Terms & Conditions

By clicking "I agree," checking the Terms acceptance box, submitting payment, creating an account, submitting a request, or otherwise using the Forge Forward website, client portal, or services (collectively, the "Services"), you (the "Client," "you," or "your") expressly agree to be legally bound by these Terms & Conditions (the "Terms" or "Agreement") and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.

These Terms constitute a legally binding contract between you and Forge Forward ("Forge Forward," "Company," "we," "us," or "our"). If you do not agree to every provision of these Terms, you must not access or use the Services, submit payment, or create an account.

You represent and warrant that (a) you are at least 18 years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into this Agreement, (b) if entering on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you have full authority to bind that entity, and (c) your use of the Services will comply with all applicable laws.

Forge Forward designs, develops, hosts, maintains, and supports websites and related digital assets for small and local businesses. The specific scope, deliverables, response times, and limitations of each plan are described on our pricing page at the time of purchase and are incorporated into these Terms by reference.

All Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Services at any time, with or without notice, without liability to you.

A one-time, non-refundable website build fee of $249 USD is required and must be paid in full BEFORE any design, development, planning, or production work begins. No work, deliverables, account access, or member benefits will be provided until the build fee has been successfully collected and cleared.

After your website launches, you must select a recurring monthly care plan. Your first monthly charge is automatically processed thirty (30) days after you select the plan, and the same charge recurs every month thereafter on the same billing day until you cancel in writing through your client portal.

All payments are processed through our third-party payment processor. By providing payment information, you authorize Forge Forward and its payment processor to charge the card or payment method on file for all amounts owed, including recurring subscription fees, applicable taxes, and any reasonable late fees.

Payments are non-refundable except where expressly required by applicable mandatory law. Failed or reversed payments may result in immediate suspension or termination of Services. You agree to reimburse Forge Forward for all reasonable costs of collection, including attorneys' fees, incurred to collect past-due amounts.

ALL SALES ARE FINAL. The $249 website build fee is strictly non-refundable once payment has been submitted, regardless of whether work has commenced, regardless of the status of your project, and regardless of any change of mind, change of business circumstances, change of ownership, dissatisfaction, or delay caused in whole or in part by your failure to provide content, feedback, approvals, or assets.

All monthly subscription fees are non-refundable once charged, including any partial month, unused portion, period of non-use, or period during which you did not submit requests. Cancellation prevents future charges only; it does not entitle you to a refund of fees already paid.

Chargebacks and payment disputes initiated without first contacting us in writing and giving us thirty (30) days to resolve the issue are a material breach of this Agreement. You agree that any chargeback filed in violation of this section constitutes fraud, and you authorize us to (a) immediately suspend or terminate Services, (b) pursue full collection of the disputed amount plus a $75 administrative fee per chargeback, and (c) report the conduct to credit bureaus and collection agencies.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you waive any statutory "cooling-off" or rescission right that would otherwise apply, because the Services are digital content and custom professional services that begin immediately upon payment at your express request.

You agree to timely provide accurate business information, brand assets, copy, photographs, login credentials, and any other materials reasonably required for us to perform the Services. Project timelines are contingent on your timely cooperation, and any delay caused by you extends our deadlines on a day-for-day basis with no liability to us.

You represent, warrant, and covenant that all content, images, logos, trademarks, copy, video, audio, code, and other materials you provide or instruct us to use (i) are owned by you or properly licensed, (ii) do not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any third party's intellectual property, privacy, publicity, contractual, or other rights, (iii) are not defamatory, unlawful, harassing, obscene, deceptive, or otherwise tortious, and (iv) comply with all applicable laws, including the Lanham Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), the FTC Act, the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and all consumer protection, advertising, and privacy laws.

You are solely and exclusively responsible for the legality, accuracy, licensing, and consequences of all content you supply. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold us harmless from any claim arising out of your content as set forth in Section 13 below.

All turnaround times, launch dates, and response windows quoted by Forge Forward are good-faith estimates only and do not constitute guarantees or contractual deadlines. Time is NOT of the essence under this Agreement.

Initial website builds typically launch within 14–30 business days of receiving all required materials. Standard edit requests are typically completed within 1–3 business days. Larger requests may take longer and will be quoted before work begins.

We are not liable for any delay caused by, arising from, or contributed to by your failure to respond, third-party service outages, hosting providers, payment processors, domain registrars, force majeure events, or any other cause outside our reasonable control.

Initial website builds include up to two (2) rounds of major design revisions. Additional rounds, scope changes, or rework caused by your changed instructions will be billed at our then-current hourly rate, with prior written approval.

Monthly plans include the request volume listed for that plan. Excessive, abusive, out-of-scope, or fundamentally redesign-level requests may, in our sole discretion, be deferred, declined, or billed separately.

Monthly plans automatically renew each month at the then-current price. By selecting a plan, you authorize Forge Forward to charge your payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel.

You may cancel at any time from your dashboard or by emailing hello@forgeforward.co. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your then-current billing cycle. No partial-month refunds will be issued.

Upon cancellation, all ongoing Services (edits, monitoring, backups, hosting, support) cease at the end of the billing period. We will provide a final export of your website's published files upon written request within thirty (30) days of cancellation; after that period, we may delete your data without further notice or liability.

Upon full payment of the website build fee and any active subscription balance owed, you are granted ownership of the final published design, copy, and content of your website that was created specifically for you (the "Deliverables").

Forge Forward retains all right, title, and interest in and to any pre-existing materials, proprietary code, frameworks, templates, components, tools, processes, know-how, or systems we use to deliver the Services (the "Forge Forward IP"). To the extent any Forge Forward IP is embedded in the Deliverables, we grant you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, non-transferable license to use it solely as incorporated in your published website.

Third-party assets (stock photos, fonts, plugins, libraries) remain subject to their original licenses. You are responsible for maintaining any required third-party licenses after handover.

Ongoing maintenance is limited to the request volume, response time, and scope of work expressly described in your selected plan. Major redesigns, custom feature development, e-commerce build-outs, third-party API integrations, app development, migrations to other platforms, SEO campaigns, advertising management, and similar engagements are out of scope and quoted separately.

We may, in our sole discretion, decline any request that we determine to be unlawful, abusive, technically infeasible, materially out of scope, or contrary to our acceptable use standards.

Primary communication occurs inside the Forge Forward client portal; email is used for billing and account notices. We respond within the hours listed on your plan; after-hours messages are answered the next business day.

You may not use the Services to: (a) violate any law or regulation; (b) infringe any intellectual property or privacy right; (c) transmit malware, phishing content, or unsolicited bulk communications; (d) attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or interfere with the security of the platform; or (e) harass, threaten, or abuse Forge Forward personnel. We may suspend or terminate Services immediately for any violation, without refund.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES AND ALL DELIVERABLES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS, AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. FORGE FORWARD EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION, OR THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT.

We do not warrant any specific business outcome, search engine ranking, traffic level, conversion rate, revenue, or return on investment. No advice or information obtained from us, whether oral or written, creates any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties; in such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL FORGE FORWARD, ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR COST OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY (CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, STATUTE, OR OTHERWISE).

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE LESSER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO FORGE FORWARD IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

THIS LIMITATION IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND APPLIES EVEN IF AN ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY FAILS. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of liability for incidental or consequential damages; in those jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the smallest amount permitted by law.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Forge Forward and its owners, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, and licensors from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, fines, penalties, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs) arising out of or related to: (a) your content, business, or products; (b) your breach of any representation, warranty, covenant, or obligation in these Terms; (c) your violation of any law or third-party right; (d) any unauthorized use of the Services through your account; or (e) any chargeback, payment dispute, or collection action.

We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense. You will not settle any matter without our prior written consent.

Forge Forward shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including without limitation acts of God, natural disasters, fire, flood, pandemic, epidemic, war, terrorism, riot, civil unrest, government action, embargo, labor dispute, internet or telecommunications outage, hosting or third-party platform failure, cyberattack, or denial-of-service incident.

These Terms, and any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services (each a "Dispute"), are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY — IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. You and Forge Forward agree that any Dispute shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be conducted by a single neutral arbitrator, in English, and seated in Wilmington, Delaware, or by video conference at the arbitrator's discretion. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER. You and Forge Forward each agree that any Dispute will be brought only in an individual capacity, and NOT as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, mass, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of multiple parties and may award relief only on an individual basis. If this class action waiver is found unenforceable as to any claim, that claim must be litigated in court under Section 18 below, but all other claims remain subject to arbitration.

JURY TRIAL WAIVER. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you and Forge Forward each irrevocably waive any right to a trial by jury in any action, proceeding, or counterclaim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court, and either party may seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect its intellectual property rights.

For any Dispute not subject to arbitration, you and Forge Forward agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in New Castle County, Delaware, and you waive any objection based on lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, or forum non conveniens.

Any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services must be filed within ONE (1) YEAR after the claim or cause of action arose, or be forever barred, notwithstanding any statute of limitations to the contrary.

You consent to receive communications from Forge Forward electronically, including by email, in-app message, and through the client portal. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide electronically satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing. Your acceptance via checkbox, click, or continued use constitutes a valid electronic signature under the U.S. ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq.) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or, if not possible, severed, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. No failure or delay by Forge Forward to enforce any right shall constitute a waiver.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any plan-specific terms posted on our pricing page, constitute the entire agreement between you and Forge Forward regarding the Services and supersede all prior or contemporaneous agreements, representations, and understandings, whether oral or written.

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights or obligations under them without our prior written consent, and any attempted assignment in violation of this section is void. Forge Forward may freely assign these Terms to an affiliate or to a successor in connection with any merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by email or inside the client portal at least seven (7) days before they take effect. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes binding acceptance of the updated Terms.