Terms & Conditions

REQUIRED DEPOSIT

For first-time clients, 33% of the project fees plus 100% of the incentive fees are due no less than 5 business days prior to the project date. For first time clients located outside of the United States, 33% of the project fees, plus 100% of the incentive fees are due prior to fielding recruitment. For returning clients, incentive deposit 48 hours before your research is required unless other arrangements have been made with your Project Manager. Returning clients may also be required to submit a percentage of the project fees prior to the project date. Your Project Manager will notify you if a deposit is required in advance. Nonpayment of fees may incur a 5% service fee or $250, whichever is greater.


PROJECT CANCELLATION OR POSTPONEMENT

Projects canceled two weeks or more away from execution date and will be rescheduled for a new date – Facility fees for the original date will be waived. Facility fees will be charged for the new date only. In addition, $25/pp will be charged to contact/reschedule respondents to the new date, and full recruiting fees will be charged for any respondents that must be replaced due to the date change.

 

Projects canceled two weeks or more away from execution date and will not be rescheduled for a new date – 1/2 of facility fees will be charged for the canceled date and full recruiting fees will be charged for any respondents recruited to date. A $250.00 Project Set-Up/Admin fee will also apply. Any other charges incurred by L&E up to the time of cancellation will be charged.

 

Projects canceled less than two weeks away from execution date and will be rescheduled for a new date – Full facility fees will be charged for the original date, and full facility fees will be charged for the new date. In addition, $25/pp will be charged to contact/reschedule respondents to the new date, and full recruiting fees will be charged for any respondents that must be replaced due to the date change. However, if a room can be filled by another client, then we will waive the original facility fees and only charge for the new date’s facility fees.

 

Projects canceled less than two weeks away from execution and will not be rescheduled for a new date – Full facility fees will be charged for the canceled date, and full recruiting fees will be charged for any respondents recruited to date. If using L&E Research’s Virtual Facility, half of facility fees will be charged for the canceled date. A $250.00 Project Set-Up/Admin fee will also apply. Any other charges incurred by L&E up to the time of cancellation will be charged.

 

Incentive Policy – For consumer ethnographies/off-site research rescheduled and/or canceled within 48 hours of execution, and on-site consumer research rescheduled and/or canceled within 24 hours of execution, L&E Research requires that all respondents be paid their full incentive. For health care professional (HCP) and B2B research, either off-site or on-site, rescheduled and/or canceled within 72 hours of execution, L&E Research requires that all respondents participating in HCP and B2B projects also be paid their full incentive.

 

Offsite Participation Confirmation & Incentive Issuance – L&E Research requires that confirmation of participation statuses be received, from the client contact to their L&E Project Manager, no later than 48 hours after the completion of the participant’s session. If the client is electing to compensate respondents directly, these incentives must be distributed within 48 hours of the respondent fully participating. Failure to report participation and/or failure to compensate within 48 hours will result in L&E issuing the incentive to the participant(s) and invoicing the client for these costs, along with the applicable incentive issuance fees.

 

Special Circumstances – Projects canceled due to inclement weather will not incur any additional fees, so long as the project is rescheduled for a new date, and the scope of the project remains the same.


RECRUITMENT FEES

Cost Per Recruit (CPR) – Recruiting fees are billed for each qualified recruit that is secured for research. Recruiting fees will apply for cancellations and no-shows, in addition to those who are dismissed onsite or following client rescreening. Unless otherwise indicated, recruitment costs will be provided as CPR.

 

Cost Per Interview (CPI) – Recruiting fees are billed for each qualified recruit that is interviewed (net); costs for over-recruiting are built into the CPI fee. Pay & Send incentives will be billed for recruits that show for their scheduled session, up to 20% over net.

 

Flat Rate Recruitment – Recruits are secured for a flat-rate fee, to be determined by the number of hours allocated to project recruitment. Additional hours can be allocated for a fee of $50 per hour.

 

Best Effort Recruitment – L&E Research will put forth a best effort to recruit as many respondents as possible for the study, up to the allotted recruitment hours as specified on the bid. We are unable to guarantee we will be successful recruiting all requested participants.

 

Recruits from Client Lists
For recruits from client lists, L&E Research will make every attempt to recruit the client’s quotas. However, a full recruit cannot be guaranteed if the client list becomes exhausted and L&E Research is not permitted to move to our respondent database. L&E Research considers a list to be “exhausted” once three attempts to contact respondents within a recruitable distance have been made, or the allotted recruiting budget for the project has been met.


ELECTRONIC SCREENING

L&E Research screens respondents electronically. You will be provided with a respondent grid reflecting the respondents recruited for your research during recruitment and at the end of the project.


SCREENER REVISIONS

Revisions to a project screener resulting in a change in the specifications of the recruit, or the inclusion/exclusion criteria, may result in recruiting efforts changing to “Best Effort” status. One screener revision/change is allowed once recruiting has begun. Each revision/change after that will incur a charge of $250.00 per revision/change.


PROJECT FEES

Fees may increase depending on costs for catered food, recruiting changes, equipment rented, travel expenses (such as meals or mileage) or other items not specified on the bid. All recruiting costs are bid based upon a +/- 10% cost adjustment and may include additional hourly charges of $50.00 per hour of additional recruitment effort beyond original estimates. Your Project or Facility Manager will advise of any anticipated increases in charges should they arise.


LATE FEES

Invoices aging beyond payment terms are subject to accrue finance charges and interest as maximums allowed by NC law. In addition to these charges, all invoices that exceed payment terms will be turned over to a collection agency for payment, which will incur surcharges on the balance due (the fee L&E Research must pay to the collection agency).


FACILITY RENTAL

The facility rental fee allows clients the use of facilities as early as 1-½ hours before time of session and as late as one hour after session is over. Our buildings require all visitors to exit no later than 10:30 pm. If your project needs differ from these timelines, we ask you to notify your Project or Facility Manager to ensure your needs can be met. Additional fees may apply if you require usage of the facility outside of standard hours of operation.


RECORDING OPTIONS

Facility rentals include digital audio recording sent to you via email at the conclusion of each study date. High Definition video recordings are available for $100/group or $300/day. All recordings are stored on a secure cloud storage site. If a USB drive is requested, this will be ready to ship to you the next business day. USB recordings can be provided on your drive(s) at $35 per copy. If needed, we can also provide USB drives for $25 per device.


CLIENT FOOD

Our Facility Manager will contact you prior to your study to discuss food options and help you design a meal plan. If you have special dietary needs, please make them aware in advance. We will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs. Industry standard service fees and/or transportation fees are added to all client food costs.


DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

Except to the extent expressly set forth in this order form, L&E makes no representations or warranties, oral or written, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or use, title, or noninfringement.


LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

L&E will not be liable to customer or any third party (whether in contract, warranty, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, lost profits, punitive, exemplary, remote, or cover damages arising out of or relating to this agreement, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will L&E’s aggregate total liability to customer in connection with this agreement under any theory of liability exceed the amounts (excluding expenses) actually paid to L&E by customer under this agreement. No claim may be asserted by the customer against L&E more than twelve (12) months after the date of delivery of the services by L&E.


ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

L&E Research cannot guarantee the availability of equipment (LCD projectors, computer equipment or other specialty items) that has not been requested at least 5 business days in advance of the session it is requested for. Any equipment arrangements not mentioned in the cost estimate of this document, but requested hereafter, will be billed upon completion of the project. If you request and subsequently cancel equipment, L&E Research will make every reasonable effort to ensure you are not charged for the canceled equipment. However, we cannot guarantee that you will not incur charges for canceled equipment.