Refund and Privacy Policies, Security Statement

Refund Policy

Ascent’s Writing Intensive Workshops and Publishing Essentials Workshops are limited-seating and registration occurs on a first-come, first-served basis until limits are reached. When maximum attendance is reached, event registration is closed, and other potential registrants are turned away. Therefore, if you need to cancel your registration for a given event, the following policies apply:

  • Cancellation notice must be given in writing seven (7) days prior to the event to receive a full refund.
  • If you paid by credit card, a 3% fee will be deducted to cover online bank transfer charges.
  • If you cancel after the seven (7) day in advance deadline you will receive a fifty percent (50%) refund. No exceptions.
  • No refunds will be given day-of or during the workshop. No exceptions.

Ascent’s Guided Writing Program is available on a limited basis. When you register for this Program, other potential clients will be placed on a waiting list for the following calendar year, and this represents a potential loss-liability to Ascent. Therefore, if you need to cancel your registration in the Guided Writing Program, the following policies apply:

  • Cancellation notice must be given in writing within fourteen (14) days after the start date of your Program, counting from the date of your first meeting with your coach.
  • If you paid by credit card, a 3% fee will be deducted to cover online bank transfer charges.
  • If your registration is cancelled within the fourteen (14) day time frame, nonetheless, a fee will be deducted from your payment based on the number of hours spent meeting with you to create your Program and the percentage of work that is already completed on your behalf by the time of cancellation. This fee is calculated at the rate of $195 per hour.
  • No refunds will be offered for any reason beyond fourteen (14) days of the start date of your Guided Writing Program. No exceptions.
  • Ascent is not responsible to review your work, when you have missed a submission deadline. Missing a submission deadline means the work you have submitted late will be reviewed during the next scheduled appointment the following month.
  • Ascent is not responsible for "making up" appointments missed for any reason. In the case of medical and family emergencies, exceptions will be considered.
  • If you miss scheduled monthly meetings and wish to extend your program, or if you need to extend your program for additional months to complete your work, new monthly coaching sessions can be added to your schedule and will be billed at the rate of $485.00 per month.

Ascent's Adirondack Writing Sojourn is a very limited registration event, and we are obligated by the facilities we rent to commit in full on July 1 of every calendar year. Therefore, if you need to cancel your registration for this event, the following policies apply:

  • Cancellation notice must be given in writing thirty (30) days prior to the event to receive a full refund.
  • If you registered via credit card, a 3% fee will be deducted to cover online bank transfer charges.
  • Cancellations made after the thirty (30) day deadline will receive a fifty percent (50%) refund.
  • No refunds will be offered if you attend any portion of this event and then discontinue attendance for the remainder of the event. No exceptions.

Also, at the time of registration for any tutorial, workshop, program or retreat, Ascent must assume that the person making the registration online or via email is authorized to use the monetary-transactional means - i.e. cash, check, credit card, or debit card - to guarantee the transaction and pay for events, services, and products. Therefore, no refund will be authorized for claims of misuse of these means of monetary transaction, unless claimant satisfies the burden of reasonable proof of third-party misuse by offering proof of theft, proof of forgery, or proof that the third party is legally prohibited or excluded from using the means of monetary transaction used at the time of registration, purchase, or payment for services.

Privacy Policy

Our Commitment to Privacy

Ascent values your privacy. To better protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used.

Web Sites this Policy Covers

This policy applies to the following sites: Ascent (on www.itsyourlifebethere.com and www.itsyourlifebethere.net,) and its offerings; and the Live Your Fire online newsletter.

Personal Information We Collect

On some areas of our site, you are prompted to provide us with personal information when you, for example, register for an event, register to receive newsletters, or order a product. Also, some areas of our site require personal information before access is granted (for example, the “It’s Your Life. Be There” newsletter archive). The types of personal information collected at these pages vary, but may include the following kinds of general information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Credit/Debit Card Information
  • (etc.)

On some pages, you can submit information about other people. For example, if you order a gift online and want it sent directly to the recipient, you will need to submit the recipient's address. In this circumstance, the types of personal information collected are:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • (etc.)

From time to time, we may ask you to participate in an online survey. These

surveys are always optional and data collected in them will only be used in aggregate, to

better understand how people respond to our training programs and how those programs might improve.

The Way We Use Personal Information

We use the information you provide about yourself to register you as a participant in one of our events or programs, or when you place an order to complete that order.

We use the information you provide about someone else to register them as a participant in one of our events or programs, or when you place an order to complete that order. We use email addresses to fulfill your requests for newsletter subscriptions and to answer the email we receive.

We also use email addresses and mailing addresses to send updates about various events and activities. To exclude yourself from any of these mailings, electronic or postal, please contact us. (You may also opt out of electronic mailings by clicking the unsubscribe link included in each mailing.)

Cookies and Other Automatic Information

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our Web site. For example, we analyze how many people visit each area of the site, how long they stay, the type of browsers that are being used, how many people click on various Web promotions.

Our email newsletter software tracks people subscribing or unsubscribing from each email newsletter, who opens email messages we send (if your computer supports such capabilities), and who clicks on which links in the email. In general, we use this information only in aggregate to analyze the success of email campaigns. However, we may at times target email newsletters based on this activity.

Like many sites, we use “cookies” to help analyze our Web site traffic. Cookies are small identifying tags that we transfer to your computer through your Web browser. They do not provide us with any personal information about you. We use them to track how many times people visit our sites - whether most people come once / week, once / month, or are first-time visitors. We analyze this data in aggregate, not at an individual level. If you choose not to accept cookies, it will not affect your experience at our site.

Agents

We contract with companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include sending email newsletters, shipping products, maintaining databases, and sending mail. These third parties use your information only to fulfill the task we have hired them to perform.

Sharing Information with Third Parties

From time to time we may acquire details about people who are in our database from third-party research companies to enhance the data we already have.

We never sell or offer our information for commercial purposes.

Our Commitment to Data Security

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Ascent uses Internet Encryption Software, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Protocol when collecting or transferring sensitive data such as credit card information. Any information you enter is encrypted at your browser, sent over the public Internet in encrypted form, and then de-encrypted at our server. The security of our data is also monitored by regular Trustwave and Trustkeeper vulnerability scans.

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy

Protecting the privacy of children is extremely important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information at our website from those we know are under 13, and no part of our website is designed to attract anyone under 13.

How You Can Access or Correct Your Information

You can access your personally identifiable information, make corrections, or request that this information be removed from our system by emailing ascent@itsyourlifebethere.com or by calling (540) 454-4495.

How to Contact Us

Should you have other questions or concerns about these policies, please contact us by emailing ascent@itsyourlifebethere.com or by calling (540) 454-4495.

Security

You can register with confidence using Visa or Mastercard debit or credit cards. Payments are processed on a secured link by Branch Banking & Trust.