General terms and conditions

A1 Scope and order of precedence

These general terms and conditions (terms) govern all contracts between Swiss GU Group GmbH (Gaswerkstrasse 33, 4900 Langenthal, Schweiz), which operates under the Swizz-IT brand (hereinafter “Swizz-IT”), and its customers (hereinafter “customer”) for web hosting, domains, email, SSL certificates, the Website Builder, additional services and all other products. They also apply to products that Swizz-IT offers in the future, unless special provisions exist for them. References to persons apply to all genders.

In the event of contradictions, the following order of precedence applies:

1. an individual agreement between Swizz-IT and the customer in text form,
2. the order and the product description shown when ordering,
3. Part B of these terms for the product concerned,
4. Part A of these terms.

The data processing agreement and the quality guarantee form part of these terms and take precedence over Part A within their scope. The customer's own terms and conditions do not apply, even if Swizz-IT does not expressly object to them.

A2 Conclusion of the contract and customer account

The presentation of the products on the website is not a binding offer. Putting products in the shopping cart is not an order either; a contract only comes into being when the order is completed. By submitting the order, the customer makes a binding offer. In doing so, the customer confirms that they accept these terms and the data processing agreement and have read the privacy policy. Swizz-IT stores the time, the IP address and the version of the terms for this purpose. The contract is concluded when the order is confirmed by email or when the service is provided, whichever occurs first. Swizz-IT may reject an order without giving reasons.

To order, the customer creates a customer account. The customer provides complete and truthful information and keeps it up to date. One customer account is permitted per person or company. The customer must be at least 18 years old; younger persons may only order with the consent of their legal representative. Swizz-IT may verify the information and request proof.

A3 Services, further development and third parties

The scope of the services follows from the product description shown when ordering. Information about services that are not part of the order does not give rise to any claim.

Swizz-IT may further develop, replace or adapt technology, software, software versions (for example PHP, databases and operating systems) and infrastructure, as long as the agreed benefit for the customer is not significantly reduced. If the customer has to adapt their own applications as a result, Swizz-IT announces this reasonably in advance; section B1 applies to PHP versions.

Swizz-IT may involve subcontractors and other third parties to provide the services, in particular operators of data centers, registrars and registries, certification authorities and payment service providers. For services that third parties provide directly to the customer, their terms also apply.

A4 Prices and price changes

The prices shown when ordering apply. All prices are in Swiss francs (CHF) and are final prices including the statutory value added tax. The fees are payable in advance for the entire term selected.

Swizz-IT may change the prices for future terms. It announces a price increase by email at least 30 days before it takes effect. If the customer does not agree, they may cancel the contract concerned as of the date the change takes effect, even if the notice period under section A6 can no longer be met.

Swizz-IT passes on a change in the statutory VAT rate directly from the date it takes effect, also for current terms, insofar as the law provides for this. Such a change does not give rise to a right of cancellation.

A5 Payment, default and suspension

Invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice date using the payment methods offered. The last day of this period is the due date: when it expires, the customer is in default without a reminder.

The customer can pay online, for example by card, or by QR-bill. If the customer chooses the QR-bill when ordering, Swizz-IT only provides the service once the payment has been received. If the order has not been paid 30 days after the order date, Swizz-IT cancels it; an ordered domain is then not registered.

From the time of default, the customer owes default interest of 5 % per year. Beyond that, the customer only compensates the damage that Swizz-IT actually incurs as a result of the default, insofar as the law permits. Swizz-IT does not charge flat fees for collection costs.

The customer may only set off claims of Swizz-IT against their own claims that are undisputed or have been established with legal effect.

If an invoice is not paid on time, Swizz-IT sends the customer a first reminder on the due date, a second 10 days after the due date and a third 20 days after the due date. If payment is made with a stored card, the first reminder only follows after the second unsuccessful charge attempt. The third reminder states the date of the suspension.

If the invoice has not been paid 30 days after the due date, Swizz-IT may suspend the customer's services in whole or in part. Domains are not suspended; section B2 applies to them. The fee remains due during the suspension. If the invoice is still unpaid 60 days after the due date, Swizz-IT may terminate the contract without further notice and permanently delete the customer's data. It announces the deletion by email 7 days in advance. A suspension is only lifted once all outstanding amounts have been paid in full.

A6 Term, renewal and cancellation

The contract begins when the service is provided and runs for the term selected when ordering, or 12 months if no other term was selected. It renews automatically for the same term unless it is canceled at least 30 days before it expires. Section B2 also applies to domains.

The customer may cancel by email to info@swizz-it.com or with a support ticket in the customer panel. If the customer panel offers a cancellation function, the customer may also use it. The date of receipt by Swizz-IT is decisive. Swizz-IT may cancel the contract with the same notice period.

Fees already paid are not refunded, except to the extent that these terms expressly provide for a refund or mandatory law requires it.

Either party may terminate the contract at any time without notice for good cause. Good cause for Swizz-IT exists in particular if the customer seriously or, despite a request, repeatedly breaches these terms, in particular sections A7 and A8, if the customer provided false information when ordering, or if the conditions for termination under section A5 are met. In these cases, Swizz-IT may set off its expenses at the hourly rate of CHF 120.00 and its damage against the customer's credit from fees already paid for the period after termination; any remaining balance is refunded.

A7 Obligations of the customer

In particular, the customer undertakes:

• to keep their access data secret, to use secure passwords and to report any suspected misuse immediately. The customer is liable for actions of third parties using their access data insofar as they have breached these duties of care;
• to configure the applications they use, such as content management systems, extensions, themes and scripts, securely and to keep them up to date with security updates;
• to store and publish only lawful content, to respect the rights of third parties and to comply with all regulations that apply to their website and their activities, in particular regarding the imprint, data protection, copyright, competition and advertising;
• to keep their contact details, in particular their email address, up to date and to read emails from Swizz-IT regularly.

Notices that Swizz-IT sends to the email address stored in the customer account are deemed delivered on the day after they are sent. The customer alone is responsible for the content they store or publish. Swizz-IT is not obliged to monitor content.

A8 Prohibited use

Any use that violates the law, these terms or the security of the systems is prohibited, in particular:

• sending unsolicited mass emails (spam), also via third parties, and promoting content in this way;
• phishing, fraud and impersonating other websites, brands or senders;
• storing or distributing malware such as viruses, trojans or ransomware and operating botnets;
• infringing copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, such as offering unauthorized copies of software, films or music;
• unlawful content, in particular prohibited pornography, depictions of violence, calls for hatred, violence or crimes, and defamation;
• mining cryptocurrencies and other compute-intensive processes that do not serve the operation of a website;
• proxy, VPN, Tor and other anonymization services as well as open relays for emails;
• attacks on other systems, in particular denial-of-service attacks, port scans and exploiting security vulnerabilities;
• any use that overloads the systems or affects other customers;
• use as general file storage, as a download or streaming platform or as backup storage for data that does not belong to the website or the mailboxes;
• reselling, renting out or providing the services to third parties without prior agreement in text form.

The acceptable use policy sets out in detail what is prohibited and what is allowed. It forms part of these terms and is never less strict than the rules of the data center operators.

A9 Suspension and measures

Swizz-IT may suspend services in whole or in part immediately and without prior notice, or take other appropriate measures, if:

• an account poses a risk to the security or stability of the systems, to other customers or to third parties, for example through an infected website, sending spam or entries on blocklists;
• there is misuse or a breach of section A8, or a well-founded suspicion thereof;
• an authority or a court orders it or Swizz-IT is legally obliged to do so;
• the conditions under section A5 are met.

In particular, Swizz-IT may remove harmful code or render it harmless, block individual files, scripts, mailboxes or the sending of emails, and reset passwords. Where possible, it informs the customer in advance, otherwise immediately afterwards, and lifts the suspension as soon as the reason no longer applies. Cleaning up their applications is the customer's responsibility.

Swizz-IT is not liable for the consequences of a justified suspension or measure. If the reason lies with the customer, the fee remains due during the suspension.

A10 Indemnification

The customer indemnifies Swizz-IT against claims of third parties and proceedings of authorities insofar as these result from a breach of these terms, of the law or of the rights of third parties for which the customer is responsible through their content or their use of the services. To this extent, the customer reimburses Swizz-IT for the resulting costs, including reasonable lawyer, court and procedural costs. Swizz-IT informs the customer immediately of any claims asserted and gives them the opportunity to comment.

A11 Data backup

Backing up data is the customer's responsibility. The customer regularly backs up websites, databases, emails and settings, in particular before making changes, and keeps the backups outside the systems of Swizz-IT.

In addition, Swizz-IT creates daily backups of its systems. These serve primarily to restore operations after disruptions and are, for the customer, a voluntary additional service without any warranty as to completeness, currency or recoverability. Swizz-IT also keeps an encrypted copy in a data center in Finland (EU); details are in the privacy policy.

Restores that the customer triggers themselves in the customer panel are included in the price. If Swizz-IT restores data at the customer's request, it charges the expenses under section B7 at the hourly rate of CHF 120.00.

A12 Availability and maintenance

Swizz-IT operates its systems with the care of a professional provider. Uninterrupted availability is technically impossible and is not owed. The guaranteed availability and the credits if it is not met are governed by the quality guarantee.

Credits under the quality guarantee are the customer's standard remedy for outages and disruptions. If the guaranteed availability is significantly missed in at least 2 months within 12 months, the customer may terminate the contract concerned for cause with immediate effect and receives a pro rata refund of the unused part of fees already paid. A shortfall is significant if the credit reaches its maximum amount, that is, in the event of an outage of at least 10 hours beyond the permitted downtime of a month. Further claims, in particular for price reduction or damages, are excluded to the extent permitted by law. Mandatory liability under section A13 remains reserved.

Where possible, Swizz-IT announces planned maintenance at least 48 hours in advance and schedules it for times of low usage whenever possible. It may carry out urgent work, for example to fix security vulnerabilities or disruptions, without notice.

A13 Liability

Swizz-IT is liable for damage that it causes intentionally or through gross negligence. Liability for slight negligence is excluded (Art. 100 para. 1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, CO). Swizz-IT is liable to the same extent for auxiliary persons, subcontractors and other third parties it involves; only liability for their slight negligence is excluded (Art. 101 para. 2 CO).

To the extent permitted by law, Swizz-IT is in particular not liable for:

• indirect and consequential damage, in particular lost profit, loss of revenue, savings not realized and claims of third parties;
• the loss of or damage to data, insofar as the damage could have been avoided by the customer backing up data properly under section A11;
• disruptions and outages of networks and services of third parties that are not auxiliary persons of Swizz-IT and over which it has no influence, for example on the internet or at the registries of the domain extensions;
• damage caused by the customer's content or applications or by actions of third parties using the customer's access data.

The total liability of Swizz-IT is limited to the fees that the customer paid for the affected product in the 12 months before the event causing the damage.

These limitations do not apply where liability is mandatory, in particular for unlawful intent or gross negligence of Swizz-IT or its auxiliary persons, for damage resulting from injury to life, limb or health, and under the Product Liability Act.

A14 Force majeure

Swizz-IT is not liable if it cannot provide its services, or cannot provide them on time, due to events beyond its control. These include in particular natural events, epidemics, war, terrorism, strikes, failures of the power supply or of networks, attacks on the systems such as denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) that take effect despite reasonable protective measures, failures and supply difficulties of suppliers insofar as these are themselves based on force majeure, and measures taken by authorities. The affected obligations are suspended for the duration of such an event.

A15 End of contract and deletion

When the contract ends, the right to use the services ends; Swizz-IT may block access. Swizz-IT permanently deletes the customer's data for this product, in particular websites, databases and mailboxes, 30 days after the contract ends. Data in backups is then overwritten as part of the usual backup cycle.

Swizz-IT is not obliged to keep or hand over data beyond the end of the contract. The customer backs up their data themselves before the contract ends. The statutory retention obligations of Swizz-IT for its own business records remain reserved.

A16 Intellectual property

All rights to the software, the customer panel, templates, texts, graphics and documentation of Swizz-IT remain with Swizz-IT or its licensors. For the duration of the contract, the customer receives a non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use them within the scope of the contract. Open source software is subject to its licenses.

The rights to their content remain with the customer. The customer grants Swizz-IT the right to store, copy and transmit this content insofar as this is necessary to provide the services.

A17 Data protection and data processing

How Swizz-IT processes the customer's personal data as a controller is described in the privacy policy. Swizz-IT processes personal data that the customer stores on their hosting, in their mailboxes or in other products on the customer's behalf under the data processing agreement, which applies once these terms are accepted. The customer is responsible for this data, for example for the privacy policy of their own website.

A18 Changes to the terms

Swizz-IT may change these terms, the product descriptions and the other parts of the contract. It announces changes by email at least 30 days before they take effect and publishes the new version on the website. If the customer does not agree, they may cancel the contract concerned as of the date the change takes effect; Swizz-IT refunds fees already paid for the period after that on a pro rata basis. If the customer does not cancel and continues to use the services after the change takes effect, this is deemed consent.

Swizz-IT may put into effect upon publication changes that are exclusively in the customer's favor or that become necessary due to mandatory legal or regulatory requirements.

A19 Transfer of the contract

Swizz-IT may transfer the contract with all rights and obligations to a successor company or to a company that takes over the services of Swizz-IT in whole or in part. It informs the customer of this. In this case, the customer may cancel the contract within 30 days of the notice as of the end of a month; Swizz-IT refunds fees already paid for the period after that on a pro rata basis. The customer may only transfer the contract or individual rights and obligations under it with the prior consent of Swizz-IT in text form.

A20 Final provisions

Text form, in particular an email, is sufficient for notices and declarations, including cancellations.

Swiss law applies, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna Sales Convention). Mandatory provisions for the protection of consumers remain reserved.

The place of jurisdiction for customers who conclude the contract for their professional or commercial activity is Langenthal. Swizz-IT may also sue these customers at their registered office. For consumers, the mandatory statutory places of jurisdiction apply.

If any provision of these terms is wholly or partly invalid, the remainder remains valid. The invalid provision is replaced by a provision that comes closest to its purpose within the limits permitted by law.

B1 Web hosting

Services described as “unlimited”, such as storage space, data traffic, databases or mailboxes, are available for the usual use of a website and of the customer's email communication (reasonable use, fair use). The benchmark is the use by comparable customers with the same plan.

Reasonable use includes, for example:

• a company website, a blog or an online shop with usual visitor numbers;
• the mailboxes of a company, an association or a family for ongoing correspondence.

Reasonable use does not include, for example:

• storing files that are not needed for the website, such as backups of other systems, film and photo collections or archives;
• offering large files for download or streaming;
• use as storage for data of third parties or as a platform for a large number of other people's websites;
• using mailboxes as a long-term archive or for mass mailing.

In addition, the following technical limits apply:

• per web hosting account, at most 5 simultaneous PHP processes, with memory per process according to the selected plan;
• per web hosting account, computing power of at most 1 CPU core;
• per mail domain, at most 200 emails sent per hour.

In case of misuse, for example sending spam from a hacked account, Swizz-IT may lower the sending limit of a mail domain or block sending altogether.

If an account exceeds these limits or reasonable use, or affects the systems or other customers, Swizz-IT may throttle the service, end individual processes or temporarily stop the sending of emails. Swizz-IT then contacts the customer and may require a switch to a suitable plan. If the customer refuses, Swizz-IT may cancel the contract with a notice period of 30 days and refunds fees already paid for the period after that on a pro rata basis.

The customer orders a switch to a bigger plan in the customer panel. It applies immediately after payment, for a QR-bill after the payment has been received. Swizz-IT charges the difference in price pro rata for the period until the end of the term already paid; Swizz-IT does not charge an amount below CHF 1.00. After that, the subscription renews at the price of the new plan; the renewal date stays the same. A switch to a smaller plan is possible as of the end of the term, provided the customer's data fits into the smaller plan; no refund is made.

Swizz-IT provides PHP in one or more current versions. When a version reaches the end of support by its developers (end of life), Swizz-IT may replace it with a newer version with at least 30 days' notice, and at short notice in the case of acute security vulnerabilities. Adapting their own applications to a new version is the customer's responsibility.

Cron jobs (scheduled tasks) run with the rights of the web hosting account and count towards its limits. Swizz-IT may adjust or deactivate cron jobs that place an excessive load on the systems.

B2 Domains

Swizz-IT registers and manages domains on behalf of the customer through a partner registrar. The provisions of the competent registry also apply to every domain: for .ch and .li those of the SWITCH foundation, for generic extensions such as .com, .net or .org the requirements of ICANN and of the respective registry. The customer accepts these provisions with the order.

The holder of the domain is the customer or the person they specify. The customer is responsible for the accuracy of the holder information and for ensuring that the domain name does not infringe any trademark, name or other rights of third parties. Section A10 applies to disputes about the domain name.

Swizz-IT has no influence on the allocation by the registry. A domain is only deemed registered once the registry has allocated it. Information on availability shown in the search is not binding. Swizz-IT gives no guarantee that an ordered domain will be allocated or remain allocated.

A domain is registered for the period specified when ordering. It is only renewed if the renewal invoice is paid before it expires. Otherwise, the domain may expire, be deleted and be registered by third parties; Swizz-IT is not liable for this. If an expired domain can be restored, the customer bears the fees of the registry and the expenses of Swizz-IT under section B7.

To transfer a domain to another provider, Swizz-IT provides the holder with the transfer code (auth code) on request, even if fees are still outstanding. It may first verify that the request comes from the holder. Outstanding claims remain due and may be enforced through legal channels, in particular through debt collection proceedings. The contract for the domain ends with the transfer.

Registration and renewal fees are not refunded after registration or renewal, not even in the event of early deletion, transfer or cancellation.

B3 Email

Storage space and the number of mailboxes are based on the product description. The limit of at most 200 emails per hour per mail domain under section B1 applies to sending; in case of misuse, Swizz-IT may lower it or block sending.

Incoming emails are automatically checked for spam and malware. There is no guarantee that all unwanted emails will be detected and all wanted emails delivered. Swizz-IT is not liable for emails that are wrongly rejected, moved or not detected.

Swizz-IT does not archive emails. The customer is responsible for keeping business correspondence in accordance with the legal requirements that apply to them, in Switzerland in particular under Art. 958f CO and the ordinance on the keeping and retention of accounting records.

Mailboxes and their content are deleted when the contract ends under section A15.

B4 SSL certificates

Swizz-IT has free SSL certificates issued by a certification authority and renewed before they expire, provided the technical requirements are met, in particular a correct DNS configuration of the domain. There is no guarantee of issuance, timely renewal or recognition by all browsers and devices.

Paid certificates are issued by the selected certification authority; its terms also apply. The verification of the information (validation) is the responsibility of the certification authority. Swizz-IT gives no guarantee as to the duration and success of the validation. Once issued, the price is not refunded. The customer can only assert any warranty amounts of the certification authority against the certification authority.

Swizz-IT may have a certificate revoked if it is used improperly, if the customer's information is incorrect or if the certification authority requires it.

B5 Website Builder

With the Website Builder, the customer creates their website from templates and building blocks of Swizz-IT or its licensors. The customer may use the templates for their website for the duration of the contract. The customer is only entitled to export the website or the templates if the product description expressly mentions it.

The customer alone is responsible for all content of their website, in particular texts, images, the imprint and the privacy policy. Sample texts supplied are non-binding examples and do not replace a legal review.

When the contract ends, the website with all its content is deleted under section A15.

B6 Free offers and trial periods

Swizz-IT may change, restrict or discontinue free offers and trial periods at any time. The quality guarantee does not apply to them; there is no claim to availability or support.

If the customer does not log in for 180 days and does not use a free offer, Swizz-IT may delete the account with all data. Swizz-IT announces the deletion by email at least 30 days in advance. If a trial period ends without an order, section A15 applies.

B7 Additional services and support work

Swizz-IT only provides services outside the ordered plan, such as setup, migration or repair work, the restoration of data, help with the customer's own applications or additional instructions under the data processing agreement, on the customer's instruction. An instruction in text form, for example by support ticket, is sufficient.

These services are charged according to the time spent at the hourly rate of CHF 120.00 including value added tax, billed per started 15 minutes. Swizz-IT informs the customer before starting the work that it is subject to a charge.

B8 Moving to Swizz-IT

On request, Swizz-IT moves the customer's website, databases and emails from the previous provider. For this, the customer provides their access data at the previous provider. Swizz-IT uses this data only for the move and deletes it as soon as the move has been completed or cancelled.

The customer keeps their previous hosting running until Swizz-IT informs them that the move is complete, and only cancels it afterwards.

Swizz-IT takes over the data as it is at the previous provider. Swizz-IT is not liable for data that is missing or faulty there. Manual work beyond the move in the customer panel is an additional service under section B7.