Terms and Conditions

1. A ‘Project’ is any work undertaken or service provided by Bear Design & Communications Ltd for the client on their request and as described in our confirmation order email to that Client.
2. ‘You’ or ‘Client,’ is a person, persons, business or organisation using any of the services provided by Bear Design & Communications Ltd.
3. ‘We’ or ‘us’, means Bear Design & Communications Ltd
4. ‘Live Mode’ means the date the website is available on the client’s chosen domain.
5. ‘Domain’ is the website address as specified by the client.
6. ‘Open Source Software’ is software made freely available to anyone under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
7. ‘Hosting’ is a yearly cost to keep a client’s website activated online.
8. ‘Content’ is both text and images that the client requires on the website.
9. ‘mb’ stands for megabytes and is a measure of storage space.

1. The contract between Bear Design & Communications Ltd and the client will be on these conditions, to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions. Any variations to these conditions shall have no effect unless agreed in writing.
2. The works to be carried out shall be as set out in the Bear Design & Communications Ltd. invoice which can be found attached to the confirmation order email.

1. Bear Design & Communications Ltd shall expect the client to carry out sufficient research before proceeding with a website. This will include checking that the website/idea/business will operate legally. It is important that the website is not in any way illegal. Please ensure that any images or content you supply or use on your website, is legally available for you to use. We cannot be held responsible for the illegal use of images, content or format of material supplied by the client. Bear Design & Communications reserve the right to remove any website from its servers if it has reason to believe that it is operating illegally.
2. Where images used on the website have been purchased by Bear Design & Communications Ltd on behalf of the client, these images are restricted by license for use on the website only. Bear Design & Communications Ltd are not liable for misuse of these images by the client or any other person’s copying, altering or distributing the images to individuals or other organisations.
3. Bear Design & Communications Ltd makes no claims that the contents of this website may be lawfully viewed or downloaded outside England and Wales. Access to this website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If this website is accessed from outside of the United Kingdom, it is done at own risk and the visitor is responsible for compliance with the relevant laws of the visitor’s jurisdiction. The terms and conditions of this website are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Jurisdiction for any claims arising in respect of this website’s content shall lie exclusively with the courts of England. If any provision of these terms and conditions is found to be invalid by any Court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these terms and conditions, which shall remain in full force and effect.
4. Bear Design & Communications Ltd cannot be held responsible for anything adversely affecting the Client’s business operation, sales, or profitability that might be claimed is a result of a service offered by Bear Design & Communications Ltd.

1. We charge for the design and development of websites at various stages. Before we start work, a 60% deposit of the total sum due is payable (the deposit). When the websites design is approved by you and the home page is completed, a further 40% is due (design payment). Your website will only be switched to ‘live’ mode when it has been paid for, in full. The initial deposit payment is non-refundable after Bear Design & Communications Ltd has committed resource or completed research and/or design work on the client’s behalf.
2. For payments Bear Design & Communications Ltd accepts credit and debit cards, preferring PayPal. We also accept BACS as alternative payment method. None of the payment methods will incur payment fees. Please note that we do not accept cheques.
3. Bear Design & Communications Ltd owns all design and code of the website until final payment has been received in full. On receipt of final payment full ownership of the site files are handed to the client, this includes all design, branding and code.

1. Email is our primary method of contact with regard to all communication for your websites design and development. We have website designers and developers working for us in various parts of the world, as well as here in the UK. Email is obviously the most efficient and cost-effective form of contact. If you have any problems with the design or development of your website that your developer is unable to resolve by email, you can contact our telephone support service during UK office hours on +44 203 488 2499 to talk to our support team.
2. It is the client’s responsibility to inform us by email of any change in email address so that we always have valid contact details. We cannot be held liable in any way for problems relating to communication issues if we are not supplied with a valid email address. Some of our systems rely on this email to inform you of different important information. We also advise that clients check junk and spam folders regularly.
3. It is important for the client to keep in contact with Bear Design & Communications Ltd throughout the entire project. If a client does not make contact for more than 2 weeks, we will make up to 5 attempts to contact the client by email using the email address for the client held on file. If we do not receive a response to these attempts of contact the project may be terminated, and the deposit will not be refunded. If the client wishes to postpone the project for a period of longer than 2 weeks, please contact us. Otherwise the project may be archived.
4. If a client returns from an unapproved postponement and the last contact is more than 6 months, we shall need to provide a new quotation for the project and your original deposit will be non-refundable or transferable. Any design or development work completed previously may no longer be available.

1. Design is subjective, and for this reason we offer ‘unlimited design revisions’. This means that we will continue to work with you on your design concept until you are happy with our proposal. The unlimited design revision period ends when the client accepts the design proposal and home page draft. Design changes beyond this point are subject to additional charges.
2. Design and layout changes to the internal pages of the website are subject to restrictions within WordPress developments.
3. Bear Design & Communications Ltd will provide the client with an expected completion time frame for the project (live on the internet) if requested. Bear Design & Communications Ltd will provide a client access to its ‘Project Cycle’ documentation to ensure a client is fully aware of the responsibilities they have to ensure a successful and timely development. In order to provide a completion date a final list of changes is needed from the client.
4. Open Source software (OSS) is publically available software that may be adapted or modified to suit particular applications. OSS may be used to help develop elements of the functionality of the client’s website to speed development and add functionality. Where Open Source software is used, the ownership of the site coding and any customisations made by the developer is still passed to the client upon final payment.

Bear Design & Communications support team will be available between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday – Friday. This excludes weekends and holidays, regardless of the web host. Within a reasonable time period we will look to fix any issues with the website which are not due to a customer’s doing.

*Bear Design & Communications Ltd will not tolerate any form of harassment against its employees from customers or third parties and we reserve the right to cancel a contract without refund in the event of unreasonable or inappropriate conduct. This includes threatening behaviour and abuse directed towards our employees thereafter any further communication must be via postal mail only.