Terms & Conditions

We don’t speak legalese. We keep things simple, clear, and human.

A real lawyer might cringe at how plain this is, but we’re not writing for them. We’re writing for you.

These terms cover everything we offer—from one-time projects to the GruffyGoat Partnership Plan, which includes hosting, support, and ongoing maintenance. If anything here feels unclear, just ask.

1. What We Provide

Your proposal or agreement outlines the work we’ll be doing. That might include web design, development, the Partnership Plan, support retainers, or one-time updates. If something outside the original scope comes up, we’ll check in before moving forward.

For clients on the Partnership Plan, extra work beyond what’s included is typically billed at a discounted rate of $150/hour or less, depending on your agreement. Rush or priority work may be billed at a higher rate depending on the request. Our standard hourly rate for non-plan work is $175, though we prioritize projects and support for clients on our Partnership Plan.

2. Payment Terms

For project work, a 50% deposit is required before we begin. The remaining balance follows the schedule in your proposal. Final files and access are handed off once payment is complete.

Payment plans are available upon request. Terms for those will be set individually based on the project scope or a signed agreement.

For the Partnership Plan or monthly retainers, payment is due on your signup date (or annually, if preferred). These plans renew automatically unless canceled.

All payments are non-refundable, except in rare cases where a refund is required by law—like a duplicate charge or a confirmed fraudulent transaction.

3. If a Project Stalls

If communication stops for 30 days:

If development hasn’t started, 50% of the remaining balance is due
If development is complete but revisions remain, the full remaining balance is due

We will always try to reconnect first, but if a project goes cold, we can’t keep it open forever.

4. Late or Missed Payments

We understand that things happen. If a payment fails, we’ll let you know. If it stays unpaid:

After 7 days: Partnership Plan services may be paused
After 30 days: Your site may be temporarily taken offline
To resume: All missed payments must be paid, plus a $150 reactivation fee may apply

Clients with repeated payment issues will be required to switch to annual billing.

5. Ownership

You fully own your website and content once payment is complete.

If you’re on a payment plan or still owe a balance, GruffyGoat retains ownership until everything is paid in full. We also retain rights to any internal tools, frameworks, licenses, or code libraries used in the build.

6. Bug Fixes

We define a “bug” as something we built that isn’t functioning the way it was originally intended, as specified in the approved scope of work.

If you’re on the Partnership Plan, bug fixes are included as part of your support—within reason. For new projects, we’ll fix bugs reported within 30 days of your site going live. After that, any fixes or updates are handled through your support time or billed separately.

Bug fixes do not include:

New features or functionality
Changes to design, layout, or content
Issues caused by third-party tools, plugins, or updates
Errors introduced by the client or outside developers
Revisions to how something works if it was not part of the original scope

We encourage clients to review their site thoroughly before launch to make sure everything looks and functions the way they expect.

7. Your Role

We rely on you to help keep things moving. As the client, you agree to:

Provide final, approved content and materials (unless content strategy or optimization is included in your scope)
Respond to requests and feedback within five business days
Make clear, timely decisions when approvals are needed—especially if multiple people are involved
Keep login credentials and billing info up to date
Only provide content and assets you have the rights to use

Unless otherwise scoped, the Partnership Plan begins at the start of your project to support development and help maintain progress—not just post-launch. If your project stalls for more than 30 days due to delayed decisions or unresponsiveness, we may pause active work, but the Partnership Plan will continue unless we choose to formally end the engagement due to prolonged inactivity or client neglect.

We do not offer refunds for unused support time or project inactivity. If we resume work later, any past-due balances and a reactivation fee may apply.

8. Our Role

We aim to respond within two business days, communicate clearly, and deliver quality work. If anything unexpected comes up, we’ll talk it through.

We’re not responsible for issues caused by third-party providers, tools, or services we don’t control, but we’re happy to help where we can.

9. Canceling Services

You can cancel the Partnership Plan, ongoing support, or a project at any time with 30 days’ written notice, unless your agreement says otherwise.

We may also cancel our work with you if:

Payments are more than 30 days overdue
A project or support plan goes unresponsive
Communication becomes difficult or unworkable

Any unpaid balances will be due at the time of cancellation. Services or access won’t resume until everything is caught up.

10. Confidentiality

Any sensitive information you share—logins, content, documents—will be kept private and only shared with team members who need access to do the work. We’ll securely delete or return anything confidential at your request when the work is done.

11. Respecting Our Team

Our team is a huge part of who we are, and we work hard to create a respectful, collaborative environment for both our clients and each other.

By working with GruffyGoat, you agree to treat every member of our team with professionalism and respect, and we promise to do the same. We have a zero-tolerance policy for belittling, berating, or abusive behavior toward our staff, whether in writing, over the phone, by email, or during meetings. If that happens, we reserve the right to pause or end any project, support arrangement, or Partnership Plan immediately.

You also agree not to hire or directly contract with any GruffyGoat team member during your project or services, or for one year after they end. We respectfully ask that you continue to honor this even beyond that timeframe unless we’ve given written permission.

12. Disputes and Legal Details

If a dispute comes up, we’ll do our best to work it out together. If that’s not possible, we’ll use a neutral third party to help resolve things through binding arbitration instead of going to court. It’s faster, simpler, and gives both sides a fair process.

This agreement is governed by the laws of South Carolina.

If we need to involve collections or legal help to recover unpaid balances, those costs will be your responsibility. If we stop hearing from you altogether, we may stop work without further notice.