coding commission terms of service

By purchasing my services you automatically agree to the following terms and conditions. It is your responsibility to be familiar with these terms. They are subject to change at any time.

Hereafter, the person purchasing my services is referred to as "you", "commissioner", or "the commissioner".

Changelog

• 11/3/2024
  • Added terms regarding "ghosting" of commissioner and/or circumstances where the commissioner blocks me.
  • Added clarification regarding:
    • Payment
    • Personal Identifiable Information
    • Hosting services
  • Reorganized the Terms of Service for legibility.

1. General

1. I reserve the right to deny service to anyone without explanation.
2. I reserve the right to use commissioned work for my portfolio, unless requested otherwise.
   • You will be credited as appropriate for any design work, images/artwork, or additional code.
3. I will not use any PII (personal identifiable information) for any use other than as required to provide the services requested.
   • PII is defined as such by the US Department of Labor:
     • Any representation of information that permits the identity of an individual to whom the information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means. Further, PII is defined as information: (i) that directly identifies an individual (e.g., name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code, telephone number, email address, etc.) or (ii) by which an agency intends to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, i.e., indirect identification. (These data elements may include a combination of gender, race, birth date, geographic indicator, and other descriptors). Additionally, information permitting the physical or online contacting of a specific individual is the same as personally identifiable information. This information can be maintained in either paper, electronic or other media.
4. In turn, you may not share my personal identifiable information for any reason.
5. The right to use my work is not an endorsement in any way.

2. Payment

1. An invoice for hourly charges will be delivered after the work is completed. The code will be delivered after the work is completed for the commissioner to verify.
2. Payment is due upon verification that the code has been delivered or one week -- whichever is sooner.
   • Other terms may be agreed on a case-by-case basis, which supersedes this rule.
3. I can work on a per-project/flat rate basis instead of hourly for general dev work.
   • Quotes for per-project/flat rate may be priced at higher than an hourly quote.
4. Payment is done via PayPal invoice. We may discuss other options if PayPal is not available in your country.

3. Expectations of Me & You

1. I will provide a fair and reasonable timeline for when your work will be completed, and I will provide an advance warning if the expected timeframe changes.
   • You reserve the right to ask for updates at any time.
2. For up to a month, I will happily fix errors caused by my own code, free of charge.
   • Errors caught after that time or errors unrelated to my code can be fixed as an additional charge.
3. I check my work messages between 4 and 5 PM CST on weekdays, and sporadically on Saturday (typically early in the morning). I typically don't work on Sundays. I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, but I work 40 hour full-time day job so responses may be delayed. Expect me to get back to you within 1-2 days, excluding vacations or other time off. Please be reasonable -- this is my side job, and I support a family.
4. Due to my schedule, "working" hour availability (the billable time that I am actively working on your site) may be sporadic. You don't need to be available exactly at the same time I'm working -- however, you must be comfortable with me messaging you status updates regardless of whether or not you are available at that very moment.
5. I can not provide assistance with community issues.
6. I reserve the right to deny services at any time.
   • If money has been exchanged, you will be refunded for any work not performed.

4. Hosting Details

This section applies to people whose websites I host via my managed hosting/long-term support services.

1. Hosting payment has a 15 day grace period. If you do not pay before the 15th of the month, your site will be turned off until paid.
2. Hosting payment will be set up as a PayPal or Stripe subscription.
3. You may pay for multiple months in advance. However, I do not offer discounts at this time.
4. Bug fixes, version upgrades, and changes that can be made in 5 minutes or less (typically UI changes) are covered by your monthly charge. To prevent overworking myself, frequent small changes will incur additional dev time at your discounted $35/hour rate. I'll let you know as soon as we approach that amount -- there will be no surprises.

• What constitutes as "five minute change" is up to my discretion.

5. Domain names will be purchased via Namecheap and managed on my own account for convenience. It's also a separate purchase from what I charge for dev work -- expect to pay $15-20/year. There is a legally required 60 day period before we can transfer the domain, but after that timeframe you may manage it yourself if you would prefer.

• In certain circumstances I may have the commissioner purchase their own domain name (such as better pricing, etc).

6. Your website's code will be available via a private GitHub repository at any time.
7. If you have another coder for your site, I have no problem working with them! I don't offer any discounts for that, however.

• You must put me in contact with the other coder and communicate changes to the site.

8. I typically do not provide email accounts, but this can be discussed depending on your needs.
9. If you wish to shut down, I will store your database for up to one year, and your data will be stored on GitHub indefinitely.
   • At this time, this does not include images, unless requested.
   • We can discuss your options if you need it stored longer.
   • Data can be deleted at your request at any time, in compliance with EU law.
10. Your website will be stored on a DigitalOcean droplet that is managed by me. Backups are stored on BackBlaze B2 Cloud Storage.
    • DigitalOcean and Backblaze are responsible for the safekeeping of your data.
11. If you decide to move off of my hosting services, I have no problem helping you migrate.
    • I do not offer long-term support after you migrate to a different host.
    • You may hire me for additional one-off developer services at my standard rate.
12. If you have been unresponsive to my inquries for over 30 days (also known as "ghosting") or have blocked me via Discord or other communication channels, I will assume you are no longer interested in my services.
    • Your server will be shutdown, and your site no longer accessible. Your data will be stored for the standard one year period.
    • If you wish to resume my services, you must pay any delinquent hosting charges, as well as a $35 fee to recreate your server.