Terms of service

By accessing this website, submitting the intake wizard, or accepting a proposal, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the site or engage our services. If you're accepting on behalf of a business, you confirm you're authorized to bind it.

• Services — design, development, branding, hosting, and managed services we provide.
• Project — a defined design/development engagement described in an order.
• Deliverables — the website, files, and materials we produce for you under an order.
• Managed Services / Hosting — ongoing services such as managed hosting and deployment, domains/DNS/email, monitoring, maintenance, backups, and support.
• Order — a written proposal, statement of work, or plan description we provide and you accept (including online).
• Client Materials — content, logos, text, images, and data you provide.
• Third-Party Providers — infrastructure and service vendors we use to deliver Services (for example, hosting/CDN providers, payment processors, email providers, and domain registrars).

Intake submissions and prices shown on our services page are requests and starting points, not contracts. Every Project receives a written order with a fixed scope, timeline, and price before work begins or money changes hands.

Managed Services are priced per order and may be billed on a recurring basis (monthly or annually). Because they're tailored to your stack and usage, pricing varies by client and is set out in your order.

We'll perform the Project described in your order with reasonable skill and care. Each order includes a defined number of revision rounds; scope changes beyond it are quoted separately before we do the work — no surprise invoices.

Timelines depend on your timely cooperation. If you don't provide required content, feedback, or approvals on schedule, timelines and fees may be adjusted. Extended delays (for example, 30+ days of inactivity) may pause or close the Project.

Where your order includes Managed Services, we provide some or all of: managed hosting and deployment, domain/DNS/email management, monitoring and maintenance, backups, and support, as specified in your order.

• Third-party infrastructure. Managed Services run on Third-Party Providers (for example, Cloudflare Workers and others). Their availability and terms apply, and we may select, change, or replace providers. We're not responsible for outages, changes, or discontinuation by a Third-Party Provider.
• Best-effort, no SLA. We use commercially reasonable efforts to keep your services available and current, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation and we don't offer uptime credits unless your order says otherwise.
• You own your accounts. Your domains and infrastructure accounts remain in your name; we manage them on your behalf with delegated access. You can revoke access or transfer management at any time, subject to settling amounts owed.
• Pass-through costs. Unless your order states we cover them, you're responsible for third-party fees (such as domain registration/renewal and provider usage charges).
• Support. Support scope and response targets are those stated in your order.

You agree not to use our Services, or host content through them, in any way that:

• violates any law or third-party rights (including IP rights);
• distributes malware, runs phishing or spam, or attempts to breach security;
• hosts unlawful, infringing, or harmful content, or content you aren't authorized to use;
• places an unreasonable load on, or otherwise disrupts, our or a provider's infrastructure.

We may remove offending content or suspend Services to protect our systems, our providers, or third parties — where practical, with notice.

Invoices are issued through the client portal and payable online by card through our payment processor. Unless your order says otherwise, Projects begin after the deposit invoice is paid.

• Recurring services. By starting a recurring plan you authorize us (through our payment processor) to charge your payment method each billing period until cancelled.
• Late payments. Overdue amounts may incur reasonable late fees or interest and may lead to suspension (see Suspension & termination).
• Price changes. We may change recurring prices with reasonable advance notice; changes take effect on your next renewal.
• Taxes. Fees are exclusive of taxes, which are your responsibility where applicable.

• Project deposits are non-refundable — they reserve your spot and cover intake review and early design work.
• Cancelling mid-project settles the work done to that point: you owe nothing further, and payments already made aren't refunded.
• Care plans & recurring managed services can be cancelled anytime and won't renew. The current period isn't refunded, but your plan stays active through the period you've paid for. Prepaid annual plans are refunded on a prorated basis for unused full months after cancellation.
• We don't offer blanket money-back guarantees; any refund is tied to work performed.

Once your Project is paid in full, you own the Deliverables — your website, design files, and content. You grant us a license to use Client Materials as needed to perform the Services.

We retain ownership of our pre-existing tools, components, and know-how, and the right to showcase finished work in our portfolio unless you ask us not to. Third-party and open-source components remain subject to their own licenses.

You represent that you own or are licensed to use the Client Materials you provide, that your use of the Services is lawful, that the information you give us is accurate, and that you'll safeguard your accounts and credentials. You're responsible for the content and conduct of your site and its users.

Our Services rely on Third-Party Providers and materials (for example, payment processing, hosting/CDN, domain registrars, fonts, stock assets, and open-source software). Your use of those is subject to their terms, and we're not responsible for their acts, omissions, or availability.

Except as expressly stated, the Services and Deliverables are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied (including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement). We don't warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, or guarantee any particular business result, traffic, or search ranking.

If an invoice for recurring or managed services is past due, we may suspend the affected Services after approximately 10 days. If the amount remains unpaid, we may terminate the Services; after termination you'll have approximately 30 days to retrieve your data before it may be permanently deleted. We may also suspend or terminate immediately for violations of the Acceptable Use section or to protect our systems or third parties.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, or goodwill. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us for the Services giving rise to the claim in the 12 months before it arose.

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, damages, and expenses arising out of the Client Materials you provide, your use of the Services, or your violation of these Terms or any law or third-party right.

These Terms apply while you use our site or Services. Either party may terminate an engagement as set out in the order or these Terms. Recurring services continue until cancelled. Provisions that by their nature should survive — including ownership, fees owed, disclaimers, liability limits, and indemnification — survive termination.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We'll change the “Last updated” date above and, for material changes to ongoing services, provide reasonable notice. Continuing to use the Services after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Idaho, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Before filing anything, we both agree to try to resolve disputes informally by contacting each other. Otherwise, disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Twin Falls County, Idaho, and you agree to that venue. To the extent permitted by law, claims must be brought individually and not as part of a class action.

These Terms and your order are the entire agreement between us about the Services. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. We may assign these Terms in connection with a business transfer; you may not assign without our consent. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control. Our failure to enforce a provision isn't a waiver.

Questions? Email hello@gemstatedesigns.com.