Terms and Conditions of Membership

1.1 RULES AND GUIDELINES

The Historical Diving Society is founded on the idea of a community of like-minded individuals and organisations. We aim to take a common sense approach to nurture a sense of community and friendship by behaving reasonably and by treating fellow members well.

You must NOT

a) use a false email address, impersonate others or misrepresent yourself or others.
b) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the computer systems or content of other members.
c) transfer your membership to another person/organisation.

You must
a) Promise that the information you give us is true, accurate and complete.
b) Keep your membership information up-to-date (including current email address, if you have one).

1.2 DATA PROTECTION

Memberships are personal. We will always comply with the law to ensure that your data is safely protected.

a) We do not collect any information from you that is not necessary in order to process your membership application and provide you with membership benefits.

b) We share your information only with the following agencies:
– with delivery agents in order to deliver products you purchase in our shop
– with our website developers only in order to maintain a safe, functioning membership section of the website
– with credit card processing agencies in order to process your payments. (Note: The Society has no access to this data)
– with other members but only as specified by you. Our membership directory allows you to choose what information you would like to share with other members. These options are made available to you during the registration procedure.
– on demand by those agencies that we are obliged to inform by law.

c) We NEVER share your personal information with any other third parties.

1.3 PAYMENT TERMS

a) Cost of membership is specified in our membership section. It is annually renewable.

b) We accept payment by credit card, PayPal, bank transfer or cheque. The first three methods can be done online through our website. Cheques should be made payable to ‘the Historical Diving Society’ and posted to ‘The Treasurer, HDS, Treetops, Stonehouse Lane, Halstead, Sevenoaks, TN14 7NN’.

c) By default, subscriptions will auto-renew. If you do not want your subscription to renew automatically, we recommend that you pay by bank transfer (without Standing Order) or cheque. In effect, this is a manual renewal. Payments made by credit card, PayPal and Standing Order bank transfers will automatically renew.

d) All members will receive ‘early warning’ emails to advise you of the date of renewal. If the membership fee is not renewed by the relevant date your membership will be automatically terminated and you will not be able to gain access to membership benefits or the membership section of the website. To renew your membership you will need to re-join. If you do not have an email address, you will be advised by letter.

e) If your membership is inadvertently renewed, you must advise us within 14 days in order to enable us to refund your membership. After this period, we will be unable to offer you a refund.

f) If your membership is terminated (whether by you or by us) you will not be entitled to a refund of the remaining (’unused’) part of the membership.

g) We reserve the right to change the cost of membership as and when it becomes necessary. You will be advised in advance of any changes by email, Rope Signal and, for those members who do not have email addresses, by post. Increased rates will become applicable only on renewal of membership.

1.5 TERMINATING YOUR MEMBERSHIP

a) Your membership will automatically terminate if your annual subscription is not renewed. You will receive 3 early warning emails notifying you of your upcoming renewal date. If you do not renew, you will need to re-join to gain access to the membership benefits and membership pages of the website.

b) You have the right to terminate your membership at any time by not renewing your annual membership fee or by advising us in writing (includes emails). Please note: We do not refund annual membership fees unless the membership is terminated, in writing (includes email) within 14 days of renewal. We do not refund ‘unused’ months of membership.

c) We reserve the right to terminate your membership if your behaviour is troublesome or disrespectful towards other members of the Society. We reserve the right to terminate your membership if you involve yourself in criminal, immoral or unethical actions which are contrary to our aim of building a healthy, functioning Society We do not refund any part of membership which is terminated for these reasons.