Terms & Conditions

1. Provision of Services

• 1.1 Unless otherwise agreed in writing by Capstone Editing, the client shall request that Capstone Editing provide services by: 
  • 1.1.1 completing Capstone Editing’s online application at http://www.capstoneediting.com.au (Online Application), which shall include: 
    • 1.1.1.1 the name and email address of the client (and, optionally, the contact phone number and mailing address of the client);
    • 1.1.1.2 the service(s) that the client requests that Capstone Editing deliver (Services);
    • 1.1.1.3 the deadline by which the client requests the Services be delivered by Capstone Editing to the client;
    • 1.1.1.4 the electronic (editable) version of the document on which the client requires Capstone Editing to perform the Services; and
    • 1.1.1.5 any and all other instructions necessary for performing the job, as requested in the Online Application.
  • 1.1.2 paying the fee estimate specified on the Online Application (Client Application).
• 1.2 After receiving the Client Application, if Capstone Editing agrees to perform the Service specified in the Client Application for the fee paid by the client and by the deadline requested by the client, Capstone Editing will notify the client in writing (by email). For the avoidance of doubt, Capstone Editing will not have agreed to (or be deemed to have agreed to) perform the Services specified in the Client Application or be liable to the client in any way until Capstone Editing has confirmed in writing that it will perform the Services and has confirmed the deadline.
• 1.3 Prior to agreeing to provide the Services, Capstone Editing may refuse to accept the Client Application and decline to provide the Services contained therein for any reason in its absolute discretion. In the event that Capstone Editing refuses to accept the Client Application in accordance with this clause, Capstone Editing shall:
  • 1.3.1 notify the client in writing as soon as reasonably practical; and
  • 1.3.2 refund to the client any fee paid by the client within 2 business days of notifying the client that the Client Application has been rejected.
• 1.4 Prior to rejecting the Client Application in accordance with clause 1.3, Capstone Editing reserves the right to propose to the client:
  • 1.4.1 a revised deadline by which the Services are to be performed; and/or
  • 1.4.2 a revised fee to be charged for the Services.
• 1.5 If the client receives a written notice in accordance with clause 1.4, the client must notify Capstone Editing in writing within 5 business days whether or not:
  • 1.5.1 the client accepts the revised deadline and/or the revised fee (Acceptance Notice). If the revision includes revision to the fee, the additional amount due and payable to Capstone Editing must accompany the Acceptance Notice; or
  • 1.5.2 the client rejects the revised deadline and/or revised fee (Rejection Notice).
• 1.6 If the client does not serve an Acceptance Notice or a Rejection Notice in accordance with clause 1.5 within the 5-business-day period, or serves an Acceptance Notice but does not pay the revised fee, the client will be deemed to have served a Rejection Notice.
• 1.7 If the client serves an Acceptance Notice, the Client Application will be amended accordingly and Capstone Editing will have agreed to provide the Services in accordance with the amended Client Application and the client will have agreed to pay the revised fee for the Services.
• 1.8 If the client serves a Rejection Notice:
  • 1.8.1 Capstone Editing shall be under no obligation to perform the Services;
  • 1.8.2 Capstone Editing shall return any fee received by Capstone Editing from the client as part of the Client Application within 2 business days of Capstone Editing receiving the Rejection Notice; and
  • 1.8.3 to the extent permitted by law, Capstone Editing shall have no liability to the client with the exception of the duty to refund any fee received by Capstone Editing as part of the Client Application.
• 1.9 Capstone Editing shall use its reasonable endeavours to serve a notice in accordance with clause 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4 (as the case may be) within 2 business days of receiving the Client Application.
• 1.10 Notwithstanding that Capstone Editing may have accepted a Client Application, Capstone Editing will not provide the Services in respect of work that Capstone Editing reasonably believes to be plagiarised. If any sections in a document are determined to have been plagiarised, those sections will not be edited. These sections may comprise a small part of the document or even the entire document. No refund will be given for any sections not edited due to plagiarism. It is the client’s responsibility to ensure the originality of all material submitted to Capstone Editing. 
• 1.11 Without limiting clause 1.10, Capstone Editing reserves the right to refuse to provide the Services to the client at any time if Capstone Editing:
  • 1.11.1 finds the client’s work to be offensive or objectionable; or
  • 1.11.2 suspects the client’s work to be plagiarised. 
• 1.12 Capstone Editing will perform those services as specified in Schedule 1 (Services).
• 1.13 In providing the Services, Capstone Editing will: 
  • 1.13.1 promptly, diligently and professionally devote sufficient time and attention to properly perform the Services; 
  • 1.13.2 perform the Services in a proper and professional manner with due skill and care by reference to industry standards and practices; and
  • 1.13.3 keep all client information strictly confidential as per its privacy policy.
• 1.14 In providing the Services, Capstone Editing upholds the highest standards of academic integrity. Capstone Editing strictly follows the Australian Standards for Editing Practice and, where applicable, the ‘Guidelines for Editing Research Theses’. 
• 1.15 Unless given specific instructions to the contrary by the client at the time of completing the Online Application (i.e. when placing an order), when editing to conform to British/Australian English, we follow the Snooks & Co. Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers and the Macquarie Dictionary. When editing to conform to American English, we follow the Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.
• 1.16 By Lodging a Client Application, the client agrees to and is bound by these Terms and Conditions.

2. Fees

• 2.1 In consideration for Capstone Editing agreeing to and delivering the Services to the client, the client must pay the fees specified in the Client Application or as otherwise accepted by Capstone Editing in accordance with clause 1.7 (Fees).
• 2.2 Subject to clause 2.3, the Fees must be paid to Capstone Editing at the time of making the Client Application. Capstone Editing will be under no obligation to commence the Services until the Fee is paid in full.
• 2.3 Capstone Editing may agree with the client to accept payment of the Fee from a third party (such as a university). The third party must pay the Fee within 30 days of receiving an invoice from Capstone Editing.
• 2.4 In the event the Fees are not paid in accordance with clause 2.3:
  • 2.4.1 the client shall remain personally responsible for the payment of the Fees.

3. Client Responsibilities

The client is solely responsible and liable for:

• 3.1 making full payment of Fees in accordance with clause 2. If the client’s university agrees to make payment in relation to the Client’s Application but fails to do so, the client is then responsible for making full payment;
• 3.2 ensuring all provided details, including contact information, is complete and correct;
• 3.3 all aspects of the client’s document, including its content, quality, presentation, use and submission;
• 3.4 complying with all university policies and guidelines and all local laws. In the case of postgraduate students, this includes the ‘Guidelines for Editing Research Theses’, which require the client to check all edits to their document carefully, and take full and complete responsibility for accepting or rejecting them; and
• 3.5 accepting, rejecting or implementing any changes or comments from the editor in the edited document. 

4. Quality Guarantee

• 4.1 Capstone Editing aims to supply its clients the Services to a high quality. 
• 4.2 In the event that the client find errors in the edited document, the client may request that corrections be made under the following conditions:
  • 4.2.1 The client must notify Capstone Editing in writing of the errors within: 
    • 4.2.1.1 30 days of receiving the edited document for documents fewer than 50,000 words; or 
    • 4.2.1.2 90 days of receiving the edited document for documents 50,000 words or greater.
  • 4.2.2 The corrections required must be within the scope of the original Service. 
• 4.3 Subject to the client complying with clause 4.2, Capstone Editing will correct any errors it has made at no further charge to the client.
• 4.4 Capstone Editing will not correct work in accordance with clause 4.3 that was not previously edited by Capstone Editing. For example, Capstone Editing will not correct any alterations or additions to any portion of the work that contain amendments or additions made after Capstone Editing returned the work to the client. 
• 4.5 Any request for corrections or alterations that does not comply with clause 4.2 will not be carried out at no charge (including formatting, referencing, text editing and any other aspect of the edit).

5. On-time Guarantee

• 5.1 Capstone Editing guarantees that it will complete the Services within the deadline specified in the Client Application or as varied in accordance with clauses 1.7 or 2.4.3 (Deadline). 
• 5.2 If Capstone Editing fails to complete the Services by the Deadline, Capstone Editing will:
  • 5.2.1 provide the client with a full refund of the Fee paid within 10 business days after the Deadline; and 
  • 5.2.2 complete and return the edited document as soon as possible. 
• 5.3 For the purposes of the guarantee contained in this clause, the Services are deemed to have been completed by Capstone Editing once Capstone Editing has emailed the edited works to the email address nominated by the client in the Client Application (or a link to download the file is emailed to the nominated email address).
• 5.4 Capstone Editing will not have failed to have completed the Services by the Deadline if:
  • 5.4.1 the client has supplied an incorrect email address;
  • 5.4.2 the client’s email inbox is full; 
  • 5.4.3 the email is blocked for any reason, for example by the client’s spam filter);
  • 5.4.4 Capstone Editing sent the email to the client prior to the Deadline but the email did not download to the client’s computer until after the Deadline; 
  • 5.4.5 after setting the Deadline, the client requests that Capstone Editing complete additional work that was not originally contained in the Client Application;
  • 5.4.6 the client agrees to an extension to the Deadline for any reason (the guarantee would then apply to the varied Deadline); or
  • 5.4.7 Capstone Editing sends the client an email by the Deadline informing the client that the edited document is complete and can be downloaded from the client login area on the Capstone Editing website or using a cloud-storage program such as Dropbox but the client does not log in and download it until after the Deadline.
• 5.5 The onus will be on the client to prove that Capstone Editing failed to deliver the Services by the Deadline.

6. Limitation of Liability

• 6.1 Capstone Editing does not warrant that the Services will be delivered 100% free of errors. As per Capstone Editing’s Quality Guarantee contained in clause 4, Capstone Editing will work with the client to minimise any errors.  
• 6.2 Capstone Editing does not warrant that the Services will result in or achieve:
  • 6.2.1 improved or passing grades; 
  • 6.2.2 acceptance by the client’s university (in the case of theses); or 
  • 6.2.3 acceptance for publication. 
• 6.3 To the maximum extent permitted by law, Capstone Editing’s liability to the client is limited to resupply of the Services.
• 6.4 To the maximum extent permitted by law: 
  • 6.4.1 Capstone Editing excludes all conditions, warranties, guarantees or representations (expressed or implied) in relation to the Services; and
  • 6.4.2 Capstone Editing is not responsible to the client or to any other person for any loss (including consequential loss), damage or injury, caused by, resulting from or in any way connected with the Services, howsoever caused, including due to Capstone Editing’s negligence, breach of contract, breach of any law, in equity, or under any indemnity.
• 6.5 To the maximum extent permitted by law, the maximum amount recoverable by the client from Capstone Editing under or in connection with the Services is limited to the Fees paid by the client to Capstone Editing.

7. Cancellation and Replacement Policy

• 7.1 Subject to clause 1.5, the client cannot cancel an order for Services once it has been submitted in a Client Application.
• 7.2 If the client submits an incorrect file for editing by mistake, the client can replace the incorrect file with the correct file but must make an additional payment to cover the amount of editing that has already taken place on the original file (if any) at Capstone Editing’s standard rates.

8. Contract Termination

• 8.1 Capstone Editing reserves the right to terminate a Client Application and delivery of the Services at any time and for any reason.
• 8.2 If Capstone Editing terminates the Client’s Application in accordance with clause 8.1, it shall notify the client in writing.

9. Variation

Capstone Editing may vary these Terms and Conditions at any time by service of written notice to the client.

10. Client Complaints

• 10.1 The client can make a complaint to Capstone Editing by completing Capstone Editing’s complaint form located on its website http://www.capstoneediting.com.au (Complaint).
• 10.2 If Capstone Editing receives a Complaint, Capstone Editing’s Head Editor and Quality Assurance Manager will independently review the client’s edited document and any supporting documents or information that the client provides. They will then:
  • 10.2.1 compare their findings on the number and type of errors in the client’s document;
  • 10.2.2 determine the corrective action required; and 
  • 10.2.3 communicate this to Capstone Editing’s editor who performed the Services.
• 10.3 The client will be informed of the outcome of the review undertaken in accordance with clause 10.2 as soon as possible (within 2 business days). 
• 10.4 Capstone Editing’s corrective action may include: 
  • 10.4.1 correction of identified errors;
  • 10.4.2 a partial re-edit;
  • 10.4.3 a full re-edit; or 
  • 10.4.4 no action. 
• 10.5 The client may not take legal action against Capstone Editing until the complaints process has been completed.

11. Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions and any agreement between Capstone Editing and the client are governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory.

12. Definitions

The following terms have the following meaning for the purposes of these Terms and Conditions:

• 12.1 Capstone Editing means Capstone Editing Pty Ltd of registered office Level 5, 7 London Circuit, Canberra ACT 2601, Australian Company Number 610 658 887.
• 12.2 the client in each instance refers to the client ordering the Services as specified in the Client Application and shall include their successors and assigns.

Prepared by Denis Marjas
Griffins Lawyers
49 Flinders Street
Adelaide SA 5000