Terms and Conditions

Welcome to HelloBicester. These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of our website hellobicester.co.uk (including any associated redirects such as hellobicester.com) our weekly newsletter services, and our local business directory, including paid featured placement.

By accessing our website, subscribing to our newsletter, submitting a listing or buying featured placement, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not access or use our services.

1. Who We Are

HelloBicester is a community newsletter and local directory platform operated in Bicester, Oxfordshire, UK. All services are provided subject to the laws of England and Wales.

2. Newsletter Subscriptions

By subscribing to the HelloBicester newsletter, you agree to receive weekly emails from us, typically sent on Fridays. Subscription is voluntary and free of charge.

• You must provide a valid email address that you own or have permission to use.
• You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link provided in the footer of every email.
• We reserve the right to suspend or terminate subscriptions at our sole discretion, without notice, if we believe the email address provided is invalid, spam-related, or being used maliciously.

3. Business Directory Listings

Our directory lists businesses and organisations trading in Bicester and the surrounding OX25, OX26 and OX27 villages. A standard listing is free.

• Where listings come from: Listings are compiled from publicly available information or supplied by the business itself. We check details when we publish them, but businesses change, and we cannot guarantee every detail is current.
• Claiming or correcting a listing: If you submit, claim or correct a listing, you confirm that you own the business or are authorised to act for it, and that what you send us is accurate. We may contact the business on its published details to confirm this before publishing.
• Photos and text you send us: You confirm you have the right to use them, and you give us permission to publish them on HelloBicester and to use them when we promote the directory, for as long as the listing is live.
• What "Verified" means: The details came from the business and we confirmed the person sending them is connected to it. It is not a recommendation, an inspection of anyone's work, or a check of their qualifications or insurance.
• Removal: A business can ask us to correct or remove its listing at any time by emailing [email protected]. We may edit, decline or remove any listing, for example where details are misleading, unlawful or outside the area we cover.

4. Featured Placement (Paid)

Featured placement is an optional paid service for businesses. It is sold to businesses, not to consumers.

• What you get: Your listing is shown above standard listings in its category with a "Featured" label, a highlighted card and up to five photos, and it is eligible for the featured positions on the category page (up to three) and the directory home page (up to six). Featured placement changes where a listing appears. It does not change what the listing says, and it is always labelled as paid.
• What we do not promise: We do not guarantee any number of views, calls, enquiries or sales, or a particular position where more businesses are featured than there are positions.
• Price and payment: The price is the one shown at checkout at the time you buy. Payment is taken by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
• Automatic renewal: Featured placement is a subscription. Whether you choose monthly or yearly, it renews automatically at the end of each period, at the same price, until you cancel. If we change the price of an existing subscription we will email you at least 30 days before your next renewal.
• Going live: After payment we confirm your details with you and publish the placement, normally within two working days. Your paid period runs from the date of payment.
• Cancelling: You can cancel at any time by emailing [email protected] from the address you paid with. We will confirm by email. Your placement continues until the end of the period you have paid for, and your listing then carries on as a free standard listing.
• Refunds: If you change your mind within 7 days of your first payment, email us and we will refund it in full and end the placement. After that, payments are not refunded for a period that has already started. If we cannot publish your placement, or we withdraw it other than for a breach of these Terms, we will refund the unused part of what you paid.
• Failed payments: If a renewal payment fails and is not put right, the placement ends and the listing returns to a standard listing.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree to use our website and services only for lawful purposes. You must not:

• Submit false, misleading, or spam details in our subscription, contact or listing forms, or claim a business you are not authorised to act for.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our web hosting servers, directories, or the third-party services we use to run it.
• Use automated scripts, bots, or scrapers to extract content or database listings from our website without prior written permission.
• Introduce malware, viruses, or other harmful code to our systems.

6. Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise stated, all content published on this website and in our newsletters—including articles, logo designs, custom illustrations, branding phrases, and layouts—is the intellectual property of HelloBicester and is protected by copyright and trademark laws. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, or modify any portion of our intellectual property without our express written consent.

7. Limitation of Liability

We make every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information published on our website and in our newsletters. However, our services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind.

• We are not liable for any inaccuracies, errors, omissions, or out-of-date information in our articles, event listings, or directories.
• We do not guarantee that our website will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.
• Our website contains links to external, third-party websites (including local business directories, events, and Stripe checkout). We do not control or endorse the content, policies, or practices of these external sites and are not liable for any transactions or losses incurred on third-party sites.

8. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. Minor updates will take effect immediately upon being posted on this page. In the case of material changes that significantly affect your subscription or rights, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect.

9. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising in connection with these Terms or our services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about these Terms, please contact us at:

Email: [email protected]