TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR CLIENTS 2023
Realtime Services Minimums & Cancellation Deadlines
1. Remote CART and non-television captioning events are charged for a minimum of one hour.
2. Remote television captioning events are charged for a minimum of 30 minutes.
3. Remote CART events scheduled for less than one hour are charged a 15% surcharge and are billable for a minimum of 45 minutes. The reduced minimum option is not available under the following conditions:
a. Events scheduled with next or same business day notice
b. Conference events
c. When off-hours, weekend, or holiday surcharge is applicable
d. Enhanced Security events
e. Clients who do not qualify for a 10% volume or 10% loyalty discount
f. Clients under a contract that does not include reduced minimum pricing
g. Clients eligible for GSA pricing
4. Minimum times for onsite CART and captioning events:
a. Three hours when services are provided by a local captioner, billed in half-hour increments thereafter
b. Two days when services are provided by a non-local captioner, billed in half-day increments thereafter
5. On-Demand remote services are scheduled for a minimum of two hours.
6. The cancellation deadline is the amount of time you have before the scheduled start of an event to cancel services without incurring charges.
7. The cancellation deadline is one full business day for a single remote event scheduled for less than four hours.
8. The cancellation deadline is five business days for any of the following events:
a. Remote events of four hours or longer
b. Multiple-session events
c. Hourly rate onsite events
d. Events requiring a caption encoder rental or Falcon service
9. The cancellation deadline is ten business days for any of the following events:
a. Day rate onsite events
b. Any non-English events
10.The cost for a chargeable cancelled event is the original scheduled time, plus any applicable surcharges, less a 15% discount. (Discount not applicable to GSA or contract rates.)
11.The time associated with a cancellation notice is based on when the notice is received by Caption First and not on when it was sent.
12.Billable times for remote services may include breaks of 30 minutes or less and/or pre-session connection times.
13.Onsite services are billable from start to finish, including any breaks.
14.All events are scheduled to start and end on a quarter-hour.
Post-Production Services: Minimums & Cancellation Deadlines
1. Transcription requests of similar service and delivery time have a minimum of 15 minutes per file or group of files delivered on the same day.
2. Transcription requests must be cancelled within one hour of sending the audio file to avoid late cancellation charges.
3. The time associated with a cancellation notice is based on when the notice is received by Caption First and not on when it was sent.
Realtime Services Charges
2. The billing increment and grace period for remote events are 15 minutes and 3 minutes, respectively.
3. The billing increment and grace period for on-site events are 30 minutes and 6 minutes, respectively.
4. Ancillary services and expenses will be charged when appropriate. These services may include (but are not limited to):
a. Transcripts (finished, next-day delivery, or immediate delivery)
b. Equipment rental (including shipping, handling, and/or delivery charges)
c. Travel expenses (including time, mileage, and parking)
5. To avoid late payment charges or loss of discounts, all invoices must be paid by the due date listed on the invoice.
6. Events ending earlier than the scheduled end time are billable for the scheduled time.
7. Any scheduled event in which any portion falls within the times designated as weekend, holiday, or off-hours is liable for the surcharge for the entire event.
8. Onsite services may incur travel expenses and/or a trip charge.
9. Invoices provided in hardcopy format may be charged a $5 shipping and handling fee.
10.Substantial changes to the schedule of a large event, made within 15 days of the event, may incur a change fee of 20%.
11.Billable times for realtime services are based on times at the quarter hour.
Post-Production: Services & Turnaround Times
2. Weekend and holiday surcharges apply to services where the job requires any work on a weekend or holiday.
3. Standard Turnaround Times Chart
Discounts
2. Discounts may be reduced or unavailable based on:
a. Poor payment history
b. Extended payment terms
i. 31 to 45 days: reduction of discounts by 5%
ii. 46 to 60 days: reduction of discounts by 10%
c. Payment methods that require additional costs or discounts
d. Client fees
e. Unusual or complex invoice submission requirements
f. Written agreements
g. Remote events scheduled with less than one business-day notification
h. Non-standard service items
i. Onsite or large events with less than a ten business-day notification
j. Graduations
k. Or other similar factors
3. Discounts based on volume of sales are recalculated on a quarterly basis and are automatically applied to future services.
4. Five Percent (5%)
a. Available to all non-profit organizations, individuals, and educational institutions. This discount may be combined with other discounts.
b. Any client with total sales of $15,000 in the last 6 months or $25,000 in the last 12 months.
c. Any clients with annual sales of $15,000 or more for each of the last three years.
5. Ten Percent (10%)
a. Any client with total sales of $25,000 in the last 6 months or $50,000 in the last 12 months.
b. Any client with annual sales of $25,000 or more for each of the last three years.
6. Maximum allowable combined discount is 12%.
7. Client subcontractors are not eligible to receive the full discount provided to the client to whom they subcontract.
Surcharges
a. Weekend (25%)
b. Holiday (50%)
c. Emergency (50%)
d. Off-Hours, 12:00am to 5:00am CT (10%)
2. Religious organizations are not liable for weekend surcharges.
3. The following holidays are subject to the holiday surcharge: New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, U.S. Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas.
4. The following days are subject to the weekend surcharge: All Saturdays and Sundays, the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve.
5. An Enhanced Security (ES) surcharge (15%) is applicable whenever ES services are provided (as required by a contract or two or more of the following items: complex StreamText URL, event password, viewer login required, or ES-qualified captioner)
Payments
2. Acceptable forms of payment for U.S. clients are check, electronic funds transfer and credit card (Visa, MasterCard and American Express only).
3. Acceptable forms of payment for non-U.S. clients are check, wire transfer, cash, credit card (Visa and MasterCard only), or PayPal. All payments must be made in U.S. dollars.
4. The use of credit cards, PayPal, or other fee-based payment methods may result in the loss of some or all discounts.
5. Invoices with past due payments older than four months may be turned over to a collection agency for further action and may incur a one-time 25% interest fee.
6. Invoices or payments which are rejected, returned, or disallowed due to insufficient funds, incorrect customer-provided information, or similar reasons are subject to a $45 re-processing fee.
7. Caption First may require pre-payment of a portion or the entire estimated cost of services for a large event or new clients.
8. Payment terms in excess of 60 days are not accepted.
Miscellaneous
2. Caption First and its subcontractors will take all reasonable measures to keep all client information private and secure.
3. By requesting and accepting services, clients of Caption First are assumed to have agreed to the terms and conditions as stated in this document.
4. Regional differences in writer availability and rates may require Caption First to charge rates that are higher than our standard rates and/or increase minimum required time for onsite services.
5. Services with an expedited delivery schedule must be arranged in advance.
6. High-demand areas include the metropolitan area of New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other selected metropolitan areas.
7. The minimum billable time for remote CART transcripts is one hour even if the remote CART service has a reduced minimum of 45 minutes.
8. The Customer is responsible for the safety of any equipment rented from Caption First. Any loss or damage to Caption First equipment is chargeable to the customer at the current replacement cost.
9. A trip charge, mileage, travel, and/or parking expenses may apply for onsite events.
Educational Institutions
2. Caption First will provide training to students, instructors, Disability Services and technical staff on Caption First services and the use of remote CART equipment at no cost except for travel expenses.
3. Instructors of student users need to be trained on the importance of providing preparation material, the proper use of microphones and the importance of repeating classroom questions.
4. Technical staff should be trained on the requirements of the student user and the software used to provide service.
5. Transcripts, if ordered, will be sent to the Disability Services office unless also authorized to be sent to the student.
6. The Disability Services office is responsible for the safety of any equipment rented from Caption First.
7. Onsite service cannot be guaranteed without pre-payment.
8. Rental equipment is paid for at the beginning of each term and is not refundable.
9. The Disability Services office should provide to Caption First a complete class schedule including start date, end date, holidays, days of no classes and midterm and finals week.
Government Organizations
2. Event agenda information must be provided to allow writer to prepare a special dictionary for the event.
Summary of Changes
Post-Production Services Minium & Cancellation Deadlines: None
Realtime Services Charges: None
Post-Production Services & Turnaround Times: None
Discounts: 2-4
Surcharges: 4, some previous items deleted
Payments: 1,4,8
Miscellaneous: 9
Educational Institutions: None
Government Organizations: None
