The service-level agreement (SLA) aims to ensure that the expectations and needs of both the customer and the supplier are clearly defined and heard. He protects us all!
Please “expect” a small delay in responding to emails. A deadline that we impose on ourselves, needing to optimize our work periods without interruption.
In order for us to respect your needs and our prior commitments, please contact us at least 48 hours in advance and ideally 1 to 2 weeks before the date you need to have your graphic creation in hand. For websites, you will understand that the deadlines are longer: contact us at least 2 months before the expected delivery date and ideally 3 to 4 months in advance.
We concentrate communications via email and in our Google Drive shared documents so we have everything in one place. Please avoid Facebook and other informal channels (e.g. texting)
We set up weekly time reports for time banks and time plans, and we do bi-weekly billing/reconciliation. If you want a different billing frequency, you can let me know.
Invoices are always payable upon receipt, with a grace period of 30 days without interest. We must be diligent about these deadlines. Reminders are therefore automated in our billing system. Thank you for paying your bills on time.
0.1. A service level agreement (“SLA”) is like a guarantee. It describes what is covered in the event that problems of various kinds are detected in a project.
0.2. A “project” can be a brand, website, graphic or other design that can include: print materials, signage, web graphics, content and strategy.
0.3. “impact” is the term used to describe a situation where either the supplier or the customer acts in such a way as to make it unrealistic for the other to perform its part of the contract. This may include, but is not exclusive to: failure to respond to calls or emails in a timely manner, (see clauses in Section 20), except by prior agreement with the Designer.
0.4. The word “contract” as it appears in these terms and conditions means the contract between Alexem Studio and the customer, which shall be based on the terms and conditions contained in this Service Level Agreement (SLA).
1.1. Emails are subject to a 48-hour response time (unless considered urgent as described in section 8.9). Emails are processed in batches 2x per day. Calls are returned 1x per day.
1.2. Alexem Studio plans projects and a schedule on a weekly basis. In order to meet the deadlines promised to all of its Clients, the latter must plan their needs in advance so that they can agree on a delivery date that suits both parties. After the analysis of the Customer’s request, Alexem Studio will inform the Customer of the next possible delivery date. A request that cannot wait for this time slot will be subject to the increased hourly rate posted in the fees.
2+ weeks in advance: PERFECT!
1 week in advance: Possible…
2-3 days in advance: Risky and complicated
Impossible without overtime: The same day (!)
3-4 months in advance: PERFECT!
2 months in advance: Possible…
1 month or less in advance: Risky and complicated
Impossible without overtime: The very week (!)
1.3. When making a request, the Customer must include these essential elements, ideally within a single email or file:
– Desired date and/or absolute deadline
– Budget or number of hours envisaged
– Context of the request, need, objectives
– List of required parts (if several)
– Applicable technical specifications
– Examples, references, comparables
1.4. It is the customer’s responsibility to provide all necessary materials BEFORE the work begins. Missing documents or information will necessarily cause additional delays and sometimes duplicate work (more hours), which is not desirable for both parties. Please ensure that you provide clear instructions, in a single email, with relevant attachment(s) (.zip). It is also advisable and even preferable to use the assigned and shared Google Drive folder.
1.5. Only email or phone requests will be considered and scheduled in a timely manner. Alexem Studio is not required to respond under the terms of this SLA to informal requests from Facebook (personal) or received via text message.
2. Contract
2.1. The terms and conditions contained in this SLA apply to all customers, unless otherwise agreed in writing. No other contractual conditions apply unless a specific written agreement has been produced. In case of ambiguity between these terms and conditions and the terms agreed upon in writing between Alexem Studio and the Customer, these terms and conditions shall prevail.
2.2. This SLA will be emailed with all quotes via a web link. By accepting a quote, Customer also agrees to the terms and conditions contained in this SLA.
2.3. Alexem Studio reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time by notifying customers
3.1. Alexem Studio will provide the Client with initial estimates for projects upon request. These estimates will be as accurate as possible based on a set of initial concepts and an indicated number of revisions. However, the final project amount may differ from the initial estimate. An informal estimate, as opposed to a quotation, is useful when the actual project amount cannot be reasonably or accurately determined at the outset. The customer will be made aware of the nature of the quote provided.
3.2. Work performed beyond this estimate, including a change in documented specifications, will be subject to additional charges which will be confirmed with the customer via email prior to the start of the additional work. Costs will be billed at an hourly rate or on a lump sum basis depending on the agreement, either at the time they are incurred or upon full completion of a project.
3.3. All quotes, estimates, notes and other documents shared between Alexem Studio and the Client are commercially confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties without prior written consent.
3.4. Requests added to a project AFTER the Client has accepted it may incur additional charges. Where possible, depending on the time frame requested by the Customer, the Customer will be informed of these additional charges by email prior to the commencement of the work.
3.5. Quotes are normally valid for 14 days, unless a different date is specified on the quote.
3.6. Any deposit is due immediately, with the balance due upon completion of the work upon receipt of the final invoice. Time banks are payable immediately, prior to the start of the work.
4.1. Client agrees to provide written approval of the proposal via email prior to the start of any work as a statement of agreement between Client and Designer regarding the work described in said proposal. The email agreement is the official signature.
5.1. the Designer, if necessary, may act as the Client’s agent and, directly or through an intermediary, request another contractor and/or supplier (“Third Party(ies)”) to perform certain aspects of the project (e.g. printing).
5.2. the Designer will pay the costs of such Third Parties upon the agreement of the Client, and then recharge them to the Client.
5.3. the Designer will take all reasonable precautions to select and instruct a third party. However, the Designer will have no control over the activities of third parties and therefore accepts no responsibility for the services provided to the Client by such third party contractor or for any errors or omissions in their work or products. (e.g. delivery times).
6.1 The value of work included in a fixed price quotation specification which is omitted (undelivered) will be assessed independently and deducted from the final project amount.
6.2 Work in addition to that detailed in a fixed price estimate will be evaluated and added to the final sum of the project.
7.1. For all graphic design services that include print and web graphics, an estimate is calculated and submitted to the Client.
7.2. If changes are required to a project after payment of the outstanding invoice, the additional charges will be confirmed with the client and the client will be billed for the work performed.
7.3. After the initial discussion to situate the brand, an estimate will be issued to the client detailing Alexem Studio’s understanding of the client’s position, the design direction (as discussed) and the estimated costs.
7.4. If the customer requests extensive changes and modifications that are outside the approved agreement, this will result in additional charges. The Customer will be informed of these additional costs by e-mail before the start of the additional work.
8.1. For all web design, programming and hosting services, an estimate is calculated and then submitted to the Client.
8.1. If there are significant changes and upgrades that exceed the original specifications and estimates, these will be considered additional costs and will be indicated accordingly. Items added to the website specifications AFTER the customer has signed off may incur additional charges, but the customer will be notified of these additional charges via email prior to the start of the work.
8.3. Please note that in the nature of web development, the scope of work often increases as the project progresses. With this in mind, initial specifications and estimates are subject to change and the Designer therefore encourages all Clients to include a contingency in their web project budget to cover unforeseen work and its associated costs. The Designer will inform and discuss any changes in specification or cost with the Client by e-mail, prior to the commencement of additional work.
8.4. The designer reserves the right to charge a daily rate for writing or entering text into a website, unless included in the quote.
8.5. the Designer will offer Clients third-party services such as those offered by Google to improve the performance of their websites. Alexem Studio may include in the quotation the configuration and maintenance of these third party services. Alexem Studio shall not be liable to the Customer for any interruption, non-performance or cancellation of the provision by third parties of such services.
8.6. Alexem Studio will agree with the Customer on the duration of the assistance and it will be detailed in the original quotation, generally on a number of hours defined on a monthly continuous basis.
8.7. Support availability: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday.
Emails received after hours will be collected, but no action can be guaranteed until the next business day. The availability of support is bound by the conditions set out in clauses (8.8 – 8.9).
8.8. Customers with an SLA will be able to log errors on their website or request content updates that are not under their control. All requests should be sent by email to hello@alexemstudio.com. Applications sent elsewhere will not be subject to the response times listed below. If Alexem Studio believes that a request is outside the scope of the support contract, it will inform the Customer and discuss the request as additional development and propose a solution and cost. Work on such a request will not be undertaken until agreement is reached with the Client on the additional cost and approach.
8.9. Response times: Alexem Studio will classify all requests as one of the following and, as such, each one will aim to resolve them within the given timeframe:
Urgent: an error that has caused the website to be inactive or in such a state that it is causing the Customer serious damage to the brand. For example. if a payment gateway allows users to check out without taking payment or contact forms do not trigger emails to the customer and thus lose requests. Deadline: 1 business day.
High: an error that results in a direct loss of revenue to the Customer but is not considered “urgent”. Delays: 2 working days.
Normal: an error that impedes the typical user experience but does not directly result in lost revenue for the Customer. Delivery time: 10 working days.
Low: an error that does not prevent the typical user experience. Delivery time: 14 working days.
9.1. During the development of the project : the working files and the source code of the Projects remain the intellectual property of Alexem Studio and cannot be copied and used by any other party without the consent of Alexem Studio.
9.2. Alexem Studio holds the copyright until the final invoice has been paid. Upon payment, the copyright is automatically transferred to the customer.
9.3. All images of the client’s logo, images provided by the client, i.e. of their premises, workforce and business, as well as all written copy, belong to the client and are covered by their copyright.
9.4. Designer will not reuse Client’s written content or images provided by Client without Client’s express permission.
9.7. Alexem Studio reserves the right to use the Projects for self-promotional purposes: Portfolio, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
10.1. Alexem Studio will bill all hours for services that are not included in any previous quote. The amount billed will be based on the standard hourly rate, unless a different hourly rate has been agreed upon in writing. Please note that user experience (UX) consulting fees are different from graphic and web design fees.
10.2. the Designer will review and may increase its standard hourly rate on an annual basis and Clients will be notified.
10.3. All requests will be billed for a minimum of 15 minutes, in 1 minute increments.
11.1. The Client will always receive a digital proof of the work in order to approve a project.
11.2. A printed color proof is available but will incur additional charges and delays. All color print proofs are available on the printer’s film and therefore do not represent the final print quality or stock. the designer will not be held responsible for deviations in the printing process, inks, colors or stocks once a printer’s proof has been approved.
11.3. Clients must approve projects by responding affirmatively to the signature email sent by Alexem Studio after carefully checking that the attached files do not require any further modification.
11.4. It is extremely important that the client carefully review and verify all files before sending approval. the designer will not be held responsible for any errors in a file that has been approved by the client.
11.5. After approval, if the customer requires further modifications, this may result in delays and additional charges.
11.6. If an approved file has already been put into production at the time the customer requires a change, the customer is required to pay the full cost of production as quoted, plus the same amount quoted again in order to put the new file into production.
11.7. Alexem Studio will deliver all products by email unless otherwise indicated.
11.8. Any additional costs incurred in requesting an alternative delivery method shall be borne by the Customer.
12.1. This service includes the training of the Customer in order to update certain sections of his website via the content management platform (WordPress).
12.2. This tutorial is offered privately by Alexem Studio and may or may not be included depending on the initial agreement.
12.3. The training includes 1 hour of telephone or email support upon completion. Any additional telephone assistance or service at the standard hourly rate will be charged.
13.1. Your hosting via the subscribed monthly plan includes unlimited disk space and bandwidth according to the service provided by the designer via a third party: Godaddy and Flywheel.
13.2. All SQL Server databases used for client websites on a monthly plan are backed up by a third party on a daily basis and, in the unlikely event of a hard drive or other technical failure with the dedicated web server, will be restored and reconnected to client websites from the last available backup.
13.3. In the event that a customer wishes to move their website and/or SQL Server database to another web server supported by another party, Alexem Studio will cooperate fully, provided that all outstanding amounts are paid in full, in advance, with a negotiated fee, if any, to purchase the intellectual copyright of the source code, etc.
13.4. In the event that the Customer requires assistance to remedy a situation on their website that is not a technical fault caused by Alexem Studio or the hosting company, the time will be charged to the Customer at a standard hourly rate that will be pre-agreed upon with the Customer.
13.6. the Designer will invoice the hosting on a monthly or annual basis, depending on the contract with the Customer concerned.
14. 1. Alexem Studio can set up client email accounts with the email service provided by the hosting company (Office 365) or GSuite. This is included in the price of the website. To access your email on different devices, forwarders can be configured to connect other accounts. This is included in the installation fee.
14.2. Alexem Studio is excluded from any liability to the Customer for any interruption or termination of the courier service.
14.3. Alexem Studio will solve any problem reported by the customer with his email. If the problem is due to an omission of Alexem Studio, no fee will be charged to the customer. If the problem is not due to an omission on our part, the customer will be charged according to the hourly rates.
15.1. Alexem Studio includes basic SEO services when designing websites to work well with search engines and will liaise with clients and editors to try and achieve high rankings for appropriate keyword phrases.
15.2. Alexem Studio accepts no responsibility to the client for the actual rankings obtained or how these rankings may vary over time.
16.1. Under the terms of the Agreement, payment will be made in two parts (a and b) unless otherwise specified at the quotation/quote stage in accordance with clause 16.3:
a. 50% of the total balance of the estimate in order to start the work
b. The final balance will be paid in full within 30 days of the completion and signing of a design project. Failure to do so will result in an annual interest charge of 20% on the total payable.
16.2. Invoices are payable upon receipt, with a grace period of 30 days from the date of invoice.
16.3. Alexem Studio will specify in the quote how a project will be billed. Large projects can be divided into a number of monthly interim invoices plus a final invoice upon completion.
16.4. Payment can be made to Alexem Studio by bank transfer, check or credit card. Additional fees may be required to 1) pay a bill in installments and/or pay a bill over $1000 by credit card.
16.5. In special circumstances, where Alexem Studio and the customer have agreed to credit terms other than those set out in clause 16.1, all invoices must be paid immediately on the dates specified in the terms.
16.6. In the case of non-payment (after 30 days and several reminders without agreement, Alexem Studio reserves the right to: 1) interrupts services 2) send a formal notice 3) send to a collection service.
16.7. Under the terms of the agreement, until full payment is received, all design work is the intellectual property of Alexem Studio. It is subject to copyright and the customer could incur a number of sanctions if he continues to use it without written authorization.
17.1. Alexem Studio will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the quoted specification for the Customer works as intended.
17.2. In the event that the customer reports that any part of the specification is not working properly, Alexem Studio will investigate and take corrective action at no cost to the customer.
17.3. In the event that the client reports a problem with something that does not meet the project specifications, Alexem Studio will investigate and send a report to the client and, if applicable, a price for performing the additional work necessary to resolve the issue. the problem. Work can only begin once the client has approved the report and any additional costs incurred.
17.4. If a customer has or accesses their website code files and makes changes themselves or changes settings in their content management system that are only accessible to super admin rights, the SLA will become invalid. Any subsequent work to rectify the problems caused and to bring the website back to the state it was in before will be charged.
18.1. the designer has no responsibility to the client for any delay in the completion of a project.
18.2. The Designer accepts no responsibility to the Client for the performance of any website, database or other entity/service developed/configured for the Client.
19.1.Designer will use Customer Information only to provide services and products to Customer, for credit-checking and market research purposes.
20.1. In the event that the Client becomes insolvent or goes into liquidation, the Designer will terminate the contract with the Client and charge the full value of the project work completed to that date, plus suspend any outstanding services.
20.2. In the event that a client impacts the progress of a project contract, Alexem Studio shall have the right to give 14 days written notice to the client of the termination of the contract. If the Customer does not remedy satisfactorily the inconveniences incurred, within the 14 days notice period, Alexem Studio will have the right to terminate the contract. The Designer will invoice the Client for the full value of the work performed to date.
20.3. In the event that Alexem Studio has attempted to contact the Client (by any means) more than twice within 30 days without success, this may be considered the Client impacting the progress of the Project and therefore the Designer reserves the right to terminate the contract and invoice the Client, or suspend the contract until a specified date which will be sent to the Client. If the client has not contacted the designer by the specified date, the designer will terminate the contract and charge the client 80% of the total project cost. Failure to pay within 30 days will result in the payment penalties listed above
To be eligible for the solidarity offer, you must meet one of the following criteria:
The solidarity offer includes a 20% discount on all our regular rates, applicable to the creation of time banks, time plans and package projects for eligible customers.
Banked hours are a fixed volume of hours that you buy in advance and use at your own pace, according to your needs. Hour plans, on the other hand, allocate a number of hours over a set period (usually a month), with an advantageous rate and regular scheduling to ensure our availability. Both options offer flexibility and priority, but hourly plans allow for more continuous management of your projects.
Banks and time plans offer :
Yes, hour banks are valid for one year from the date of purchase. Make sure you use your hours within this period.
Time banks must be paid in advance of any project or work being carried out. This guarantees our availability and commitment to your projects.
No, we do not provide quotations for projects carried out within the framework of banks or time plans. Quotations are reserved for lump-sum projects and follow our standard rates.
Fixed-price projects include a fixed price and a pre-defined scope. They are suitable for one-off or one-time projects, with costs based on our standard tariff.
We’re a multidisciplinary team combining expertise in design, web conception, UX, video and more. Working with us means access to a full range of creative services to propel your projects forward.