Terms of Service

1. About these terms

These terms of service form the agreement between you and Velvet Hospitality Pty Ltd (ABN 61 703 634 959) (“we”, “us”, “our”) whenever you engage us to provide professional business and consulting services or use our website at https://velvethospitality.online.

By requesting a quote, accepting a proposal or otherwise engaging our services, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these terms, together with any proposal, statement of work or engagement letter we issue to you. If there is any inconsistency between these terms and a signed engagement document, the signed engagement document prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

2. Our services

We provide professional business and consulting services, including business advisory, operational review, planning, process improvement and related support for hospitality and other businesses across Melbourne VIC and greater Victoria. The exact scope, deliverables, timelines and fees for each engagement are set out in the written proposal or engagement letter we provide before work commences.

General information published on our website is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute financial, legal or other professional advice tailored to your circumstances, and you should seek independent advice appropriate to your situation before acting on any general information we publish.

3. Quotes, proposals and engagement

A quote or proposal we provide is an invitation to engage our services on the terms stated in that document and remains valid for 30 days from the date of issue unless we state otherwise. An engagement begins when you accept a quote or proposal in writing (including by email) and, where applicable, pay any deposit or retainer we have requested.

We may decline or discontinue an engagement at our discretion, including where a conflict of interest arises, where required information is not available, or where we consider the work is outside our capability or capacity. If we decline an engagement before work has commenced, any deposit paid will be refunded in full.

4. Fees, invoicing and payment

Fees are set out in your quote, proposal or engagement letter and may be fixed, hourly or retainer-based, as agreed. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, invoices are payable within 14 days of the invoice date using the payment method shown on the invoice.

If an invoice remains overdue, we may suspend work under the affected engagement and, as permitted by law and your engagement documents, charge reasonable administration costs or interest on the overdue amount. You are responsible for any reasonable costs we incur in recovering overdue amounts.

5. Goods and services tax (GST)

Unless we state otherwise, all fees and amounts quoted are exclusive of goods and services tax (GST). Where GST applies to a supply we make to you, we will add GST to the relevant fee and show it separately on our tax invoice, in accordance with A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth).

6. Australian Consumer Law guarantees

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy that you may have under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or under any other law which cannot lawfully be excluded.

Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Where the Australian Consumer Law applies and we fail to comply with a consumer guarantee, we will, to the extent required by law and at our cost, remedy the failure by supplying the services again or paying you the reasonable cost of having the services supplied again.

7. Your responsibilities

To help us deliver the services effectively, you agree to:

• provide accurate, complete and timely information relevant to the engagement;
• make the relevant personnel, records and systems available when we need them;
• respond to our requests for feedback or approvals within a reasonable time; and
• ensure any approvals, instructions or sign-offs you give are properly authorised.

You remain responsible for the business decisions you make. Our recommendations are advisory in nature, and outcomes depend on factors outside our control, including how recommendations are implemented within your organisation.

8. Intellectual property

We retain all intellectual property rights in our methodologies, frameworks, templates and know-how, and in the materials we create in the course of an engagement, except where we assign rights to you in writing. On full payment of the fees for an engagement, you receive a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the deliverables prepared for you for your internal business purposes.

You retain ownership of the materials, data and information you provide to us, and you grant us a limited licence to use them for the sole purpose of performing the services.

9. Confidentiality

Each party must keep confidential all confidential information of the other party and use it only for the purpose of the engagement. This obligation does not apply to information that is or becomes public (other than through a breach of confidence), is independently developed, or is required to be disclosed by law or by a regulator or professional body.

We may use suitably qualified subcontractors or consultants to help deliver services, provided they are bound by confidentiality obligations no less protective than these terms.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law: (a) our total liability arising out of or in connection with an engagement is limited to the fees you actually paid to us for the services giving rise to the liability; and (b) we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including loss of profit, revenue, data, goodwill or business opportunity.

These limitations do not apply to the extent that liability cannot be excluded or limited under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.

11. Termination and suspension

Either party may end an engagement by giving at least 14 days written notice to the other party. We may suspend or terminate an engagement immediately if you fail to pay an overdue invoice within 7 days of a written reminder, or if you breach these terms in a way that cannot reasonably be remedied.

On termination, you must pay us for all services performed and reasonable expenses incurred up to the date of termination, and we will deliver or make available the work completed to that date.

12. Privacy

We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our privacy policy. By engaging us, you consent to us collecting, using and disclosing personal information for the purpose of providing our services, as described in that policy.

13. Force majeure

We are not liable for delay or failure to perform our obligations to the extent caused by an event beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, industrial action, pandemics, power or communications failures, or acts of government. Where such an event occurs, we will notify you and take reasonable steps to minimise the impact on the engagement.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version published on this page at the time you accept a quote or proposal applies to that engagement, unless we agree in writing that a different version applies. Material changes will be reflected in the “last updated” date shown at the top of this page.

15. Governing law

These terms and any engagement are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. Each party submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and the courts competent to hear appeals from those courts.

16. Contact us

Questions about these terms can be sent to ceo@velvethospitality.online. We aim to respond to written enquiries within two business days.

Velvet Hospitality Pty Ltd · ABN 61 703 634 959 · Melbourne VIC, Australia.