sortful ways of working

(those pesky ‘terms and conditions’ …)

Outline

Sortfully provides professional organizing services to private individuals in their own homes.  How the process works and important details about protections and limitations are laid out below.  Please read all of this before we agree to work together to make sure we’re all properly prepared.

Who Am I?

Sortfully is a trading name for Sarah Davies of 27 Hawkswell Gardens, OX2 7EX. I’m a sole trader, and my contact details are here

Process and Timeline

1. Initial Contact

Please reach out to me by email, phone, text, website contact form or even carrier pigeon.  I’ll get back to you within 48 hours to arrange a free, online, 45 minute consultation. 

2.  Consultation

These are normally on weekday evenings, between 6.30 and 8.30pm, or at weekends.  During this first meeting, we’ll get to know each other and I’ll start to find out how sortfully can best help you and your situation.  This is a list of some of the things we’ll talk about:

- what’s your goal with sortfully? It can be something concrete like ‘emptying the garage’ or something a bit more intangible like ‘enjoying being in my kitchen again’

- do you see this as a one-off blitz, or a long-term project, or something you’d appreciate doing on a regular basis? All of these options are totally cool!

- what’s important to you in your space/situation? Finding more time? Feeling better about your space? Meeting a goal like moving house etc..

And we’ll go from there.

3.  Proposal

Based on what we’ve talked about in the consultation, I’ll put together a bespoke proposal for your situation.  This will provide an initial schedule, with a recommended number of appointments of between 3 - 6 hours long, along with details of fees, how to pay and all the other terms and conditions below. 

4.  Booking and Deposit

If you’re happy with the sounds of the proposal, I’ll ask you to digitally sign the proposal. We’ll then find a suitable date for the first booking, and when you accept that booking invitation you’ll make an initial deposit .  You have 14 days from making any payment to ‘cool off’ and change your mind, and that payment would be refunded.  Unless we start work within 14 days, in which case you have until the sortfully services start to cool off. 

5.  Fees. 

The remainder of the cost of an appointment (including any travel fees) needs to be paid no less than 3 working days before the appointment.  So, for example, for a Saturday session, please pay by the end of the Tuesday before.  Full details of my fees will be laid out clearly in my proposal and I’ll send out a reminder with all the details 24 hours before payment is required.

6.  Preparations. 

Before our first appointment, I will make sure I am fully kitted up with bin bags, post-it notes, marker pens and ambition.  Please could you make some initial preparations too, to make sure we can get the most out of the session, and that we’re working in a safe space?  These are the sort of things I mean:

- making sure there are no dangerous items in our working area, such as broken glass, sharp objects, food waste etc.;

- providing safe access to the working area so we can get in and out;

- creating about 1 square metre of free space in the area we’ll be working in; say on the floor, or on a table. We’ll need somewhere to put stuff as we’re working with it. Like the spare tile in an old-fashioned solitaire puzzle;

- thinking about somewhere safe to put any items that will Leave The House, e.g. garage or covered porch;

7.  Appointment. 

I like to work with people directly, in their homes.  We’ll likely be together for the whole session, and I’ll definitely need you to be able to be engaged in decisions and discussions throughout, so please make sure pets, children, and other responsibilities don’t distract us too much.  We’ll take regular breaks to make sure we’re always on the right track – 5 minutes in every hour, and an additional half an hour in the middle of a 6 hour session.  We’ll take the last 10-15 minutes of the appointment to assess where we’ve got to and what the next steps are going to be, and we can even arrange the date for another session. 

8.  After-care. 

I’ll follow up all sessions with a summary of what we achieved, and what potential next steps there are, including further appointments.  If required, I’ll send out an updated proposal for your signature.  And then we’ll go around the loop again!

Fees

I charge £50 per hour for sortfully services.  Sessions of 3 hours are reduced to £125, and 6 hours cost £250.  I can adjust these fees / session lengths to suit your circumstances, so please don’t be scared to mention money during our consultation.

There are no travel costs for appointments within 30 miles of my home address in OX2, but I will need you to cover any parking fees no matter where you live.

If you are more than 30 miles from my home, travel costs £0.50 per mile – but this cost is waived if you are happy for me to use your electric car charging point.

A deposit of 40% of the session fee is payable on booking an appointment. Payment is via 3rd party payment service accessed from the safe link I will directly forward to you.

The remainder of the appointment fee is due no less than 3 working days prior to the appointment.  I’ll send you a reminder of the due date with all the details for payment.

Full details of the breakdown of fees for your sortful services will be provided in the initial proposal.  Any changes to costs will be communicated and agreed separately.

Any cancellations made by me will be fully refunded or rearranged at my own cost.

Scope of Services

-              I won’t make decisions for you!  You will always be fully in control.  This is all about you, for you.

-              Sortfully is focussed on organizing and simplifying, not just cleaning.  So I will be helping you move items around in your house to find them new or better homes.  As we do so, some things might need a quick flick of a duster or a wipe with a damp cloth. I don’t provide any deeper cleaning services…  But I’m happy to work alongside with your cleaner, or help you find one.

-              I’m afraid I can’t take your waste away for you, but I’ll make sure there is a plan in place at the end of each session. I am very keen to help with removing excess items from your home, for example sourcing local charity shops or recycling centres, or even local waste carriers. 

-              I can research 3rd party service providers, such as tradesmen to build storage, or potential storage furniture, or even cleaners to help keep your space as you would like it.  I’ll provide you with a selection of potential services for you, based on good faith and a basic level of investigation. Details of such services will be without prejudice (i.e. I don’t take fees from any service providers) and also without any guarantee of the standard of their work.  Engaging with such providers will be a private arrangement between you and them.

-              If agreed between us, I can provide ideas and inspiration for bespoke potential storage solutions, or furniture arrangements, or decoration to suit your situation.  You can then use these ideas as a basis to engage professionals to help you.  I can also help put together light flat-pack furniture. Sadly, I can’t replace a qualified joiner or carpenter!  And I’m not built for moving heavy furniture or other items.

-              I hold public liability and professional indemnity insurance BUT I will always do my utmost to prevent any damage, however slight.

-              I can’t be responsible for any items once they have left your house.  Nor am I a professional valuer, nor able to provide technical advice on specialist items.

-              I’m not a qualified financial advisor, so any help with organising paperwork, bills, subscriptions, or digital accounts will be for organisational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. You will still be responsible for all financial decisions and account management, and I cannot accept responsibility for any financial losses, penalties, or issues arising from actions taken based on this support.

-              Decluttering can be an incredibly emotional process.  And I’ll do everything I can to help you through. But I’m not trained or qualified as a counsellor, therapist or similar, and cannot be a substitute for a mental health professional. 

-              I will protect all information about you and your situation.  I will never pass on your information to others unless required by law.  Please see my privacy policy for more information.