Vitki Forge — Acceptable Use & Refund Policy

Effective Date: May 6, 2026 Last Updated: May 6, 2026

This addendum supplements the Vitki Data Terms of Service and the Vitki Data Acceptable Use Policy. It applies specifically to Vitki Forge services — website builds, redesigns, SEO audits, SEO retainers, Care & hosting plans, analytics, and the Website Legal Risk Audit. For the audit product specifically, the Audit Terms of Service take precedence on any conflict.

By engaging Vitki Forge for any service, you accept the terms below in addition to the underlying ToS and AUP.

1. Scope of Services

Vitki Forge (“Forge”) services delivered by Vitki Data, LLC (“we,” “us”) include:

  • Website builds — Starter ($2,500), Growth ($5,500), Custom (from $9,500). Flat-fee scope-of-work.
  • Website redesigns — From $3,500. Flat-fee on signed scope.
  • SEO audits — $650 one-time written report.
  • SEO retainers — Local, Growth, National monthly tiers.
  • Care & hosting plans — Essentials ($99), Standard ($249), Pro ($499) per month.
  • Analytics & reporting — From $250/month.
  • Website Legal Risk Audit — One-time scan, separate /audit product.

Each engagement is governed by a written scope-of-work that lists deliverables, timeline, revision rounds, and payment milestones.

2. Acceptable Use of Forge Services

In addition to all prohibitions in the Vitki Data AUP, you may not engage Forge to build, host, modify, or maintain a website that:

2.1. Hosts content that is illegal in the jurisdictions where the site is operated, or that is intended to facilitate illegal activity (drug sales outside licensed dispensaries, weapons trafficking, prostitution outside legalized jurisdictions, financial fraud, etc.).

2.2. Hosts non-consensual intimate imagery, child sexual abuse material, or any content that exploits minors. We will report any such requests to NCMEC and law enforcement.

2.3. Operates as a phishing site, malware-distribution platform, credential-stuffing tool, scraping-as-a-service product targeting third parties, or any service designed to circumvent another company’s Terms of Service or rate limits.

2.4. Is owned by, operated for, or fronting for an entity on a U.S. OFAC sanctions list, EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions list, or analogous list in your jurisdiction.

2.5. Discriminates in housing, lending, employment, or public accommodation in violation of applicable law (Fair Housing Act, ECOA, Title VII, ADA, Unruh Civil Rights Act, etc.).

2.6. Is an MLM, “investment” scheme, or affiliate-stack site whose primary purpose is recruiting more participants rather than delivering a real product or service to end-users.

We reserve the right to decline any engagement at our discretion before the deposit is invoiced. Once a deposit is received, we may terminate an engagement under section 4 if any of the above is discovered.

3. Care Plan Acceptable Use

Care plans cover maintenance of the site we build for you, or a site we have explicitly inspected and onboarded. They do not include:

3.1. Major redesign work, new feature builds, or full-site rebuilds. Those go through the standard build/redesign quote process.

3.2. Emergency restoration of a site we did not build, where the underlying codebase is undocumented, abandoned, or substantially out-of-date. We may decline emergency work and refund the unused portion of the month.

3.3. Hosting fees paid to third parties on your behalf. Hosting passthrough is invoiced at cost; we do not mark it up. You retain ownership of the hosting account; we never lock customers into our control.

3.4. Content writing, photography, or video production. We can refer you to specialists; that work is invoiced separately.

Care plan hours roll over for one month only on the Pro tier. Lower tiers reset at the start of each billing cycle. Unused hours are not refundable.

4. Refund and Cancellation Policy

We do not believe in friction-rich refund policies. The rules below favor the customer where the work has not yet started.

4.1. Website Builds and Redesigns

  • Before kickoff (deposit received, but no design work delivered): full refund within 14 days of the deposit invoice. After 14 days, the deposit is non-refundable because we have held capacity for your project.
  • Design phase (wireframes or initial mockups delivered): the deposit is non-refundable. We deliver work-product through the design phase you paid for, then stop.
  • Build phase (HTML/CSS/JS or CMS work in progress): we invoice for hours worked plus a 20% project-management overhead, refund the balance, and deliver any work-in-progress code under a perpetual license to you.
  • Launch (site shipped to your domain): no refund. The work is done.

4.2. SEO Audits

  • Before scan starts: full refund on request.
  • Once the report is delivered: no refund.

4.3. SEO Retainers

  • Monthly. Cancel any time before the next billing date by emailing [email protected]. We do not pro-rate mid-cycle. Work delivered in the cycle is yours to keep.

4.4. Care Plans

  • Monthly. Cancel any time before the next billing date by emailing [email protected]. No mid-cycle pro-ration. We hand off all credentials and configuration during the final week of the cycle so you can move to a new provider.
  • Annual prepay (when offered): pro-rated refund for full unused months at the original monthly rate, less any discount applied at signup.

Refund window for the audit product is documented in the Audit Terms of Service.

4.6. Disputes and Chargebacks

If you have a billing dispute, email [email protected] first. We respond the same business day. Chargebacks filed without first contacting us will be defended with the work-product evidence we have on file. A chargeback that prevails despite delivered work may result in account suspension and forfeiture of any source-files we hold.

5. Revision Policy

5.1. Each Forge engagement specifies a number of revision rounds (typically two for Starter, two for Growth, three for Custom). A “round” is a consolidated set of feedback delivered as a single document or email — not a stream of one-off requests.

5.2. Revisions beyond the contracted rounds are billed at our then-current hourly rate ($110/hr as of the effective date) in 30-minute increments.

5.3. Substantive scope changes (new pages, new integrations, change of CMS, change of design direction after sign-off) are not revisions. They go through a written change-order with a revised price and timeline.

6. Ownership and Handoff

6.1. On final payment, you own:

  • All HTML, CSS, and JavaScript source we authored for your site.
  • All design files (Figma) we created for your project.
  • All content we wrote that you contracted us to write.

6.2. We retain ownership of:

  • Internal templates, libraries, and tooling used to build the site (we use these across multiple clients; you license, not buy).
  • Our process documentation and project-management workflow.

6.3. On termination of any Forge engagement, we deliver source files, design files, hosting credentials, DNS records, and any third-party-service handoff information within 14 days. We do not hold any customer hostage.

7. Communication and Response Times

7.1. Email response: same business day for billing or urgent issues; within 1 business day for everything else. Hours are weekdays, US Eastern Time.

7.2. Care plan SLAs are tier-specific and stated on the Forge page.

7.3. We do not provide phone support outside scheduled discovery calls or care-plan emergency lines (Pro tier only). Email is the system of record.

8. Reporting Violations

If you become aware of a Forge customer using the services in violation of section 2 or 3, report it to [email protected] with the subject line “Forge AUP Violation Report.” We investigate all credible reports.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this addendum at any time. Material changes will be communicated by email to active customers at least 30 days before the effective date and posted publicly on this page. Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

10. Contact

Vitki Data, LLC Mount Morris, Michigan [email protected] https://vitkidata.com