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Client Rights & Responsibilities

We recommend reading this page before using our products and services, to avoid any misunderstanding that might lead to dissatisfaction. We disclose as much relevant information in advance as possible because we want you to be happy with your decision to use our products and services for the long term.

Our free Web Builder software consists of several modules. You have a right to know how they work, what functions they deliver, etc., before deciding to have them installed on your web server. Please see the documentation throughout this site and contact us with any questions or concerns.

Free Software: The Shopping Cart module comes in two versions: one for small online stores and one for large ones. Choose one or the other based on how many items you will offer in your online store. If you will offer < 75 unique items, then the small-store shopping cart module will satisfy your needs. Eight of eleven Web Builder software modules are free. The eight free modules include content management, site search, image editing, small-store shopping cart, image gallery, blogging, graffiti, and calendar. A one-time software licensing fee of $250 applies to the optional large-store shopping cart module. A one-time software licensing fee of $300 applies to the optional pay-per-download module. A one-time software licensing fee of $450 applies to the optional eTicketing module. All modules will continue to work for as long as you maintain your web hosting service.

Web Hosting & Domain Name Registration Services: You have a right to understand what you're getting, and to receive these services as represented for as long as you pay for them. In case we cannot deliver web hosting or domain name registration services as represented, we will make an immediate corresponding refund and/or contract with a third party to deliver service of comparable description and price.

Web Development Services: These services include converting existing web pages to Web Builder format, establishing your custom global design standards (page layout, menus, colors, fonts, background images, etc.), developing logos or other custom graphic images, configuring your software modules, custom functional enhancements such as forms and databases that are not already provided as part of our pre-existing free and optional software modules, software support & training (including HTML coaching), etc.

You have rights & responsibilities as a client receiving web development services; however, it may not work out as you expect if you haven't done it before, especially if you order custom functional enhancements. Please read this section so you'll know what to expect:

1. Invoice clarity. You have a right to know exactly what you're paying for. Our itemized invoices show clearly the relationship between fees and specific requested services. If you have elected a discounted rate in lieu of invoice itemization, feel free to ask about charges. We are happy to explain the work represented on any specific invoice if it's not already clear to you what specific services you're paying for.

2. Pay for what you asked for. You have a right not to be charged for things you didn't ask for. When you request services, we will charge you our stated rate for the requested service, as defined in our package pricing, web hosting, or optional software pages; or where not specifically described otherwise, we will charge an hourly rate for services you requested. The specific rate we charge will be either the publicly-disclosed rate, or the privately-agreed-upon rate disclosed in your invoice, whichever is lower. All time and expenses spent on requested services, including time spent configuring software and training or consulting with you, is billable by one of these methods. When using the package pricing method, you pay only the package price, even if it takes us longer than expected to complete the work. On this account, package-priced features are precisely described. If the work you request does not fit within the description, you should expect to be billed at an hourly rate. If you request a service, you should expect to be billed, and are responsible to pay for it.

3. No firm estimates on custom software development or hourly services. We work in good faith, and far more cost-effectively than most contractors. But we do not give firm estimates ("bids") unless otherwise stated in writing. (Contractors offering firm estimates either [1] develop expensive preliminary studies and specifications, or [2] envision a finished product nothing like you had in mind; so firm estimates come with headaches you probably don't want.) You have a right to know that accurately predicting time for custom software development and other hourly services is impossible when there are many choice points during development. (These are choices you get to make along the way, and that's a good thing.) Requirements always get updated after seeing the first "draft" (and firm bids take that flexibility away from you, which is not a good thing). Any discussion of how much time a proposed custom software development project or other hourly services will take should always be considered a general "guess-timate", not a binding verbal contract. You have a right to updates throughout the course of a project you ordered, and to modify your requirements based on such updates. You have the responsibility to pay for services which you ordered and which meet your stated requirements. If you require a firm price, be sure to get the price and specifications in writing. If a firm price is what you require, then you must be prepared to define or approve specifications in advance, and live with them.

4. Clearly stating requirements. Ordering technical services is sometimes a challenge when you have an idea of what you want, but don't know exactly how to ask for it, so clarity is important to avoid misunderstandings that might lead to dissatisfaction. As a web site owner, you have the right to specify how you want your web site to look, and what content is to be contained within. If you order any enhanced functionality such as custom forms, scripts, and databases, you have the right to specify any visible aspects of the user experience, such as input and output; limited only by the practical reality of what the selected technologies can deliver. You have the responsibility to understand the basic concepts associated with the selected technologies upon which your business will rely, so that you can consciously assume any risks associated with such reliance. (If in doubt, ask!) You have the responsibility to identify and state what you really want before and during project development; and measure successful delivery of ordered services by how well a completed project conforms to your stated requirements, that is, whether we delivered what you said you wanted, not what you meant. That's fair, right?

5. No warranty for custom-developed software. "Custom-developed software" means functional enhancements you've asked for that are not part of the pre-existing free and optional Web Builder software modules or package-priced features, including scripts, forms, databases, etc. If our pre-existing free and optional software modules or package-priced features fail to function properly, any fixing is done at no charge to you. But if your other custom-developed software fails, you have to pay to get it fixed. This is how custom software development contracting works—and you have a right to know that. A common misconception among consumers of custom-developed software is that it's like buying a product in a retail store: that it should be represented a certain way, should work as represented, and should be covered by a warranty in case it fails to do so. But it isn't like that. In reality, custom-developed software is more like working with an OEM manufacturer: You bring your idea and blueprints to them, they build the product for you to your specifications, then you sell the product under your own brand name. Since you, the web site owner, establish the requirements, you must also pay for maintenance and assume any risks associated with design and performance. Since your computer service professional is not selling a pre-packaged product, he cannot even represent it to work any particular way, much less warrant that it will. Since your professional web developer in this case is only only helping you bring to life your own creation, he cannot reasonably be expected to take responsibility for outcomes, but can make recommendations, and help find mistakes, and correct them, which is naturally a billable service. This is just the "nature of the beast". It is how contracting for custom-developed software normally works, regardless of which contractor you hire.

6. Disclaimer of Warranty. If our pre-existing free and optional software modules or package-priced features fail to perform as expected, any fixing is done at no charge to you. But they still aren't warranted. Commercial software never is. Like all commercial software, all our software modules and features are offered without warranty, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. We will not be liable to the web site owner for any damages including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss directly or indirectly arising from the use or inability to use our software and features, nor for breach of warranty, or for any other cause. (Read the fine print and you find such statements accompanying all commercial software.)

So there it is: Those are the facts. We want you to know them in advance, so we can accomplish good work together without misunderstandings.

Have questions? Let us provide solutions.

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