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Terms and Conditions E-mail

To use The Online Counselling Service to receive Counselling and Coaching, or as a visitor of the website. you accept that you have read and agree to all of the Terms and Conditions. You also accept that you have read the Privacy Policy. We also encourage you to familiarise yourself with other relevant information on the website regarding your chosen service.

This Online and Telephone service is not suitable for suicidal crisis; if you are suicidal please contact the emergency services. You may also contact www.samaritans.org or  www.befrienders.org.

Disclaimer
This website is provided by The Online Counselling Service for the purpose of providing Online and Telephone Counselling, Psychotherapy and Coaching. The service is for anybody who would like to receive counselling or coaching, as long as the client is able to understand and acknowledge what is involved in this service and is willing to co-operate and follow the terms and conditions.

This website contains information and links to other websites which are external to The Online Counselling Service. The Online Counselling Service takes careful consideration when adding links to this website. It is the user's responsibility to acknowledge the necessary appropriateness of information contained in other external sites.

Liability
The Online Counselling Service holds no liability if connection with the website becomes unavailable. The Online Counselling Service does not accept any liability for any injury, loss, costs, damage or false information given to receive counselling from external websites linked to this website. The Online Counselling Service holds no responsibility to a user's telephone, a user's computer system, software data or technical difficulty occurring in connection to this website. The Online Counselling Service holds no responsibility and holds no liability in regard to any computer viruses or computer corruption to any individual client's computer.

Hours of Service
This service is a 24 hour service - meaning that payments and bookings can be made online at any time. Sessions can be booked for any time in the 24 hour day, as long as that slot has not already been filled. All session slots do need for the time and date to pre-arranged (apart from the email counselling service). Out of business hours admin and inquiry support is also available.

Sessions
We believe in strengthening the Counselling bond, you will be supported by the same Counsellor throughout your time with us. This will also save you from having to repeat your story

Instant chat, Voice chat and Telephone sessions last for 50 minutes.
Email exchanges are charged per 1000 words.

Payment
Payment is to be made via PayPal, this is the preferred and most secure payment gateway. You do not need to have a Paypal account to do this as all major credit and debit cards are accepted via Paypal. Sessions can also be paid for via pre-arranged direct deposit and online or telephone banking. You may contact us to arrange this.

We respect your privacy and do not request any private financial information or proof of address. We are fully aware that many clients prefer to remain anonymous or use an alias, for these reasons we require that all clients ensure that full payment is made before booking sessions times and/or dates.

Special offers
Discounts and offers are available to all users. Special offers may only be available for a limited time and can be withdrawn at any time. We currently offer all clients up to 15% off all services.

We also provide student discount offers. We request that all clients using the discounted student services photograph/scan a current student I.D in their name (current college or university academic year) and email it to us.. Failure to do this will result in the student discount offer being withdrawn and the client will receive the regular amount of sessions at the regular fee. Students who do not verify their status can still benefit from the discounts offers which are available to everyone, saving up to 15% off.

Bookings
We are happy to accept preferred session times/dates and we aim to ensure that sessions are booked at a time most convenient for the client. However, requested sessions slots are provided subject to availability.

As the service is very much in demand, when requesting an initial time/date for a session clients should submit all required information as well as their general availability. We request that clients book as much in advance as possible and provide multiple availability time frames to ensure convenient times/dates are available. The Online Counselling Service has many clients and operates on a first book first serve basis.

After selecting a service and making a payment, clients who have selected the email counselling service may email their issue/problem to faith@onlinecounsellingservice.co.uk

Clients who have selected and paid for the instant chat, voip or telephone sessions are to contact us via email to request their preferred session date and time. Clients should also include the appropriate information to conduct their session, ie brief details of their issue, messenger i.d, telephone number etc...Clients will then receive a welcome email from their Counsellor which will also include confirmation of their session date and time, or an alternative list of available session slots that the client may select from.

Existing clients, may book session times and dates directly with their assigned Counsellor.

Session Validity
Discount Bundles - All Counselling and Coaching bundles of 3 or more, including those for existing clients, new clients and students are valid for 60 days. You can have your session at any time within that period.

New clients who've purchased 1 Email Counselling session only:
After making a payment for 1 session you should submit your email of your problem/issue within 3 days. If you do not submit your email within that time period the session will become invalid as our systems hold un-registered client's data for up to 72 hours.

New clients who've purchased 1 Instant Chat, Telephone or VoIP session only:
After making your payment for 1 session, you should contact us within 3 days with the necessary information to complete your booking. If you have not made contact within that time period your session will become invalid as our systems hold un-registered client's data for up to 72 hours.

New clients who've purchased 1 Email, Instant Chat, Telephone or VoIP session and have made contact within the 3 days:
If you have made initial contact within the specified time frame and have also received a welcome email from us regarding your booking date/time you will have a further 4 days to respond to our welcome email to confirm your booking. If you have not made contact within that time period your session will become invalid, our systems will no longer have a hold of your data as you will not be a fully registered client.

Existing clients may book session times and dates directly with their assigned Counsellor.

Cancellation Policy
It is very important and a matter of mutual respect that you keep your appointments. All clients need to understand from the outset that we are unable to fit another client into your missed appointment slot at short notice. If for any reason you need to cancel/reschedule an appointment you will need to provide us with at least 8 hours notice. Being unavailable for an appointment without informing us will incur the full fee for the session you have booked.

We request that you are available for your session at least 5 - 10 minutes before the agreed time. (Please ensure that your status is set to online/available if you are using the instant chat or voip service, and if you are using the phone service ensure that your phone is not engaged, disconnected or switched off).

Sessions start right on time, our system is computerised and all online and telephone sessions start at the exact agreed time. If you will be late in any way contact your Counsellor via email before your session time. If you have not contacted your Counsellor prior to your session and are late, offline, engaged, away or unavailable at the exact agreed session time our automated tool, which is computerised and linked to an internal system that manages bookings will automatically cut your Counsellor off from the instant chat, voip or telephone session, after which you will receive and automated email cancellation notifying you that you have incurred the full fee for the session.

Agreement

  • You agree that you are at least 18 years old.
  • You agree that you are not experiencing a suicidal crisis and are not as risk of harming yourself or anyone else.
  • You have read and agree with the The Online Counselling Service's  Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
  • You agree that online and telephone services may not be as effective for all individuals. Thus, The Online Counselling Service reserves the right to choose whether or not to work with you online or by telephone. We will work with you only if we feel that you are a suitable client. If, during our work together, we discover that you may not benefit from our online or telephone services, we will discuss this with you and suggest that you seek alternative mental health professionals in your local area.
  • You agree and understand that the effectiveness of Counselling and Coaching depends on the investment of time and energy you are willing to make. Generally speaking, the more you invest in it, the more you will get out of it.
  • You agree and understand that Counselling can be challenging, as uncomfortable emotions and thoughts can arise as part of the treatment process.
  • You agree that The Online Counselling Service cannot be held responsible for providing services to you in the event of a crisis or emergency situation. While we will do our best to continue to provide services as appropriate if a crisis or emergency develops during our work together, you may need to contact the appropriate emergency services.
  • You understand that as detailed on the website, after making your payment it is your responsibility to contact us within the specified time frame to book your session time/date.
  • You understand that we are happy to accept your preferred session times/date at the time of booking but your requested sessions slots are provided subject to availability. You will receive confirmation email with session time/date details or alternative times or dates will be provided for you to select from.
  • You understand that The Online Counselling Service cannot guarantee a positive Counselling or Coaching outcome, even though we are hopeful that our work together will be of help to you.
  • You agree and understand that once purchased, all session fees are non-refundable, including when you have not fully complied with new client registration/booking, or have missed or been late for a session.
  • You agree that you are seeking our services for personal Counselling or personal Coaching and that you are not using any of our services to undertake research for either private use, use for study/projects/assignments of any kind private or public, or in an educational or training capacity, or for publication, or to plagiarise any of our material.
  • You agree that your participation in our counselling and coaching services may only be shared for your personal therapeutic benefit. You agree that your participation will not be shared for any other reason or in any form, be it, recordings, transcripts, copying or reporting of or on the experience, your impressions thereof, surveillance and any other use of the session, verbal or otherwise.
  • You understand and agree that as a new, former or current client you are bound by the terms and conditions.
  • You understand that all special offers can be withdrawn or modified at any time.
  • You understand and agree that it is your responsibility to stay up to date with the Terms and Conditions.
  • You understand and agree that any use of free self help material, recommended books, Cd’s or Dvd’s are not a replacement for professional therapy or diagnosis.
  • You agree and understand that it is your responsibility to acknowledge the appropriateness of information contained in the self help material. While The Online Counselling Service takes careful consideration when sharing self help material, we cannot be held accountable for any misguided content contained within free E-books, Cd’s or Dvd’s.
  • You understand that we do not hold any liability for technological glitches that can take place with instant chat or voip sessions neither reception issues with mobile phones. However any glitch or mishap on our part will not be at the client’s loss - clients will receive all of the session time which they have paid for.
  • You permanently agree to release and indemnify The Online Counselling Service from all suits, law suits, claims and actions originating from Counselling, Psychotherapy and Coaching provided through The Online Counselling Service.

Copyright
The material on this website is the Copyright of The Online Counselling Service, All rights reserved.

"The Online Counselling Service, Your Pathway to Personal Freedom"