Residential Terms of Service

These Residential Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between ACVoIP, a division of Valstar Consulting ("ACVoIP", "we", "us", or "our"), and the residential subscriber ("Subscriber", "you", or "your") who has subscribed to ACVoIP Residential Services.

By subscribing to, accessing, or using ACVoIP Residential Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use our Services.

1. Definitions

"ACVoIP" means ACVoIP, a division of Valstar Consulting, its Affiliates, successors and assigns, and their respective employees, directors, and officers.

"Unlimited Programs" means fixed fee, bundled minutes and unlimited long distance calling plans for residential/home purposes in those destinations designated by ACVoIP from time to time from a designated telephone number.

"Standard Program" means pay-for-use regular long distance calling plans to countries designated by ACVoIP from time to time, other than those countries which you have already subscribed for as part of the Unlimited Programs.

"Home Phone" means Internet Voice Over IP local phone service provided by ACVoIP.

"Services" means collectively any product(s) and service(s) provided by ACVoIP to you including, but not limited to, Unlimited Programs, Standard Program, Home Phone, and any related products or features.

"Equipment" means any device provided by ACVoIP to you for the purpose of providing the Services, including but not limited to modems, VoIP telephone adapters, and routers.

2. Types of Services

The Terms contained herein apply to all the Services which you may subscribe from ACVoIP, including, for: (i) Unlimited Programs; (ii) Standard Program; (iii) Home Phone. You may use the Services provided by ACVoIP for long distance calling or local calling provided that you do so in compliance with all applicable laws and the terms herein.

You acknowledge that you are the person authorized to subscribe for the Services. The Services may only be used by you and all persons having your permission to use the Services. You may only use the Services for voice telephone calls to landlines as the Services cannot be used for Internet connections, faxing or other data transmission without express written consent from ACVoIP.

ACVoIP Services may include calling for a set annual fee to specific destinations. Calls to other destinations will be billed monthly at rates determined by ACVoIP from time to time and available on our website.

3. Charges, Billing and Payment

You are responsible for paying all charges, plus all applicable taxes thereon, for the Services subscribed from ACVoIP, including for all calls: (i) made via your telephones or telecommunications systems; (ii) made using any number or authorization access code assigned to you; and (iii) which are charged to your account. You are responsible for the security of your authorization codes, and access to your telephones and telecommunications systems.

NSF and all refused payments shall incur a $25 administrative fee per occurrence. Credit card charge-backs will incur a $45 administration fee. ACVoIP reserves the right to charge a $45 administration fee for all accounts remitted to collection. Once the account is placed with a collection agency a 2% per month interest (24% Annum) will be applied to the overall outstanding balance until such time that the balance is cleared.

Due to billing software limitations any reference to Tax 1 or T1 outside of Ontario, Canada, is in fact an additional service charge and not a government tax. Calls to mobile phones in some overseas destinations are billed at higher rates. Rates are listed on our website. Your rates may be different based on your package.

If you have received Equipment from ACVoIP for the purpose of providing you Services, you will be billed for these devices. These are typically but not limited to modems, VoIP telephone adapters, and routers that are reasonably required to provide you with the Services.

Charges will commence as of the Activation Date of the Service(s). You must pay for the charges of Services either by credit card by providing ACVoIP with your credit card number upon subscribing for the Service or by Pre-Authorized cheque payment by providing ACVoIP with the appropriate banking information. You authorize ACVoIP to make such charges against such credit card or bank account to satisfy all charges for the Services.

ACVoIP will charge your credit card or bank account for charges for the Unlimited Program or any other package in advance commencing on the date of activation of the Services (pro rata for the remaining days in such month) and thereafter, an amount equal to 1 month payment for all packages purchased by you will be taken from your credit card during the period from the first day of the month of service until the last day of the month of service, on a monthly basis or as stipulated by ACVoIP. Payment for Standard Services shall be made on the first day of each month for the Standard Services used in the preceding month. ACVoIP at its sole discretion may elect to change billing dates. Call increments may vary depending on destination and length of call.

You must bring payment inquiries and disputes to ACVoIP's attention within 10 days after the charge for the Services have been paid or you will be deemed to have accepted such charges as accurate in all respects. You also agree to make all payments by pre-authorized credit card payment with the card number given to ACVoIP during the activation process unless you have enrolled for billing services in which case payment is due upon receipt of invoice. All security deposits will be used to pay the oldest outstanding charges.

4. Credit and Security Deposits

ACVoIP reserves the right to examine your credit record before activating the Services. Should ACVoIP at any time consider a prepaid credit deposit to be insufficient, a further credit deposit may be required before it provides, continues, or reinstates the Services to you. ACVoIP will determine, at its discretion, how your deposit or other security will be allocated to satisfy outstanding amounts owed by you to ACVoIP.

By subscribing to the Services, you authorize ACVoIP to investigate your credit worthiness, exchange credit information with credit reporting agencies on an ongoing basis and agree from time to time, to provide appropriate authorizations and financial information as ACVoIP may reasonably request for this purpose. All deposits or other prepayments made by you in connection with the Services will earn no interest.

5. Contract Term and Rate Guarantee

ACVoIP Services are sold on the following basis and will be subject to the Early Cancellation Fee (ECF) detailed in Section 9.

(a) Home Phone Term Contracts: ECF will apply on all contracts (1-year, 2 year, and 3-year etc). The contract term length can be identified by you on the invoice for services with a 1YR, 2YR, or 3YR designation. The Term of the contract shall also serve as a rate guarantee to you whereby the Monthly Service Fee (MSF) cannot be increased by ACVoIP for the entire term. Customer may change plans throughout the term but may be required to pay a fee to compensate for promotions received by the Customer who would have otherwise not received them.

(b) Home Phone No Contract: You may cancel service without ECF. ACVoIP may increase rates at any time by providing you with 30 days notification.

(c) Home Phone Pre-paid: This service is sold as a bundle that includes service for a specific period of time (e.g. $150 paid in advance, for 12 months of local phone service). Unless specifically advised by you prior to the anniversary date, on each activation anniversary, Home Phone Pre-Paid is automatically renewed and you will be charged once again. Except as specifically prohibited by law, there are no refunds for any unused months for pre-paid service.

(d) Long Distance Service Contracts: Term contracts are subject to ECF.

6. ACVoIP's Right to Refuse to Provide Services

ACVoIP reserves the right to refuse to provide or activate the Services where:

(a) You owe amounts to ACVoIP that are past due and any security deposits are insufficient to satisfy outstanding balances;

(b) You do not provide a security deposit or satisfy alternate security measures when requested by ACVoIP;

(c) ACVoIP has terminated the Services to you in the past; or

(d) ACVoIP does not provide the requested Services to the country(s) desired by you.

7. Services Interruption

ACVoIP may interrupt the Services to you at any time for any duration of time, without any notice or liability, in order to install, inspect, repair, replace or to perform necessary maintenance on the telecommunications equipment, facilities or network, or for other technical reasons as may be required.

ACVoIP service is provided to you on a best-efforts basis. You acknowledge that Home Phone VoIP service requires high speed Internet connectivity. Poor or lack of Internet connectivity, power failure, VoIP blocking, computer viruses and the like ("Connectivity Issues") will cause service interruption and or failure of the service to function. It is your responsibility to remedy these Connectivity Issues.

ACVoIP is not liable for:

(i) any disruption or unavailability of the Services;

(ii) any act or omission of any third party (including any other local telephone company, any connecting carrier or underlying carrier or other provider of connections, facilities, or Services);

(iii) your conduct, acts or omissions, or the operation or failure of your equipment or facilities;

(iv) any event beyond the reasonable control of ACVoIP including acts of God, inclement weather including lightning, labour disputes, riots or civil disputes, war or armed conflict, any law, governmental order, decision or regulation, or order of any court of competent jurisdiction;

(v) its failure, for any reason, to activate the Services on the activation date you requested; and

(vi) any charges by third parties including other telephone companies or wireless carriers for services they may have rendered in lieu of ACVoIP service.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ACVoIP against all claims, including fees and expenses of counsel, resulting from your use (or the use by others with your explicit or implicit consent) of the Services, your codes, facilities or equipment, which cause direct or indirect damage or harm to another party or to the property of another.

8. Suspension or Termination of Services by ACVoIP

Without incurring any liability whatsoever, ACVoIP may suspend or terminate any or all of the Services for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, where you:

(i) fail to pay an account that is past due, or you provide payment by cheque or credit card which is not honoured by your bank and any security deposits are insufficient to satisfy outstanding balances;

(ii) fail to provide interim payments when requested by ACVoIP;

(iii) fail to provide or maintain a reasonable deposit or alternate security when requested to do so by ACVoIP;

(iv) fail to meet ACVoIP's credit requirements, or become bankrupt or otherwise insolvent;

(v) fail to comply with the terms of a deferred payment or credit agreement with ACVoIP;

(vi) violate any provision of these Terms;

(vii) use or permit others to use the Services for a purpose or in a manner that is contrary to law; or for the purpose of making harassing, threatening, abusive, annoying or offensive calls;

(viii) charge or allow others to charge any other person for the use of the Services without ACVoIP's prior written agreement;

(ix) harass, threaten or otherwise act unreasonably towards ACVoIP, its employees or agents, in relation to the Services;

(x) alter or otherwise interfere with ACVoIP's facilities or equipment, or fail to replace or modify equipment or facilities which may harm, damage, interfere or pose a danger to others, the Services, or ACVoIP's equipment, facilities or network;

(xi) fail to provide payment for other accounts with ACVoIP, including amounts owed by you as a guarantor for the account of another;

(xii) use or permit others to use the Services for resale;

(xiii) abuse the network with excessive usage as may be determined by ACVoIP pursuant to our Residential Fair Usage Policy; or

(xiv) use or permit others to use the service for commercial or business use.

A suspension or termination will not affect your obligation to pay any amounts owed to ACVoIP either during or after the suspension or termination. If termination occurs during a contract period, you will be charged for all usage plus the contract obligations. Should reactivation of services be required, ACVoIP will levy a re-connection fee of $25.

Where the Services are cancelled, either by you or by ACVoIP as provided herein, and there is an undisputed credit balance on your account, you may require that it be refunded to you and ACVoIP reserves the right to charge a reasonable processing fee in connection with issuing refunds.

9. Your Right to Terminate Services and Early Cancellation

(a) Term Contracts: All ACVoIP contracts renew automatically upon their expiration for successive one year terms unless specifically advised otherwise by you thirty days before automatic renewal on the activation anniversary date. You are responsible for early cancellation fees (ECF) of your contract period. ECF shall be calculated by multiplying the number of months remaining on the contract by the monthly fees associated with the Services in the contract up to a maximum of $200 per service. The contract start date for VoIP services shall be the date the VoIP equipment is registered on the ACVoIP network and billing has commenced; for long distance users the date is from the date of subscription to ACVoIP. In order to prevent the contract from renewing automatically, you must call ACVoIP and request cancellation at least thirty days prior to the expiration date. Third party termination requests will not be accepted.

(b) No-Contract: Subscribers enrolled in a month-to-month package shall only be liable for the charges used up to one month after their cancellation date. In addition you will be responsible for all charges for the Standard Service incurred up to the effective cancellation date. You must formally and personally request cancellation at least thirty days prior to the expiration date. Third party termination requests are not approved.

(c) Quality of Service: You acknowledge that ACVoIP Services are provided on a best-efforts basis and lack of service or poor quality is not grounds for contract termination. You must allow ACVoIP reasonable time to diagnose and correct any problems that have been reported and documented by you to ACVoIP. If the problem cannot be corrected within thirty days of the initial report by you, you may elect to terminate your contract without penalty or liability providing ACVoIP with written notice of your intent to cancel. Where ACVoIP has determined that the problem is not the fault of ACVoIP but rather with you, your equipment, Internet, phone lines, connectivity and the like, then ECF shall apply.

10. Telephone Number Portability

You agree throughout the term of your ACVoIP Services, and provide ACVoIP with express consent herein to transfer your phone number to: (a) ACVoIP's preferred carrier partners and vendors as may be required from time to time without further consent by you; (b) transfer your phone number to ACVoIP upon request by you; and (c) transfer your phone number from ACVoIP to an alternate carrier of your choosing upon request by you. ACVoIP ePhone phone numbers are the property of ACVoIP and are not transferable at any time. They are assigned to a specific Application that you may download and use.

11. International Boundaries and Rate Variations

Calls to some countries may have higher rates due to international boundary and sovereignty disputes. Examples are territories such as Kashmir India, West Bank Israel, and Gaza Israel to name a few. Rates will be determined based on the area code being dialed and not the country label. Contact ACVoIP if you are unsure.

12. Transferring Your Long Distance to ACVoIP

If you are a local line customer of another phone company, you may switch to ACVoIP long distance services. Switching takes a few business days ("Migration") after you have provided ACVoIP with consent. During the Migration, you will continue to receive charges from your current long distance provider until the migration is complete and services have been successfully switched to ACVoIP. ACVoIP shall not be held liable for any long distance charges incurred by you before the migration is complete.

13. Changes and Modifications of the Services

Without incurring liability, ACVoIP may at any time and without notice to you change, modify or terminate the Services, in whole or in part (including the rates or charges). In the event of any such change or modification, you may terminate without liability within 30 days of such change after which it is deemed that you accepted the change and will be responsible for paying all charges incurred for the use of the Services despite the change or modification, both before and after the date thereof.

For plans that include free calling to a specific country or groups of countries, ACVoIP may at any time remove certain countries from the calling plan as may be required from time to time due to economic conditions, regulatory, international turmoil, call termination issues, or an increase in the international call termination rates associated to a destination. If the calling plan includes only one country or service that is being removed by ACVoIP, you may terminate the agreement without further liability. If the calling plan includes several countries or services, you shall remain obligated to the contract.

14. Privacy and Confidentiality

Before you begin to use our services, you will be asked to register to become a member. To complete the registration, you will need to give us some information about yourself including but not limited to your name, email address, postal code, age, and occupation. ACVoIP is collecting this information and we retain ownership of it.

ACVoIP believes that knowing more about you will enable us to serve you better. It allows us to communicate with you about your service, news and promotions and to personalize the content and services we offer you. Information that you provide to ACVoIP is kept confidential. Your information is for the use of ACVoIP and its subsidiaries. It is not shared with any other third party. Your use of the Services and your personal information is also subject to our Privacy Policy.

15. Rate Changes and Promotions

Rate Changes: ACVoIP reserves the unilateral right to change, modify, increase, decrease, or add surcharges, connection fees as may be required from time to time.

Rate Guarantee: ACVoIP will match or beat any advertised long distance rate for like services. You must contact ACVoIP to notify us of the competitor rate and ACVoIP shall confirm such, prior to adjusting your rate. The rate guarantee does not apply to pre-paid calling cards, bundled minute plans and select regions of the world including occupied territories and disputed lands.

Promotions:ACVoIP may at its sole discretion promote ACVoIP Services from time to time through a variety of media channels. This may include free services for a specific period of time ("Promotional Period"). After the Promotional Period you will be billed for services automatically. You must call ACVoIP Subscriber Service before the Promotional Period has elapsed and request to cancel future service. All cancellations must be verbal to Customer Service. With respect to free trial periods for customers on a contract term the free period is deemed a bonus period and added to the contract term. For clarity, customers who sign up to a 1 year term and are rewarded with 3 free bonus months, the free months are added on top of the 12 month term for a total of 15 months. Therefore 3 months are free and 12 months are billable.

16. Equipment Returns and Warranty

Some ACVoIP Services like Home Phone require Equipment to be shipped (Telephone Adapter) from ACVoIP to you for use with the service. The following terms apply to Equipment Returns where applicable:

(a) Return at Your Expense: All Equipment that must be returned to ACVoIP for any reason must be at your expense. ACVoIP will not accept collect packages or pay to have packages picked up. All returned Equipment must be returned to ACVoIP in perfect resalable condition in its original packaging. Equipment returned in less than perfect condition will be charged for refurbishing.

(b) Replacement: If the Equipment is deemed defective by ACVoIP, and new Equipment is shipped to you, you are responsible at your own expense for the safe return of the defective unit to ACVoIP in good physical condition at the address indicated by ACVoIP representatives. All returned Equipment must be accompanied with a note inside the packaging with the RA number (Return Authorization). Equipment without an RA will not be processed by ACVoIP.

(c) Cancellation: Upon cancellation of ACVoIP Services, you are responsible at your own expense for the safe return of the Equipment to ACVoIP in re-sellable condition at the address indicated by ACVoIP representatives. All returned Equipment must be accompanied with a note inside the packaging with the RA number. If applicable, ACVoIP will issue the refund within six weeks from the Equipment return date (date in which the Equipment arrived at the ACVoIP warehouse and a proof of delivery by signature can be established). Equipment without an RA will not be processed by ACVoIP.

(d) Trial Equipment:During a Promotional Trial period where Equipment is required by you and ACVoIP has provided such Equipment to be used with the service at no cost ("Trial Equipment"), you must return the Trial Equipment with an RA within 30 days after the expiration of the Promotional Period. After the Trial Period you are deemed to have accepted the Trial Equipment, and contract obligations; Equipment returns will not be accepted by ACVoIP. Early cancellation or default of the contract by you will result in ECF as listed herein. ACVoIP reserves the unilateral right to issue partial refunds when Equipment is missing minor items such as cables, power supplies, manuals, packaging etc.

Equipment Warranty:Unless an Extended Warranty is purchased, all Equipment that you receive from ACVoIP carries a one (1) year manufacturer's warranty. Extended Warranty coverage commences 30 days after purchase of the warranty.

17. Service Incompatibility, Limitations and IP Relay

Home Security Systems: The Home Phone service may not be compatible with home security systems. You may be required to maintain a telephone connection through your local exchange carrier in order to use any alarm monitoring functions for any security system installed in your home. You are responsible for contacting the alarm monitoring company to test the compatibility of any alarm monitoring or security system with your Home Phone service.

Fax Machines: The Home Phone service can work with most fax machines, however due to various machine configurations, Internet connectivity and bandwidth fluctuations, faxing using your fax machine and your Home Phone service is provided on a best-efforts basis and ACVoIP assumes no liability whatsoever and provides no guarantee that faxing will work.

International Destinations: Some countries block Voice Over IP (VoIP) services and your ACVoIP Home Phone service may not work if you relocate it to a country that blocks VoIP service. ACVoIP assumes no liability due to blocked VoIP traffic.

The Home Phone dial tone comes out of "line 1" on the back of the Telephone Adapter. In most cases you will connect a telephone to the back of the Telephone Adapter. You can also however connect the Telephone Adapter "line 1" to any available telephone jack in the home. This setup might work and is not supported by ACVoIP Technical Support because of the many variables.

Telephone Numbers:If you were assigned a telephone number from ACVoIP, this number may at ACVoIP's sole and absolute discretion and subject to applicable law be assigned to another Subscriber. Transferring phone numbers to ACVoIP (LNP) is possible only in ACVoIP serving territory. If you decide to transfer your existing phone number to ACVoIP from another telephone provider it is possible that your service will be interrupted in certain circumstances while the transfer is in process.

No Directory Listing: ACVoIP does not automatically provide directory listings. Directory listings may be available in select serving areas and by request only.

Resolutions and Account Investigations:The ACVoIP customer service department is here to assist you and managers are on duty for escalations if you feel that your concerns have not been handled to your satisfaction. We also endeavour to record and archive phone calls for quality and training and in the event that you request a copy of any verbal agreements. Upon written request, we can provide you archived call recordings for dispute resolution. However in the event the dispute resolution is in ACVoIP's favor, a $25 fee per recording will apply. Whenever it is necessary for ACVoIP to retrieve information or documents, or to have others retrieve information or documents, relating to your account (including such things as call recordings and call logs) as a result of a complaint or request that is initiated directly or indirectly by you or on your behalf, ACVoIP may charge you a fee of $175, which ACVoIP may choose to waive depending on the information or documents retrieved.

IP Relay Services: IP Relay is a text based Message Relay service that allows people with a hearing or speech impairment to initiate phone calls with the help of an operator. Service access is done via a secured web page (chat interface) and you are required to obtain Internet access and a compatible device for use. A specially trained operator will assist you by connecting your call to the intended hearing party and once connected relay the typed conversation by voice. You must properly register for IP Relay Services as indicated on the ACVoIP website. Service is available 24/7 but subject to network availability, which may be affected by lack of Internet connectivity, power outages, and other interruptions in service. ACVoIP makes no warranties that the service will be error free, uninterrupted or that defects in the service will be corrected. See our E9-1-1 Terms of Service for information on use of 9-1-1 Services via IP Relay.

18. General Provisions

(a) Enurement/Assignment: These Terms are binding upon and shall enure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors, heirs, executors, administrators, personal representatives and permitted assigns; provided, however, that you shall not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without the prior written consent of ACVoIP.

(b) Notices: Notices shall be in writing and delivered by personal delivery or certified or registered mail to the last address provided by you.

(c) Unenforceable Provisions: If any part of these Terms shall be invalid or not enforceable under applicable law, such part shall be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceable part only, without in any way affecting the remaining parts of these Terms.

(d) Governing Law: These Terms and the rights and obligations of the parties hereunder shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Each of the parties hereto agrees that the courts of the Province of Alberta shall have exclusive jurisdiction to entertain any action or other legal proceedings based on any provisions of these Terms.

(e) Entire Agreement: These Terms set forth the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede and replace all previous discussions, negotiations and agreements.

(f) Language: The parties confirm that it is their wish that these Terms be written in the English language only.

19. Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or notices regarding these Residential Terms of Service, please contact: