TERMS OF SERVICE

Setting expectations to ensure everyone is happy.

We’ll always do our best to fulfil your needs and meet your expectations, but it’s important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what and when, and what will happen if something goes wrong.

In this contract, you won’t find any complicated legal terms or long passages of unreadable text. We’ve no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. What we do want is what’s best for both parties, now and in the future.

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.

Definitions
  • Client/You: The company or individual requesting the services of Storm Design.
  • Storm Design/Us: The company supplying the service/s
  • Project: Any task that is assigned to us to work on. Web design, web development, logo design, branding services, marketing service, consultancy or other computer-related services being provided to the Client by Storm Design
  • Project Completion: Completion of components outlined in the project breakdown pre-agreed during the quoting process.
  • Launch: Upload to the ‘public web’ or release of materials to the Client.

You: You have the authority to enter into the agreements discussed on behalf of yourself, your company or your organisation. You’ll give us everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we need it. You’ll review our work, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner too. Deadlines work two ways, so you’ll also be bound by dates we set together. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this contract.

We will carry out work only where an agreement is provided either by email, instant messengers (such as Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp) or telephone. An ‘order’ is deemed to be a written or verbal contract between Storm Design and the client.

Please ensure that you read the project design, breakdown, quote and terms & conditions properly and that all details of the work are included, understood and mutually agreed on.

Us: We have the experience and ability to do everything we’ve agreed with you and we’ll do it all in a professional and timely manner. We’ll endeavour to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that we’ll maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.

Time-frames for each project or task will be discussed with the client, before the project commences. We will do our best to complete the project as soon as reasonably possible. For a high standard of quality to be produced, please allow sufficient time for the project to be completed.

Unfortunately, unplanned delays do happen from time to time. Health issues, technical issues, electrical issues, unplanned travel, political instability and other circumstances beyond one’s control can produce additional delays. 

Any timeframes quoted do not take into consideration feedback delays. If we do not receive feedback from you (when requested) about any of the work done so far or require clarifications from your end we will usually be unable to resume the work and therefore delay the final delivery date. 

Charges for services to be provided by Storm Design are defined in the project quotation that each Client receives via e-mail. Quotations are valid for a period of thirty (30) days unless otherwise stated. We reserve the right to alter or decline to provide a quotation after the expiry of the thirty (30) days.

Prices quoted are an estimate and may be subject to change during the process of design and build. This can be caused by the client choosing to amend any aspect of their requirements or any third-party cost increases which occur beyond our control.

Any charges incurred by international payments or international bank transfers are not our responsibility. Therefore, any such charges must be settled by the client, in addition to the amounts invoiced by us. Consequently, we do not accept ‘shared charges’ for international bank transfers or international payments.

We’re sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that we send you promptly. As we’re also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick to the following payment schedule.

  • 40% – Deposit to be settled before work on your project commences. Payment for third-party software and services, such as: web hosting and domain names, may also be required in full at this stage.
  • 30% – required after the client reviews the initial project build on a test server or other suitable environment
  • 30% – required 2 weeks after launch of the project.

This payment schedule applies for all projects unless agreed otherwise during the quoting stage. In cases where the project cost is below €1000, then we require payment for the service in advance to facilitate invoicing. 

Any additions or amendments outside of the project breakdown, which are required by the client, will not extend the deadline of the payment of the remaining balance.

Payment for services is to be settled via any of the methods listed on the invoice. Bank Transfer is the preferred method for ease of traceability.

Invoices will be provided to the client upon completion but before publishing the live project. Invoices are normally sent via email.

Any outstanding accounts for work carried out by us are required to be paid in full, no later than seven (30) days from the date of the invoice unless by prior arrangement.

Accounts that remain unpaid thirty (30) days after the date of the invoice will incur a service charge in the amount of €30 per month. We will contact clients via email and telephone to remind them of such payments if they are not received when due.

If accounts are not settled or we have not been contacted regarding the delay, access to the related website may be denied, work carried out removed and web pages removed, we will then pass such cases to our lawyer to pursue payment.

Following consistent non-payment of an invoice, our Lawyer will contact the client in question, with a view to taking the matter further and if need be to seek payment through legal procedures, and if necessary court summons.

Accounts unpaid ninety (90) days after the date of invoice will be considered in default. If the Client in default maintains any information or files on our servers, we will at our discretion, remove all such material from our server/s. Storm Design 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 Storm Design reasonable expenses, including legal fees and costs for collection by third-party agencies, incurred by us in enforcing these Terms and Conditions.

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

When your final payment has cleared, copyright of all the work that we have created for you 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 own all elements of text, images and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.
  • You own any domain names that have been registered and the website itself.

We love to show off work that we have done for our clients, and therefore we retain the right to display and/or link to the work that we have created as part of our portfolio or to write about it on any medium without your prior permission. If you however have an issue with this, please let us know and we will ensure that there are no links or mentions of our affiliation with you anywhere.

The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the length of time we estimate we’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told us you want to achieve, but we’re happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as we’ll provide a separate estimate and new delivery timelines to match your requirements.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. Do note however that when something is considered as confirmed (as final/approved), changes to the approved element at that point are subject to an alteration fee.

The client must inform us of any amendments required within 7 days of the project completion. At the completion of the project, such materials will be deemed to be accepted and approved.

While we understand the importance of receiving timely feedback and materials from our clients, we cannot be held responsible for delays in project completion caused by a lack of input or materials. We will make every effort to communicate our needs clearly and provide reasonable deadlines for the requested information or materials. However, if a project is delayed due to a lack of response or materials from the client, we reserve the right to adjust project timelines and fees accordingly. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in ensuring the timely completion of projects.

If the client would like design mock-ups of their project before the project commences or various options to choose from to settle for a final look of the project this service can be provided for an additional cost.

Please confirm immediately if any changes need to be made to the project breakdown and quote given. Any changes made after approval of the quote, including designs and any other material will incur a further charge.

Any additional work required by the Client on a previously completed project, will be considered as a separate project and will therefore incur charges of its own.

The client agrees to reimburse us for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Examples would be the purchase of special fonts, stock photography, plugins etc.

Service Specific Clauses

Web Design & Development

Whilst every endeavor will be made to ensure that the website developed  and any scripts or programs are free of errors, we cannot accept responsibility for any losses incurred due to malfunction, the website or any part of it.

The website, graphics and any programming code remain our  property until all outstanding accounts are paid in full.

Any scripts, applications, or software (unless specifically agreed) written by us remain the copyright of Storm Design and may only be commercially reproduced or resold with our permission.

We cannot take responsibility for any copyright infringements caused by materials submitted by the client. We reserve the right to refuse any material of a copyrighted nature unless adequate proof is given of permission to use such material.

Any additions to the brief will be carried out at our discretion and where no fee is charged for such additions, We accept no responsibility to ensure such additions are error free and reserve the right to charge a fee based on our standard hourly fee for any correction to these or further additions.

The client agrees to make available to us, as soon as is reasonably possible all materials required to complete the site to the agreed standard and within the set deadline.

We will not be liable for costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the failure to meet agreed deadlines.

Storm Design will not be liable or become involved in any disputes between the site owner and their clients and cannot be held responsible for any wrongdoing on the part of a site owner.

We will not be liable for any costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the work carried out on behalf of the client or any of the clients appointed agents.

We will not be liable for any costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the unavailability of the site, its servers, software or any material provided by its agents.

Once a website has been designed and completed the final balance of payment is then due in accordance with our payment terms. There are no exceptions to this, i.e. if the client decides they no longer want the site, as they have commissioned the work and paid a deposit they are still obliged to pay for the work that has been done. Non-payment will result in legal action being taken if necessary.

During the development of a new website, we will require the Client to provide website content; text, images, movies and sound files. As a small agency, we must ensure that the work we have programmed is carried out at the scheduled time. This is why we ask that the Client provides 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 you agree to provide us with the required information and subsequently fail to do so within four weeks of project commencement, we reserve the right to pause or close the project and the balance remaining becomes payable immediately.

Please Note: Text content should be delivered as a SOFT COPY (Microsoft Word, email or similar) 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.

If the Client decides to change content following submission to us, additional fees may apply. Alternatively, the client can choose to do the changes to the website themselves via the provided CMS (Content management system).

Unless otherwise specified in the project quotation, this Agreement assumes that any photographs and other graphics will be provided in high-quality, electronic files such as .gif, .jpeg, .png .tiff .eps .svg .pdf format. 

If company logos are not provided in vector/high resolution format, the final visual aspect of the project may be imacted. At an extra fee, we can assist you to re-build your logo in vector.

By engaging our services, you acknowledge and agree that while we conduct thorough searches online to avoid the replication of existing logos, we cannot guarantee absolute originality or uniqueness. We strive to create distinctive designs tailored to your specifications, but similarities with existing logos may occur inadvertently. Clients are responsible for ensuring that their requested designs do not infringe upon any existing trademarks or copyrights. We reserve the right to refuse service or discontinue work on any project if legal concerns arise. Our liability is limited to the extent permitted by law. By accepting our services, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims arising from the use of our designs.

Storm Design cannot take responsibility for any losses incurred by the use of any software created for the client. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure products are problem-free and accurate, the ultimate responsibility lies with the client in ensuring that all software is functioning correctly before and during use.

Where applications or sites are developed on servers not recommended by us, the client is expected to provide or seek any information, additional software, support or co-operation pertaining to the server required in order for the application to be correctly developed. Where large applications are to be developed, it is the client’s responsibility to provide a suitable testing environment that is identical to the final production environment.

The client is expected to test fully any application or programming relating to a site developed by us before being made generally available for public use. Where “bugs”, errors or other issues are found after the site is live, Storm Design will endeavour (but is not obliged to) to correct these issues to meet the standards of function outlined in the brief.

Even though we provide hosting & email services to our customers, we’re not the company that manages the server physically. Therefore, for any web hosting related issues, our web hosting partner takes care of the maintenance, fixes, updates and repairs of the server.

Hosting downtime is inevitable at this price point, and from time to time, the website will inevitably experience down time to cover server reboots, operating system and web server management software security update installations, server crashing, hacking attempts, DDOS etc.

There may be instances of longer down-time due to hardware faults, electrical faults, connectivity issues or acts of nature. We do not have control over these issues, and therefore we cannot be held responsible for server downtime. Should you wish to host your website on servers with a 100% uptime record, please get in touch with us and we will quote accordingly.

We have taken many precautions including:

  • Daily (on-site) server backup (Handled by our web hosting provider)
  • The option for each client to purchase a secondary off-site backup (via a 3rd party) for a small yearly fee.
  • Implemented various security protocols to protect the server and each individual website aginst hacking, malware and data and/or database corruption.
  • Update the server software often to close off known security vulnerabilities.
  • Provide the option for each client through the maintenance agreement to routinely check each website for vulnerabilities, outdated software etc. at a small yearly fee.

No internet-connected system is ever 100% safe from these issues, and we cannot be held responsible for when any such issue/s arise. In the unlikely event of this happening, we will strive to restore your website/s and email services. Depending on the severity of the issue, the restoration of service may take from just a few minutes to several days. Should your website be mission-critical and require additional assurance that such downtime cannot happen, please let us know so that we can recommend better hosting services that will include additional redundancy to avoid any downtime.

We took it upon ourselves to purchase the highest level SLA with our web hosting partner, which provide us with very short response times to issues. Always keep in mind however that issues outside of our or our partner’s control may result in downtime or slow down of service to you and/or your clients.

Our digital marketing services are designed to promote your product or service to the appropriate audience at the optimal point in their buying journey. While we strive for effective campaigns, we cannot guarantee specific results, and the decision to purchase ultimately lies with the consumer. We commit to employing industry best practices and leveraging our expertise to maximize visibility and engagement. The client acknowledges that market dynamics, consumer behavior, and external factors influence outcomes. Therefore, we cannot be held responsible for the client’s sales or conversion results. By engaging our services, you accept the inherent uncertainties in marketing outcomes and agree that our responsibility is limited to the diligent execution of agreed-upon strategies.

Service Agreement