TOS

Terms of Service:

By submitting payment and agreeing to services, you hereby agree to the following terms. We reserve the right to alter these terms at any time and without notice.

Payment

Design: Payment on all design services is due in full for any services under $250, for services over $250, a 50% deposit is due. Deposits are non-refundable unless I am rendered incapable of providing you your product or services (see below). On projects with a remaining balance, payment is requested within 72 hours of completion. If payment is not received within 72 hours, a late fee of $25 may be assessed, and depending on your project, you will be notified of the length of time it will be held and any future fees that may be assessed. No materials will be released until payment has been made in full.

Labor: Payment on coding, labor, and maintenance services is due in full before the start of work. Any time based/hourly billed services will be estimated and billed before the start of work and are non-refundable as well.

Paypal is accepted for all projects. If you cannot pay with Paypal for any reason, please notify us at that time, and if we are able, we will attempt to work with you on an alternative payment method depending on your particular project. NiteFlirt payments may be accepted, however a 30% fee will be added to the total cost of your design to cover NiteFlirt fees.

Time Estimates

Design: When given a design project I will always do my best to provide you with most accurate time estimate I can. However, please bear in mind that design is not an exact science, and that the amount of time it takes to complete your project will also depend on you providing me with all necessary materials to begin and complete your project, timely response to my questions and communications, and changes we may discuss. On occasion, life factors may interfere and you will be communicated with openly and in a timely manner about these if they should arise. Small projects are generally completed within a 1 week time frame, and most general larger projects (WP customizations, web sites, combined orders, etc) within a 2-3 week time frame. Your specific time frame will be discussed at the time of booking.

Should you add services or your design needs change at any time, bear in mind that it will affect your completion time and/or your initial quote.

Labor: Labor projects, such as coding, repair, maintenance, and training, etc, will be scheduled and completed on a case by case basis. On demand services, such as training, repair, and coding will be scheduled and/or estimated within 24 hours of payment being received. Ongoing services, such as monthly maintenance, may be discussed before payment is received.

Communication

Communication is essential on any project or design service. We will always do our best to be available to you as often as needed and respond to you as quickly as possible, however we also ask that you do your best to communicate effectively with us. Completing your project or service effectively is directly dependent upon having all the necessary information and materials from you, and having them in a timely manner.

Design: Email is always preferred for design projects as it is the best way to have complete written reference to all details and information of your project. It not only allows me to work more effectively for you by having all of your information in one place, but allows you to have a written record of all communications as well so there is no confusion on what we may have discussed. IM communication is available under certain circumstances, however it is discouraged for initial consultation for the reasons mentioned above. I prefer to use IM for training and tutorial sessions, ongoing project discussion, emergency situations, and for instances where an issue cannot be worked out or easily explained in email. Phone communication on design is not preferred, as well as keeping the details of the conversation is not as effective as written communications and scheduling can be difficult due to family life and being a PSO myself as well.

Labor: For coding, design, maintenance, etc, email communication is often preferred, however we do often require IM conversation, or on occasion telephone communication. Unlike designs, which are longer ongoing projects, labor projects are “real time” hourly services, and often time sensitive (for example a broken site, installations, etc) and can often require that we communicate with you through the process. We may often ask that you be available in IM should we need you during the process.

Design Rights

Your Design: After your design is completed and paid in full, you have the right to use it as you see fit. You do not need to ask my permission to use portions of it elsewhere. Once it is paid in full and delivered to you, you have full rights to it as well as liability. We are not liable for any misuse of your design or graphics once they have been transferred to you.

Portfolio: I reserve the right to use any design created by me in our portfolio unless an agreement otherwise has been made between myself and the client before completion of the project.

Images: All images purchased and acquired by Sparklewhore will have verified rights. All images or content provided by the client are the respsonsability of the client alone, and we will not be held liable for stolen or copyrighted material. We reserve the right to refuse or terminate services if we feel there is a legal issue with content or materials.

Client Responsibilities

Design Information and Materials: Clients are responsible for having all necessary initial materials and information to complete their project available within no more than 7 days of placing deposit and by their estimated project start date.  All necessary information, images, text, links, site access, or other relevant materials must be provided by the project start date to avoid delays during the course of the project.  After preview it is expected that there may be changes that may require additional information or materials, or that additional materials may be requested during the design (additional images etc). These are a separate from your initial materials, and are asked to be provided within 72 hours of the request to keep your project moving along efficiently.

Design Communication: Clients are responsible for communicating their needs in a clear, organized, and timely fashion.  I do my best to ask nothing of my client’s that I cannot provide myself, and therefore I do my best to be understanding when you cannot always reply right away. I do ask however that you reply to questions within 48 hours and information/material requests within 72. Communications need to be clear and organized so that there is no confusion as to your needs or unnecessary delays in attempting to understand them. Questions and project discussion are never discouraged, but simply must be conducted in a reasonably efficient manner.

Design Issues and Termination

Client Concerns: If you feel there is an issue with your design during the design process, it is your responsibility as the client to communicate that with me and seek resolution. I cannot fix what I do not know may be wrong. If you fail to communicate your concerns I cannot be held liable any issues arising related to said concerns. I will do my best to assure your satisfaction with each and every project.

Designer concerns: I will attempt to communicate any concerns and needs with you and resolve them to the best of my ability. If I feel you are unwilling to communicate or unresponsive, I reserve the right to terminate the project or to cease work to focus on other clients.

Issues with the design or errors: After completion, any and all errors will be fixed at no expense to the client whatsoever so long as they were there were present in the product given to the client.

Termination:

I reserve the right to suspend or terminate a project under any of the following circumstances:

• A client has not provided the materials or information necessary to start their project within 7 days of deposit.

• A client fails to respond to communications or is unresponsive after several attempts are made.

• A client is rude or threatening.

• A client is causing repeated delays of the project.

• I feel there is an ethical or legal violation in working with the client.

Deposit Refunds:

Deposits are non-refundable unless I am rendered physically incapable of completing your project or unable to for non business or client related reasons (ie: family emergency, death in the family, etc.). If there is an issue with your design, all attempts will be made to work it out to your satisfaction and provide you with a product you will be pleased with. In the event I become incapable of providing you with a product, Steve may be contacted to review your project and deposit and work with you on appropriate resolution, which may include full or partial refund of deposit and/or delivery of materials.

Once deposit has been submitted, work will begin on your project, and as work is non refundable, so are deposits. If you are unhappy for any reason, all attempts will be made to provide you with a product and/or services that you will be pleased with, and depending on on the circumstances, you may be compensated for any issues with additional products and/or services. Cases will be handled on an individual basis.

Labor Issues and Termination

Issues and Errors: In the event there is an issue with labor we have performed or an error in our service or coding, it will be fixed at no expense to the client at the earliest possible opportunity. Should the error be in alterations done after the fact, in the script, application, or materials we were given to use, or due to your host or site setup, we cannot be held liable but will be happy to discuss what we can do to assist you.

Termination: We reserve the right to terminate labor services under any of the following circumstances:

• You are not present at the agreed upon the agreed upon time for services on more than one occasion.

• You do not provide the necessary information and/or materials required to complete your project by the scheduled time and/or after multiple requests.

• You are uncommunicative or unresponsive and make it to where we are unable to perform the required service.

• We feel there is an ethical or legal violation within your site, materials, or the service being asked to perform.

• We find that there is an unforeseeable issue (such as compatibility with your host or among programs) that makes it impossible to perform said services or labor.

Labor Refunds:

In the event labor has not yet begun, and we find we are unable to perform your services due to our personal or scheduling reasons, and rescheduling is not an option, a full refund may assessed.

In the event that labor has not yet begin, and we find we are unable to perform your services due to lack of materials, communication, or client presence, a 50% refund will be assessed. 50% will be held as a time lost fee to compensate for the time invested in preparation and attempting to work with you that could have been devoted to other clients. All reasonable attempts will be made to avoid this situation.

In the event that labor has begun and an issue arises, such as an incompatibility issue or an ethical issue, you will be notified immediately and your options will be discussed.

In situations where labor has begun, refunds are not available, as labor itself is non refundable. If at all possible, we will attempt to work with you to resolve whatever issue may be preventing completion and or compensate you with additional time to work out the issue. Cases will be handled on an individual basis and at our discretion.

Privacy Practices

Your personal, financial, character, or other identifiable information will never be disclosed to other parties without your express consent. We reserve the right to display your design with your character and/or site name on our portfolio, however we will never disclose your identity or other characters or associations you may have. All work displayed on Sparklewhore.com is done so with client anonymity.

Please note, we do not directly access client Niteflirt accounts, as they hold personal identity information and access to funds and financial institution information. Therefore we hold this access in the same regard we would any financial institution or sensitive information and work to assist you through other means, including remote software if necessary.