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Our Policies
Fees
Services provided by StirCreative are billed at an hourly rate. Project requirements are scoped out and agreed upon by both the client and by StirCreative, before any work begins.
Meetings - In-person meetings are considered billable and are billed at an hourly rate, plus any associated travel expenses.
Rush Fees - Services required by the client sooner than StirCreative's standard turnaround time will be billed at an hourly rate, plus an additional upcharge of 50%. For retainer clients, the upcharge is only 25%.
Weekend Requests - Services provided during weekend hours are billed at an hourly rate, plus an additional upcharge of 75%. For retainer clients, the upcharge is only 50%.
On-Site Services - Services performed at the client site are billed at an hourly rate, plus an additional upcharge of 100%. For retainer clients, the upcharge is only 75%.
Local Delivery - (Courier Services acquired by StirCreative) are billed at Courier rate, plus an additional upcharge of 25%.
Turnaround/Lead Times
All of StirCreative's turnaround times are estimates only and NOT guarantees. Under no circumstances will a refund be honored for a delay in StirCreative's estimated turnaround time. Standard turnaround times can vary from project to project. Project timeframes are agreed upon at each project's commencement. StirCreative's standard turnaround time is 10 business days for initial return of prototype and/or concept design. Miscellaneous edits and similar requests require a 10 business day turnaround without incurring rush fees. Retainer clients' turnaround time is 5 business days without incurring rush fees.
Delays in project completion may occur when:
- There is a delay in payment.
- Changes are made to the project proposal or significant rework of the components of the project's scope.
- There is a delay in the receipt of any materials from the client that are necessary for completion of the project (content, photos, graphs, illustrations, etc.).
It is important to understand that StirCreative cannot make its resources available to a project indefinitely due to having other obligations. If a project stalls or the client becomes unresponsive for more than 3 weeks, the project's timelines will be reassessed in conjunction with StirCreative's existing obligations. If there is no meaningful activity for 3 months, the project will be terminated without refund.
Project Factors
Costs and timelines associated with each project are based on the best judgment of StirCreative and the assumption that there will not be any unforeseen delays caused by the client or any circumstances beyond the control of the client or StirCreative.
Changes to the proposal or significant rework of the components of the scope may result in additional expense to the client. If there are any changes made in this project that cause a cost increase, the client will be notified for prior approval.
StirCreative will not be held responsible to satisfy unreasonable expectations or requests that lie beyond the scope of StirCreative's offer of services to its client. It is at StirCreative's discretion to decide whether or not a request or an expectation is reasonable or lies within the scope of offer of services to its client. In other words, StirCreative will make all the necessary efforts to satisfy the client within the framework of its original agreement with the client, according to StirCreative's understanding.
Websites and Browser Compatibility - Because of the nature of web design and programming work, websites always appear differently on different computers. Screen resolution, operating system, and browsing software are just a few examples of variables that may affect the way a website looks. The client must be aware of these possible variations and StirCreative will not be held responsible for them. StirCreative websites are built using Flash, CSS, AJAX, DHTML, XML, PHP and mySQL. Many older browsers do not support these modern technologies. StirCreative is not responsible for any issues arising from obsolete browsers or computers.
Web Hosting - StirCreative provides web hosting only as a reseller of hosting services obtained through other companies.Therefore, StirCreative is not responsible for any downtime, server issues, or other problems that may arise.
Printing 100% down payment of printing fees is required before any jobs go to print. Before files are sent to print, the client must sign off and acknowledge that all copy, text, design and layout is approved as is. Once print projects are approved by the client, StirCreative will not be held responsible for any copy errors (including, but not limited to incorrect content, wrong dates or misspelled words) or design errors committed on part of the client. Under no circumstances will a refund or reprint be honored for an error in files approved by the client.
Requested Edits - StirCreative provides a specified number of rounds of edits per each project scope. The esimate of hours for these rounds of edits are based on past projects and typical client need. Therefore, in order to enhance productivity and cost-effectiveness throughout projects, it is important the client to organize and compile final edits that are needed during projects so that they are not billed for additional hours. Any edits deemed excessive by StirCreative will be billed at an hourly rate. Any typos, misspellings, or grammatical errors that do not get caught and fixed during the design process falls on the responsibility of the client. StirCreative is not responsible for any written copy, content, etc., provided by the client.
Design Credit - A small logo image and/or text link to stircreative.net will appear at the bottom of every webpage created (programmed or designed) by StirCreative. The client agrees to display this image and/or link for as long as the website, designed by StirCreative, is publicly displayed on the internet, regardless of where the site is hosted or maintained. The client may request to remove this design credit for an additional fee of 5% of the total price of that project's scope.
Payment Terms
50% upon execution of contract and then monthly increments due every calendar month until project completion. These increments will be based on hourly timesheets, detailing the latest work, and will be e-mailed to the client in the form of a monthly invoice. Project commencement is contingent upon receipt of the aforementioned 50% down payment.
Payment is due thirty days after the receipt of each invoice. Late payment is defined as payment that is not received within thirty days of receipt of invoice.
StirCreative reserves the right to remove all web content from the internet and to halt all project production, including unrelated work that is being provided by StirCreative to the client, upon failure to receive prompt payment from the client. If this action is taken, StirCreative is not responsible for any lost business during website down time.
Any remaining balance is due upon completion of each project. A fee of $30.00 USD will be charged for every NSF check that is issued to StirCreative by the client.
For clients' convenience, StirCreative accepts Visa and MasterCard via PayPal (with a 5% additional fee). All payments must be made in U.S. Funds.
If the amount remains delinquent for more than 6 months, the account will be turned over to a collection agency or appropriate legal resource.
Ownership
Any and all work that is created by StirCreative and delivered to the client is copyright StirCreative until it has been paid for in full, as per the agreed upon price. Once full payment is made, the client shall retain legal ownership of files produced for the client by StirCreative.
- Produced files include .pdf, .jpg, .gif, .swf, .html, .php, .sql, .css, .js
- Produced files DO NOT include .ai, .psd, .indd, .fla
Use - StirCreative retains the unlimited, non-exclusive-right to use copies of projects, at the discretion of StirCreative (for promotional and marketing purposes only i.e., for use in StirCreative's portfolio).
Copyrights and Trademarks - The client unconditionally guarantees that any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork furnished to StirCreative for inclusion in print, identity, and website projects are owned, or that the proper permissions were received by the client from the rightful owner to use these elements in the projects. The client further guarantees that StirCreative will be held harmless, be protected from, and be defended from any claim or suit arising from the use of such elements furnished by the client.
Cancellation
In the event that work is canceled at the request of the client, StirCreative shall have the right to retain the original deposit, with all work completed as of such time to be delivered to the client. Should this amount be deemed insufficient by StirCreative for time and expense already invested in the project, additional payment may be due. If additional payment is due, this will be billed to the client within ten (10) business days of notification to stop work.
Legal
Content - StirCreative is not responsible for the content of any website or print material. StirCreative has no control over any information, materials, or products found thereon. All content provided to StirCreative is subject to review by StirCreative. Any content deemed unsuitable or illegal by StirCreative will not be included in any final project.
Impossibility of Performance The client acknowledges and agrees that StirCreative cannot guarantee the absence of service interruptions caused by Acts of God or other circumstances beyond their control including, but not limited to, local telecommunications problems, line failures, or temporary down time for maintenance or upgrades. The client also accepts that because webpages rely on delivery through a world-wide web of co-operating systems - from time to time, any website may temporarily experience interruptions beyond the control of StirCreative.
Refusal of Service - StirCreative reserves the right to refuse service for any website or print material that that it feels is not legal, moral, or in the best interests of StirCreative. StirCreative may cancel client contracts for failure of the client to abide by its terms.