English Teaching & Tutoring Online (ESL)

Terms & Conditions – for larger text, click here

The following terms and conditions govern all use of the Tutorly website and all content, services and products available at or through the website, including, but not limited to, listings or advertisements of self-employed tutors (“Tutors” or “Tutor”), listings or advertisements of Tutor-run group tutorials (“Group Tutorials” or “Group Tutorial”), and the premium service for presenting potential Tutor or Group Tutorial options to a user (“Premium Service”) (taken together, the “Website”). The Website is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, Tutorly’s Privacy Policy as stated at the bottom of this document) and procedures that may be published from time to time on this Site by Tutorly (collectively, the “Agreement”). Your agreement is with Tutorly Limited (a limited liability company incorporated in New Zealand) (“Tutorly” or “we”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Website. By accessing or using any part of the Website, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the Website or use any services. If these terms and conditions are considered an offer by Tutorly, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms.

1. General conditions.
   1. Tutorly exists as a service to aid students, their parents or other visitors to the Website (“Student” or “Students”) in making contact with Tutors. Each Tutor is self-employed. Students accept that any agreement or contract made with a Tutor for tuition services (“Tuition Arrangement”) is with the Tutor and not with Tutorly. It is the responsibility of the Student and the Tutor to come to mutual agreement as to the terms of the Tuition Arrangement before undertaking the first lesson, e.g. time, location and duration.
   2. Use of the Website is entirely at your own risk. You accept that Tutorly is not responsible or liable for any harm or damage that may occur as a result (although we of course aim to minimise any such risk). It is strongly recommended that both Students and Tutors familiarise themselves with Tutorly’s safety recommendations before commencing a Tuition Arrangement.
   3. All users and visitors to the Website agree not to promote an external business, product or service to any user or visitor of the Website without the express permission of Tutorly.
   4. Any material or links you enter on the Website, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) available by means of the Website (any such material, “Content”), you are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. That is the case regardless of what form the Content takes, which includes, but is not limited to text, photo, video, audio, or code. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that your Content does not violate these terms.
   5. By submitting Content to Tutorly for inclusion on the Website, you grant Tutorly a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing, and promoting Tutors, Group Tutorials and Tutorly in general.
   6. If you delete Content, Tutorly will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Website, but you acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable.
   7. When you communicate with other users via the Website or otherwise use the functions of the Website, you may submit to us various material, such as the text of any comments and messages submitted by you via the Website (“User Content”). When we receive User Content from you, we may check whether it complies with these Terms. We may reject your User Content for any of the following reasons:
      1. If it causes you to breach these Terms including any of your promises as set out in these Terms;
      2. For any other reason in our reasonable discretion.
   8. Without limiting any of the representations or warranties herein, Tutorly has the right (though not the obligation) to, in Tutorly’s sole discretion:
      1. Refuse or remove any content that, in Tutorly’s reasonable opinion, violates any Tutorly policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable; or
      2. Terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in Tutorly’s sole discretion. Tutorly will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.
   9. Tutorly has not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material posted to the Website (for example, Tutor profiles or Group Tutorial listings), and cannot therefore be responsible for that material’s content, use or effects. By operating the Website, Tutorly does not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate.


2. Conditions particularly relevant to students and parents.
   1. When contacting a potential Tutor (or using the Premium Service) through the Website, you will be required to submit information in relation to yourself (or the student on whose behalf you are acting), for example your email address, your tuition requirements, etc. In doing so, you agree for this information to be shared with the potential Tutor and Tutorly.
   2. Tutorly provides an electronic payment facility (“Payment Facility”) to enable Students to easily pay, rate and review Tutors. When you contact a Tutor through the Website, you agree that, in the event that you commence a Tuition Arrangement with the Tutor, you will only pay your Tutor through our Payment Facility (payable invoices will be emailed to you by your Tutor). For the avoidance of doubt, this means you agree not to pay your Tutor using cash, cheque or any other form of money transfer aside from the Payment Facility.
   3. Tutorly adds a service fee to each invoice processed through the Payment Facility. The service fee will be advertised near any advertised Tutor or Group Tutorial price or rate, and will be clearly itemised on each invoice you receive. Tutorly’s continued existence relies on this service fee, hence why use of the Payment Facility is important to us.
   4. Refunds are administered by the Tutor, not Tutorly. Your first point of contact regarding a refund is your Tutor. It is strongly recommended to obtain a Tutor’s cancellation policy in writing before entering into a Tuition Arrangement, as clear communication usually avoids any disputes. If you have a dispute with a Tutor, please see the Disputes section.
      1. An example cancellation policy that a Tutor may use is as follows: if a lesson is cancelled at least 12 hours before the scheduled start time, there will be no charge. If cancelled within 12 hours, 50% of the scheduled lesson time may be charged; if cancelled within 1 hour of the start time (or a student fails to show), 100% of the scheduled lesson time may be charged. If a student is late to a lesson, charge may be made from the scheduled start time.


3. First Lesson Guarantee.
   1. Tutorly requires Tutors to guarantee that their first lesson with a Student, if not satisfactory to the Student, will be free of charge (“First Lesson Guarantee”). If you have pre-paid for the first lesson, the Tutor will refund you upon request.
   2. Failure of the Tutor to honour the First Lesson Guarantee will lead to suspension of the Tutor from the Website. If you believe a Tutor is in breach of this policy, please raise this with them in the first instance; if this does not resolve the situation, please contact Tutorly.


4. Premium Service.
   1. For time-pressed parents and students, Tutorly offers a “Premium Service” for finding and suggesting potential Tutor or Group Tutorial options. Using the information you provide, Tutorly will contact and communicate with selected Tutors to ascertain their availability and suitability on your behalf. Ideally, one to two potential Tutors will be presented as options to the enquiring Student. It is then up to the Student and the Tutor to decide whether or not to undertake a Tuition Arrangement, as per the conditions herein.
   2. Upon the undertaking of a Tuition Arrangement with a Tutor that we have presented to you, you will be invoiced a service fee. The service fee will be clearly advertised before you use the Premium Service.
   3. No service fee will be invoiced if you do not commence a Tuition Agreement with any of the presented Tutors (i.e., you do not like any of the Tutors presented). In addition, if you do not feel satisfied with the presented Tutor after beginning a Tuition Arrangement, you are not obligated to pay the service fee for the Premium Service.


5. Conditions particularly relevant to tutors.
   1. Tutorly promotes a “First Lesson Guarantee” policy to potential Students. You agree to incorporate this policy as part of your Tuition Agreement with every Student, namely the guarantee that, if for any reason the Student is dissatisfied with your first lesson, you will not charge them for it (and will provide a full refund if the lesson was paid for in advance). This policy is designed to promote you to potential Students, and from experience, is seldom invoked. Failure to honour the First Lesson Guarantee policy will lead to suspension from the Website.
   2. You should aim to reply to enquiries made by potential Students within 24 hours of receipt, whether or not you are available to enter into a Tuition Arrangement.
   3. You agree to only receive payment from Students through Tutorly’s Payment Facility in the event that you commence a Tuition Arrangement with a Student that has contacted you through the Website. For the avoidance of doubt, this means you agree not to accept payment in the form of cash, cheque or any other form of money transfer other than through the Payment Facility.
   4. The Payment Facility uses PayPal to process payments. Tutors are responsible for paying all transaction fees for each transaction, i.e. those charged by PayPal (see PayPal for current transaction fee rates). PayPal will automatically deduct their transaction fees from the payments you receive through the Payment Facility.
   5. Tutorly adds a service fee to each payment processed through the Payment Facility. This service fee is payable by the Student, i.e. it is added by Tutorly to the subtotal of the invoice you send. Tutorly’s revenue relies on this service fee, hence why use of the Payment Facility is important to us. The service fee will automatically be transferred from your PayPal account to Tutorly, and you agree for this to occur. Not receiving payment from your Student through Tutorly’s Payment Facility may lead to your suspension from the Website.
   6. You are required to be able to provide evidence of any claimed qualification(s) or background check(s) if requested by a Student during or prior to a Tuition Arrangement.
   7. The requirement for a background check for individuals offering tuition varies from country to country, and is sometimes compulsory; it is strongly recommended that you ascertain from your local government what your legal responsibilities are in this regard. You agree that you will comply with all such relevant legal responsibilities when using the Website.
   8. The Website aims to promote and favour Tutors that are actively receiving ratings, reviews or hours from Students, as well as tuition enquiries from potential Students. Ratings, reviews and hours can only be received from Students when payment is made through the Payment Facility. Tutorly reserves the right to deactivate your account where we deem you not to be receiving sufficient tuition enquiries from potential Students, or when you have not obtained sufficient ratings, reviews or hours through the Payment Facility over a period of several weeks. Deactivation is exercised at Tutorly’s discretion, and equates to your profile no longer being publicly viewable on the Website.
   9. If you feel that a Student review is unfairly impacting your reputation, you may contact Tutorly to ask for the review to be examined. Tutorly reserves the right to remove or edit hours, ratings, reviews and responses as it deems fit.
   10. If we have reason to believe that you are engaged in a Tuition Arrangement that was facilitated by the Website, but are not using the Payment Facility for Student payments, we are likely to deactivate your account.
   11. If your account has been deactivated, you will be notified accordingly when you next login (for clarity, your account is not deleted when it is deactivated). If you disagree with the deactivation of your account, please contact Tutorly, and we will endeavour to resolve the situation ASAP.
   12. Tutors set their own rate (hourly or otherwise) for the services they are advertising, subject to any minimum amount allowed by Tutorly. Rates must be a whole number, and inclusive of any applicable tax that you are liable for, so that Tutor prices can easily be compared by users of the Website. If you feel that an additional fee is required, for example a travel fee, this may be discussed with the potential Student and your hourly rate modified accordingly.
   13. You are permitted to offer discounts to Students as you see fit (i.e. amend the hourly rate you invoice a particular Student at). You are also permitted to offer free tuition, e.g. charity work; simply do not raise an invoice for these lessons. Tutorly reserves the right to specify a minimum invoice amount.
   14. Tutors are responsible for setting their own cancellation and refund policies (notwithstanding the First Lesson Guarantee), and for issuing refunds to Students. It is strongly recommended to provide your refund and cancellation policy to a Student in writing before entering into a Tuition Arrangement, as clear communication usually avoids any disputes. If you have a dispute with a Student, please see the Disputes section.
       1. An example cancellation policy that you may use is as follows: if a lesson is cancelled at least 12 hours before the scheduled start time, there will be no charge. If cancelled within 12 hours, 50% of the scheduled lesson time may be charged; if cancelled within 1 hour of the start time (or a student fails to show), 100% of the scheduled lesson time may be charged. If a student is late to a lesson, charge may be made from the scheduled start time.
   15. Tutors using the Website are self-employed, and therefore you accept all responsibility for complying with any taxation, insurance and employment-related responsibilities arising in connection with any Tuition Arrangement made with a Student. Tutorly does not monitor or track this on your behalf.
   16. Tutorly wishes to make it clear that they do not support Tutors offering pre-written essays or ghost-writing services to Students, where the end purpose is for the Student to submit work that is not their own (i.e. plagiarism). Tutors that use the Website to advertise these (or similar) services may have their account deactivated.
   17. In your profile, you agree not to include any personal contact information, for example an email address, phone number or link to an external website or communication method. Any contact made to you by a potential Student must go through the Website’s built-in contact function; after this first contact, you are free to communicate with the Student as and how you wish. Infringement of the above may lead to deactivation of your account.
   18. When creating your profile for the Website, you warrant the accuracy of the information posted and agree not to submit any false or misleading information. Multiple profiles or identities for a single person are not allowed. You agree not to promote a business, an organisation or other websites.
   19. You acknowledge that your profile and some details entered by you on the Website, including your full name and photo, will be publicly visible and may appear in search engine results.
   20. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and listed profile, and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account and any other actions taken in connection with your listed profile.
   21. Tutorly reserves the right to deactivate your account if your profile or behavior is deemed to be unsatisfactory or inappropriate.


6. Payment Facility.
   1. Tutorly currently uses PayPal as its electronic payment provider for its Payment Facility. When you use the Payment Facility, you agree to abide by PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy. Tutorly does not hold payment on behalf of any party that uses the Payment Facility; a Tutor invoices a Student using the Payment Facility, and the Student pays the Tutor directly through the PayPal interface (payment ends up in the Tutor’s PayPal account).
   2. Tutors can only receive ratings and reviews, or log hours, when payment is made by Students through the Payment Facility.
   3. Students do not need a PayPal account to pay an invoice; a valid debit card or credit card can be used during PayPal’s checkout process.
   4. Any transaction fees charged by PayPal are payable by the Tutor, and will automatically be deducted by PayPal from the payment they receive. See PayPal’s website for more details.
   5. In the event of a Tutor processing a full or partial refund through the Payment Facility within 60 days of a payment being made, Tutorly will automatically refund the relevant service fee it collected. After this time Tutorly will not refund the relevant service fee. Any transaction fees charged by PayPal for refunds are payable by the Tutor. Tutorly will not refund the relevant service fee for refunds made outside of the Payment Facility, e.g. in cash.
   6. Tutorly reserves the right to change the structure of any service fees, transaction fees or commissions it charges at any time. Current fees or commissions will be clearly advertised on the Website prior to said fees or commissions being charged or taken.


7. Disputes.
   1. Tutorly is not involved in the actual transaction and execution of a Tuition Agreement between Students and Tutors. Therefore, in the event that you have a dispute with a Student or Tutor that you have connected with through the Website, you release Tutorly from all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) in any way connected with any such dispute.
   2. Tutorly can try to arbitrate any dispute arising between a Student and a Tutor, but offers no guarantees in this regard. Please contact us if you have a dispute that you would like us to attempt to arbitrate.


8. Copyright Policy.
   1. The copyright in all materials provided on this website is held by Tutorly, or by the original creator of the material. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The authors’ moral rights are asserted.
   2. As Tutorly asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or linked to by Tutorly violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify us. Tutorly will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material.
   3. Tutorly will terminate a visitor’s or user’s access to and use of the Website if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor or user is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Tutorly or others. In the case of such termination, Tutorly will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid to Tutorly.


9. Intellectual Property.
   1. This Agreement does not transfer from Tutorly to you any Tutorly or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with Tutorly.
   2. Tutorly and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tutorly or Tutorly’s licensors. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website may be the trademarks of other third parties.
   3. Your use of the Website grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any Tutorly or third-party trademarks.


10. Advertisements.
    1. Tutorly reserves the right to display advertisements, third party or otherwise, on any part of the Website.


11. Attribution.
    1. Tutorly reserves the right to display attribution links to the Website in communications or invoices sent using the Website (for example, including a link to the Website on invoices issued through the Payment Facility).


12. Changes.
    1. From time to time we update our services, meaning we sometimes have to change the legal terms under which our services are offered. If we make changes that are material, we will let you know by posting on one of our blogs, or by sending you an email or other communication before the changes take effect.
    2. The notice will designate a reasonable period of time after which the new Terms will take effect. If you disagree with our changes, then you should stop using Tutorly within the designated notice period.
    3. Your continued use of Tutorly will be subject to the new Terms. However, any dispute that arose before the changes shall be governed by the Terms (including the binding individual arbitration clause) that were in place when the dispute arose.


13. Termination.
    1. Tutorly may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately.
    2. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your Tutorly account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the Website.
    3. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.


14. Limitation of Liability.
    1. In no event will Tutorly, or its suppliers or licensors, be liable with respect to any subject matter of this agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for:
       1. Any special, incidental or consequential damages;
       2. The cost of procurement for substitute products or services;
       3. For interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or
       4. For any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to Tutorly under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action.
    2. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your Tutorly account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the Website.
    3. Tutorly shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.


15. General Representation and Warranty.
    1. You represent and warrant that:
       1. Your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with Tutorly’s Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside), and;
       2. Your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.


16. Indemnification.
    1. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Tutorly, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including legal fees, arising out of your use of the Website, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement.


17. Translation.
    1. These Terms of Service were originally written in English (New Zealand). We may translate these Terms into other languages. In the event of a conflict between a translated version of these Terms of Service and the English version, the English version will control.


18. Miscellaneous.
    1. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Tutorly and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and they may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of Tutorly, or by the posting by Tutorly of a revised version.
    2. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of New Zealand, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to any of the same will be within the jurisdiction of the New Zealand legal system.
    3. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding to enforce this Agreement shall be entitled to costs and legal fees.
    4. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof.
    5. You may assign your rights under this Agreement to any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms and conditions; Tutorly may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

Privacy policy

Your privacy is critically important to us. Our fundamental policies are:

• We don’t ask you for personal information unless we truly need it.
• We don’t share your personal information with anyone except to comply with the law, develop our products, or protect our rights.
• We don’t store personal information on our servers unless required for the on-going operation of one of our services.
• We aim to make it as simple as possible for you to control what’s visible to the public, kept private, and deleted.

Below is our privacy policy which incorporates these goals. If you have questions about deleting or correcting your personal data please contact Tutorly. It is Tutorly’s policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating any websites we may own.

1. Website Visitors.
   1. Like most website operators, Tutorly collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request.
   2. Tutorly’s purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how Tutorly’s visitors use its website.
   3. From time to time, Tutorly may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.


2. Gathering of Personally-Identifying Information.
   1. Certain visitors to the Website choose to interact with Tutorly in ways that require Tutorly to gather personally-identifying information. The amount and type of information that Tutorly gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors or users who contact a tutor to provide an email address. Those who engage in transactions with Tutorly (e.g. the Premium Service) are asked to provide additional information, including as necessary the personal and financial information required to process transactions. In each case, Tutorly collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with Tutorly.
   2. Tutorly does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. And visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.


3. Aggregated Statistics.
   1. Tutorly may collect statistics about the behavior of visitors to its websites. Tutorly may display this information publicly or provide it to others. However, Tutorly does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below.


4. Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information.
   1. Tutorly discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to those of its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on Tutorly’s behalf or to provide services available at Tutorly’s websites, and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those employees, contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using Tutorly’s websites, you consent to the transfer of such information to them.
   2. Tutorly will not rent or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations, as described above, Tutorly discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a court order, subpoena or other governmental request, or when Tutorly believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Tutorly, third parties or the public at large.
   3. If you are a visitor or user of a Tutorly website and have supplied your email address, Tutorly may occasionally send you an email to tell you about new features, solicit your feedback, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with Tutorly and our services. If you send us a request (for example via an email or via one of our feedback mechanisms), we reserve the right to publish it in order to help us clarify or respond to your request or to help us support other users.
   4. Tutorly takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information.


5. Cookies.
   1. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Tutorly uses cookies to help Tutorly identify and track visitors, their usage of Tutorly’s websites, and their website access preferences.
   2. Tutorly visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using Tutorly’s websites, with the drawback that certain features of Tutorly’s websites may not function properly without the aid of cookies.


6. Business Transfers.
   1. If Tutorly, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, or in the unlikely event that Tutorly goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Tutorly may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.


7. Ads.
   1. Ads appearing on any of our websites may be delivered to users by advertising partners, who may set cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by Tutorly and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.


8. Privacy Policy Changes.
   1. Although most changes are likely to be minor, Tutorly may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in Tutorly’s sole discretion. Tutorly encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.

The framework for these terms, conditions, and privacy policy were kindly made available by the team at WordPress.com. Thanks!