Service Agreement

The accuracy percentage of a document is calculated by dividing the total number of unintelligible/inaudible designations (****) by the total number of words in a document.

In cases of very poor audio where resulting transcript accuracy is predicted to potentially contain a greater than 1.5% margin of error, clients will be able to either review the quality of a 10-minute transcription sample, assign an authorized representative to review the sample after hours (for next-day jobs), or assign authority to Expect Perfection as the approving party. After sample review, client can then (1) have us continue the file at the current estimated level of accuracy, or (2) cancel the job.

If client opts to have Expect Perfection continue transcription of the file, the accuracy guarantee is still in effect, payment is expected as estimated on the formal Estimate, and client will be entitled to free corrections as normal, to the estimated level of accuracy, once the job is complete.

Conversely, if client cancels under the Accuracy Guarantee clause immediately upon denial of the reviewed sample, no payment for the transcription will be required. Otherwise, full payment will be expected for the portion of the audio already transcribed, and possibly edited, once the project cancellation request is received. Please see the next section “Job Cancellation,” for further details.

Job Cancellation

Clients may cancel their jobs at any time, but should do so as soon as possible after deciding a transcription is unneeded, please, as client is still held liable for the portion of the audio the transcriptionist has already completed, and editor has already edited. The sole exception to this policy is when jobs are cancelled under the Accuracy Guarantee after the review and subsequent explicit, written refusal of a transcript sample.

To ensure our timely receipt, written cancellation requests should be through Expect Perfection online contact form. Receipt date and time of cancellation requests is calculated by the electronic timestamp on said requests. This creates a support ticket for your request instantly, on which the date and time of creation will be apparent.

It is not recommended to submit project cancellation requests through regular/direct email; however, should you choose to do so, the receipt date and time of the request will be solely determined by the arrival date and time of that email on Expect Perfection’s email server.

International Orders, Orders by First-Time Clients, Etc.

i. Projects under $400 are payable in full for most organizations before work commences. For clients with challenging payment history, all projects are payable in full before work commences. For all others, including recurring and staggered-delivery, invoices are sent when transcripts are in final stages of editing, and before final draft delivery begins.

ii. 50% is the minimum deposit requested for first-time projects, international client projects, and/or projects totaling $400 and above. This deposit is due before work is begun.

iii. In the case of waived deposits, recurring projects, staggered delivery projects, and accounts previously carrying any overdue balance, initial transcript delivery includes “preview transcripts” (final drafts of your transcripts, delivered in secured PDF format). Editable MS Word versions are delivered upon settling of invoice.

To opt for the deposit to facilitate initial delivery of editable, Word transcripts, please contact us.

iv. While we graciously and happily accept projects of any length, there is a one-hour billing/invoice minimum for every project.

Delivery

i. Most projects three hours in length or below are delivered by 6 PM Eastern time on the third or fifth business day following your order (depending on the transcription type you select, e.g. Draft or Standard). Rush projects are generally delivered by 8PM ET on the date due. Longer projects (4+ hours) are generally scheduled with staggered (transcripts sent as each media file is transcribed and edited) delivery by the 10th business day.

ii. For long projects or those delivered on a staggered basis (transcripts sent as each media file is transcribed and edited), invoices will be sent before the first transcript is delivered. We ask that you handle these invoices as soon as possible, please, so as not to delay or halt the staggered delivery of your transcripts.

Regardless, your expected delivery date and time are always provided for your approval (on your estimate) before your project ever begins.

iii. We recommend that all orders be paid online (by credit or debit card) whenever possible. Orders paid by check must be paid in full before work begins, without exception. Only once the check has been received and payment cleared can work begin. Once payment has cleared, delivery date will be set based on transcription level (i.e., Premium transcriptions delivered on the 3rd business day following check clearance).

iv. Order delivery is calculated from the date/time a project estimate is fully approved/accepted (including handling of any required deposit or invoice balance). We always await your express approval and payment before processing and beginning your order, without exception. To prevent your FINAL delivery date (shown on your estimate/invoice) from differing from your originally requested date of delivery, please be sure to approve your estimate and settle any required deposits or balances before close of business on the date issued. We reserve the right to require payment in full before any order begins, for any reason.

v. The delivery time(s) given on your final estimate or invoice indicate the latest time(s) your work should be delivered by. In rare instances when we anticipate running even a few minutes over the initially estimated final delivery time, we will email the primary contact on your account with an updated ETA.

Mailing CDs/DVDs

Should client choose to have Expect Perfection convert audio to digital form from CD or DVD, to prevent damage, please make sure to ship all CDs/DVDs in packaging appropriate for mailing. Also, PLEASE NEVER ship original media without making copies first, in case discs get lost or damaged in transit.

A ~$30 per AUDIO HOUR processing fee may apply to cover audio conversion, handling, and return postage.

As of 2020, we no longer accept any physical media for transcription.

Corrections

i. There is no charge for corrections to pull a document up to the promised job-dependent accuracy percentage, so long as correction requests are submitted by 5PM, in one email, and no more than seven (7) days from the transcript delivery date.

For your convenience, all clients should be automatically notified by email of the completion of every job, but in the event auto-notification should fail due to spam traps, system error, or any other error, the “Transcript delivery date” will be the date the transcript is uploaded to the secure client area. (This is generally the same date printed in your project quote as the “Estimated Completion Date.”)

To request corrections, please contact us via the contact form here. Please make sure to include the job number (invoice or estimate number), and email us a list of what needs fixing, again within 7 or fewer days of the transcript delivery date.

ii. Please note that each correction may be submitted only once, else editing fees may apply.

What does this mean?

Scenario: You tell us that a proper name the transcriptionist couldn’t decipher / misspelled should be “Sutraczinsky,” and submit that correction to us. We make the correction throughout the document and send it back to you. But there’s a problem. Your manager later informs you that the correction should actually be “Cupraczinsky.”

In cases like these, Expect Perfection unfortunately cannot offer free repeat corrections of the same term, even if client is still within the allowed correction period.

iii. All free correction requests will be granted only after payment of the associated invoice is complete.

iv. In almost all cases, corrected documents for projects of two hours or less are returned by the end of the next business day (6PM EST), so long as no outstanding balances are due. In the small percentage of cases where next business day corrections aren’t possible, or for projects of two hours or more, please allow at least 72 hours for the return of corrected documents.

We quickly and happy make any needed corrections to a transcript when requests adhere to the above terms.

Refunds

i. Deposits and/or invoice payments for cancelled jobs are fully refundable, so long as none of your audio has yet been transcribed and/or edited.

ii. If transcription and/or editing has already begun when a job is cancelled, client will be billed only for the transcribed and edited portion of the audio, which will be subtracted from any previous payment or deposit. (Editing for partial transcripts is billed at half of the current audio hour rate.)

The remaining deposit/payment amount, after any deductions for services already completed, will be refunded to you. (The only exception to this policy is when jobs are cancelled under the Accuracy Guarantee clause when jobs are cancelled based on the review of a 10-minute sample and subsequent refusal to continue the work. In these cases, all prior deposits and/or payments for transcription and editing services will be fully refunded to the client with no further liability.)

The above clauses stipulate the only time refunds are allowed for transcription, editing, or any other writing or transcription- related services offered by Expect Perfection.

Invoice Due Dates, Collections, and Late Payments

i. Our invoices are due upon receipt. Invoice payment is due in full within 7 days of the invoice date OR on the invoice Due Date, if provided — whichever is soonest. (Ex: If you were invoiced on a Monday, your invoice would be due by 6PM ET on the next Monday.)

ii. You may make full or partial payments up until the 7th day, so long as payment is received, in full, within 7 days.

iii. On the 8th day following the invoice date, all previously applied concessions, credits, and discounts become nullified, and all previously discounted amount(s) are reapplied to the invoice.

iv. Invoices older than 30 days begin to accrue late fees and interest on the 30th day at the rate of 4% of the current account balance. Late fees will continue at the rate of 4% of the most recent account balance every 30 days until the balance is paid.

v. All accounts 120 days or more past due will be turned over to a collection agency on or after the 120th day. Client (debtor) agrees to be responsible for full payment of his/her account to Expect Perfection or its assigns.

Clients will be responsible for any and all expenses incurred by Expect Perfection as a result of account status default. These expenses include, but are not limited to, all collection costs, attorney fees, and collection agency contract fees.

vi. Invoice payments are made via major credit card, debit card, bank account, and/or PayPal. Should alternate payment methods be requested (i.e., cashier’s check or money order), a convenience fee of $40 will apply.

vii. Consolidated Billing or Net Terms: Expect Perfection may offer consolidated billing or extended payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, etc.) only to clients with recurring orders of $1,000+ per month for at least 3 consecutive months. This arrangement requires prior approval and may involve signing up for specific invoicing systems. All other clients are subject to our standard payment terms as outlined above.

Estimates

Final invoiced amounts almost never differ from exactly what is quoted in your estimate. In the rare cases that they do, we notify you with specific reasons for the change and to attain your re-approval before your amount due is changed in any way.

Instances in which the final invoiced amount differs from the estimate typically occurs when, once we really dig into the work, we find an unexpected issue in your project file(s) that significantly affects the time required to complete the project (>15%). In these rare instances, delivery time may be affected (generally by no more than a few hours), and amounts may be affected (by never any more than 25%). Again, we will directly seek your re-approval of new amounts before any new charge is billed or amount change is made.

Discounts and Account Credits

i. All applicable discounts are credited toward the final invoice payment.

ii. Unless previously approved in writing by an Expect Perfection team member, only one discount, credit, or special offer may be used per job.

iii. Discounts are always applied exclusively to the base audio hour, video hour, or page rates. Discounts are not applied to add-on rates for background noise, accents, technical audio, or other upcharge rates, unless previously specified.

iv. When a client fails to pay an invoice within 7 days of the original invoice date, all concessions, credits, and discounts previously applied to the invoice become nullified and the full, non-discounted amount becomes due immediately.

Liability

Should any errors be found in the work, Expect Perfection is liable for the cost of the work only; no further liability is acknowledged. Expect Perfection also cannot be held liable for the content or usage of any document transcribed or edited by us. Clients are solely responsible for appropriate usage of all documents, including abiding by any copyright or plagiarism laws and publishing requirements. Expect Perfection will assume no responsibility for any plagiarized material supplied by a client, and reserves the right to return the work should we become aware of any such inappropriate use. We also retain the right to reject any work involving material that we find to be illegal, immoral, or otherwise objectionable.

Hold Harmless

Expect Perfection shall fully defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Client from any and all claims, lawsuits, demands, causes of action, liability, loss, damage, and/or injury, of any kind whatsoever (including, without limitation, all claims for monetary loss, property damage, equitable relief, personal injury, and/or wrongful death), whether brought by an individual or other entity, or imposed by a court of law or by administrative action of any federal, state, or local governmental body or agency, arising out of, in any way whatsoever, any acts, omissions, negligence, or willful misconduct on the part of Expect Perfection, its officers, owners, personnel, employees, agents, contractors, invitees, or volunteers. This indemnification applies to and includes, without limitation, the payment of all penalties, fines, judgments, awards, decrees, attorneys’ fees, and related costs or expenses, and any reimbursements to Client for all legal fees, expenses, and costs incurred by Client or Client’s officers, owners, personnel, employees, agents, contractors, invitees, or volunteers.

Your Consent

By using transcription, editing, or other services provided by Expect Perfection, or by making inquiry about services, your agreement and full adherence to our Terms of Service and Confidentiality Agreement is automatically implied and legally effectuated.

Modifications to This Agreement

When our Terms of Service change, all modifications will be posted on this page. The modification date below will also be updated. No supplement, modification, or amendment of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing and signed by both Parties.

This policy was last clarified or updated on: August 23, 2024.

Contacting Us

Should you have any questions regarding this agreement or related items, please contact us by submitting the form or using the info on our contact page.