Terms of Service

The following contains the terms of service for website design & development, support, maintenance and hosting provided by Sound Ideas Of America, Inc.  (hereafter “Sound Ideas”).    Submission of an order for service indicates agreement to these terms.


Payment Terms

Website Development

Sound Ideas requires a minimum 60% down-payment on all website development and design services.  Down-payments on website development is non-refundable and the amount may be modified at Sound Ideas’ discretion.  The final balance is due at the completion of the project and must be received prior to relinquishing ownership to the customer.

Should a development project span more than 60 days, the customer will receive progress billing in the amount of at least 25% of the remaining balance each month, beginning on day 60 of development.

Website Hosting & Maintenance

Once you become a client of Sound Ideas for an ongoing service, you authorize Sound Ideas to charge the payment method you provided for all invoices generated for the services.

Website hosting and/or maintenance services are billed on the first calendar day of each month for that month.

Since maintenance & hosting are provided on a month-to-month basis, if payment is not received within 7 days beyond the due date, the service will be suspended until payment is received with no credit for the time of the suspension.  Important: This might render your website inaccessible until the overdue payment situation has been rectified.

Sound Ideas reserves the right to modify or cancel the hosting service at any time.

Cancellation & Refunds

You may cancel your recurring service at any time after your first month (30 days) of service.  No refunds will be issued once a purchased service has been started for the duration of the prepaid period.

To cancel your recurring payment or to change your payment method, contact Sound Ideas prior to your payment’s next due date.

At the time of cancellation, all website files, email accounts, and email messages will be deleted from the server.  The customer is responsible for requesting a backup of these files beforehand if they are needed.

General Payment Terms

Sound Ideas requires prepayment for all services and will not begin work or start a service before payment is received.

A valid credit card must remain on file for any incurred hourly charges and/or ongoing maintenance.

If customer pays by a check that does not clear the bank, the customer is considered in default and subject to a returned check charge of $35.


Website Development

Website Completion

A project is considered complete when the full development scope has been reached and the project is approved by the customer.

If the customer requests changes during the project beyond what was agreed to in the original proposal, Sound Ideas may complete these changes at an additional cost.

Once a project is complete, all further changes requested will fall under Sound Ideas’ standard website support/maintenance schedule.

Account access to the website will be granted to the customer only after final payment for the project is received by Sound Ideas.

Adherence to Proposal

It is the responsibility of the customer to review all proposals for website development and other services provided by Sound Ideas.  Should some services fall outside of the scope of the original proposal, Sound Ideas reserves the right to either refuse the project additions or to invoice appropriately to account for the additional time and materials required.  Payment for additions that fall outside of the scope of the original project is due prior to development.

Project Timeline

It is the responsibility of the customer to adhere to a reasonable amount of time for delivering all requested content.  Failure to meet deadlines specified by Sound Ideas may result in delay of the project or risk putting the project on hold.

Indefinite delay of a project may result in project termination, and a new development agreement must be reached prior to restarting the project.

Down-payments for services are non-refundable and will not be returned to the customer should a project be delayed or terminated as a result of the customer failing to adhere to the project timeline.

Third Party Or Client Page Modification

If anyone other than Sound Ideas or its subcontractors attempts to update the web site and damages the design or impairs the ability for the web pages to display or function properly, time to repair the web pages will be assessed at the standard hourly rate beyond any time included in the monthly care plan.


Maintenance & Hosting

Website Resource Usage

Sound Ideas will recommend the most appropriate hosting package for a website based on the customer’s financial/business requirements and estimated site traffic.  Depending on how busy the site becomes, it may require upgrading to higher host resources to keep it running properly.

Sound Ideas will monitor the customer’s disk storage, bandwidth and overall resource usage.  If a website’s usage exceeds a reasonable amount for the type of hosting account being used, Sound Ideas will contact the customer to make arrangements for additional resources.  If the customer does not respond or is unable to be reached, Sound Ideas shall have the right to take corrective actions for exceeding resources.  Such actions may include assessing additional charges, increasing the service plan, temporarily discontinuing services, or even terminating the current agreement.

If the customer determines that more resources are required to improve the site’s performance, it is the customer’s responsibility to contact Sound Ideas to discuss options for increased resources.

Account Credentials

The customer agrees to keep all user IDs and access codes/passwords confidential.  Sharing of account information and passwords is strictly forbidden.  If a customer believes that a website user ID or password has been compromised, the customer must contact Sound Ideas immediately.

Service Interruptions

Sound Ideas is not responsible for interruptions of service beyond its control.  This includes interruptions by its suppliers or natural disasters.

Refusal Of Service

Sound Ideas reserves the right to refuse service to any individual, website, or blog that contain offensive, obscene, hateful or malicious content, or for any other reason.


Legal

Content Responsibilities

Sound Ideas does not assume any responsibility or liability for the content of the websites it manages, maintains and/or hosts.  The customer is responsible for all content posted or stored on their web hosting space.  Sound Ideas exercises no control over the content or information contained on the servers used for hosting.  Sound Ideas will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages which may result from the use of this service by its customers or any other related or unrelated third parties.

Content and Terms of Use

All services provided by Sound Ideas may be used only in accordance of the law.  Storage, documentation, transmission, or presentation of information or data that violates US Federal, State, or City law is strictly prohibited.  This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted or plagiarized material, racist or threatening material, material that is obscene or material protected by any other statute.

Sound Ideas prohibits website hosting customers from participating in pirating unlicensed software, music or video files, listing hacker programs, or including “revenge” information or media.  The customer agrees to indemnify and hold Sound Ideas harmless from any claims resulting from his/her use of Sound Ideas’  services that damage the customer or another party.

Use of Sound Ideas’  web hosting and email services to send Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE or “spam”) is strictly prohibited and may be cause for immediate account termination.  The customer agrees to pay Sound Ideas any reasonable expenses, including attorney and system administration fees, incurred in responding to complaints and damages caused by the action of sending UCE/spam.

Governing Laws

Sound Ideas is located in Orlando, Florida.  This agreement will be performed in and governed by the laws of the State of Florida.  Any claims or legal action arising out of this service agreement must be instituted within one year after the claim or cause has arisen.  Sound Ideas reserves the right to discontinue service for violation of any of the conditions of this service agreement.

All claims, disputes, and controversies arising out of or in relation to the performance, interpretation, application, or enforcement of this agreement, including but not limited to breach thereof, shall be referred to mediation before, and as a condition precedent to, the initiation of any adjudicative action or proceeding, including arbitration.

Limitation Of Liability and Disclaimer Of Warranties

Sound Ideas does not guarantee, represent, or warrant that the functions contained in the website will meet the client’s requirements or that the operation of the website will be uninterrupted or error-free.

You expressly agree that your use of, or inability to use, the functions contained in the website is at your sole risk.  The functions of the website created for you are provided “as is” and “as available” for your use, without warranties of any kind.  The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the website is with the client.

To the extent not prohibited by law, in no event will Sound Ideas or its subcontractors be liable to the client or any third party for any damages, including, but not limited to, any lost profits, lost savings, loss of data, business interruption, or incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of the operation of or inability to operate these webpages, however caused, even if Sound Ideas has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Sound Ideas does not represent, guarantee or warrant that the functions contained in these webpages will be free from loss, corruption, attack, viruses, interference, hacking, or other security intrusions, and Sound Ideas disclaims any liability relating thereto.

This agreement is governed by the laws of Florida.  You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or dispute with Sound Ideas or relating in any way to your use of the created webpages resides in the courts of Florida.

Acceptance

Please note that by submitting your payment, you are agreeing to all of our terms of service as they are outlined here.  Sound Ideas reserves the right to change or update these terms at any time without prior notice.  The user of these services agrees to the terms of this agreement on behalf of his or her organization or business.  This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding of the parties.  Any changes or modifications must be in writing and signed by both parties.


Please contact us with any questions regarding these terms of service.

Last Updated:  04/04/19