Policies/Procedures
PAYMENT
Beginning July 1, 2009 I will require a NON-REFUNDABLE 100% payment in full before any work on your project will begin.
I reserve the right to withdraw from any project with any client without notice and with immediate effect. I may or may not forgo any payment due me, dependent on the situation. In the event that I remove myself from a project due to violation of any of the terms below, it is not my policy to offer a refund of any monies paid.
CANCELLATION
Life is hard and things come up – I know that first hand. However, in fairness to my other clients, you are allowed only one reschedule of your project. You will be given thirty days to re-schedule; anything longer and your original quote will be null and void and your project will be charged out at Your-GFE’s current rates.
CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES
It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the way your site works. I provide step-by-step instructions for each area of your site (adding content, photos, etc.) and recommend that you PRINT these instructions so as to follow them easier. I am also here to help whenever you need me, but be aware that “helping” is different than doing it for you.
It is your responsibility to upload your own photos and enter your own page content (i.e., text, links, banners, etc) after the initial design is completed. If you choose, Your-GFE can do this for you at the regular $30/hr charge.
It is your responsibility to be available to me via email. I do all site related correspondence via email for accuracy, so the sooner you respond to my emails, the sooner your project will be done. Email avoids confusion over the details that we’ve discussed and agreed upon. Telephone communication is available AT MY DISCRETION if absolutely necessary and/or in certain situations/circumstances. Once we start a project, I will make my telephone number available to you.
Please keep in mind that I am very busy, so telephone contact for minor issues can not be tolerated. Also, I WILL NOT answer blocked or anonymous phone calls. If you use this feature TURN IT OFF.
If you fail to answer emails in a timely manner, out of fairness to my other clients, your project will be replaced and I will fit you in when I can.
It is your responsibility to purchase PRIVATE domain registration and hosting for your website if it is not included in your package choice.
COPYRIGHT
Anything created for your project belongs to you once final payment is made. For the record, it is common, legal practice for designers/creators of any kind to hold the final copyright to any creation, but I feel that if you pay for it, it is YOURS.
A link back to Your-GFE.com will be placed on the bottom of your index page and MUST stay intact. Your-GFE.com retains the right to display your website in our portfolio, as well. Any designs created by Your-GFE.com and refused by the client, remain the copyright of Your-GFE.com.
PROJECT DETAILS
Your-GFE will not start any project without all the necessary materials (i.e., photos, banners, text, etc.)
Your initial design package includes a total of 48 billable hours, which is MORE than enough to design and complete a standard website. If your project goes over the initial 48 hours, you WILL be billed an additional $15/hr (50% off my current hourly rate). This is to cut down on “project drift” and to keep your project from straying from the specifics.
Turn around time depends on how many other projects are ahead of yours and my current design schedule. It also depends on the complexity of your project. I will give you an approximate finish date when we begin and will do my best to meet that finish date. However, I CANNOT guarantee deadlines as each project and each client is unique.
Once the design is approved by you, it goes into final production. After this process is completed, there will be no changes to the design without incurring additional fees of $30 per hour.
RUSH FEES
I accept rush work on a case by case basis. Rush work WILL BE billed at a rate of $60/hour ($90/hr on weekends). A 50% deposit of the estimated amount will be required before any work begins. At the time the job is approved I will supply an estimated completion time and work requested will begin immediately.
HOURS OF OPERATION
My general business hours are Monday – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm CST. If you require work on evenings, weekends or holidays, you WILL BE charged $90/hour with a one hour minimum, PLUS individual charges.
PAYMENT METHODS
You can pay by credit card, GreenDot, PayPal or money order. All credit card transactions go through PayPal. If you pay via money order, please be aware that no work will begin until I receive the money order.
If you cannot make payment via any of the the above choices, we will not be able to do business.
MAINTENANCE FEES
Site maintenance is performed on Thursdays and Fridays from 9am-5pm CST; PLEASE SUBMIT ANY FREE MAINTENANCE REQUESTS Monday through Wednesday, NO LATER THAN 5 pm CST.
Any changes that are requested or expected before Thur/Fri will be subject to normal charges. This includes downloading the page[s] needing to be updated, maintenance of these pages and re-uploading the edited pages to your host. I WILL NOT BEGIN ANY REQUESTED WORK UNTIL THE QUOTED PRICE IS PAID. I regret having to resort to that, but my time is as important as yours.
Because it is more difficult to comb through code to find someone else’s error, repairing any code that has been changed by anybody but Your-GFE is $60/hr and billable in hourly increments.
DESIGN GUARANTEE
Your-GFE promises that every project is fully operational in the current version of the four “big” browsers – Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari & Opera; Your-GFE cannot accept responsibility for pages which do not display properly on versions of browsers released after the project is completed.
Your inability to understand how your site works even after explanation from me IS NOT considered malfunction. However, in the event that your website is nonoperational due to a mistake on my part, I WILL make repairs at no additional charge.
Your-GFE will not accept responsibility for websites that do not perform properly on any browser older than those currently featuring in the top 90% of browsers based on figures published at http://www.3schools.com.
Your-GFE designs all sites with industry standard guidelines in mind for an overall acceptable website. Your-GFE makes every effort to keep current with acceptable design standards. ACCEPTABLE DESIGN STANDARDS CANNOT MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS OF ALL BROWSERS, HTML EDITORS, SEARCH ENGINES OR OTHER INTERNET SYSTEMS AND STANDARDS.
What does this mean for you in plain English? It is NOT my responsibility if YOU or A HANDFUL of your viewers aren’t seeing the design of your project the way it is meant to display; It is NOT my responsibility if YOU or a viewer is using an old computer or an old browser or if the settings on your computer and/or browser that are not standard.
