About these terms
These terms apply to everyone who uses wbwo.org. The website is run by World Business Welfare Organisation, Corp ("WBWO", "we" or "us"), a nonprofit corporation registered in the State of Colorado, United States. By using the website, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use it.
You must be at least 18 to use our services. If you apply, sign in or act on behalf of a business, you confirm that you are authorized to do so and that the business is bound by these terms.
Members also sign a membership and certification agreement when they join, and the member platform has its own terms that you accept when you first sign in. Where either of those differs from these terms, it takes priority.
Using the website
You can use the website to learn about WBWO, check a business, apply for certification and contact us. Please don’t:
- use it for anything unlawful, or to mislead anyone about a business
- collect records from the business checker automatically or in bulk, use them to build a competing directory, or put unreasonable load on the site
- try to get into parts of the site or our systems you aren’t authorized to use
- upload anything that contains malware, or that you don’t have the right to send us
We may suspend or block access for anyone who breaks these rules.
The business checker
Anyone can check a WBWO number for free. A record shows a business’s certification status at the moment you check it. Certification can lapse, be suspended or be withdrawn later, so check again before each significant transaction rather than relying on an old result or a screenshot.
A WBWO record confirms that, when last checked, the business:
- was legally registered in the country shown
- had identified its owners and directors to us
- passed its most recent WBWO audit
It is not a credit rating, a guarantee of payment, delivery or quality, or an endorsement of any product or deal. You remain responsible for your own decisions, and for using appropriate payment terms and contracts.
If a WBWO number doesn’t exist, a seal doesn’t match the record, or you think a certificate is fake, email the details to verify@wbwo.org. We investigate every report.
Membership and certification
This is a summary. The membership and certification agreement that members sign sets out the full terms.
- Certification decisions are made by WBWO’s certification committee, which is separate from our membership team. Paying a fee never guarantees a result.
- Certification lasts one year and is renewed after a fresh audit. If a member doesn’t renew, the public record shows that certification has lapsed.
- We may suspend or withdraw certification if a member sends false or altered documents, fails a renewal audit, misuses the WBWO name, seal or badge, breaks a signed mediation settlement, or seriously breaches the WBWO Code of Conduct. The public record will show the change.
- Members agree to try WBWO mediation before going to court over a dispute with another member. Mediation doesn’t take away anyone’s right to go to court or arbitration afterwards.
- Members can appeal a certification decision in writing within 30 days. Appeals are heard by committee members who weren’t involved in the original decision.
Membership fees and refunds
- The first year’s fee is paid by card after you send your application. We can’t accept cards issued in India yet.
- If we don’t accept your business, we refund the fee minus 5%, to the card you paid with.
- We don’t refund the fee if your application contains false, altered or misleading information, and we may withdraw certification if we find it later.
- Fees for later years are due when your certification is renewed.
The member platform
The member platform on wbwo.org is for certified members and businesses with an application in progress. Members use it to manage their membership, find other certified businesses and connect with them. Each business is responsible for:
- keeping its business details accurate and up to date
- the connection requests its users send
- keeping login details secure, and telling us at once if they may have been misused
Don’t use the platform to send unsolicited marketing, to collect other members’ details for use outside it, or to misrepresent your business. We may suspend accounts that break these rules or the platform terms. Deals made between members are between those members; WBWO isn’t a party to them and doesn’t guarantee them.
Financial support and introductions
WBWO is not a bank, a broker-dealer, an investment adviser or a funding portal, and nothing on this website is an offer of credit, an offer of securities, or investment, legal or tax advice.
- Loans from the Welfare Fund are made at WBWO’s discretion, depending on the fund’s resources, only under a separate written loan agreement, and only where the law allows. No request is guaranteed to succeed.
- When we introduce a member to an investor or lender, we do so for free and take no fee, commission or share of any deal. We don’t recommend or vet any investment, and any agreement is solely between the member and the investor or lender.
Sanctions
As a United States organization, WBWO complies with US sanctions laws, including those administered by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). We can’t certify, or provide services to, anyone on a US sanctions list, a business they own or control, or a business in a country or region under comprehensive US sanctions. Members may not use WBWO’s services in breach of sanctions or export-control laws.
The WBWO name, logo, seal and badge
The WBWO name, logo, seals and badges belong to World Business Welfare Organisation, Corp. Certified members may show their certificate, seal, badge and WBWO number while they are certified, following our brand guidelines. When a member uses the badge online, it must link to their live record on wbwo.org.
Nobody else may use them, and members may not:
- keep using them after certification lapses, is suspended or is withdrawn
- change a seal, certificate or badge, or use another member’s
- suggest that WBWO certifies a product, a deal or a related business that isn’t itself certified
We take action against anyone who misuses the WBWO name or seal, including through the courts where necessary.
Content on the website
We write guides and articles to be useful, but they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice for your situation. Laws and rules change, so check anything important with a qualified adviser. You may share our guides with a link back to the original page.
The website may link to other sites, such as government company registries. We don’t control those sites and aren’t responsible for their content.
Accessibility
We want everyone to be able to use this website, and we design it to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. If something doesn’t work for you, email hello@wbwo.org and we will help, and fix it.
Limits on our responsibility
We work hard to keep the website accurate and available, but we provide it "as is" and can’t promise it will always be error-free or online. To the extent the law allows, WBWO is not liable for:
- losses from a trade, investment or other decision you make, including after checking a business
- indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits or lost business
- losses caused by events outside our reasonable control
To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you under these terms is limited to the amount you paid WBWO in the 12 months before the claim, or US$100 if you paid nothing. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, for willful and wanton conduct, or for anything else that can’t be limited by law.
Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, United States, without regard to its rules on conflicts of law. Any dispute about them will be decided by the state or federal courts located in Colorado, and you and WBWO agree to their jurisdiction, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring proceedings there. Disputes between members go to WBWO mediation first, as described above.
General
If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies. If we don’t enforce a term straight away, we can still enforce it later. You may not transfer your rights under these terms without our written agreement.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms and will show the date of the latest version at the top of this page. If a change materially affects members, we will tell them by email before it takes effect. If you keep using the website after a change, the updated terms apply.
Contact
Questions about these terms: hello@wbwo.org. Reports of fake certificates: verify@wbwo.org.