, or relied upon by, either of the Parties, except as expressly stipulated in these Terms, and these Terms supersedes all previous discussions, communications, negotiations, understandings, representations, warranties, commitments and agreements, in respect of its subject matter.
18.6. Force Majeure: Neither Party will be liable for any delay or failure to perform their respective obligations under these Terms if such delay or failure is caused or contributed to by a Force Majeure Event, provided the Party seeking to rely on the benefit of this clause, as soon as reasonably practical, notifies the other party in writing about the Force Majeure Event and the extent to which it is unable to perform its obligations, and uses reasonable endeavours to minimise the duration and adverse consequences of the Force Majeure Event.
18.7. Further assurance: Each Party must promptly do all things and execute all further instruments necessary to give full force and effect to these Terms and their obligations under it.
18.8. Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Each Party irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts operating in England and Wales and any courts entitled to hear appeals from those courts and waives any right to object to proceedings being brought in those courts.
18.9. Notices: Any notice given under these Terms must be in writing addressed to us at the details set out below or to you at the details provided in your Account. Any notice may be sent by standard post or email, and will be deemed to have been served on the expiry of 48 hours in the case of post, or at the time of transmission in the case of transmission by email.
18.10. Publicity: With your prior written consent, you agree that we may advertise or publicise the broad nature of our supply of the Shipflock Services to you, including on our website or in our promotional material.
18.11. Relationship of Parties: These Terms are not intended to create a partnership, joint venture, employment or agency relationship between the Parties.
18.12. Severance: If a provision of these Terms is held to be void, invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision is to be read down as narrowly as necessary to allow it to be valid or enforceable, failing which, that provision (or that part of that provision) will be severed from these Terms without affecting the validity or enforceability of the remainder of that provision or the other provisions in these Terms.
18.13. Third party sites: The Platform may contain links to websites operated by third parties. Unless we tell you otherwise, we do not control, endorse or approve, and are not responsible for, the content on those websites. We recommend that you make your own investigations with respect to the suitability of those websites. If you purchase goods or services from a third party website linked from the Platform, such third party provides the goods and services to you, not us. We may receive a benefit (which may include a referral fee or a commission) should you visit certain third-party websites via a link on the Platform (Affiliate Link) or for featuring certain products or services on the Platform. We will make it clear by notice to you which (if any) products or services we receive a benefit to feature on the Platform, or which (if any) third party links are Affiliate Links.
19.1. Force Majeure Event means any event or circumstance which is beyond a Party’s reasonable control.
19.2. Intellectual Property means any copyright, registered or unregistered designs, patents or trade marks, business names, get-up, goodwill, domain names, know-how, inventions, processes, trade secrets or Confidential Information, circuit layouts, software, computer programs, databases or source codes, including any application, or right to apply, for registration of, and any improvements, enhancements or modifications of, the foregoing.
19.3. Liability means any expense, cost, liability, loss, damage, claim, notice, entitlement, investigation, demand, proceeding or judgment (whether under statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, restitution, indemnity or otherwise), howsoever arising, whether direct or indirect and/or whether present, unascertained, future or contingent and whether involving a third party or a Party to these Terms or otherwise.
19.4. Personal Data has the meaning given in the Data Protection Act 2018.
Last update: 26 March 2024