Policies

Acceptance of Terms: By booking a session with Benjamin McHale Tutoring, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use this service.

Services Provided: Benjamin McHale Tutoring provides one-on-one academic instruction in STEM subjects. Sessions are conducted at scheduled times agreed upon at booking.

Eligibility: Clients booking sessions on behalf of a minor must be the parent or legal guardian of that minor. Adult students may book on their own behalf.

Booking and Payment: All sessions require payment in full at the time of booking. Sessions are not confirmed until payment is received. Pricing is as listed on the booking page at the time of booking.

Cancellations and Refunds: Cancellations and refunds are governed by the separate Refund & Cancellation Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these terms.

Conduct: Clients and students are expected to engage respectfully during sessions. I reserve the right to terminate any session or ongoing tutoring relationship at my sole discretion in response to abusive, threatening, or inappropriate behavior, with refund or credit issued at my discretion based on the circumstances.

Educational Outcomes: Tutoring services are provided to support a student's learning. No specific academic outcome, grade, test score, or admission result is guaranteed.

Intellectual Property: All instructional content, including but not limited to curriculum packets, custom problem sets, exported OneNote documents, and session video recordings, remains my exclusive intellectual property. These materials are licensed solely to the individual student for personal, non-commercial academic use. Redistribution, public posting, or sharing of these materials with third parties or other students is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate termination of services without refund.

Limitation of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by law, my total liability for any claim arising from these services is limited to the amount paid for the session or sessions giving rise to the claim. 

Changes to Terms: These terms may be updated from time to time. The current version will always be available at https://www.benjaminmchale.com/policies. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance.

Governing Law: These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Contact: benjaminm.tutor@gmail.com

Payment: Payment is required at the time of booking to reserve your session slot. Bookings are not confirmed until payment is received.

Cancellations Outside 24 Hours: Sessions cancelled or rescheduled more than 24 hours before the scheduled start time are eligible for a full credit toward a future session. Credits are issued as a promotional code that can be applied at checkout for any future booking. Credits expire 90 days from the date of issue.

Cancellations Within 24 Hours: Sessions cancelled or rescheduled less than 24 hours before the scheduled start time are forfeited and not eligible for credit or refund. This policy compensates for the inability to fill the reserved time slot on short notice.

No-Shows: Failure to attend a scheduled session without prior notice is treated as a within-24-hour cancellation and is forfeited.

Late Arrivals: Sessions begin at their scheduled time. Time lost due to late arrival cannot be added to the end of the session or made up at a later date.

Instructor Cancellations: In the rare event that I must cancel or reschedule a session, you will receive a full refund to your original payment method within 48 hours , or, at your preference, a credit toward a future session.

Refunds: Monetary refunds are not issued for client-initiated cancellations under any circumstances. All eligible cancellations receive credit only.

Exceptions: Genuine emergencies will be considered on a case-by-case basis at my sole discretion.

Information I Collect: When you book a session, I collect:

• Your name and the student's name

• Email address and phone number

• Payment information (processed and stored by Stripe, not by me)

• Information you provide during sessions relevant to instruction

• Audio, video, and screen capture recordings of virtual sessions (see Session Recordings below) 

How I Use Your Information: I use this information to:

• Schedule and conduct tutoring sessions

• Send booking confirmations, reminders, and receipts

• Process payments through Stripe

• Communicate with you about your sessions

• Generate post-session study materials and video archives for the student's personal review

Session Recordings: Virtual sessions are recorded (audio, video, and screen capture) to provide post-session video archives and exported notes as part of the service. These recordings are:

• Used solely for the student's personal review

• Stored securely in a private Google Drive account, accessible only to me

• Not uploaded to YouTube or any public platform

• Not shared with third parties beyond Google Drive's role as the storage provider

Session recordings are retained for the duration of the student-tutor relationship and for 12 months thereafter, after which they are permanently deleted.

By booking a virtual session, the parent or guardian consents to this recording for educational purposes and to the use of Google Drive as the secure storage location. If you do not wish for sessions to be recorded, please contact me before booking to discuss alternatives.

Information Sharing: I do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. I share information only with:

• Stripe, for payment processing (governed by Stripe's privacy policy)

• Google, for calendar scheduling and secure storage of session recordings and notes via Google Drive (governed by Google's privacy policy) 

• Legal authorities if required by law

Information About Minors: I work with students under 18. I collect only the information necessary to provide tutoring services. Parents or guardians who book sessions consent to the collection of their minor child's information for this purpose. Parents may request access to or deletion of their child's information at any time by contacting me.

Data Storage and Security: Booking and scheduling data is stored on private, self-hosted infrastructure. Session recordings and digital notes are stored in a private Google Drive account accessible only to me. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe and is not stored on my systems. 

Your Rights: You may request to:

• Access the information I have about you

• Correct inaccurate information

• Delete your information (subject to legal record-keeping requirements)

• Opt out of non-essential communications

Virginia residents have additional rights under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act. To exercise any of these rights, contact me at benjaminm.tutor@gmail.com.

Cookies: The booking website may use essential cookies to maintain your session. No tracking or advertising cookies are used.

Communications: I may send you transactional communications related to your bookings. I will not send marketing emails without your consent.

Changes to This Policy: This policy may be updated. The current version will always be available at https://www.benjaminmchale.com/policies.

Contact: For privacy questions, contact benjaminm.tutor@gmail.com.