This website is owned by and represents the services provided by Martin Koss as Koss UK.
Privacy Policy
This policy covers Koss UK’s use of personal information that Koss UK collects when you use koss.co.uk / fbshops.co.uk or other Koss UK website and/or blog.
From time to time, you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (e.g. name and email address) in order to receive or use the services featured.
By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable Koss UK to provide you with the services and/or information you select and/or request. Whenever you provide such personal information, I will treat that information in accordance with this policy. When using your personal information I will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.
Please note that I do provide links to other sites, which may not be governed by this Privacy Policy and you should view the relevant policies of those sites for further information. Koss UK is not responsible for the content of external internet sites, nor necessarily endorses them.
Use and storage of your personal information
When you supply any personal information to Koss UK (eg: request for services or information) I have legal obligations towards you in the way I use that data. I must collect the information fairly, that is, I must explain how I will use it and will tell you if I want to pass the information on to anyone else.
In general, any information you provide to Koss UK will only be used within Koss UK. Your information will be disclosed where I am obliged or permitted by law. Also, if you send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content anywhere on or to koss.co.uk (or other Koss UK website) or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on koss.co.uk (or other Koss UK website), Koss UK can use whatever information that is available to it about you to stop such behaviour. This may involve informing relevant third parties such as your employer, school, e-mail/internet service provider, even law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.
I will hold your personal information on my systems for as long as the service you have requested is available, and remove it in the event that you no longer wish to continue to do business with Koss UK. Where personal information is held for people who are not yet registered but have taken part in other Koss UK services (e.g. newsletters), that information will be held as long as is necessary to ensure that the service is run smoothly. I will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.
If you are notified on koss.co.uk (or other Koss UK website) that your information may be used to allow Koss UK to contact you, this means that Koss UK may contact you for a number of purposes relating to the service or related services in which you have expressed interest.
It is the policy of Koss UK not to transfer or sell to a third party any information it receives through koss.co.uk (or other Koss UK website).
Access to your personal information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information that Koss UK holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected.
Users 16 and under
If you are aged 16 or under, you are not eligible to use Koss UK’s services. Users who fall into this category are not allowed to provide us with their personal information.
Cookies
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a website’s computer and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. Many sites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows and record information about your online preferences.
Currently, koss.co.uk (and other Koss UK website) neither uses cookies beyond your current visit nor has plans to do so.
Koss UK may update this policy at any time, such amendments will be announced here.
Terms & Conditions
These Terms & Conditions set out the basis under which I do business and are designed to offer both parties (me and you) protection in the unlikely event of a dispute. Clients should note that, by instructing Koss UK to act for them, they accept these Terms and Conditions in full and without variation.
1 Estimates and Charges
1.1 Estimates and quotes are based on information supplied by the Client (that’s you), the anticipated size and complexity of the work and current design and production costs. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, our charges are subject to reasonable variation to reflect changes in any of these factors.
1.2 Charges for Packaged Design services (eg Facebook Page Designs) are subject to variation if necessary and with notice and the current pricing should be confirmed before placing an order. Any of the services I offer may be withdrawn at any time without notice. The features included in any packaged Design services are subject to revision and / or withdrawal at any time without notice and current features should be confirmed before placing an order.
1.3 I will give the Client a fixed price for agreed artwork (if required) at the outset so there will be no unexpected charges later
1.4 Koss UK is NOT VAT registered.
1.5 All preliminary, experimental or additional work carried out by agreement or at the Client’s express request will be charged for at the usual rate for the job according to current pricing.
1.6 Content for the site or Facebook Page Design package should be supplied as soon as possible. No work shall commence until all required content has been supplied in the formats requested.
1.7 Typing charges will be incurred for any copy not supplied on disc or in electronic format (such as e-mail).
1.8 Please DO NOT send images embedded inside documents (ie: MS Word Docs). Instead, send them separately as JPG or PNG format. If images require extracting from document files there may be a small additional charge.
1.9 If a draft has been requested, the initial design work is an idea of what a completed website, page or Facebook Design will look like. However, Clients should bear in mind that html format has its limitations and, despite my best efforts, its final appearance cannot be guaranteed to be identical to its appearance at the design stage.
1.10 Clients should note that not all web page design features (such as Frames, Forms and JavaScript) will function in all web browser versions. In addition, web page content may view differently in different browsers. Additional charges may be incurred for optimising a site for specified browser versions if features are requested that are not typically cross-browser compatible.
1.11 Every site I build is thoroughly tested in the following browsers: Internet Explorer 7 and 8; Firefox 3; Opera 8, Safari (PC and Mac), iPad, iPhone, HTC (Android) phone. However, Clients should understand that, despite my best efforts, the appearance of a particular website across these browsers might not always be identical.
2 Proofs
2.1 Proofs are only provided when drafts are requested in substantial design projects and will not be provided for package design services like Facebook Pages, etc.,
2.2 Proofs (if a pre-launch draft has been requested) will be submitted for Client approval and Koss UK will not be held liable for any errors or omissions not corrected by the Client in these proofs. Any subsequent Client alterations and consequent additional proofs will be charged at our usual rate. Clients should note that web Design proofs are submitted as files temporarily uploaded to a password-protected area on my web server for viewing over the Internet, unless otherwise agreed in advance. Written approval is required by the Client (preferably in an e-mail format) in order for me to proceed to the construction stage.
2.3 Artwork and other graphic design proofs may be submitted in the form of a PDF document, JPG or PNG sent as an attachment via an e-mail.
2.4 For any drafts / proofs of design work Clients will receive a visual of their proposed order and be required to provide written confirmation before going live that the layout, copy and artwork are correct. If alterations are required, these will be charged for accordingly at our usual rate. The Company will not be held responsible for any errors overlooked by the Client, no matter how prominent.
3 Payment and Delivery
3.1 Package Design Services (eg: Facebook Designs) and all projects for new clients must be prepaid before work commences.
3.2 Work is accepted on the basis of an advance payment, (representing 50% of the value of the estimate, unless otherwise agreed in advance. For web design jobs, if 50% payment has been made in advance, the outstanding balance must be received before site files are released or uploaded to the Client’s web space.
3.3 If work is delayed awaiting action by the Client for a period exceeding 30 days, payment to cover work already carried out will become due immediately.
3.4 Clients on maintenance or marketing agreements are expected to pay a fixed fee agreed in advance by standing order, BACS or PayPal recurring payments until the contract is cancelled.
3.5 Koss UK is not responsible for loss of data or business incurred by the Client through non-payment of services.
3.7 Project completion. The project is deemed complete once the client has indicated their approval of the website, its content management system (CMS) and functionality, or has not communicated to me any errors or omissions in its functionality within two weeks of completion. Upon completion all outstanding monies from the client become due for payment.
4 Liability
4.1 The limit of liability will be restricted to the cost of the services provided by Koss UK and no liability will be accepted for consequential losses of any kind. This includes, for Internet-related services, loss of trade owing to temporary malfunction.
4.2 Completed designss shall be presented as soon as they are ready and whilst every effort is made to ensure that Koss UK meets its pre-arranged delivery dates, there are no guarantees as to those dates. Therefore, Koss UK can accept no responsibility for any costs or losses of income sustained by the Client due to production delays, howsoever caused.
4.3 If a Client delays the working process by not responding or not delivering the content on time, this will subsequently affect the deadline, and Koss UK will not take responsibility for any such delays so occasioned. Furthermore, no liability will be accepted for delays or failure to complete work owing to acts or omissions of third parties, force majeure and other circumstances beyond the control of Koss UK.
4.4 For web Design work, owing to the inherent limitations in Internet technologies, Koss UK cannot guarantee accuracy in colour reproduction, page formatting or the universal availability of website design functions.
4.5 If a site is set up for e-commerce, I need at least a week for testing with the payment process in place (Paypal, etc.)
4.6 During an online payment process, I can try to predict what a user may do, but Koss UK can take no responsibility for lost transactions due to actions I cannot control, such as a user closing their browser before being redirected to a confirmation page, or through malicious use.
4.7 Unless previously arranged, Koss UK is not responsible for registration or management of any external services, such as Paypal other hosting companies, or domain names registrants.
4.8 If a Client chooses Paypal or any other online payment process, it is their responsibility to learn how that process works. I can only recommend services with which I have worked and have experience.
4.9 Koss UK cannot assume responsibility for the performance of sites that are not hosted on my server. Koss UK uses a dedicated UK based server maintained by 3rd party hosting suppliers and, in the event of a problem with any site hosted on our servers, would do anything possible to rectify any such problem, although I cannot take any responsibility for the speed of response or quality of work by those 3rd parties.
4.10 Koss UK is not responsible for domain names that were not bought or hosted by me on the Client’s behalf.
4.11 Koss UK is not responsible for any DNS changes not carried out by me.
4.12 Clients should note that DNS changes usually take around 48 hours to fully propagate. During this time any web site might not be available for viewing. Clients should be aware that during this period there may be some e-mail downtime as well.
4.13 In cases where the hosting of an existing web site is transferred to Koss UK, Clients are advised to provide us with their alternate e-mail addresses so I can make every effort to avoid any e-mail downtime.
4.14 Despite my best efforts, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) does not guarantee improvement in ranking. I follow guidelines proposed by the most popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, BING, etc). Improvement usually happens gradually over a long period of time, hence I recommend that any optimisation campaign should run for at least 6 months.
4.15 Clients should note that the installation of a content management system (CMS) does not include future upgrades to the CMS and/or themes and plugins. This is only available through a maintenance contract, which can be made available at an additional monthly / yearly charge.
4.16 Once the site has been completed all files will be uploaded onto the server. I will keep a copy of the design offline for up to 2 years. The Client has the right to ask for those files at any point in time although be aware that content on a CMS is a combination of a database plus the theme (styling) and embedded images and does not necessarily function completely when installed (copied to) a server other than the server on which it was created.
4.17 In case of 3rd parties’ interference with the files uploaded on the hosting server (for example hacker’s attacks or other companies commissioned by the client to maintain or update the files) Koss UK takes no responsibility of the site going down or not working properly, and to fix any problems caused by these interferences I reserve the right to charge an hourly rate.
5 Content provided by Clients
5.1 Koss UK reserves the right to decline the use of low resolution or poor quality images. In the interests of maintaining quality and performance on the web, original high resolution images supplied on disc or electronically by the Client are preferred instead of already optimised and resized images.
5.2 The Client may give exact and detailed instructions for copy and layout submitted in clear printing or type, or, in the case of layout, explicit draft format, but it must be understood that I will prepare artwork for the Client’s order in accordance with my professional judgement. I cannot be held responsible for errors arising from ambiguities.
5.3 Koss UK reserves the right to make spelling and grammatical corrections prior to proofing and approval by the Client.
5.4 The Client must ensure that all materials submitted are legal and suitable for publication. This includes careful attention to avoid copyright and trademark infringements.
5.5 Koss UK will refuse to work with any materials that are, or may be considered to be, illegal, obscene, libellous, inappropriate or otherwise unsuitable for publication.
5.6 Notwithstanding the above, the Client agrees to indemnify Koss UK against any claims and costs incurred as a result of publishing content for the Client that is, or may be considered to be, illegal, obscene, libellous, inappropriate or otherwise unsuitable for publication or which constitutes, or may be considered to constitute, an infringement of rights.
6 Materials provided by Clients
6.1 All materials submitted will be at the Client’s risk, both when in transit and while held by Koss UK. Clients are advised to insure their materials against any loss or damage as appropriate.
7 Artwork
7.1 Should artwork be supplied, every care and consideration is taken while the goods are entrusted to the Company, though no responsibility can be accepted by the Company for any damage or loss occasioned to such goods, howsoever caused. Accepted artwork / photographs will be taken as production-ready and will not be altered in any way except on the Client’s written instructions and in that event, no responsibility will be accepted for any errors in them not being corrected by the Client.
8 Cancellation
8.1 Any confirmed order subsequently cancelled for any reason by the Client will be charged at a minimum of 10% of the total quoted price. The amount charge will be determined by any work (including gathering of content and research) completed so far. Where the Client cancels any order after receiving a proof a charge will be made for the cost of the proof and work involved up to that point. In the event that the Client cancels any order after production has already started a charge of at least 50% of the total cost will be charged and if cancellation takes place once content is live, a charge of 100% of the total cost. None of those charges is refundable.
9 Orders
9.1 Koss UK shall be entitled to refuse any order received online (without prior consultation) which I feel I cannot complete for whatever reason.
10 Claims
10.1 Complaints or claims regarding invoices or quality of work will not be entertained unless lodged by the Client within seven days of the website, blog or Facebook content going live.
11 Insolvency
11.1 In the event that the Client is unable to settle business debts, for whatever reason, Koss UK. reserves the right to cease work on behalf of the Client and charge for work already carried out with immediate effect.
12 Inclusion of Client work in Koss UK portfolio
12.1 Koss UK reserves the right to reproduce copies of the Client’s completed work in its portfolio for the purposes of advertising and promotion, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
13 Design credit and link to Koss UK website
13.1 A design credit may (but not always) be included on all pages of websites and Facebook Pages that I design. Each credit will be hyper-linked to Koss UK (or other Koss UK website).
14 Revisions to the Privacy Policy and/or the Terms and Conditions
14.1 I reserve the right to alter these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice and Clients should confirm our current Terms and Conditions before placing an order.
15 Complaints Procedure
15.1 If for any reason a Client should feel that the service provided by Koss UK has not met their expectations, they should write with full details of their complaint to: me.
Martin Koss (martin AT koss.co.uk) 07962-385045
15.2 In the event that this does not satisfactorily resolve the matter, the issue will be referred to a… blah blah blah – like that’s ever going to be necessary.
16 Law
16.1 Any dispute arising under these Terms & Conditions and any other terms of contract between Koss UK and the Client shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and each of the parties hereto submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the English Courts.
Oh well. That’s all the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way.
Now then, where were we?