Terms & Conditions
Projects
Please note that payment of your retainer signifies acceptance of the following terms and conditions. Please take the time to read the following terms before paying your initial payment.
Retainers & Payments:
A 50% non-refundable retainer must be paid before any work commences on all projects. The remaining 50% is due on completion before shipping. The invoice will reflect the actual costs incurred, and any client requested changes will be billed additionally.
Bank transfers are preferable, but other forms of payment may be discussed. All charges will be paid via invoice and must be paid by the due date on the invoice. Payments that are more than 2 weeks late may be subject to a late fee, at the discretion of Merrie & Bright.
For any jobs that are less than £200 or have less than a one month turnaround, payment is required in full at time of booking.
Rush Orders:
Orders may be considered rush if they are needed within a 4 week turnaround. Rush orders are accepted depending on availability and the requirements of the project. Depending on the turnaround time, rush orders will add a charge of at least 35% or £100, whichever is higher, to your order total as well as any additional expedited shipping costs. Full payment for rush orders is due upon order placement. It is important for the client to cooperate in a timely manner within the limited timeline.
Merrie & Bright will not be responsible for not meeting deadlines due to delayed client action or response.
Pricing:
Merrie & Bright reserves the right to change prices without notice. Pricing changes may be affected by an increase or decrease in supplier, service, and/or production costs. Estimates and proposals are valid for seven days from the date of issue.
Timelines:
A rough timeline may be given at the beginning of a project. Any departure from this timeline on the client’s part will result in the completion date being pushed back accordingly. All completion times are estimated based on project workload at the time of estimation. If information is not provided or proofs are not approved in a timely manner, the order may be subject to interruption from other orders.
Returns & Cancellations:
In the event of an order being cancelled by yourselves, Merrie & Bright will not refund any money once the work has commenced on your order / project. In the unlikely event of the order being cancelled by us, you will be given a full refund.
Because of the personalisation of the work we do, orders are non-refundable, without exception. Every effort is made to assure your satisfaction. If there is an error on the part of Merrie & Bright, we will do our best to correct the problem.
Client Responsibility:
It is the responsibility of the client to provide accurate and legible information needed. This includes exact wording to be included on the items, including spelling and capitalisation, as well as any layout preferences there may be. It is the client’s responsibility to carefully review for any mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and wording. Please supply text and copy for your project in the format requested. Any formatting required on the part of Merrie & Bright will be subject to an hourly charge of £35 per hour.
Where applicable, design proofs will be sent for final approval by the client prior to creation and/or printing. If not applicable, final wording / spelling will be considered to be from the file received by the client. Once final approval is given, any errors discovered afterwards or reprints required will be corrected at the client’s expense at a cost of £35 per hour admin + reprint costs.
For bespoke design service, the client will receive two initial designs based on the client’s brief. Two rounds of design changes are included with the order and any additional rounds will incur a fee of £35 per hour. Should the client decide to change the brief or change the design direction, a new design fee will be charged.
For non-bespoke / collection designs, the client may make changes to the colour and wording. Any modifications to the font, layout, illustrations and anything else beyond colour and wording will incur a semi-custom design fee. Any modification requests that fundamentally change the design will incur a full design fee.
Merrie & Bright’s Responsibility:
Merrie & Bright strives to provide the highest quality product within our capabilities. It is to be understood by the client that each piece is individually crafted, calligraphed, and assembled by hand, so exact precision may not be achieved, especially in the area of style matching. Therefore, there may be slight differences among the pieces. Each piece is inspected for accuracy, completeness, neatness, and overall uniformity. If the client notices major flaws in a piece, and it is agreed by Merrie & Bright to indeed be a major flaw, Merrie & Bright will repair or replace the item at no charge to the client.
Printing Variations (where applicable):
Samples and proofs may not exactly match the finished product due to variations in the print production process. Printing can result in small variations. Minor differences in the texture, colour, size, and positioning can sometimes occur and are not classified as a fault. Please remember that colours vary from screen to screen and on different paper types. While we do our best to colour match accurately, the colours on your printed invitation may differ slightly from your digital proofs as a result of nuances in the printing process.
Copyright:
All designs and concepts are property of Merrie & Bright. All work may not be copied or reproduced in any form without consent. Any use of Merrie & Bright’s intellectual property without the express permission of Merrie & Bright will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Merrie & Bright retains all rights to use preliminary and completed designs for the purpose of display and marketing or for other clients, upon request. Should you not want Merrie & Bright to use your designs for these purposes, please let us know.
Delivery:
Royal Mail delivery is used in most cases, but larger pieces will be sent via courier. Delivery charges are dependent on weight and will be added to the final invoice. Collection is welcome if the client is local to Bicester, Oxfordshire. Delivery may be offered for larger pieces which need to be installed for a fee. Merrie & Bright cannot accept responsibility for items lost in the post or delayed due to postal strikes or circumstances out of her control. Goods will happily be sent internationally, and the best form of postage will be sourced for these jobs. Please note that goods posted outside of the UK may be subject to additional local taxes, duties, or custom charges. The client is responsible for checking with the local customs department for an estimated cost, and Merrie & Bright will not assume any responsibility for these additional costs.
The client must report any issues with their delivery, with photographic evidence, within 48 hours of receipt to give Merrie & Bright adequate time to correct issues due to the time sensitive nature of the projects we work on.
Address Lists (if applicable):
Please provide address lists in the format of the example sent. Any time spent reformatting addresses will be charged at an hourly rate and billed in the final invoice. Please ensure all spelling and etiquette is correct before sending through. Merrie & Bright is not responsible for any invitations or envelopes that do not make it to their intended address.
Extra and Organic Materials:
If items are to be handwritten and materials supplied by the client, please provide 20% extra materials to allow for human error.
If the project involves organic materials such as agate, leaves, shells, wood, etc. and is being provided by the client rather than sourced by Merrie & Bright, it is the client’s responsibility to ensure materials are clean and ready to write on. If cleaning or additional prepping is required, this will be charged at an hourly rate of £35 per hour.
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Payment
Payments are taken via Stripe. You don’t need an account in order to make payment, simply choose to enter your credit/debit card details at the checkout screen.
Returns and Refunds
I know you’re going to love your Merrie & Bright goodies. However, if you’re not entirely happy with your purchase or the item has been damaged, please contact me to arrange a return: hello@merrieandbright.com
Please note that this does not apply to personalised products. Any personalised product may not be returned.
You must return your purchase within 10 working days after receiving your item and after arranging to return the item with me. The item must be returned in a saleable condition in order to be legible for a refund.
I am unable to refund any items that have been lost, damaged or stolen in transit. I recommend returning your products via signed for/special delivery. Please note, return shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer unless the item is incorrect/faulty.
Once the refund has been received, payment will be issued within seven working days.
Incorrect or Damaged Items
If your order has arrived damaged or wrong, please contact me to resolve the situation. I will likely ask for images of your order so please have these to hand or send them with your original email.
Cancelling Your Order
Due to the handcrafted nature of our items, you are welcome to cancel your order within 24 hours after the initial order is made. After materials have been ordered and an order has gone into production, it is not possible to cancel an order. Please contact me to arrange cancellation: hello@merrieandbright.com
Colour Accuracy
Please note that the colour you see on screen may differ to the printed product.
Copyright
Merrie & Bright holds all Copyright for all designs. Neither you or a third party can copy or reproduce any designs without prior permission.
Online Courses
Payment
Payments are taken via Stripe.
Access to the Course
After checkout, an account will be created for you and your details will be emailed to you. Please check your spam account for this email as it is created automatically by the backend system. If you cannot find these details after 24 hours, please email me at hello@merrieandbright.com and I will give them to you.
You can access the course at any time through the website. Further details will be emailed to you after you purchase the course.
Returns and Refunds
As you will have immediate access to the course and lessons within the course, all purchases are final and refunds will not be given.
Copyright
Merrie & Bright holds all Copyright for all information and designs. Neither you or a third party can copy or reproduce any designs without prior permission.