The following terms and conditions apply to all website development / design services provided by DesignStack to the Client.
1. Project Acceptance
It is not necessary for any Client to have signed an acceptance of these terms and conditions for them to apply. If a Client accepts a quote then the Client will be deemed to have satisfied themselves as to the terms applying and have accepted these terms and conditions in full. Please read these terms and conditions carefully. Any purchase or use of our services implies that you have read and accepted our terms and conditions.2. Charges
Charges for services to be provided by DesignStack are defined in the project quotation that the Client receives via e-mail. Quotations are valid for a period of 30 days. DesignStack reserves the right to alter or decline to provide a quotation after expiry of the 30 days. Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all website design services require an non-refundable advance payment of a minimum of fifty (50) percent of the project quotation total before the work begins on the project. Advance payment amounts may change depending on the size of the project. The remaining fifty (50) percent of the project quotation total due upon completion of the work, prior to upload to the server or release of materials. Payment for services is due by card payment, paypal or bank transfer. Payment details will be made available on invoices.3. Client Review
DesignStack will provide the Client with an opportunity to review the appearance and content of the website during the design phase and once the overall website development is completed. At the completion of the project, such materials will be deemed to be accepted and approved unless the Client notifies DesignStack otherwise within ten (10) days of the date the materials are made available to the Client.4. Turnaround Time and Content Control
DesignStack will install and publicly post or supply the Client’s website by the date specified in the project proposal, or at date agreed with Client upon DesignStack receiving initial payment, unless a delay is specifically requested by the Client and agreed by DesignStack. In return, the Client agrees to delegate a single individual as a primary contact to aid DesignStack with progressing the commission in a satisfactory and expedient manner. During the project DesignStack will require the Client to provide website content; text, images including videos and/or sound files.5. Failure to provide required website content
DesignStack is a small business, to remain efficient we must ensure that work we have programmed is carried out at the scheduled time. On occasions, we may have to reject offers for other work and enquiries to ensure that your work is completed at the time arranged. Therefore, we ask that you provide all the required information in advance. On any occasion where progress cannot be made with your website because we have not been given the required information in the agreed time frame, and we are delayed as result, we reserve the right to impose a surcharge of up to 25%. If the content has not been supplied up to 6 months past the agreed date we reserve the right to cancel the project and no refund will be given. If your project involves Search Engine Optimisation we need the text content for your site in advance so that the SEO can be planned and completed efficiently. If you agree to provide us with the required information and subsequently fail to do within one week of project commencement we reserve the right to close the project and the balance remaining becomes payable immediately. Simply put, all the above condition says is do not give us the go ahead to start until you are ready to do so.NOTE: Text content should be delivered as a Microsoft Word, PDF, email (or similar) document with the pages in the supplied document representing the content of the relevant pages on your website. These pages should have the same titles as the agreed website pages. Contact us if you need clarification on this. Using our content management system, you are able to keep your content up to date yourself.6. Payment
Invoices will be provided by DesignStack before the project begins. Invoices are normally sent via email; however, the Client may choose to receive hard copy invoices. Invoices are due upon receipt. Accounts that remain unpaid thirty (30) days after the date of the invoice will be assessed and a service charge may be added in the amount of the higher of two percent (2%) or £30 per month of the total amount due.7. Additional Expenses
Client agrees to reimburse DesignStack for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Examples would be purchase of special fonts, stock photography, themes or plugins not previously agreed in the original quote etc.8. Responsive Design and Web Browsers
DesignStack makes every effort to ensure websites are designed to be fully responsive and viewed by the majority of visitors. Websites are designed to work with the most popular current browsers (e.g. Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari etc.) and mobile devices. Client agrees that DesignStack cannot guarantee correct functionality with all browser software across different operating systems and mobile devices. DesignStack cannot accept responsibility for web pages which do not display acceptably in new versions of browsers released after the website have been designed and handed over to the Client. As such, DesignStack reserves the right to quote for any work involved in changing the website design or website code for it to work with updated browser software.9: Hosting
DesignStack offers a hosting service through a third-party hosting company. DesignStack does not guarantee continuous service and will accept no liability for loss of service, whatever the cause. DesignStack may request that clients change the type of hosting account used if that account is deemed by DesignStack to be unacceptable because of poor service, lack of bandwidth or in any other way insufficient to support the website. Fees for DesignStack hosting service are due at the commencement of any period of service and are non-refundable. Fees due to clients own third party hosting organisations are the responsibility of the client. Hosting starts the day DesignStack starts building the website. If the client cancels the hosting package/website service before the hosting expires, no refund will be given. Once cancelled and services have been transferred away from DesignStack we will delete the entire hosting account within 7 days to comply with our data protection policy.9.1: Bandwidth/Disk Space Usage
We do not actively limit your account bandwidth. However, this is subject to fair use and any customer using an amount of monthly bandwidth or disk space deemed excessive in comparison to the average usage by other customers on our platform may, at our discretion, be advised to upgrade to a different hosting solution and billed accordingly. We provision very large disks for our shared platforms, but no physical or virtual server can have an “unlimited” disk size due to limitations in both hardware and software. We will not let this hinder your usage, but it will mean that if you are operating a large account we may require that your account is moved to a server where it can be more easily accommodated without affecting other customers, or that your account is split over several shared servers. We reserve the right to do this at our discretion. However, refusal to co-operate with an account move request will result in account suspension and/or termination as we must ultimately ensure platform stability and service delivery at all times.10: Duration and Renewal of Hosting Services
Unless otherwise specified hosting services are provided on a 1 month rolling contract. Unless a cancellation request is received in writing the service will be automatically renewed. You are entitled to cancel the Services by contacting DesignStack no less than 30 days prior to the renewal date for your Services.11. Domain Names
DesignStack may purchase and hold domain names on behalf of the Client. Payment and renewal of those domain names will be billed annually in advance. If the Client holds their domains in their own domain account, it is the responsibility of the Client to renew the domain themselves. The loss, cancellation or otherwise of the domain brought about by non or late payment is not the responsibility of DesignStack. The Client should keep a record of the due dates for payment to ensure that payment is received in good time.12. Default
Accounts unpaid thirty (30) days after the date of invoice will be considered in default unless the Client has contacted us in advance and an agreement in writing (by email or letter) has been made. If the Client in default maintains any information or files on DesignStack’s server space, DesignStack will, at its discretion, suspend the Clients account. If no payment has been made within 60 days we reserved the right to delete the Clients account which will result in deletion of all data stored on it. DesignStack is not responsible for any loss of data incurred due to the removal of the service. Removal of such material does not relieve the Client of the obligation to pay any outstanding charges assessed to the Client’s account. Clients with accounts in default agree to pay DesignStack reasonable expenses, including legal fees and costs for collection by third-party agencies, incurred by DesignStack in enforcing these Terms and Conditions.13. Termination
Termination of services by the Client must be requested in a written notice and will be effective on receipt of such notice. E-mail or telephone requests for termination of services will not be honoured until and unless confirmed in writing. The Client will be invoiced for any work completed to the date of first notice of cancellation for payment in full within thirty (30) days.14. Indemnity
All DesignStack services may be used for lawful purposes only. You agree to indemnify and hold DesignStack harmless from any claims resulting from your use of our service that damages you or any other party.15. Copyright
The Client retains the copyright to data, files and graphic logos provided by the Client, and grants DesignStack the rights to publish and use such material. The Client must obtain permission and rights to use any information or files that are copyrighted by a third party. The Client is further responsible for granting DesignStack permission and rights for use of the same and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless DesignStack from any and all claims resulting from the Client’s negligence or inability to obtain proper copyright permissions. A contract for website design and/or placement shall be regarded as a guarantee by the Client to DesignStack that all such permissions and authorities have been obtained. Evidence of permissions and authorities may be requested.16. Standard Media Delivery
Unless otherwise specified in the project quotation, this Agreement assumes that any text will be provided by the Client in electronic format (ASCII text files delivered on USB or via e-mail or FTP) and that all photographs and other graphics will be provided physically in high quality print suitable for scanning or electronically in .gif, .jpeg, .png .tiff, eps, .ai, .pdf or .psd format. Although every reasonable attempt shall be made by DesignStack to return to the Client any images or printed material provided for use in creation of the Client’s website, such return cannot be guaranteed.17. Design Credit
A link to the DesignStack website will appear in either small type or by a small graphic at the bottom of the Client’s website. If a graphic is used, it will be designed to fit in with the overall site design. If a client requests that the design credit be removed, a nominal fee of 5% of the total development charges will be applied. When total development charges are less than £5000, a fixed fee of £250 will be applied. The Client also agrees that the website developed for the Client may be presented in the DesignStack portfolio.18. Access Requirements
If the Client’s website is to be installed on a third-party server, DesignStack must be granted temporary access to the Client’s storage directories which must be accessible via FTP and cPanel. Depending on the specific nature of the project, other resources might also need to be configured on the server.19. Post-Placement Alterations
DesignStack cannot accept responsibility for any alterations caused by a third party occurring to the Client’s pages once installed. Such alterations include, but are not limited to additions, modifications or deletions.20. General
These Terms and Conditions supersede all previous representations, understandings or agreements and may be updated periodically.21. Free Minor Updates Definition
Minor updates are limited to image uploads (no more than 5) and basic text changes. Changes to a websites main layout, design or functionality will not be accepted unless previously agreed in writing. Any changes or extra plugins not previously agreed will be chargeable at a rate of £30 per hour plus any purchase fee’s.22. Social Media Management
Social Media Marketing and Management is defined as helping a client to promote their products or services through social media channels. DesignStack will honour the components of your chosen social media package, providing an agreement to a minimum 3 months contract is served and monthly payments are received in advance. In the event that payment is not received on time, we regret that further work will be halted until this is rectified.23. Theme/plugin Licensing, Updates and Discontinuation.
Licensing: All premium themes and/or plugins used are licensed to DesignStack and are non-transferable. Clients wishing to transfer their website away from DesignStack will be required to purchased a new theme/plugin license directly from the developer in order to maintain theme/plugin updates.
Updates: We provide our clients access to update the theme/plugin’s themselves and encourage them to do so in order to better protect their websites security and functionality.
DesignStack takes no responsibility for security breaches, malware or other problems that are due to outdated theme versions or plugins. Any requested website repairs will charged at an hourly rate.
Discontinuation: Theme/plugin developers can sometimes stop trading and/or updating their themes/plugins for various reasons that are out of our control. On the rare occasion this happens the website will sometimes need a new theme/plugin to make sure the site stays functional and as secure as possible. DesignStack takes no responsibility for developer discontinuation and no refunds will be given. We will always offer free advice on how to resolve any discontinuation problems but new themes/plugins will be chargeable.
