Terms & Conditions for a service

the_optimist

Does anybody know where I could find sample pages/ ideas for terms & conditions for a service? I've spent all morning searching the web but all I can find are samples for website terms and conditions or for sales. I don't sell products, so don't need T & Cs for if the product is faulty and needs to be returned.

I have been told I should have some T & Cs but all I can think of are payment terms and what to do when service is cancelled at short notice.
Is there anything else I would need to add?

I've got no idea - can anybody point me to the right direction?

Torby

depends on the service you are offering really...you may require payment in advance...a % of payment upfront...payment on delivery of the service...again depending on the service...e.g. I'm in video production, who owns the final product until all monies are paid ....really need to know what the service is before you can get a more definitive idea of what to include in your T & Cs

the_optimist

Tuition & translation. Private clients usually pay on day in cash, but business clients get invoice. So all I can think of is how quickly I want to get paid and when/ if I charge in case of cancellation. Seems to be a very short piece of paper with just 2 -3 points as T & Cs are usually long lists of bullet points that nobody wants to read...

missyg_3

Few ideas off the top of my head:

1. What the price includes and what it doesn't include (textbooks, exercise books etc)
2. In the case of tuition, do they need to bring anything essential on the day - what happens if they forget to?
3. What happens if YOU are unable to provide service (illness, emergency, severe weather, any other reason)
4. Limit your liability for loss/damage/failure to deliver to a free session or return of fees (i.e. no consequential loss)
5. Limit your liability for any errors you may make (translation)
6. Does the customer have the right to reject your translation (rejection fee)?
7. If you are conducting business in your home, you might have some house rules like no smoking, no eating, no 'friends' tagging along.
8. What happens if someone gets injured on your premises? Who pays if your property gets damaged in the course of business?
9. Copyright/syndication rights - don't know if this is an issue with any texts you translate.
10. If your work is being printed/published, you might ask for a sample copy.
11. Who pays for travel time/expenses?
12. Protect yourself against 'scope creep'

Nomad25

Erm ..... what is 'scope creep'?

missyg_3

Scope creep: once the job has been agreed and a price quoted, there's a danger of the customer trying to get extra service that wasn't agreed in the original brief (extra pages to translate for example, or a customer turning up 45 minutes late but still expecting to receive a full hour's tuition).

The OP should have an overtime/extra services policy to enable them to raise their quoted price for anything that goes beyond the original scope of the work.

the_optimist

Thanks missyg, that's giving me a lot of food for thought!

anitamarie

Scope creep definitely worth mentioning, especially in translation. I would be inclined to estimate based on probable hours rather than give a definite project quote because you may find people change the brief by altering the text, etc after you have started translating it. I wish someone had warned me against scope creep when I started out.