Policies

The Client Queue

Freckled Nest works in a client queue process, which means that when you book your project there is a $100 USD fee to hold a place in your designer's upcoming work schedule. While we try to work with firm timelines, your start date is dependent on the completion of projects before yours. We try our best to budget enough time for each project and stay on schedule, but there are times that a project may take longer than expected.

Once you have paid, you can visit your designer's secret Client Queue page online to watch your name move toward the top (feel free to ask how many people are in your preferred designers queue before you submit your deposit). You will be given a firm starting date two weeks before your project begins, but until then you will have a place in the queue and not a firm starting date.

 

Communication

We ask that clients reply to design related emails within 48 hours of being contacted so their project can progress in a timely manner. Your designer's goal will be to send you new creative every 3 - 4 business days, and is available to you by e-mail, online chat, phone calls and video conferencing through skype. What works best for you two is up to you!

 

Archived & Abandoned Projects

Before a project starts, if a client is non-responsive for 5 days while we attempt to secure their first project payment, their project is considered abandoned. Work on their project will not begin and payments already made toward the project will not be refunded. 

During a project, if a client consistently cannot reply to their designer within 3 - 4 days of being contacted, the design will run longer than six weeks and will negatively impact the clients after them and the designer's schedule. When this happens their designer will notify them that they need a response inside of the four day timeline (preferred 48 hours response time). Clients receive two notifications as opportunities to improve the situation, but after the second reminder the project will be archived at Freckled Nest's discretion. Work on the project will not continue and payments already made are non-refundable.

We have big hearts and don't like enforcing this policy, but we're a small company and time & effort put into projects for non-responsive clients is a real loss to our business. At this time we do not re-book with clients who have had previously abandoned or archived projects, sorry!

 

Design Process

The spark for each design is the "Homework Assignment", and after you've completed it your designer will create an overall concept for your site that they will describe and send you rough ideas for. When this is approved, you will work together to create elements that will build up to that concept, and you will see pieces of those elements as your designer refines their work. As each piece of your demo is completed they will be added into a complete preview of your design that your live site will be built to match.

When your demo is ready you’ll be able to make three revisions- revisions at this point are small, such as rearranging the order of elements in your sidebar or changing the size of the font. After these three revisions are made, additional changes cost $50 per hour. 

We provide an extensive portolfio and design profiles for clients to review before they work with us, so please review it to make sure you're comfortable with your designer's style. For more information on what you will experience during the design process, please check our FAQ page.

 

Package Limitations

If a client decides they would like to abandon a previously approved, overall design concept for their site and start over, their project will continue at a rate of $50 per hour in addition to their package price.

If a client decides they would like to abandon a previously approved, overall design concept for major design elements such as the banner or the style for a set of elements such as the sidebar headings, the work on that aspect of their site would continue at a rate of $50 per hour in addition to their package price. 

If creative work on a project is not completed inside of the five weeks allocated for the one-on-one design process, the project will change to hourly billing at $50 per hour. This is in addition to the package price and is necessary because after five weeks, the creative time that the designer has budgeted has been used, and the original package price no longer compensates them for their work.  

When a project moves to hourly billing designers will track their time and submit weekly invoices. If the client has an outstanding invoice for one week their project will be paused and the creative will not be released until payment is completed. In this case, when the outstanding balance is paid the project will be scheduled into the designer's schedule according to the designers availability and discretion. 

 

Copyright

The design element, photoshoots and original creative produced for each of our custom designs are the copyright and intellectual property of Freckled Nest and of your Designer. Clients may display their completed design indefinitely, but the design credit must be displayed on all pages of their website. If a client would like their design credit added to their blog footer instead of having it displayed in the sidebar, we are happy to accommodate them.

If you are interested in purchasing original photos and/or .psd files for your design, or in purchasing the copyright so you can edit and adapt it or use the creative in a different way (custom paint job for your private jet? to have shaved into your dog's coat?) please request a quote and describe what you’d like to purchase and your intended use. 

Freckled Nest and your Designer will not use the custom elements of your design for any other project except to promote their design work and the completed project.

 

Payment and Refunds

We accept payments through Paypal, including all major credit cards. Full payment is required for individual services before designers begin their work. Payment for all design packages is due in either two or three installments. The first instalment required is a $100 deposit for Freckled Nest to secure a spot in our designer's client queue. After that, there are two options to complete the remaining amount:

Option 1 - The client pays 100% of the remaining amount on their design approximately 2 weeks before their project starts.

Option 2 - The client pays 70% of the remaining amount of their design approximately 2 weeks before their project starts, and the 30% after the demo of their design has been approved closer to the end of the process.

All of our prices are listed in US dollars & once payment is made, it is non-refundable. By sending payment you indicate that you agree to our terms.