Terms of business, in plain language

VergeLabs is the trading name of Nathan Derkse, Calle Fernando Fuentes 2, La Orotava, Spain, reachable at hallo@vergelabs.nl. These terms apply to every quote, assignment and delivery, unless we agree otherwise in writing. A client's own general terms are rejected, unless we have expressly accepted them.

A quote is valid for thirty days. The assignment starts once you confirm it in writing. An email is enough. What the quote says is the assignment; what it does not say is not part of it. If you want to add something along the way we agree a price for it before we start. We never invoice afterwards for work you were not told about.

All amounts are exclusive of VAT. The prices shown next to a service on this site are fixed prices for the scope described, not indications. Invoices are due within fourteen days. For larger assignments we invoice in instalments, as set out in the quote. If you book a working session and commission a scan within three months, the full amount of that session is credited against the first invoice. A partner arrangement runs monthly, invoiced in advance, with one month's notice.

We deliver research, judgements and systems, and we commit to doing that well. We do not promise an outcome: a scan showing nothing is wrong is work delivered just as fully as a scan that finds a problem. What we deliver we substantiate. Every judgement states what it rests on and where that can be found. If you believe a judgement is wrong, say so; we look again and change it if you are right.

We use language models in our work and we do not hide it. No model output leaves this office without a person having checked it and being able to overrule it. A model never takes a decision about a person on its own here. Which processor sees your material, where that happens and how to avoid it is set out in the privacy statement.

The Supplier Scan, the Ketencheck and the Proof are free and illustrative. They are not advice, not an audit and not a diagnosis, and you cannot base a decision on them for which you would hold us liable. A verdict about a supplier is our reading of public material on the day we looked; that supplier may have changed something since. If you are that supplier and our verdict is wrong, email us with the source. We look again and either correct or substantiate within two weeks.

What you give us stays yours and stays in-house. We do not share it and we do not use it as an example without separate permission. Material we receive for an assignment is deleted when the assignment ends, except what the law requires us to keep. The same holds in reverse: what we show you about how we work stays inside your organisation.

What we make for you (reports, systems, code written specifically for you) is yours once the invoice is paid. What we developed ourselves and bring with us stays ours: our models, our method and the components we use across clients. On those you get a right of use that does not expire. What we learn along the way becomes knowledge and we take that with us; what is yours stays yours.

If something goes wrong through us, we put it right. If that is no longer possible and there is loss, our liability is limited to the amount you paid for that assignment, and for an ongoing arrangement to three monthly amounts. We are not liable for consequential loss. Lost revenue, lost contracts, loss of data you also held elsewhere. This limit does not apply in case of intent or wilful recklessness on our side.

You can end an assignment at any time. What has been done up to that point we invoice; what has not been done we do not. We can stop as well, if we no longer consider the work defensible. For instance if we are asked to write an outcome up differently from how we found it. We say so with reasons, and we charge nothing for what we then no longer do.

Call first. Most disagreement is a misunderstanding about what was agreed, and half an hour usually settles it. If we do not get there, Dutch law applies and we bring the dispute before the Rechtbank Midden-Nederland, Utrecht. If you are a consumer you may also go to the court where you live. Privacy works differently: for that you can always go to the supervisory authority in your own country, as set out in the privacy statement.

We may change these terms. For a running assignment the version that applied when you confirmed it stays in force. For an ongoing arrangement we announce a change one month ahead, and if you disagree you may terminate.