(Recent update: March 9, 2021)
Please read the terms below so you are informed of the conditions and the scope of our genealogy research service, including the genealogy video consultation. Your payment for the research service indicates that you have read, understand, accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions of Use of the PolishOrigins Genealogy Services.
PolishOrigins is the trade name owned by INPASSA Zenon Znamirowski. You can read full company info here: https://polishorigins.com/company-info/ .
In this document the term Service (Services) refers to the genealogy reserach and advice (consultation) services provided by the company that owns the PolishOrigins trade name.
General terms
1.1 You must be 18 years old or older to request or order our Services
1.2 To order our Services contact us and explain your needs. Be also prepared to share all known information concerning the family or individual to be researched as well as any previous research that has been conducted, files that may be helpful in further research or links, like family trees with online access. If you had any specific wishes like adding a historical background of the place of your ancestors, including all the found details in your family tree or taking photographs and videos of your family land, describe it in your email or the Service request form.
We are not responsible for duplication or misdirection of effort due to failure on your part to provide all necessary information prior to the beginning of the research process.
If you send us additional information and/or documents after research starts, it is likely that we will ask you for additional payment (additional hours of our work may be needed to review and/or incorporate the new information into the project).
1.3 We will contact you within 7 days after you submit the research or the genealogy video consultation request or contact us in another way. After gathering all the information from you we will send you an email with the information about possibility and scope of the research including its cost. In the case of the video consultation we will respond with information about the possible date of meeting. It is free of charge up to this stage. We will be waiting for your decision for 30 days.
Before sending our offer we check if any resources for the research exist and if yes, where they are stored. However, even if there are documents for the parish or town/village of your ancestors in one of the archives it doesn’t mean there are documents concerning your family for sure. To get to know it the genealogy research should be conducted.
1.4 Your payment means that you agreed to the scope of research described in the email as well as the rate for our work and you ordered our Services.
1.5 After receiving your payment, we will start the research. It may take a while, however, you will be informed about the whole process on a regular basis. After the research, you will receive a full report containing a list of discovered ancestors (cousins), photographs of documents (if there is no restriction on the archives side), and other important details. We will also inform you if there is a possibility of continuation of the research.
1.6 After receiving your request for the genealogy video consultation we will analyze the information it and will get back to you within seven days. If we are able to help you we will agree to a date and time of the meeting and provide you a link to the platform, where the meeting will take place.
The meeting time is one hour maximum. After the meeting we will send you a summary report where the next steps you could take in your research will be listed.
1.7 If you are a citizen of the European Union, we will start the Service for you no sooner than after 14 days from the date of payment.
1.8 We handle research projects in the order in which the payment, research goals, and genealogical information are received.
1.9 Even though we declare a certain amount of hours that we spend on your project, the report may be sent weeks or, in some cases, months after ordering our services. It is because getting this kind of information sometimes takes time: ordering copies of documents from archives or parishes, scheduling visits in parishes, archives closing periods etc. These are factors which are not completely under our control. Nonetheless, you can be sure that we will be in touch regularly to inform you about the work progress.
2. Fees and Payments
2.1 We will not start our services until your payment is made in full.
2.2. We accept only electronic payments (via platforms for online/card payments: Stripe, PayPal or bank transfer if there are no intermediary costs on our side) in Polish zlotys.
3. Cancellation policy
3.1 You can request a refund before work on your project has begun and no later than one month after your initial payment. If these two conditions are met your full payment will be refunded. We do not provide full refunds once we have commenced work; however, a partial refund may be granted depending on the amount of work already performed. Refunds are given based on time remaining and are not based on research results, as no certain results can be guaranteed.
3.2 The statutory cancelation rights that apply in your place of residence have no effect on this section.
4. Sharing the information
4.1 We work as a team of research managers and genealogists and we share the information and documents you send us with our team members. We do not make them available to the public or other entities which are not directly engaged in the research process unless we have your permission.
4.2 We allow clients to use reports, documents, and data that we’ve provided to them, as part of our Services to reproduce in its entirety or partly on web pages, electronic media, or in family newsletters only when we are indicated as a source of it by using the following citation: PolishOrigins Genealogy Services www.polishorigins.com .
5. Communications
5.1 To order our Services fill out the Genealogy Research Request form or Genealogy Video Consultation form or write us at [email protected] .
5.2 You can also call us. We are available from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. (time zone in Poland, Central European time, GMT+2) 0048 664 407 089 or 0048 531 579 095 However, a phone call can not substitute for the email or the research form. We need to have all the information in writing. The rule also applies to the genealogy video consultation.
5.3 On a request of our clients, we may ship materials through postal service. Shipping costs are borne by the customer. Clients agree to such shipment and agree not to hold PolishOrigins or/and any of our team members liable for loss, damage, delay, or detention of original records or other materials that occurs during shipping and handling.
6. Guarantees
No Guarantees for the success. In purchasing our Services, you are engaging our team of professional genealogists to perform research on your behalf. Our genealogists conduct research in accordance with the highest professional standards. Because of variables that can limit success (due to both world wars, other political events or accidents like fires sources availability may be limited or they don’t exist at all) there is no guarantee that any specific or positive results will be obtained. Our researchers do all that is possible according to their expertise knowledge and that is all that we can guarantee.
7. Disclaimers
7.1 Our Services include but are not limited to: reviewing documents provided by the client, retrieving historical documentation, transcription and translation of the most crucial parts of the documents, analysis of the collected information. Any information or communication we provide is not intended to constitute legal advice. Clients who require assistance with dual citizenship, probate, or other legal matters should contact a qualified attorney in addition to requesting our Services. We may not be held liable for disclosing or failing to disclose or locate information relating to a legal matter.
7.2 The amount payable to us is based upon the value of the Services we provide and is not related to the various uses to which you may put our research nor are results guaranteed.
7.3 The cost of our Services has been determined solely by reference to the amount of time we spend performing our Services. When additional costs appear e.g. costs of scans in archives or fuel to get to your ancestral parish we inform you about it. We are not an insurer of any risk relating to the uses to which you may put our research.
8. Modifications to this Terms of Use and the Service
8.1 We reserve the right at any time and at our sole discretion to modify these Terms and Conditions of Use.
8.2 Modifications will be posted online or communicated to you via email.
8.3 We likewise reserve the right to refuse Service to any potential client at our sole discretion.