Terms & Conditions

1. Who we are

“The Research Desk”, “TRD”, “we” and “us” refer to The Research Desk, a business operated by its founder, Omer Farrukh, as a sole proprietorship, which provides business automation, software and web development, and research and academic support services. “You” means the person or organisation using this website or engaging our services. You can reach us at info@theresearchdesks.com.

2. Using this website

The information on this website describes our services in general terms. It is not an offer or a quotation. We may update pages, services and these terms at any time; the version published here applies from its “last updated” date.

You may not copy, scrape or republish the website's content, design or code for commercial use without our written permission, or use the website or its forms to send unsolicited messages, attempt unauthorised access or disrupt the service.

3. How projects are agreed

Every project starts with a written scope that sets out the deliverables, timeline, price and payment schedule. Work begins only after you approve that scope. Anything not listed in the scope is outside it; changes are quoted and agreed in writing before they are carried out.

You agree to give us accurate information, timely access to the accounts, data and people the work depends on, and feedback within a reasonable time. Timelines move by the length of any delay on your side.

4. Fees and payment

Unless your scope says otherwise, projects are billed 50% before work starts and 50% on delivery, payable by bank transfer, Wise or Remitly. Prices are fixed for the agreed scope. Transfer fees and currency conversion costs on your side are yours to cover.

We may pause work or withhold handover of source code and credentials while an invoice is overdue. Ongoing costs of third-party services used by your project (hosting, databases, APIs, domains, AI usage) are billed to you by those providers unless agreed otherwise.

5. Revisions, acceptance and support

The number of revision rounds included is stated in your scope. A delivery is accepted when you confirm it, or 14 days after delivery if we have not received a list of issues by then. We fix defects in what we delivered, against the agreed scope, after acceptance too.

New features, changes in requirements and ongoing maintenance are separate work and are quoted separately.

6. Ownership and licences

When the project is paid in full, you own the deliverables created specifically for you, including the source code, and we transfer any accounts, repositories and credentials we set up on your behalf. Until full payment, we grant you a licence to use the work for review only.

Open-source libraries, third-party services and our own pre-existing tools remain under their original licences; where they are part of your deliverable, you receive the right to use them as part of it. We may describe the project in general terms in our portfolio only with your permission; confidential clients are never named.

7. Confidentiality and data

We keep your business information, data and materials confidential and use them only to deliver the work. We will sign your NDA on request. Access you give us to your systems is used only for the agreed work and can be revoked by you at any time. How we handle personal data sent through this website is described in our Privacy Policy.

8. Research and academic support

Research and academic services are tutoring, guidance, feedback, proofreading and, for organisations, research consultancy. We do not write, complete or take part in any work that a student will submit for assessment, and we do not provide work intended for submission. You remain the author of your work and are responsible for following your institution's rules on academic integrity and outside help. We may decline or end an engagement, without charge for the work not done, if a request would breach those rules. We do not guarantee any grade, mark or outcome.

9. Warranties and liability

We carry out work with reasonable skill and care. We do not guarantee specific business results, search rankings or uninterrupted operation of third-party platforms (such as Google Workspace, hosting providers or payment gateways) that your project relies on.

To the extent the law allows, our total liability for any project is limited to the fees you paid for that project, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as lost profits or data. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

10. Cancellation

Either side may end a project in writing. You pay for work completed up to that point, and we hand over that work once it is paid. Refunds are covered in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

11. Questions

If anything in these terms is unclear, email info@theresearchdesks.com before you start a project and we will explain or put it in writing.