Service and billing policies

The following policies are effective as of September 26, 2006. Policies are subject to change at any time without notice.

Service Policy

DMS does not warrant that your website or email service will be uninterrupted or free of errors based on the following external sources: hosting and database servers, DNS routers, domain name registration, and internet access providers.

However, in the event of such problems, DMS will attempt to contact such sources when problems arise and attempt to have the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

In the event that you or your clients discover an error on your website, a typo or other technical issue, please contact us at support@dynamicmediasolutions.net. Be sure to include any error message(s) received (copying and pasting the entire message from your web browser is recommended), the page the problem occurred on, and any additional details that may help us resolve the problem faster.

Typically, without an error message or at least the page that the problem occurred on, diagnosing a problem can sometimes be impossible, so please be sure to collect enough information before contacting us.

Testing Policy

DMS will make every good-faith effort to test all deliverables thoroughly and make all necessary corrections as a result of such testing prior to delivering work to the internet. Upon completion of testing, DMS will post the deliverables to a temporary location on the internet and notify you. Upon receipt of the deliverables, you should review and test the deliverables. You shall either accept the deliverables or provide DMS with written notice of any changes to be made.

Upon approval of the deliverables, DMS will post the final work to your website, where it will become accessible to your site visitors.

Estimates and Proposals

Estimates

1. Estimates are provided by DMS to all clients requesting billable work.
2. Billable work estimates are based on the current hourly rate.
3. Estimates will be provided to clients via email.
4. First-time clients must provide a down payment of 50% before billable work will begin. Repeat customers are billed at the completion of billable work.
5. DMS will attempt to stick to the estimated amount; however, clients will be notified by email or phone if the number of hours to complete a work request will go over the estimate.
6. If the client requests changes, DMS will notify them of the additional time to complete the changes. The additional hours will be billed at the hourly rate.

Proposals

1. Clients requesting a project will receive a formal proposal in the form of a PDF document sent via email. The proposal will outline the project details, project price, payment installments and terms.
2. Projects are billed in 3 installments: a down payment (60% of the total price), a midway payment (30%) and a final payment (10%). Projects must be paid in full before they will be delivered.
3. Clients will be required to provide the down payment amount upon signing a formal agreement with DMS agreeing to the specifications in the proposal.
4. If the client requests changes, DMS will notify them of the additional time to complete the changes. The additional hours will be billed with the final payment at the hourly rate noted in the proposal.

Billing Policies

1. All Billable work requests will be billed for a minimum of 30 minutes, based on the current hourly rate. Billable work is billed in 30 minute increments.  See Billable Services Requests section below for details.
2. Billable work invoices are generated and emailed (in PDF format) on the 1st and 15th of each month. If either of these dates falls on a weekend or holiday, invoices are generated on the business day prior.
3. Payment terms for invoices are due NET 15 from the invoice date.
4. Payments can be made by check (including cashiers checks) or money orders.  Please do not send cash.
5. Accounts over 20 days will automatically be put on credit hold and are subject to late fees of 1.5% per month or 18% annum plus legal fees if necessary.
   1. No additional work will be completed for accounts in past due status.
   2. For past due website hosting fees, the website, email accounts and forwarding addresses will be placed in a disabled status until payment is received.
   3. For past due domain registration/renewal fees, the domain registration company may release your domain name to the public. DMS may attempt to regain ownership of the domain name once payment is received, but cannot guarantee its availability.
6. Project payments are due upon receipt. Customer sign-offs and payments are required before the next phase of a project will begin.

Billable Service Requests

The following lists provide samples of work that are considered billable work requests and any exceptions. If you're not sure what category your work request falls into, please let us know. To reduce your billable requests, consider "stockpiling" your requests and sending them once or twice a month. If you expect to make significant requests, you should sign a Retainer Agreement (see section below).

Billable

1. Adding, updating or removing a webpage or a feature from a webpage
2. Text changes (other than typos and simple updates)
3. Layout or navigation changes
4. Photo and audio manipulation or creation
5. Programming enhancements or database changes, including adding new users to Administration sections
6. Conversion of documents to PDF format for posting on website
7. Uploading or posting of new documents, photos, etc. to a hosting server
8. Setup of additional POP and forwarding email accounts (after initial hosting account setup)
9. Site Administration feature training (after site is initially published)

Excluded

1. Text changes such as typos and simple updates
2. Layout or navigation errors
3. Programming error correction
4. Basic technical support questions (where errors or problems are occurring)
5. Any work requested while DMS is under retainer is included in the retainer agreement

Retainer Agreements

1. Retainer agreements provide a reduction to your costs for adding, updating and enhancing your website, designing print media, developing interactive CD-ROMs and any services provided by Dynamic Media Solutions, Inc.
2. Retainers are created in 2 hour increments, with 2 hours being the minimum.
3. Your payments are due by the same day of each month. If your payment is not received within 10 days of the due date, a 10% late fee will be assessed.
4. If the number of hours used in a month goes over your retainer, additional hours are billed at the discounted rate of your retainer.
5. Each quarter, DMS will review the number of hours you have used for your retainer agreement and may notify you if you could benefit from upgrading your agreement hours per month and increase your savings. Upgrading is always optional.
6. Retainer hours not used each month are not carried over and are not refunded.
7. Retainer agreements cannot be applied to any third-party/outside products or services such as: website hosting, domain name registration, printing supplies or fees, film, software, computer hardware, etc.

Cancellations and Refunds

1. For projects and retainer agreements, clients may request a cancellation of the agreement, in writing, within 3 days of signing the agreement.
   1. A cancellation fee (15% of the down payment amount - for projects; 2 monthly payments - for retainer agreements), time for any work completed and any expenses incurred will be deducted from the initial payment and the balance will be refunded to the client.
   2. The client is liable to pay for any work completed which exceeds the initial payment amount.
   3. No portion of this or any payment will be refunded after 3 days from the signing of any agreement for any reason.
2. For billable work, no refunds will be provided for any billable work already completed.
3. In the event of cancellation, ownership of all copyrights and any original artwork and code shall be retained by DMS.

Ownership Rights

All files created by DMS that collectively constitute a web site as viewed online, and not including source files, become the property of the client when the agreement or invoice is paid in full. DMS grants to the client a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, unrestricted license to use, modify, transfer and maintain the files.

DMS will hold legal rights over any code developed for use in the site, and may use it in future projects without limitations from the client. Any proprietary code developed by DMS will be encrypted to protect the content of the code.

In the event of cancellation, ownership of all copyrights, any original artwork and all code shall be retained by DMS.