Terms of Service

Agreement Binding: By accessing or using VAI.me, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy.

Legal Capacity: You must be at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into binding agreements.

Business Use: If you are using our services on behalf of a business, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity.

Updates: We may update these terms periodically, and continued use constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

Jurisdiction: These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where VAI.me is incorporated.

Platform Purpose: VAI.me is a directory and matching platform connecting businesses with verified agencies.

Verification Services: We verify agency identity through domain ownership (meta tag, DNS TXT, or HTML file), a daily backlink check, and for the Premium tier a registered business name match. The verified badge is suspended automatically if any of these fail. Verification is an identity check, not a quality endorsement; vai.me/trust documents the methodology in detail.

Subscription Tiers: We offer Free (basic listing), Verified (verified badge with backlink), Premium (paid plan with elevated lead distribution), and Sponsored / Enterprise (top placement and earliest lead access). Tier benefits and distribution rules are described on the pricing page and may be adjusted with notice to subscribers.

Lead Distribution — Direct requests: When a buyer initiates a "Get a Quote" / project-request directed at a specific organization (e.g., from that organization's profile page), the request is routed to the chosen organization on every plan, including Free, and is not subject to any monthly cap.

Lead Distribution — Pool matches: Service requests submitted through the open service-request form (no specific agency selected) are routed to matching organizations using a tier-staggered window: Sponsored / Enterprise at T+0, Premium added at T+24h, Verified added at T+48h. Premium subscriptions are capped at up to 5 pool matches per month; Enterprise / Sponsored is uncapped. We do not guarantee a fixed number of leads per month — caps are ceilings, and actual volume depends on real demand in each category and location.

Claim Flow: Many organization listings on the platform are sourced from public information without the agency's active participation. The agency owner may claim their listing by verifying domain ownership, after which they assume the responsibilities of an authenticated organization user under these terms.

Communication Tools: We provide tools for communication between businesses and agencies.

Additional Features: Access to reviews, portfolios, industry insights, and professional networking tools.

Service Evolution: We continuously improve and may add, modify, or discontinue features at our discretion.

Account Creation: You must create an account to access certain features of our platform.

Accurate Information: You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration.

Account Security: You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials.

Account Responsibility: You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account.

Multiple Accounts: You may not create multiple accounts to circumvent platform restrictions.

Account Termination: We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

Lawful Use: You agree to use our platform only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms.

Prohibited Content: You may not post content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, or infringing.

Spam and Abuse: You may not send unsolicited communications or engage in spamming activities.

Respectful Interaction: All interactions with other users must be professional and respectful.

Accurate Representation: Agencies must accurately represent their capabilities, experience, and credentials.

Review Integrity: Reviews must come from a confirmed email address and reflect a genuine engagement with the reviewed agency. Soliciting, paying for, exchanging, or fabricating reviews — by either side — is prohibited and grounds for immediate account termination and listing removal.

Listing Integrity: You may not submit another organization's information as your own, claim a listing you do not have authority over, or misrepresent the verified status of any agency on the platform.

No Scraping: You may not crawl, scrape, or otherwise systematically extract data from the platform outside of the documented public APIs. Automated traffic that ignores robots.txt or rate limits is grounds for IP-level blocking.

Intellectual Property: You may not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.

Verification Process: Agencies must complete our verification process to be listed on the platform.

Truthful Information: Agencies must provide truthful and accurate information about their business.

Documentation: Agencies must provide required documentation to support their verification.

Ongoing Compliance: Verified agencies must maintain compliance with our standards and policies.

Right to Remove: We reserve the right to remove any agency listing that violates our standards.

Re-verification: We may require periodic re-verification to maintain listing status.

Platform Role: VAI.me facilitates connections but is not party to business transactions between users.

Contract Terms: All business agreements are between the business and agency directly.

Payment Processing: We do not process payments between businesses and agencies unless specifically stated.

Dispute Resolution: Users are responsible for resolving disputes related to their business transactions.

Quality Assurance: While we verify agencies, we do not guarantee the outcome of business relationships.

Due Diligence: Users should conduct their own due diligence before entering into business agreements.

Platform Rights: VAI.me owns all intellectual property rights in the platform and its original content.

User Content License: By posting content, you grant us a license to use, modify, and display it on our platform.

Respect for IP: Users must respect the intellectual property rights of VAI.me and other users.

Copyright Protection: We respond to valid copyright infringement notices under applicable law.

Trademark Use: You may not use our trademarks without explicit written permission.

User-Generated Content: Users retain ownership of their original content but grant us usage rights.

Privacy Policy: Our collection and use of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy at vai.me/privacy. Operational specifics — subprocessors, retention windows, security controls, and the verification methodology — are documented at vai.me/trust.

Data Security: We implement reasonable security measures to protect user data, including TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest, and access controls described on the trust page.

User Consent: By using our services, you consent to our data processing practices as described in the Privacy Policy.

Third-Party Integration: We rely on subprocessors (Stripe, Postal, Cloudflare, and our hosting providers, among others) listed on the trust page. They have their own privacy policies.

Data Retention: We retain user data in accordance with the schedule on the Privacy Policy and trust page (e.g., closed accounts deleted within 30 days, billing records retained 7 years for tax compliance).

User Rights: You have access, correction, export, and deletion rights over your personal data; submit requests to [email protected]. We respond within 30 days as required by GDPR.

Subscription Services: Premium and Sponsored tier features require a paid subscription with recurring billing.

Payment Processor: All payments are processed by Stripe under their terms and privacy policy. Card details are collected and stored by Stripe directly; we do not store full card numbers on our servers.

Billing Cycles: Both monthly and annual billing are available. Annual plans include two months free relative to the equivalent monthly rate.

Cancellation: You may cancel a subscription at any time. Cancellation is effective at the end of the current billing period; access continues through that period and is not pro-rated.

Refund Policy: Refund eligibility and any applicable refund window are governed by our refund policy and applicable consumer laws (refund policy details are pending finalization with counsel).

Price Changes: We may change subscription prices with at least 30 days advance notice to existing subscribers, communicated via email and an in-app notice. Existing billing cycles complete at the original price.

Service Availability: We strive for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service.

Content Accuracy: We do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of user-generated content.

Third-Party Services: We are not responsible for the availability or content of third-party services.

Business Outcomes: We do not guarantee specific business outcomes from using our platform.

Limitation of Liability: Our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

Force Majeure: We are not liable for delays or failures due to circumstances beyond our control.

Termination Rights: Either party may terminate the agreement by providing appropriate notice.

Immediate Termination: We may immediately terminate accounts for serious violations of these terms.

Effect of Termination: Upon termination, your access to the platform will cease.

Data Retention: We may retain certain data after termination as required by law or legitimate business needs.

Survival: Certain provisions of these terms will survive termination of the agreement.

Appeal Process: Users may appeal termination decisions through our designated process.