Question 1

Shipping Policy

Accepted Answer

Shipping is available worldwide, at project-specific rates. Usually items will be shipped via UPS or USPS. Very large items may be shipped via freight. Please let me know of any special needs. Installation can be arranged in San Diego and must be explicitly included in the project estimate. If you decide at a later date to have the item installed, it will be billed at an hourly rate. Installation outside of San Diego County, California is available upon request. It will be subject to travel costs.

Question 2

Maker Policy

Accepted Answer

Index: 1: Warranty, Refunds, Satisfaction guarantees 2: Intellectual property rights and copyright claims. 1: Warranty, Refunds, Satisfaction guarantees Martin is an experienced designer, with many years of product development experience with large, brand-name companies. One main challenge to smaller-scale custom work is making sure every detail is exactly how you envision it. Many of us operate in a world where the goods we buy are mass-produced by machines or foreign labor. This type of production produces extremely polished goods at astoundingly low prices. \*\*\*It is not the goal of Martin William Design to compete with this level of production refinement.\*\*\* Martin will always attempt to build the highest quality item within your budget, but the nature of custom designed and built items from San Diego, CA, dictates that the price will often be much higher than many clients expect, especially clients that have not hired custom work before. It is best if the client approaches this with the intent of participating in the process to create a new item that was built specifically for them. To help get exactly what you're looking for, Martin will create a computer model of every item prior to building it, so you can see and approve the final look of the item. It's normal and expected that any custom built item is not 100% perfect on the first try. It always helps to have an open mind, but for clients that have very particular needs, it can be expected to take two or three builds prior to getting the one that's perfect. For any custom job, Martin William Design is essentially building a "prototype" so it's helpful to keep that in mind; Custom work rarely has the same fit and finish as high-end mass produced items, which have entire teams of people behind them working on every minor detail, testing different designs multiple times to ensure the finished item is perfect. When buying custom, you're buying is something unique, and built specifically for you. We live in an imperfect world, and the very nature of building a one-off item means it will never be perfect. Martin will nonetheless strive to come as close to perfection as possible, and will never sell you something that doesn't work. With that in mind, our policy follows. This lays the groundwork for reworking, redesigning, or returning items. This policy is designed to protect the client as well as Martin William Design. Unfortunately, being a small custom outfit we can't offer the same attractive return policy that many very large businesses can. Your satisfaction no less important to us, so we've crafted the following policy to ensure you get the item you want, and we can be fairly compensated for our work. General Satisfaction Guarantee: Martin William Design guarantees that you will be satisfied with the end product. This will typically mean that any simple rework will be free, and extensive rework will be billed at cost. Any additional purchased parts will be at-cost.This does not cover any errors or ommissions in communication or misjudgements on your behalf. For refunds or returns and legal purposes, any needs must be documented in writing. Providing specific measurements, or Pantone or manufacturer specific color codes will always go a long way to make sure the final details are exact and perfect, and protect you in the case of an error on our part. Details that are not documented specifically and do not impact the function of the item will be determined by the best judgement of the designer and will not be subject to a warranty claim. Some examples might be requests for welded rather than bolted assemblies, or vice versa. Martin William Design generally aims to make high quality furniture that can be disassembled and flat packed, so if this not appropriate for your goals it's critical to make this type of need clear. For clients with specific needs, who require multiple iterations to achieve the desired product, they will be billed at the normal rate, and this does not constitute a warranty claim under our satisfaction policy. Martin William Design will always make a good faith effort to communicate fully and completely via computer models, in-person meetings (if applicable), and extensive back-and-fourth communication. If you have any questions or concerns about the project, it's important to get them cleared prior to accepting a proposal. Each project may include specific items included or excluded from the satisfaction guarantee. These items will be outlined specifically in project proposals. General Project Warranty: Martin William Design will not deliver any damaged or defective product to you. We want you to be happy, so if you the customer feel the product is not of an acceptable quality, we will enter into a dispute process. Quality is guaranteed for 1 year. This does not include normal wear and tear or damage incurred during use. If quality is found to be defective, it will be at our sole discretion to rework, refund, or replace the product. For most products, including wood furniture, water damage is not considered a quality issue. Projects damaged during shipping may be subject to a dispute and claim process with the shipping company. Please inspect items upon delivery prior to signing any acceptance forms. Refunds for purposes other than quality issues: Please note the nature of custom work is such that we will be unable to refund any "sunk costs", such as time and material expenses. Any "change of heart" or cancellations should be noted as soon as possible to receive the maximum refund. The refund amount will be at our sole discretion. Should you request a refund, an explanation of the project-specific refund amount can be made available upon request. The customer may also request that material goods purchased and partial work be provided to them up to the value not included in a cash refund. Generally, we will refund 100% up until approval of the final design as shown in computer models. It's worth your while to be very diligent in inspecting the computer model to ensure you get the item exactly how you want it. Martin William Design has the capability to host a web meeting where the model can be spun, rotated, zoomed in and out, all while talking on the phone. This affords you the opportunity to see every single detail of the design prior to manufacture. \*VERY IMPORTANT\* While we make every attempt to be as diligent as possible with computer renderings and models shown to customers, the computer models will never perfectly represent the final product. Paint colors are notorious for being variable, and final fit and finish is very difficult to "feel" in the computer world. It's not uncommon for things to fit tighter or looser than expected. Often times Martin will design with this in mind, and have solutions ready if an item is not satisfactory. Having said that, some things often still slip through. For clients with an exact or specific need, this can require multiple "prototype builds" prior to receiving the final product. For these cases, each prototype will be considered a separate project and the work will be billed at our normal cost. If this includes a return "previous iteration" the returned item include an amount credited towards the next iteration. This credit will be at the sole discretion of Martin William Design, and shall not be greater than the amount paid, minus the "sunk costs", which include but are not limited to taxes, fees, shipping costs, material costs, and any 3rd party labor. If an item is not returned, no refund will be provided. The remaining amount of the credit will be determined by the amount of work performed by that point in time, overhead, and projected value of rework required. Martin's common sense rework summary: Rework can be extremely expensive, so it's best if we get this right the first time. If there's anything you're concerned about, it's a very good idea to let me know upfront. I try to cover all the bases, but sometimes things still slip through. For clients with very specific needs, it's not uncommon to go through two or three iterations before arriving at the perfect solution to your project! A client with more exacting needs should expect to pay more for those needs to be met. This can be quite costly, so it's important that we do as much risk mitigation upfront as possible. I want this to be a mutually beneficial project! 2: Intellectual property rights and copyright claims. Martin William Design can provide two levels of service with respect to Intellectual Property: End Product Only, and Product Development Services. End Product Only: Most projects on CustomMade.com will fall into this category: The customer is buying a finished product, and makes not claims on any intellectual property developed by Martin William Design during the course of work. Martin William Design will retain the right to list and sell any item developed to other customers, as well as list the item in our portfolio for commercial purposes. Product Development Services: These projects (uncommon on CustomMade.com) are specifically for product development or engineering where the customer wishes to retain intellectual property upon completion of the project, and will include associated engineering fees. These projects may not be covered by this document and are subject to their own agreement. "End Product Only" General Agreement: This is not an engineering contract. The customer is buying a finished product only. Martin William Design retains the right to sell any project or product developed in the course of doing business to others for commercial purposes. The customer has no intention to interfere with that process. Martin William Design will retain a shared copyright on any intellectual property developed by the customer that is utilized in the project. Martin William Design will be able to apply this intellectual property to future work, regardless of whether the customer is involved in that work or not. The customer makes no claims on any intellectual property developed in the normal course of work on this project by Martin William Design, nor any IP previously developed by Martin William Design and applied to this project. The customer understands that if this were an engineering contract, and intended to make intellectual property claims there would be associated engineering fees. These fees have been waived. Martin William Design will not prevent the customer from developing the product or project idea with others in the future for commercial purposes. If the customer intends to make any IP claims against Martin William Design, that will be considered an engineering project and subject to engineering fees not included in this proposal. Engineering documents: Martin William Design will retain exclusive ownership of any intellectual property developed through working on this project. Should the customer request engineering documents (example: 3D models, 2D technical drawings) or desire to retain intellectual property rights, a separate engineering proposal will be submitted and subject to additional engineering fees. This document is provided as a baseline agreement. Each project may include project-specific agreements that may supersede this document.

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