Terms and Conditions
Clients need to know what to expect when working with Quayle Consulting
Inc. Rather than write in legal mumbo-jumbo, here are our expectations.
We can agree to different terms; this is just our standard set.
Free Look
We will be glad to talk with you for 30 minutes to prepare an estimate or
proposal. This is totally free. If we solve your problem in that time,
that's fine. Repeat and referral business is what we need.
Standard Terms
All of our prices are in US dollars. You will pay all
applicable taxes and customs duties unless otherwise arranged in
advance.
Our standard payment terms are "Net 30", that is, payment is due 30
calendar days after the invoice date.
Any phone calls, letters, email, trips, or travel used to collect
payment will be added to the total amount due.
Should litigation be required to collect payment, you agree to the
laws in effect in Violet Township, Ohio.
Quayle Consulting can accept orders
using Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover to a limit of
$10,000.
CHARON Products
Successful use of CHARON emulation products requires hardware that
meets or exceeds the corresponding Software Product Description.
Server-class systems are recommended for reliability.
Quayle Consulting reserves the right to back out of any project if the
customer insists on using substandard hardware.
The CHARON manufacturer (Stromasys) issues temporary licenses upon receipt of
order. They issue permanent ("unlimited") licenses only upon
receipt of funds in their bank account. Please plan accordingly.
CHARON Annual Support
CHARON annual support is straightforward. It includes the following:
- The right to move to
the latest version of the CHARON product. QCI 's assistance is included
in supporting an
upgrade, with secondary support from the CHARON support center. You
just need
to request an upgrade for your license key(s) to get started.
- Should you decide to move to different hardware, QCI's assistance
is included in planning.
- Should you elect to "trade up" to a different CHARON product,
current annual support is
required by the manufacturer's policy. QCI will provide
assistance in performing the upgrade.
- Some customers experience a failure in their license key. It's
rare, but does
happen. Paid support makes a key swap a no-charge transaction.
- If you experience a CHARON-related problem on your system, QCI
can provide a work-around, or submit a problem
report to the CHARON support center. They support previous versions on
a "best
efforts" basis.
Support does not include a few things, however. The following can
be can be
purchased on a time-and-materials basis or retainer from QCI, but they
are not part of
CHARON support:
- VMS or Tru64 UNIX systems support
- Application support
- On-site support.
Manufacturer's Policies
- Annually-renewable product licenses require a current support
contract for key renewal.
- The initial start of annual support is the first day of
the month following a product order. The start of the support
period does not track when you enter production with CHARON.
- Re-starting support after a lapse requires payment for all
skipped years of support at the current price.
- Current annual support is required for "trade up" of one CHARON
product for another.
- Replacement of a defective key requires a current support
contract.
- At renewal time, the manufacturer usually accepts an order of
fractional years to extend support expiration dates, such as
synchronizing with the client's fiscal year.
- The log file on a CHARON system receives periodic messages
when support has expired. To stop the messages, a key update can
be provided upon request if support is current.
- When "trading up" a CHARON product for another, the client
receives a credit for the original purchase price against the current
price of the new product. Unused months of support also receive
credit against the new support contract.
Services
Time as Worked
We will bill you for time worked, whether on your site, our offices, or
elsewhere. Billing is in 15-minute increments (except for "After Hours"
and "Emergency" conditions). For a long-term contract, we'll make the
odd minutes plus-or-minus balance out. Otherwise, we'll round up to a
whole 15 minutes.
For engagements that are billed on a daily basis, being at the
customer's site for 1 hour or more counts as a day.
Phone Calls, Email, Fax
With an existing contract, phone calls (except "After Hours" or
"Emergency") are billed in 15-minute increments. That is, a one minute
phone call costs you the same as a fourteen minute phone call. If no contract is in effect, phone calls are billed in 1-hour
increments.
Simple email and faxes are free. If extensive work (greater than 5
minutes) is needed to prepare a response, or you need an immediate
reply, it will be billed as normal time.
After Hours
Work done between 11 PM and 8 AM Eastern time, or done on Saturday,
Sunday, US national holiday, or previously-scheduled vacation is billed
in 1-hour increments. This includes phone calls, doing things during
night-time maintenance periods, etc.
If we work during these hours for our convenience, it will be
treated as normal time.
Any time that begins in, ends in, or crosses through the "After
Hours" times will be treated as "After Hours" time.
Emergency Surcharge
An unexpected, urgent, customer requirement which causes us to modify
our schedule will incur a surcharge of 100%. A customer requirement
which requires more than 18 hours in any
24-hour period will also be subject to the emergency surcharge.
Travel
Travel time is not charged for trips when the one-way travel time is
less than two hours, except for travel that is required during the
"After
Hours" period. After hours travel is billed in 1-hour increments.
Trips where the one-way travel time is longer than two hours are
charged in 15-minute increments. Airline travel time includes en route
to and from the airport, check-in, check-out, customs, and any waiting
time at the airport. We will not charge more than 12 hours of travel
time each way for trips in the continental U.S. and Canada, regardless
of the actual elapsed time.
Hotel, meals, tips, etc. are billed as expended. We do not provide
receipts for expenses less than $25.
In general, travel is conducted on Sunday prior to arrival, and
Saturday after the engagement is complete. This allowsfor
maximum effectiveness. You will be billed for these expenses.
Bad Checks
We'll add $50 for each check you give us that bounces. Sure, it's more
than our financial institution charges, but that's not really the
point, is it?
For clients in the US, checks that bounce may be automatically
re-submitted by the checXchange service, and funds withdrawn by ACH. Their blurb is as following:
Should your check be returned for insufficient funds, you expressly
authorize your account to be electronically debited or bank drafted
for the amount of the check plus any applicable fees. The use of a
check is your acknowldedgement and acceptance of this policy and its
terms and conditions.
1-800-208-2964
www.checXchange.com
How Much?
Everyone wants to know what a project will cost. Most clients do not
have a clear enough picture of what they need for us to bid a
fixed-price contract. Time we spend with you to help you develop
detailed requirements is charged as
normal time worked.
Our rate depends on the nature of the work to be performed, the
duration of the contract, etc. Large or long-term projects will get you
a lower rate. An "as needed" arrangement will be more per hour, but
you'll only be charged for actual work performed. We're open to
retainer arrangements.
Testimony as an expert witness, either in a courtroom or in
deposition, will be charged at a higher rate.
Scope Creep
Things added to a project will always make a project cost more. We will
assume that anyone from your company has the authority to add to your
project. If not, we need to know who does have that authority, and it's
your responsibility to let us know that in advance.
Consulting agencies: Look here
for additional information.
Services
Quayle Consulting Inc. provides a complete menu of services, including:
Other items of interest:
The Quayle Consulting Inc. website
Trademarks
OpenVMS is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard.
CHARON-VAX and CHARON-AXP are trademarks of Stromasys.
Quayle Consulting Inc. is an authorized reseller of CHARON products.
NuVAX is a trademark of The Logical Company.
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation, USA.
