Terms of service

Before work begins, Detroit Websmith will send you a written quote with the pages and features included, payment dates, revision limits, and any recurring fees, dependencies, and known outside costs. Work begins after you accept the quote and pay any deposit listed in it. If you request work outside that scope, we’ll ask you to approve the price and any schedule changes in writing before we start.

If you stop a build before launch, we’ll itemize work completed and approved costs we’ve already incurred, up to the agreed price for that work. We’ll credit payments already made and return any unused balance. Delivery dates depend on receiving the materials, access, feedback, and approvals we need from you.

The build and one-time add-ons pay for the work listed in your quote. Monthly management pays for the hosting and ongoing work listed there. Your quote identifies any monthly edit allowance, how to request support, and what would need a separate estimate.

We’ll identify any feature that needs managed hosting, a paid license, or an outside subscription before you buy it. When a bundle or another line item covers the same work, we charge for that work once. If two tools edit the same content, the quote will identify what extra work or features each paid item adds.

We’ll confirm your first billing date, renewal date, and recurring amount before you agree to monthly billing. Monthly services renew one month at a time until canceled. We’ll give you written notice of a price change at least one full billing cycle before it takes effect. You can cancel before the new price applies.

You keep ownership of the materials you supply and give us permission to use them to deliver your site. You’re responsible for having permission to use those materials and for approving the business information we publish. Once the build and any custom work being delivered are paid in full, you own the custom deliverables identified in your agreement. Pre-existing tools and third-party code, fonts, and other licensed materials remain subject to their licenses.

The quote identifies who controls each domain, hosting account, and connected service. Your business should be the registrant of its domain wherever the provider allows it. While we manage the site, we may control deployment and administrative access. If we use a shared account, we’ll move or export your site and its transferable data as agreed for the handoff.

Email [email protected] before your next renewal and tell us which services to stop. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid billing period. We’ll confirm the end date in writing. If a card expires or a payment fails, the invoice stays due. Changing your hosting or domain settings does not cancel billing. Tell us before changing settings we manage so we can coordinate and avoid downtime.

If you end monthly management after paying for at least one month, you owe a required one-time $179 handoff fee, including if you move the site yourself or hire another provider. We bill the fee separately. Cancellation stops future monthly renewals on schedule even if the fee remains unpaid. If you choose self-management before paying for any month, the $250 upfront handoff fee applies instead. Your quote lists the applicable fee and what it covers. We can coordinate with your next provider if you authorize them to receive access.

We’ll confirm what can move, including the site files, relevant access, and any available exports. Some features may need new hosting, a license, or replacement setup to keep working. We’ll explain the renewals and upkeep you or your next provider will take over. Plan the move before your paid period ends. When the paid period ends, routine updates, maintenance, and technical support end. Hosting under the plan can end on that date even if the move is still in progress. Any remaining handoff work covers the transfer itself. If you take over at launch, ongoing updates and support are your responsibility from handoff.

If a hosted service payment is overdue, we’ll send written notice and give you at least 14 calendar days to pay before suspending or ending the affected service. If we end monthly management for nonpayment after you’ve paid for at least one month, the one-time $179 handoff fee applies. The hosted site or add-on may go offline. We may also pause unpaid build work or put a new launch on hold.

Suspension leaves your ownership of paid deliverables intact. We’ll keep a copy of paid deliverables and exportable data in our control for at least 30 days after hosted service ends and explain how to request it. Before deleting those copies, we’ll tell you the deadline for requesting them. Outside providers may have their own retention and renewal deadlines.

If an invoice looks wrong, email us with the invoice number and the charge you’re disputing. We’ll review it with you. Undisputed amounts remain due on the agreed dates.

We may restrict an affected login, hosted feature, or site immediately to contain a serious security threat or active abuse, or if a legal or hosting provider requirement calls for it. We’ll tell you as soon as we can legally and safely do so. We’ll restore access as soon as reasonably practicable once the issue is resolved if your plan is still active.

When hosting ends, we can turn off the copy we host and close access to our systems. Your own domain, mailboxes, independently hosted site, and ownership of paid work stay with you. An unpaid handoff invoice alone does not shorten a paid hosting period.

Hosting, email, booking, and payment providers set their own terms and renewal fees. The quote identifies who pays each provider and who handles renewals. Search placement, uninterrupted availability, and business results depend on factors outside our control. Tell us if you need specific uptime, backup, security, accessibility, or data-handling commitments so we can address them in writing before work begins.

Your accepted written quote or service agreement controls where it gives different terms for your work. Changes to this page apply to future agreements unless you agree to a change in writing. For questions about your agreement, billing, cancellation, or handoff, email [email protected].