Terms of service

Quotes and payment

• Prices are in USD. No GST/HST or other sales tax is charged. If the studio registers for GST/HST, tax applies only to invoices issued after the registration date, and these terms are updated first.
• A build is 50% to start and 50% before your accounts and credentials are handed over. The first payment reserves the build slot and is refundable in full if work has not started; once work starts it is non-refundable.
• You own the design, content and custom code of your site on receipt of final payment. The studio keeps ownership of its own framework, components and tooling, and licenses them to you as part of your site for as long as you use it.
• Account credentials, DNS control and repository access transfer on final payment. The studio removes its own access within 7 days of handover unless you are on a care plan.
• Care plans bill monthly in advance and can be cancelled from the client login; the current month is not refunded and the site keeps running on your own accounts.
• Work outside the written scope is quoted at $65 an hour before it starts.

What you own

On final payment you own the site files, the content and the accounts they run on. Third-party services (hosting, domain, payments, text messaging) are contracted by you, in your name, and billed to you directly.

What you are responsible for

The accuracy of your prices, claims, photographs and policies; the licences for any images or fonts you supply; and following the rules that apply to your trade (for example, advertising rules for regulated health professionals, food-premises rules, precious-metal marking rules). The studio flags what it knows, but this is not legal advice.

Your customers' personal information

Your website collects your customers' details (bookings, orders, messages). They are yours: you decide why they are collected and how they are used, and your privacy policy tells your customers. While the studio hosts or looks after your site, it handles those details only on your behalf and only to run, fix and back up the site:

• They are never used for the studio's own purposes, sold or shared.
• Access is limited to the studio, signing in with a code; the sites run on Cloudflare (hosting and storage, in Canada and the United States) and send email through the email provider. Card payments and text messages, when you switch them on, run on your own Stripe and Twilio accounts.
• If the studio learns that your customers' information has been lost or accessed without permission, it tells you without delay, with what it knows, so you can meet your own duty to report it.
• The studio helps you answer a customer who asks to see, correct or delete their information.
• When the work ends, the studio hands everything over (or deletes it, if you ask) within 30 days, keeping only what the law requires.

Timelines

Build times are quoted in working days from the day the studio has both your deposit and your content. Third-party approvals (payment activation, text-number verification, sign-in consent screens) happen in your name and take extra days that are outside the studio’s control.

Business email and Google profile

Every build includes setting up one business email address on your domain, with a provider you choose, in your name and billed to you directly, and creating or tidying your Google Business Profile. Google’s verification of the profile is done by you, as the owner. The studio cannot guarantee Google’s approval of a profile, or where it appears in search results.

AI features in your website

Every build includes an AI website assistant. It answers from your website’s own pages, says it is an AI, takes messages when it is unsure, and drafts replies to reviews that you check before posting. It can be wrong or incomplete and cannot agree to prices, discounts or exceptions on your behalf. It runs on an AI account in your name; the provider bills you directly and the studio never marks it up. Other languages and further AI features, such as booking or ordering in the chat or an AI phone receptionist, are add-ons quoted in writing before any work starts. In a translated site the English pages prevail, and legal pages stay in English.

Launch & Grow services

Launch Kits and single services are one-time prices in USD, half to start and half on handover, for setting up the accounts and listings each one names. Every account, profile, listing, phone number and mailbox is opened in your name and its login is handed to you. Outside fees, such as the domain, email, phone number, mailbox or any paid listing, are billed to you directly by the provider and never marked up; the studio does not buy a paid upgrade without asking you first. Steps that only the owner can do, such as Google’s verification code or a phone confirmation, are done by you, with the studio’s help. The studio cannot guarantee that Google, Bing, Apple, a directory or a social network approves a profile or listing, or where it appears in search results; basic SEO helps search engines find and understand your business but no ranking is promised.

Social media plans are billed monthly in advance and run month to month: cancel before the next month starts and nothing more is billed, and posts already published stay on your accounts. Each month’s posts are sent to you about a week ahead and nothing is published without your approval. Content is made from photos and videos you or your team provide or approve, with AI tools used for editing, captions, music and colour; it never shows made-up people, products, reviews or results, and it is labelled as AI wherever a platform requires. You confirm you have the right to use the photos, videos, music and logos you send. You keep the rights to your content and accounts. Replies to comments and messages follow the guidance you give and never agree to prices, refunds or exceptions on your behalf.

Changes during the build

Showcase, Booking and Ordering builds include 2 rounds of changes, and Studio builds include 3. A round is one list of changes sent together after you have seen the site. Fixing anything that does not work as the quote describes never counts as a round. Further rounds, and changes that add scope, are quoted at $65 an hour before they start.

Warranty and liability

Defects in the studio’s work are fixed free for 30 days after launch. Beyond that, the care plan covers fixes. The studio’s liability is limited to the amount paid for the work in question. The studio is not liable for outages of third-party services.

The website assistant

The chat on this website is an AI assistant. It answers from this website but can be wrong or incomplete. A quote, price or promise only counts when the studio confirms it in writing; the chat can't agree to prices, discounts or exceptions.

Demo websites

The demo sites use fictional business names and illustrative images. Test payments on them are in sandbox mode and no money moves.