Terms of Service
Please read the Terms of Service carefully, and by using the services of Gnome on the run you agree to the following terms and conditions.
Adopted: January 1, 2009
Last Revised: January 1, 2009
Introduction
We want to make this simple and clear, so we've tried to remove much of the lofty legal lingo found in most documents of this kind. We will define a few words for clarification, but its a work in progress so if you have questions please let us know so we can clarify and update this document.
Definitions
Provider: Gnome on the run and any third-party service providers arranged through Gnome on the run.
Client: the purchaser of any Services.
Services: any service, software, graphics, or item provided, developed, or customized by the Provider.
Project: the specific Service requested by the Client.
Contract: the document signed by both parties which constitutes a legal agreement for Services.
Informal Agreement: an agreement communicated via email between the Client and Provider which constitutes a legal agreement for Services.
Quotes and Inquiry
A Quote may be created upon request of service, or an Hourly Rate Quote may be provided for projects that are ambiguous, still in planning, or with undefined service goals. Quotes and Hourly Quotes are valid for 30 days upon creation, after which a new Quote or Hourly Quote Rate will be drawn up by Provider.
Inquiries should be made via the contact page on http://www.gnomeontherun.com/contact.html. Inquiries are not legally binding, nor is any communication prior to a Contract or Informal Agreement Inquiries may be rejected for any reason with notice provided by Provider.
Contracts
Clients are required to sign a Contract for most projects, except in cases where an Informal Agreement is approved by the Provider. The Contract shall be signed digitally, unless the Client does not have the ability in which case a paper copy is acceptable. A Contract shall be legally binding and contain the following information:
- a general description of the Project
- the Services required by the Client
- a budget, Quote, or Hourly Quote Rate
- the Terms of Payment
- a timeline with estimated or set deadlines
- any required items, media, or information from Client needed by the Provider
In some cases Informal Agreements are acceptable in smaller projects as determined by the Provider. These Agreements are made through email communication and the Agreement is bound only to the requested Services. The Provider is not required to continue Services or to allow the Informal Agreement to be altered during or after the duration of the Project. Terms of Payment must be included in the communication, as well as a written statement of agreement to these Terms of Service.
Services
Services are provided to the Client only after a Contract or Informal Agreement is set. Services which utilize third-party services, code, or graphics must be used under appropriate licenses, and all fees for these services are the responsibility of the Client. The Provider is not responsible for hosting of web sites or services, and all Clients must contact their hosting providers for assistance. In some cases the Provider may agree to assist, with fees at the regular rate, but is not bound to assisting with hosting services.
Ongoing/Long-Term Services
A Client may wish to have ongoing or long-term Services, which can be arranged in one of two ways.
- The Provider is able to make updates at a monthly interval to be charged a monthly fee for up to an agreed number of hours. This allows the Client to submit updates once a month which are possible to be completed within the agreed hour structure.
- The Provider is able in certain cases to provide a Service periodically to be charged a flat fee per request.
Ongoing or Long-Term Services are not always available, depending on the type of Service required and the availability of the Provider.
Payment and Fees
All payments must be made using Paypal or a check, unless otherwise agreed upon by both Client and Provider. For projects with a Contract, payment is required after services valued in excess of $500 have been provided before further work continues. Projects with a Contract require either a 50% deposit or a $500 down payment (which ever is lower) before the Provider will begin. For projects with an Informal Agreement, payment terms are determined by both Client and Provider before work begins. If payment is undelivered after 30 days, a 5% interest charge will be applied to outstanding fees. If payment is undelivered after 60 days, the project is considered terminated and the Client relinquishes the right to any of the Services provided by the Provider without refund. After 60 days, Provider will only continue with Services if the client delivers payment with a 15% interest. If a Client cannot abide by these terms, they are required to inform the Provider before the start of work so it may be included in the Contract. Taxes will be applied above the Provider's fees at the appropriate rate for the State of Illinois.
Refunds and Termination of Contracts
No refunds are provided for work or time that has been completed. If a Client wishes to terminate the Contract, they must inform the Provider in writing. The Provider will cease all Services, and return any content owned by the Client only when the Client has paid any outstanding fees.
Ownership and Copyright
Upon completion and full payment, rights to the usage of the Services are given to the Client by the Provider. The Client does not have the right to resell any of the Provider's work. If the Client fails to finish payment, the Provider reserves all ownership and copyright. All custom Services created by the Provider remain the property of the Provider unless an Ownership Agreement is signed and a payment for the ownership and copyright is received. Services which are created, modified, licensed, copyrighted, or otherwise provided to the Client by the Provider under appropriate licenses remain the property of the respective owners and developers in the case of using third-party software, graphics, services, or items. Any items created as examples for the Client by the Provider which are not part of the final Service are still owned by the Provider and may be used in other projects.
Limitation of Liability
Under no circumstances, including negligence, shall the Provider, or any other company involved in the creation, production or distribution of the Service, be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of or inability to use the Provider's Service; or that results from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or loss of files or data, errors, defects, delays in operation, or of performance, whether or not limited to acts of nature, communication failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to Provider's records, programs or services. The Provider is not responsible for any copyright infringement that occurs from items that are provided by the Client. In the case of Service failure due to external forces beyond the control of the Provider, the Provider may fix the problems at the regular rate.
Availability and Work Schedules
The Provider sets a schedule of work which reflects the Provider's availability. If emergency situations arise and the Client requires Services to be provided within an unusually short time frame (for example over the weekend or overnight) with less than a weeks notice, then the Provider is entitled to twice the regular rate for the Services if the Provider is available.
Branding and Credit
The Provider requires that code comments with information about the author and designer of the page must remain intact. The Provider would like to place a link on the bottom of the website back to the Provider's site. If this link is desired to be removed, then the Client should consult the Provider for an alternative method of giving credit. The Provider reserves the right to use all work done for the Client for promotional purposes, unless otherwise agreed in special cases.
Disclaimers
The Provider does not endorse and will not develop websites that contain certain aspects, such as, but not limited to: adult content, discrimination, illegal content, abusive or hateful content.
The Provider may contract outside providers for services which are able to provide certain Services which the Provider deems necessary.
The Provider reserves the right to discontinue support for a Service at any time, without incurring any liability or obligation for that Service.
All work is considered confidential during the project development by the Provider. The Provider will not share files or information about the Client's project with any outsiders.
The Provider keeps a record of all information (including passwords) that are necessary for the Service. However, the Provider is not responsible if this information is altered or changed by the Client or others, and the Provider should be informed of these changes when necessary.
The Provider strives to produce high quality Services, however the Provider makes no guarantees to the success of any Service rendered beyond the quality of design and coding, such as search engine ranking, sales figures from e-commerce, and other factors which are outside of the Provider's responsibility.
