Terms & Conditions

For Tutors and Students
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION ACT
In line with the government policy on promoting a balance between the need to protect your personal data and the organisation’s need to obtain and process such data for business uses, we seek your clear and unambiguous consent to receive information (e.g. promotional offers, invitations events) via the mediums (email and phone numbers) you provide us.

For more information, kindly visit http://www.pdpc.gov.sg

Please acknowledge and consent to be called and/or sent text /messages and email via the above mediums regarding music lessons in general (e.g. promotional offers, invitations to lessons and other events) by The Happy Violinist.

For Tutors
Registration Requirements
Registering as a teacher for The Happy Violinist is free. However, you must be at least 18 years old and reside in Singapore. The minimum requirements to be a private tutor is a Grade 8 in ABRSM or equivalent examination with minimum of 3 years of teaching experience.The Happy Violinist reserves all rights to reject your application.

Tutor Profile
You must submit and maintain an accurate and up-to-date tutor profile about yourself. We will not be responsible for all the contents that you post, upload, email, transfer or lose in your tutor profile.

A tutor profile includes necessary information about you such as name, NRIC number, and date of birth, gender, photograph, address, email, contact numbers, detailed qualifications and relevant experiences as a music teacher, area(s) and other preferences.

Qualifications, Certificates and Identification
The details of your qualifications submitted in your tutor profile must tally with genuine certificates in terms of school, level, title, subjects, grades, year, and so on.

The Happy Violinist reserve all rights to request or demand scanned copies of your original certificates and NRIC for verification purposes. You are expected to be proactive in getting these verification done by sending scanned copies of your original certificates and NRIC to 1happyviolinist@gmail.com immediately after your tutor account is registered.

You will have higher chance of being offered a lesson assignment if both verifications are done without delay. You accept that only The Happy Violinist administrative personnel such as managers, administrators, coordinators will ask for copies of your original certificates and NRIC.The Happy Violinist reserve the right to send copies of your certificates to prospective customers. We will handle but shall not be liable for any breach of privacy policy by our own coordinators or customers that may result in your loss.

Assignment Requests
Lesson requests from our customers will be made available to you via SMS, email or phone calls. You accept and allow us to send you lesson requests at any time. When a request is received, you shall response via the same channel with at least a quote of lesson rate per hour. You need not respond to the lesson request if you are not interested in it. Hesitant response may lower the chance of getting the assignment.

Responding to any lesson request does not guarantee that you will be offered a lesson assignment. You may stop receiving lesson requests via SMS and emails if you inform to turn your account to inactive.

Lesson Assignment Offer and Acceptance
After making a quote, you have a chance to receive an offer of a lesson assignment. When receiving an offer from us via SMS or email, you can either accept by replying or reject by ignoring. Hesitant reply may lower the chance of getting the assignment. By you accepting the offer, binds you to a 4-week commitment, but does not bind us to this commitment. We and our customers still reserve the right to terminate the lesson assignment at any time.

Cheats
Common cheating cases such as an attempt to offer customer lesson discount so as they would fake an early assignment cancellation for the sake of lowering the commission levied on you. You will be liable in compensating our losses and your tutor account will be terminated if caught cheating.

Commitment Requirements
Tutor’s refusal to abide to the following requirements shall result in 100% lesson fees forfeited. Upon acceptance of an offer, you are required to commit to the lesson assignment for a minimum of 4 weeks lesson without changing any lesson timing. You are not allowed to make any changes to the lesson arrangement. If you wish to initiate slight changes to lesson arrangement, just consult and seek approval from The Happy Violinist. You are not allowed to initiate any changes to the customer directly, bypassing our coordinator.

The Happy Violinist only accept official medical certificate or other official proofs of emergency cases as an excuse in lesson postponement. Although there is no requirement for tutor’s commitment longer than 4 weeks, tutor is expected to commit themselves further so as to ensure the student achieve good academic performance. Therefore, postponement or cancellation of lessons or cancellation of assignment is strongly discouraged, especially when it is near the examination period. This will be strictly monitored by our The Happy Violinist feedback system. Even if you provide an official proof as an excuse to postpone or cancel lesson, this will still be reflected in our records.

First Lesson
The first lesson is very important because it leaves a strong impression of you and the agency. Upon acceptance of the offer, you are not allowed to change the date and time of the first lesson, unless it is initiated by the customer. You are expected to call the customer just one or two days before the first lesson to re-confirm the lesson subject(s) and lesson time. You are not allowed to re-negotiate the agreed lesson arrangement directly with the customer. You are required to bring your NRIC and original certificates to the first lesson and show to the clients without request. Failure to attend the first lesson will lead to the termination of your tutor account. This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Commission
We collect 50% of lesson fees for first month of given lessons from the customer on your behalf as a commission from you. The commission will normally collected directly from the customer by our manager before the first lesson. You may start collecting lesson fees directly from the customer from 3rd week onwards.

The amount of commission will not be affected by lesson postponement or cancellation due to any reason. However, it may increase or decrease proportionally if there is any change in lesson frequency or the assignment is terminated, before the 4 full weeks of lessons are fulfilled. If such a situation occurs, The Happy Violinist will collect from or pay you the prorated amount.The Happy Violinist will not be liable for any unforeseen or uninformed changes. If the customer cancelled the assignment before 4 weeks of lessons are completed, and then suddenly contact you personally to continue the assignment, you are still liable for 50% commission for a total of 4 weeks of given lessons. When such situation occurs, you are obligated to let The Happy Violinist know immediately. Any attempt to keep it from us is considered cheating and shall result in the termination of your tutor account. We reserve the rights to let the client know and replace a tutor without notice.

Cancellation of assignment
Once the lesson assignment is confirmed, you are not allowed to cancel the assignment until 4 weeks of lessons are completed. If a termination is required by the tutor, the tutor has to compensate the full commission or 2 weeks’ worth of lesson fees. In an event such that the tutor tries to initiate a termination to the agent, after realizing that he/she has to compensate, the tutor can choose to continue with the lesson assignment until 4 lessons are completed. However, as such initiation is made already, if the tutor reveals this intention to the client, or do not perform well, or late for the first lesson, or in any other way, result in a termination by the client, the tutor will be liable to compensate 4 full weeks’ worth (double) of lesson fees from the tutor.

We treat our lesson assignments seriously and are hopeful that with such measures in place, we can prevent irresponsible tutors. We will proceed with legal actions to ensure such measures are carried out strictly. After the 4 weeks commitment, you are free to cancel the assignment. Even though, our opinion is such that a responsible tutor shall commit to the lesson assignment until the end of the student’s exam(s) if applicable. Hence, your commitment towards the assignment will be monitored till the assignment is terminated or the student’s next major exam(s) is/are over, whichever is earlier. In this case, The Happy Violinist have higher expectations for full time tutors.

Tutor Conduct & Customer’s Complaints
Penalties will be imposed on tutors who show poor conduct. Being unpunctual, having improper dressing, showing poor commitments such as postponing or cancelling lessons, or not concentrating on lesson are common signs of bad conducts. Any complaints or feedbacks received from customer will be recorded and you will be given a chance to comment, explain, or dispute. Vice versa, rewards will be given to tutors who show good conduct and receive good feedbacks. We reward tutors with priority to get better benefits in future with us e.g. more lesson assignments.

For Parents and Students

Quality of Service
The Happy Violinist take pride in the quality of our music tutors. We select tutors based on their background and proper steps are taken to verify their qualifications. We also place a feedback system in place to help us recommend quality tutors. We appreciate your help in providing us accurate feedbacks so as to be fair to yourself, and to the tutors.

The Happy Violinist guarantee that the assigned tutor will help improve the student’s performance but will not be liable for any poor examination results (as examination results might varied based on other factors). Therefore, you are liable to pay lesson fees for all lessons attended, regardless of how the tutor conducts the lesson.

Contract (for long term assignments)
Long term assignments are any lesson intended for longer than 3 months period. Once the client has given a verbal or written (SMS or email) confirmation to book the tutor in quote, there is a binding contract to complete two full lessons (full duration pre-agreed) and you may only request a change of tutor or terminate the lesson only after the 2nd lesson. If a postponement that resulted in cancellation or a cancellation is made during or before the 1st lesson even commenced, the 1st full lesson will be charged as an administrative fee. However, the tutor, once agreed to take up your lesson assignment, is supposed to complete 4 full weeks of lessons without changing the agreed lesson rate and schedule. After the 4 weeks commitment, the tutor is free to terminate the assignment. Even though The Happy Violinist does not expect the tutors to do so and we encourage you to feedback to us if this happens. We will review your case and make appropriate recommendations.

Contract (for short term assignments)
Short term assignments are any assignment intended for a period of 1 to 3 months. There is a contractual period of 2 full weeks of lesson. Once the client has given a verbal or written (SMS or email) confirmation to book the tutor in quote, a contractual period of 2 full weeks of lessons commitment is binding. If the lesson is confirmed with a frequency of 2 lessons per week, it means the contract is that the client has to fulfil 4 lessons in total.

If a postponement by the client, that results in cancellation or a cancellation is made, resulting in no or less lessons able to be carried out by the tutor/student, the client is liable to pay for an administrative fee which is equivalent to 2 full weeks of lesson, regardless of whether any lesson has been carried or not. However, the tutor, once agreed to take up your lesson assignment, is supposed to complete 4 full weeks of lessons without changing the agreed lesson rate and schedule. After the 4 weeks commitment, the tutor is free to terminate the assignment. Even though, our lesson agency does not expect the tutors to do so and we encourage you to feedback to us if this happens. We will review your case and make appropriate recommendations.

Lesson rates and Schedule
The lesson rates we offer you are quoted directly from the tutors. The lesson rates we publish on our website are averages of the quotes for the past 6 months. Although it serves as a good guide for both customers and tutors, we do not guarantee that all tutors would quote within the range. Upon acceptance of the tutor for your assignment at an agreed lesson rate and schedule, you are not allowed to renegotiate the rate and schedule with the tutor without The Happy Violinist’ knowledge.

If you renegotiated a lower lesson rate with the tutor, the original rate agreed with coordinator is still the official rate, which is still applicable to the commission calculation that we collect from you. You shall inform us immediately if the tutor tries to renegotiate the lesson rate or schedule before completion of 4 weeks of lessons. The lesson rate and schedule, once agreed can be renegotiated by you, but subjected to further acceptance by the tutor. If there is a need, we will recommend another tutor to suit your new requirements.

Lesson fees, Commission and Payments
Lessons with the tutor will only be arranged once the fees for the first two lessons are paid to us. In normal circumstances, you are only required to pay lesson fees for the number of hours of lessons given by the tutor. If you decide to stop the lesson after the second lesson, you are only required to pay for that two lessons.

There is no free trial lesson. For all new classes, all our customers will attend at least the first two lessons to decide if there’s a match between you and the tutor. Lesson fees are expected to be paid every 4 weeks to the tutors, or otherwise agreed between you and the tutors.

The tutor is not allowed to collect the payment on our behalf unless directed by us. If you insist on passing our commission to the tutor and the tutor defaults the commission, you will be liable for our losses. You only have to pay the other half (50%) to the tutor at the end of the 4th week. The Happy Violinist will be handling the transactions and shall not be liable for any inconvenience or confusion caused among you and the tutor. We will provide our bank account information for you to make payment via cheque mailing or bank transfer.

If we provided a wrong account number, we shall not be liable for your loss if we resend the correct account number within a reasonable time. It is your responsibility to ensure that the bank receipt is kept as proof of transaction made via cash deposit transfer. Otherwise, we may not be able to verify your payment.

Place of Lesson
By default, it is the customer’s current residence. Otherwise, you shall indicate a suitable location for proper conduct of lesson. If you wish to do it at the tutor’s residence, it is subject to the tutor’s approval. Lesson fees shall be paid in advance if place of lesson is not at customer’s current residence.

Tutor Information
The Happy Violinist shall not be liable for your losses, inconvenience due to any misrepresentation by the tutors. The Happy Violinist do not guarantee the accuracy of the tutors’ information. We appreciate your help to indicate any inaccurate information.

First Lesson
Upon acceptance of the tutor assigned to your assignment, the date and time of the first lesson must be fixed and adhered to. You are expected to check the visiting tutor’s NRIC and the relevant certificates if we are unable to provide scanned copies. It is your responsibility to inform us early if there is a need to postpone the first lesson unless for extreme cases e.g. student is suddenly ill.

Cancellation of Assignment or Lesson
You shall at least inform the lesson coordinator in charge, or the tutor, if you wish to postpone/cancel a lesson or the lesson assignment. If you wish to postpone/cancel a lesson that is less than two hours away to the start time, you shall be liable to pay for a fee for loss time and transport cost to the tutor. The amount payable should be at least $20, or up to a maximum of $50, depending on the waiting time at the student’s door, location of lesson and the transport costs. The amount payable should be decided by the coordinator as he/she is the neutral party. The client shall pay this amount in cash immediately on the tutor’s next visit to the house. If there is no more next visit, due to a cancellation, the parent has obligation to make a bank transfer directly to the tutor’s designated account, or the lesson coordinator’s designated account. If there is a delay in payment for this, for more than 21 days from the day of occurence, the client is liable to make an additional fee of minimum $100. This $100 will be served as our agent coordinating fee. The lesson agency or tutor then has the rights to launch a legal claim of the total amount liable at the Small Claims Tribunal, or Subordinate Court.

Commission that we charge our tutors (or client)
We charge our tutors a certain amount of their earnings as a commission to us for our coordinating efforts. This amount will be 50% of their 1st month earning. The amount we charge them will be pre-determined between us and the tutor. Whichever amount is settled, the agent will be collecting the lesson fees from the students/parents directly. Until the commission amount is fully paid as lesson fees, then can the client start paying the tutor directly. If the client pays the fees (which is supposed to be paid to the agent directly) directly to the tutor, the client is liable to make another payment to the agent, regardless of whether the client is able to retrieve the money back from the tutor. We may decide for any case, which may or may not be exceptional, such that we charge an additional commission to the client, an amount which is pre-determined. Most of the times, we may required this amount to be paid in advance.

Lesson Monitoring
We will monitor the lessons for the first 4 weeks by sending SMS reminders and making calls to ensure that the scheduled lessons are conducted on time and smoothly. We shall not be liable for any inconvenience caused.

Feedback
Feedback shall be gathered from the student, and also the parent if the parent is the main point of contact on an optional basis. We will do a feedback session over the phone once every 2 months until the student’s next final exam. If negative feedback are gathered, we will give the tutor a chance to dispute with us.

For Coordinators
As coordinators employed byThe Happy Violinist, you shall be committed to serving as a point of contact between customers and tutors whenever required. You shall abide to The Happy Violinist privacy policy. You are not allowed to edit, copy, forward or use the tutor’s data except for the purpose of The Happy Violinist lesson coordinating operations. You are not allowed to use or disclose tutors’ data for your own agenda such as clinch lesson assignments, which are not under The Happy Violinist jurisdiction.

If found out, you will be liable for fine up to S$5000 and immediate dismissal. Your earnings will be based on a percentage portion of the commission levied on the assigned tutor. This percentage is determined prior to employing you. We reserve the rights to change this percentage at any time.

For Visitors
You may find links to external sites not under our jurisdiction. We put these links in our websites because they may be useful resources to you. The Happy Violinist does not guarantee the availability or up time of these external sites and shall not be responsible for any damage or loss caused through the use of or reliance on the contents, goods or services available through these sites.

The contents and graphics on this website are protected by copyrights and other form of proprietary rights.

All materials found in this site must not be used or reused by any individual or party outsideThe Happy Violinist without prior permission.

Visiting and using this site is solely at your own risk. We will not be liable for any damage, loss and inconvenience resulting from usage and access of this site