Our Business Policies

In General

Our policies are designed to be simple, customer friendly, and very competitive. Please give us your feedback if you ever feel that we have not achieved this goal.

Invoicing Policies

RufusTech invoices are generated at the beginning of each calendar month, upon depletion of prepaid blocks of consulting hours, or upon completion of a project. Invoices are detailed, showing what services were performed, when, by which person, and with what results. Payment is due 15 days from the invoice date. For any invoices that are 10 days past due, we will pause all IT services until your account is back in good standing.

Appointment Cancellation

Please call and leave a message within 24 hours if you need to cancel an appointment. We are not able to accept last-minute cancellations by email. We reserve the right to charge for 1 hour of technician time for cancellations with less than 24 hours notice.

Computer on the repair bench.
Computer on the repair bench.

Pricing Policies

Hourly rates vary as to the type of work, and whether the work can be done during regular business hours or must be undertaken in evening or weekend time.

  • Category 1 (Base Rate) – applies to the Monday-Friday, 8 AM – 5 PM time period, also referred to as "core business hours".
  • Category 2 – refers to M-F after hours and Saturdays 8 AM – 5 PM which is billed at 1.25 times the base rate.
  • Category 3 – refers to Saturdays after hours, Sundays and holidays, which is billed at 1.5 times the base rate.

Productive Time

We charge for productive time rounded to the nearest quarter hour. Flat fees for general services in this business tend to obscure what is being done and how long it is actually taking. We prefer our clients to know exactly where time is being spent so they can adjust priorities and project workloads at any time.

Minimum Hours Billed

Our minimum billable unit is .25 hour for all categories of work. The on-site service visit minimum billable unit is 0.50 hours.

Discount Plans

Prepay Blocks

Discounted per-hour rates of up to 15% are available for clients who purchase blocks of consulting hours in advance of the work being done. We offer blocks of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 hours with an increasing hourly discount. Clients keep their special pricing as long as they have prepaid hours on the books, and purchase new blocks of hours as the previous ones are depleted. Clients purchase blocks of discounted Category 1 base rate hours. In the event work falls outside core business hours, the same Category 2 and Category 3 multipliers (see preceding section) apply to the discounted base rate. Discount rates begin applying the day payment is received. Prepaid clients receive monthly invoices when there has been activity on their account. Charges for all time and materials are made against the prepaid balance. Prepaid blocks are valid for one year from the date of purchase. When a price increase occurs, the prepay percentage discount will still apply to the new hourly rates.

Service tray with items ready for pickup.
Service tray with items ready for pickup.

Sales Tax

Our hourly fees are subject to applicable sales tax. In spite of this being a service business, the State of Washington defines computer related services as taxable. See WAC 458-20-15501 for further information.

Client Satisfaction and Refunds

We work closely with our clients to ensure we are achieving the results they desire. However, actual work that has been performed by RufusTech, and/or blocks of prepaid discount hours are non-refundable. In spite of our best efforts, if you do find yourself unhappy with our work for any reason please call us and we will find a way to make the situation right on a case-by-case basis.

Travel Time

We charge for one way of travel time at the standard consulting rate for on-site service visits.

Service Call Response Time

We are committed to a maximum 4-hour response time to service calls during regular business hours. Service outage response times are top priority and should happen much faster. If we have regular or low priority work scheduled with you which must be delayed or canceled due to another client’s service outage, we ask for your patience and understanding. Remember, a service outage at your site will also put you at top priority. Please note that a client’s proactive and timely payment history puts their issues at a higher priority than those whose account is in poor standing. Please also note that service priority levels 1 and 2 (detailed below) may warrant after-hours or weekend work to accomplish.

Service Priority Levels

  1. Service outage which has halted or reduced our client’s fundamental ability to conduct business.
  2. Service outage amounting to an inconvenience in business operations.
  3. Telephone support/helpdesk inquiries.
  4. Special project work with deadline.
  5. Regular support and maintenance.
  6. Low priority work deemed “back-burner” by client.

Client Data

We do not store client data in our systems except temporarily as part of a service event. Upon completion of the service event, data will be removed and digitally shredded.

Technology Failures and Warranty

Due to the nature of technology products on the market, we make no guarantee or warranty as to stability, longevity, fitness, quality, or usability of any hardware or software systems which have been mentioned, recommended, installed or maintained by our technicians whatsoever. We assume no liability for loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from services performed by our company.

Our Track Record

The bottom line is that we work very hard to keep your technology investment working smoothly and reliably. We have a proven track record of doing right by our clients.

Advertisements

No recommendations are implicitly or explicitly made for any of the products or services advertised, or linked to from our web site.

Agreement

Requesting and receiving services from RufusTech is taken as acknowledgment and acceptance of the policies stated on this web page.