Terms of Service

1. Scope of This Agreement

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding legal agreement between you ("Student," "you," or "your") and Pinecrest Labs Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of British Columbia, Canada, with its registered office at 555 Burrard Street, Suite 2300, Vancouver, BC V7X 1M8, Canada (Business Number: 713 492 850 RC0001; GST Registration: 713 492 850 RT0001) ("Pinecrest Labs," "we," "us," or "our").

By creating an account, accessing any lab environment, enrolling in a cohort, or otherwise using our platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of an employer or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that entity. If you do not agree with any provision of these Terms, you must not access or use the platform.

These Terms apply to all users of the platform, including free-trial participants, enrolled students, employer-sponsored learners, and any person who accesses content or lab environments provided by Pinecrest Labs.

2. Service Description

Pinecrest Labs operates an online training platform focused on systems administration. The services we provide include, but are not limited to:

• Systems administration training: Structured courses covering incident triage, zero-downtime migrations, security hardening, observability, capacity planning, and related operational disciplines.
• Live cohorts: Instructor-led sessions conducted in small groups of no more than fourteen (14) participants per class, scheduled on a recurring basis with live interaction.
• Cloud lab environments: On-demand, sandboxed infrastructure that students provision, configure, troubleshoot, and intentionally disrupt as part of hands-on exercises. Lab environments are ephemeral and may be reset or decommissioned at our discretion.
• Capstone projects: Applied projects that produce working artefacts such as deployment blueprints, runbooks, or migration plans, intended to demonstrate practical competence.
• Credentials: Upon successful completion of a course track, students receive a Pinecrest Labs credential reflecting the skills demonstrated during the programme.
• 14-day free trial: A trial period granting full access to lab environments and selected course materials, subject to the terms outlined in Section 3 below.

We may modify, expand, or discontinue any feature of the platform at any time. If a material change affects an active cohort you are enrolled in, we will provide reasonable notice and, where appropriate, offer an alternative arrangement.

3. Free Trial Terms

The free trial provides fourteen (14) calendar days of full access to lab environments and introductory course materials beginning on the date your account is activated. The trial is subject to the following conditions:

• No credit card or payment information is required to start or maintain the trial.
• No automatic billing, subscription, or recurring charge is initiated at any point during or after the trial period.
• We will send you a reminder notification on day twelve (12) of your trial informing you that your trial period is ending.
• When the fourteen-day period expires, your lab access will pause automatically. Your account data and any progress will be retained for a reasonable period, but you will not be able to access lab environments or course content until you choose to enrol in a paid cohort.
• Conversion to a paid enrolment requires your affirmative action. There is no default, presumed, or silent conversion.
• The free trial is limited to one per individual. Creating multiple accounts to obtain additional trial periods is prohibited and may result in account termination.

4. User Obligations

When using the platform, you agree to:

• Provide accurate and current registration information and maintain its accuracy throughout your use of the platform.
• Keep your login credentials confidential and not share your account access with any other person. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
• Use lab environments solely for their intended educational purpose. You must not use lab infrastructure to attack, probe, or interfere with external systems, networks, or services.
• Refrain from attempting to circumvent access controls, extract data from other students' environments, or reverse-engineer proprietary platform components.
• Not reproduce, distribute, or publicly display course materials, lab scenarios, instructor content, or capstone templates without prior written consent from Pinecrest Labs.
• Comply with all applicable federal, provincial, and local laws in the jurisdiction from which you access the platform.
• Conduct yourself professionally during live sessions, group exercises, and any communications within the platform.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access if we reasonably determine that you have violated any of these obligations.

5. Intellectual Property

All content, materials, course curricula, lab scenario designs, platform software, trademarks, logos, and documentation provided through the platform are and remain the exclusive property of Pinecrest Labs Inc. or its licensors. These Terms do not transfer any ownership interest to you.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use course materials for your personal educational purposes during your enrolment or trial period. This licence terminates immediately upon expiration or termination of your account.

Capstone artefacts you create during the programme (runbooks, deployment plans, configuration files, and similar outputs) are owned by you. However, Pinecrest Labs retains a perpetual, royalty-free licence to use anonymised and aggregated versions of capstone outputs for the purposes of improving course content and platform quality.

You may not use the Pinecrest Labs name, logo, or credentials in any manner that implies endorsement, affiliation, or sponsorship beyond your verified completion of a specific course track.

6. Payment Terms

All fees are quoted and payable in Canadian dollars (CAD). Prices listed on the platform are exclusive of applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST), Provincial Sales Tax (PST), and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which will be calculated and added at the time of invoicing in accordance with Canadian tax law.

Payment is due within fourteen (14) calendar days of the invoice date unless an alternative arrangement has been agreed in writing.

Employer-invoiced billing: Where an employer or sponsoring organization agrees to pay on your behalf, invoices are issued to the employer with net-thirty (30) day payment terms. The employer assumes financial responsibility for all fees on the invoice. If the employer fails to pay, the individual student may be held responsible for outstanding fees unless otherwise specified in a written agreement between the employer and Pinecrest Labs.

Late payments: Any amount not received by the applicable due date will accrue interest at a rate of one and a half percent (1.5%) per month (equivalent to eighteen percent (18%) per annum), compounded monthly, calculated from the original due date until the date of full payment. Pinecrest Labs reserves the right to suspend platform access for accounts with overdue balances exceeding thirty (30) days.

Volume discounts: Discounts for groups of five (5) or more seats are available upon request. Volume pricing must be confirmed in writing prior to enrolment.

7. Cancellation and Refunds

We understand that plans change. The following cancellation and refund schedule applies to paid cohort enrolments:

• Fourteen (14) or more days before the cohort start date: Full refund of all fees paid, less any applicable payment processing costs.
• Seven (7) to thirteen (13) days before the cohort start date: Fifty percent (50%) refund of the course fee.
• After the first live session has taken place: No refund will be issued. However, you are entitled to one (1) free deferral, which allows you to transfer your enrolment to the next available cohort in the same course track at no additional cost.

Deferrals and re-enrolment: Each student is entitled to one (1) complimentary deferral per enrolment. If you require a second or subsequent deferral, or if you wish to re-enrol in a course track after your deferral has been used, a re-enrolment fee of CA$250 applies. This fee covers the administrative cost of reassigning cohort seats and provisioning new lab environments.

All refund requests must be submitted in writing to hello@pinecrestlabs.ca. Refunds will be processed within fifteen (15) business days of approval using the original method of payment.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of British Columbia and Canada:

• Pinecrest Labs, its directors, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the platform, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
• Our total aggregate liability for any claims arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the platform shall not exceed the total fees you have actually paid to Pinecrest Labs during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
• We are not liable for any loss of data, interruption of lab environments, or temporary unavailability of platform features arising from maintenance, infrastructure failures, third-party service disruptions, or circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for fraud or wilful misconduct.

9. Warranty Disclaimer

The platform and all services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Pinecrest Labs makes no representations or warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or uninterrupted and error-free operation.

No employment guarantees: Pinecrest Labs does not guarantee, promise, or imply that completing any course, obtaining any credential, or finishing any capstone project will result in employment, a promotion, a salary increase, or any specific career outcome. Individual results vary based on many factors outside our control, including but not limited to your prior experience, the effort you invest, and prevailing labour market conditions.

Not a government-accredited institution: Pinecrest Labs is not accredited by any federal or provincial government body as a post-secondary educational institution. The credentials we issue are proprietary to Pinecrest Labs and do not constitute degrees, diplomas, or government-recognized certifications. If your employer or regulatory body requires a specific accreditation, you should verify that our programme meets those requirements before enrolling.

10. Termination

Either party may terminate this agreement at any time, subject to the following conditions:

• By you: You may close your account at any time by contacting us at hello@pinecrestlabs.ca. Closing your account does not entitle you to a refund except as provided in Section 7 above.
• By us: We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, without prior notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent activity, or used the platform in a manner that could harm Pinecrest Labs, other users, or third parties. In cases of material breach, no refund will be issued.
• Effect of termination: Upon termination, your right to access the platform, lab environments, and course materials ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12) will continue in full force and effect.

11. Data Protection

We take the privacy of your personal information seriously. Our collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms by reference.

Pinecrest Labs complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable, the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). We collect only the personal information necessary to deliver our services, process payments, and communicate with you regarding your account and enrolment.

By using the platform, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy. You have the right to access, correct, and request deletion of your personal data in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy legislation. To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@pinecrestlabs.ca.

12. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. You irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of British Columbia, sitting in Vancouver, for any legal proceedings arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the platform.

13. Dispute Resolution

Before initiating any formal legal proceedings, both parties agree to attempt to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms through the following process:

1. Negotiation: The aggrieved party shall deliver a written notice of dispute to the other party. Within fifteen (15) business days of receipt, the parties shall engage in good-faith negotiations to resolve the matter. Notices should be sent to hello@pinecrestlabs.ca or by mail to our registered address.
2. Mediation: If the dispute is not resolved through negotiation within thirty (30) calendar days, either party may refer the matter to mediation administered by a mutually agreed-upon mediator in Vancouver, British Columbia. The costs of mediation shall be shared equally between the parties unless the mediator directs otherwise. Mediation shall be conducted in English.
3. Litigation: If mediation does not resolve the dispute within sixty (60) calendar days of the mediation referral, either party may pursue legal remedies before the courts of British Columbia as specified in Section 12.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking interim or injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction where necessary to protect its rights or property.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or business practices. When we make changes, we will update the "Effective date" at the top of this page and, for material changes, provide notice through the platform dashboard or by email to the address associated with your account.

Your continued use of the platform after updated Terms have been posted constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree with any revised Terms, you must stop using the platform and close your account. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

15. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms or need to reach us for any reason related to your account, enrolment, or legal matters, contact Pinecrest Labs Inc. through any of the following channels: