Terms of service

1. Who we are

Cardinal is operated by FourWinds Digital, a business operating in Ireland. FourWinds Digital is a trading name of Oscar Cobbe, and your contract is with him. If the business moves to a limited company, we will ask you in writing to move this agreement to it, on the same terms.

In these terms, "we" and "us" mean FourWinds Digital as described above, and "you" means the organisation whose staff hold portal accounts.

2. Your account

Accounts are for named individuals and must not be shared. You are responsible for keeping credentials secure and for telling us promptly when someone leaves your organisation so we can revoke their access.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the portal to break the law, infringe rights, or process data you are not permitted to process. Do not put credentials, payment card data, or special-category personal data into AI tools.

4. Fees and payment

Fees are as set out in your engagement documentation, exclusive of VAT. Invoices are payable within the terms stated on them. We may suspend services on materially overdue accounts, having given notice first.

5. The Check credit

Where you pay for a Check, the fee you paid for it is credited in full against work you order from us within 60 days. A Check we carry out without charge earns no credit. This section sets out exactly what qualifies, because a credit you have to argue about later is worse than no credit at all.

The amount. The Check fee you actually paid, excluding VAT.

The window. The work must be ordered within 60 days of the date we deliver the Check's findings. Ordered means a signed order, an accepted proposal or a first payment, whichever is earliest.

What qualifies. Any work we provide, whether or not the Check recommended it, and whether or not it involves our own software.

How it is applied. The credit is deducted from the first invoice for that work. Where that invoice is smaller than the credit, the rest comes off the invoices that follow for the same work until it is used.

Where recurring work ends early. If you end recurring work before the credit is used, for any reason other than our material breach, the unused balance stops. Credit already applied to invoices already issued is not clawed back.

What does not qualify. Third-party costs we pass through at cost, including advertising spend and software licences you hold with a vendor directly. Renewals of work you were already buying before the Check. A second Check.

Other limits. One credit per Check. The credit cannot be exchanged for money, cannot be transferred to another organisation, and cannot be combined with another discount on the same work unless we agree in writing. Where a Check is refunded, any credit already applied becomes payable.

If you do not proceed. The Check fee stands in full and the findings are yours to keep and to act on however you wish, including with somebody else. We do not ask for the document back and we place no restriction on your use of it.

6. What we promise about our work

We provide services with reasonable skill and care. We do not promise a specific commercial result: a Check that concludes you should spend less than you expected is a successful Check.

AI-generated output is a draft. You remain responsible for reviewing and verifying anything you act on, publish or send.

7. Response times

Where your engagement documentation states a response time, that is the commitment. In the absence of one, we aim to respond to anything raised through the portal by the end of the next working day, and to tell you the same day where something will take longer.

8. Liability

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.

Subject to that, our total liability arising out of or in connection with the services is capped at the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business, loss of anticipated savings, or for any indirect or consequential loss.

9. Your data

We process personal data as described in the privacy notice. Where we process personal data on your behalf, the data processing agreement applies and takes precedence over these terms on that subject.

10. Term and termination

Either party may terminate in line with the notice period in your engagement documentation. On termination we will help you export your data and hand over documentation for anything we built.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Ireland, and the courts of Ireland have exclusive jurisdiction.