Deckard & Company, Inc.

a boutique marketing agency

We are your local Marketing Agency Website Designer Social Media Marketer Videographer Webmaster

A Bradenton, Sarasota, and now Banner Elk Digital Marketing Agency

Terms & Conditions

DECKARD & COMPANY

2024 TERMS OF SERVICE

We hope that 2023 was a productive year for you and all of us at Deckard & Company want to thank you for your confidence in us and for allowing us to be a part of your business success! We have the most awesome clients!

We encourage you to check back here to our Terms of Service page any time you have a question about our policies. As we grow and as we offer more services, our TOS may change, and right here is where you will find everything you need to know.

Please remember, that we are here for you! If you have any questions, please let us know. And if, at any time, you have a situation that prevents you from making timely payments, please contact us so we can work it out together!

1.0 Services Rendered

You may, at any time, upgrade/add to the services we provide. We welcome the opportunity to provide you with additional website and marketing support.

2.0 Mutual Cooperation

We agree to use our best efforts to fulfill and exceed your expectations of the deliverables you choose. You agree to aid us in doing so by making available to us the needed information pertaining to your website and/or marketing and to cooperate with us in expediting the work.

3.0 Errors

We can’t guarantee that our work will be error-free (we’re human!) so we can’t be liable to you or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential, or special damages even if you’ve advised us of them correcting. If it was our error, of course we’ll correct it at no cost to you. If it’s an error not caused by Deckard & Company, Inc. and you are not on a monthly website content management plan, we reserve the right to invoice you at our management rate of $200 per hour in 15-minute increments.

4.0 Website Builds, Recurring Subscriptions, Hosting & À la carte Services

4.1 Website - Billing Schedule, Payments, Ownership

Before we begin your project, we will send you an agreement that will give the specifics of the build as well as the projected completion date. We have multiple payment options which are highlighted below.

Payment Options: You may choose to extend payment for your build when you return the signed agreement. We cannot change the payment terms after the project begins unless you are on an Extended Payment Plan, and you wish to pay in full prior to the conclusion of the due date.

  • 50/50 – A payment of 50% of the total build is due prior to the commencement of the project. The remaining 50% will be due either at the 6-week mark or when the site is ready to launch, whichever comes first. If there is a delay in the project, not caused by Brian, the balance will still be due at the six-week mark, whether the site is complete or not.
  • Extended Payments – You can choose to pay the build project fee over a 6-month period with the first payment of 1/6th of the total being due prior to the commencement of the project. The remaining five payments will be due on the monthly anniversary date of the first payment. You must check the box on the first invoice approving our use of your payment method for all recurring invoices.

 

Typically, if you provide all information to us in a timely manner, your site will be completed and published in 6 weeks. If there is a delay in the project, not caused by Brian, we will consider that the project is complete after 6 weeks following the signing of the agreement whether or not the site has been published live. Unless you receive prior approval from Brian to extend the 6-week completion deadline, any edits requested by the client after this 6-week period will fall either under our management fee or, if you have not subscribed to our content management service, these edits will be subject to our usual $200 per hour website management fee. We will bill you monthly for any content edits that we complete after the initial 6-week period. Only when all invoices for edits are paid, will we publish the website and turn over control of your website to you.

Upon full payment of your website build invoice, you be given complete ownership and administrative control of your website. Your website will be created on a staging platform during the build, and it will not be transferred to your permanent domain until we have received full payment.

4.1.2 Website - Suspension and/or Termination for Nonpayment

If full payment is not received within 21 days of our notifying you that your site is complete, we will consider your website abandoned and it is subject to suspension. Only upon full payment with 21 days, is your website recoverable. If you wish to recover your site during the suspension period, you must pay all outstanding invoices including $25 suspension fee. If payment is not received within the 21-day suspension period, your site will be terminated. Termination will result in complete and irreversible deletion of all data associated with the build including but not limited to all website files, all databases, all website statistics, all logs, and all backups and removal from our hosting server without further notice – in other words, everything. Termination will be avoided by paying all outstanding invoices or by making payment arrangements with us, in writing, within 21 days of your website completion.

4.1.3 Cancellation Prior to Completion

If you cancel the website build project prior to completion and publication, you must notify us in writing via email which we will acknowledge upon receipt. If you have subscribed to any of our services that require setup and those setup fees are a part of your total website build fee, we have the right to retain those setup fees depending on service and timing. Refund status of setup fees will be discussed with you at the time of your cancellation.

  • 50/50 Payment Option – Your deposit is not refundable. You may owe a prorated portion of the balance based upon the status of the build at the time you cancel. You will be invoiced for the amount due after we receive written confirmation of your cancellation.
  • Extended Payment Option – Any payments received at the time of cancellation are not refundable. You may owe a prorated portion of the remaining payments based on the status of the build at the time you cancel. You will be invoiced for the amount due after we receive written confirmation of your cancellation.

 

Upon receipt of your written notification of cancellation, and following payment of all outstanding fees, we will remove you from our hosting server and, at your request, we will provide a .zip file of your site.

4.1.4 Recurring Subscription Services - Payment

Invoices for monthly and annual services are generated automatically on the due date. You agree to pay our initial recurring invoice upon receipt which will act as the project kick-off or commencement of service. All payments to Deckard & Company must be made by credit card, debit card, or ACH through the payment gateway on your invoice. Payments made via physical check are not accepted except under certain circumstances and are subject to a $15 convenience fee and must be approved in advance. Recurring monthly/annual invoices paid by credit card or debit card require that you enter your card information on the initial invoice, and check the box that you agree to recurring billing for those services. Invoices paid via ACH from your checking account will be generated automatically but payment must be made by you manually each month. The company we use to process payments is Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant. This means that every year they have a third-party audit to validate their practices and make sure they are doing the right things for us and our customers. We do not have access to your credit card information. If it is necessary for you to call us to give us your credit card information, we will enter it directly into our payment gateway; we do not keep a record of this information. Only the last 4 digits and expiration date of your credit card are visible to us.

Our monthly and annual recurring services come with significant upfront out-of-pocket costs to Deckard & Company. If you have saved your credit card on file, but you have not set up your credit card for payment of recurring invoices, we retain the right to process payment manually on the due date using the payment method on file. Please note, however, that if our circumstances prevent us from processing your payment manually, you are still responsible for making certain that payment has been made within three days of the due date. Our processing the payment manually using the credit card on file is simply a courtesy.

4.1.5 Recurring Subscription Services - Suspension and/or Termination

If we cannot successfully charge your card on file, ALL services, including those that are currently paid to date, are subject to suspension if ANY service invoice is not paid by the 3rd day from the due date. To resume services that have been suspended, we will generate a new invoice and will add a $25 late fee to the total for past due invoice(s) and the full amount of the service and late fee must be paid to resume services.

If an invoice remains unpaid for 7 days past the invoice due date, all services associated with your account are subject to termination.

4.1.6 Suspension of Services Hosting Service

If the hosting account is suspended for non-payment, the customer has two options:

  1. Payment of the outstanding invoice in full as well as the $25 late fee within 7 days of the original invoice date. Hosting service will resume within 24-48 hours following payment. Hosting that remains unpaid after 7 days is subject to termination.
  2. Advise us via email to [email protected], that you intend to retrieve your files and/or transfer hosting to another hosting service. Following receipt of your payment of the $25 suspension fee plus the past-due amount, your account will be reactivated for file retrieval and/or transfer. Once the account is reactivated for cancellation file retrieval, the customer has three days (72 hours) to retrieve his/her own files. When an account is marked for cancellation file retrieval, after the 72-hour file retrieval period is over, the hosting account will be terminated, and all associated data permanently deleted whether or not the files have been retrieved and/or the account actually transferred to another host.

 

Any hosting account which has an open/unpaid invoice that remains unpaid 7 days after the due date is subject to permanent termination of the hosting account without further notice to the customer. Termination is different than suspension, in that Termination results in complete and irreversible deletion of all data associated with the hosting account, including but not limited to all website files, all databases, all email, all website statistics, all logs, and all backups — in other words, everything. Termination will be avoided by following one of the two options above.

Website Management Service: If a website management service account is suspended, and the customer wishes to reinstate their service, an additional $25.00 fee will be accessed. Following payment of past due invoice with late fee, and reinstatement fee, management service will resume within 24 to 48 hours. Upon reinstatement of service, we will perform scans of your website for security or performance issues. After the scan, if there are any issues that need mitigation or repairs, you will be invoiced for services rendered at the rate of $200.00 per hour; that fee is not included in your reinstated website management service.

À la carte Services: Any service performed by Deckard & Company that is not a part of an ongoing contract is considered à la carte and has the same payment requirements as our contract services. Any à la carte service that remains unpaid after 7 days will affect your contract services which become subject to suspension or termination for non-payment. Any contracted service that is suspended will require full payment of all outstanding past-due invoices as well as a $25 reinstatement fee before the suspended service(s) will be reinstated.

4.2 Price Changes on Recurring Services

Due to factors beyond our control, we reserve the right to adjust your pricing. We will always give you 30 days’ notice so you can either continue or opt out before the end of the 30-day period.

4.3 Price Changes on Projects

The initial agreement signed by the client is based on a mutual understanding of the scope of work between the client and the designer. If the client alters the scope of work, causing additional designer time and/or purchase of additional resources (such as website plugin licenses or domains) in order to implement the changes to the scope, the client understands that a separate invoice for these services and/or resources must be paid before the project is released by the designer into the client’s ownership. Design services will be invoiced at the standard hourly rate currently in place for website management; additional resources will be invoiced at our cost and may need to be directly subscribed to in your name with your direct payment to the provider.

4.4 Collection

In the event that we incur legal fees, costs and disbursements in an effort to collect payment for our invoices, in addition to interest on the unpaid balance, you agree to reimburse us for these expenses. All matters will be handled in Manatee County, Florida.

4.5 Required Domain Assignment

Once your website has been completed and paid in full, you have 30 days to assign the site to your domain; this process is your responsibility if you do not give us access to your domain name registrar. A website that has not been assigned for any reason, even if the build has been paid, is subject to removal from our server, as we have no choice but to consider your project abandoned by you, the client. We will copy your files into a zip drive and email them to you. If you want your site restored to our server, there will be a $200 fee for that service.

4.6 Required Website Management Services

Because of security reasons, if your website is hosted with us, we require a website management subscription. You can subscribe monthly or annually.  Our management pricing is right here.

5.0 Downgrade or Cancellation of Service(s)

You have the right to modify, reject, cancel, or stop any and all plans or work in process as follows:

5.0.1 Website Build: See Section 4.1.2

5.0.2 Monthly Service Subscriptions

To prevent further invoicing, you must cancel any recurring service at least 15 days prior to the next billing period. Cancellations made less than 15 days prior to the next billing period will not take effect until the following billing cycle. (e.g. – your Social Media subscription is invoiced on the 1st of the month; you cancel your Social Media subscription between the 15th-31st. You will receive an invoice for the next month following your request to cancel, but not after that. However, if you cancel your Social Media subscription any day prior to 15 days from the date of issue, the current month invoice is due, but you will not receive any additional invoices. There will be no refunds on monthly subscriptions.

5.0.3 Annual Service Subscriptions

If you wish to cancel or downgrade any annual subscription, please call us as each annual service has a different cancellation policy. There will be no refunds on annual service subscriptions but, depending on the service and the timing of your request, we may be able to move you to another service for the duration of your paid subscription.

Because of the external analytic software license we will purchase on your behalf for SEO, this service cannot be canceled within the first 6 months following commencement of service.

If you have chosen any subscription services, either monthly or annually, you agree to reimburse us for all costs and expenses we incurred prior to your change in instructions, and which relate to non-cancelable commitments, and to defend, indemnify and hold us harmless for any liability relating to such action. We agree to use our best efforts to minimize such costs and expenses.

5.1 Setup Fees Upon Renewal of Cancelled Service

If you wish to re-start a service that has been terminated or that you have canceled, and that service had an initial set-up fee, the restarted service may be subject to another set-up fee. This is handled on a case-by-case basis. We will discuss it with you at the time you advise us you wish to restart.

5.2 Annual Marketing Package Downgrade or Cancellation

All of our marketing packages are based on your commitment to maintaining the service for a minimum time period. You can downgrade to another marketing package at any time; just let us know. If you would like to entirely cancel your marketing package at any time before the end of the subscription year, you agree to pay a 3-month service buy-out fee (or until the end of your year, whichever is less) at the time of cancellation. In that case, we will invoice you and will use the credit card on file to pay the buyout fee on the day of cancellation. Cancellation after the initial year is subject to our usual 15-day notice prior to cancellation.

6.0 Charges for Services Performed

Requests above and beyond those listed in the final agreement may be considered out-of-scope and will trigger a change order for the specific change(s) you request as well as an invoice due for the additional service. Projects that go dormant for longer than 45 days will incur a fee to resume work at the discretion of Deckard & Company.

7.0 Responsibilities of Deckard & Company; Client Responsibilities

7.1 Deckard & Company’s Responsibility for Releases

We shall obtain releases, licenses, permits or other authorization to use testimonials, copyrighted materials, artwork, or any other property or rights belonging to third parties obtained by us for use in performing services for you (If applicable).

7.0.1 Deckard & Company’s Responsibility for Releases

We shall obtain releases, licenses, permits or other authorization to use testimonials, copyrighted materials, artwork, or any other property or rights belonging to third parties obtained by us for use in performing services for you (If applicable).

7.0.2 Client Responsibility for Releases

You guarantee that all elements of text, images, or other artwork you provide are either owned by your good selves or that you have permission to use them.

If website design and/or content management is a part of our service, when your payment has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows:

You’ll own the visual elements that we create for this project. We’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as we’re not required to keep a copy. You will own all elements of text, images, and data you provided unless someone else owns them. We’ll own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete design, and we’ll license that to you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only.

7.0.3 Client Responsibility for Accuracy

You shall be responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and propriety of information concerning your products and services which you furnish to us verbally or in writing in connection with the performance of this Agreement.

8.0 Confidentiality

Deckard & Company acknowledges its responsibility, both during and after the term of its appointment, to use all reasonable efforts to preserve the confidentiality of any proprietary or confidential information or data developed by Deckard & Company on behalf of the client or disclosed to Deckard & Company by the client.  

9.0 Term and Termination

9.0.1 Period of Agreement and Notice of Termination

Clients who currently work with Deckard & Company acknowledge their acceptance of these terms of service upon opening the initial email containing these terms. Also, by signing our agreement which contains a link to these Terms of Service, it is understood that the client has read and has accepted these terms. It is each client’s responsibility to advise Deckard & Company of any terms the client finds to be unacceptable. At that time, if a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, termination of services will be scheduled.

9.2 Termination for Cause

(Prepare yourself for a bit of fancy legal jargon here) Either party to this Agreement may terminate the Agreement if the other party defaults in the performance of any of its material duties and obligations and the default is not cured within thirty (30) days of the receipt of notice of said default, or if the default is not reasonably curable within said period of time, unless the defaulting party commences cure within said period of time and diligently proceeds to cure the default.

In addition, either party may immediately terminate this Agreement by giving written notice to the other party if the other party is insolvent or has a petition brought by or against it under the insolvency laws of any jurisdiction, if the other party makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, if a trustee, or similar agent is appointed with respect to any property or business of the other party, or in the case of the Client, if the Client materially breaches its obligations to make payment pursuant to this Agreement.

9.2.1 Termination for Cause

Deckard & Company reserves the right to terminate our relationship with any client whose invoice is past due more than two times (past due meaning, more than 3 days after the due date which generates a $25 late fee) even if the second past due invoice is ultimately paid. Termination is at the discretion of Deckard & Company and is based on the client’s good faith efforts to keep payment of all invoices current. With the failure of the payment of the second past due invoice, we will advise the client via email that their account is going to be terminated. At that time, we will create a .zip file of all website content, as well as any additional graphic files that the client has uploaded to Basecamp. The .zip file will be provided to our primary contact. The client will then have 5 days to transfer their site to a different host. After 5 days, we will remove the website in its entirety from our server. 

9.3 Payment for non-cancellable materials

Any non-cancellable materials, services, etc., we have properly committed ourselves to purchase for your account, (either specifically or as part of a plan such as modules, photography and/or external services) shall be paid for by you, in accordance with our terms of payment. We agree to use our best efforts to minimize such liabilities immediately upon written notification from you. We will provide written proof, upon request of the client that any such materials and services, are non-cancellable.

9.4 Materials Unpaid For

If, upon termination, there exist any materials furnished by us or any services performed by us for which you have not paid us in full, until such time as you have paid us in full you agree not to use any such materials, in whole or in part, or the product of such services.

9.5 Transfer of Materials

Upon termination of this agreement, provided that there is no outstanding indebtedness then owing by the client to Deckard & Company, Deckard & Company shall transfer, assign, and make available to the client all property and materials in its possession or control belonging to the client. The client agrees to pay for all costs associated with the transfer of materials.  

10.0 General Provisions

10.0.1 Governing Law

This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Manatee County, Florida.

10.2 Representations and Warranties

The parties each individually represent and warrant that each has full power and authority to enter into an agreement for services and to perform all of their obligations hereunder without violating the legal or equitable rights of any third party.

11.0 In Closing

After all the legalese of these terms, we wanted to circle back around and, once again, tell you that we deeply appreciate having you as a customer. These terms should not, in any way, be taken as our way of saying we have problems with any of our clients. But it is important to our growth and our continued ability to provide you with the transparency we pride ourselves in.

Thank you for allowing us to partner with you in your success!