Terms of Service

1.Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Built With Forté's website (builtwithforte.com), services, and any related deliverables (collectively, the “Services”) provided by Built With Forté LLC (“Forté,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

By accessing the Site, submitting any form, signing a contract, or using any Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.

2.Who Can Use the Service

You must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have the legal authority to bind the business you represent
• Use the Service for lawful business purposes only

If you're signing a contract on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business.

3.The Services

Forté provides digital growth services, including:

We may add, modify, or discontinue services at any time. Material changes to services in active client engagements will be communicated in writing.

4.Free Resources

The following are provided free of charge with no payment or commitment required:

• The Free Site Audit (/audit) — automated analysis of your website with personalized recommendations
• The AI Intake Chat (/intake) — captures your business brief; results in a custom proposal from Shaun if you choose to engage
• The Newsletter — informational emails about local-business growth and Forté
• The Forté Operating System — public methodology document

We make no warranties about the accuracy or completeness of free resources. They are provided “as-is” for informational purposes.

5.Paid Engagements

Paid engagements begin when you (a) accept a written proposal from Shaun, (b) sign the corresponding service agreement (currently via DocuSign), and (c) complete the initial payment via Stripe. Until all three steps are complete, no work begins and no fees are due.

5.1 Pricing

Pricing for each service is published on /pricing and per-service pages. Pricing for Custom Flagship engagements (AI Personal Assistant, AI Calendar Manager) is provided only via written proposal.

5.2 Payment Terms

• Setup fees are due in full before work begins
• Monthly retainers are billed in advance on the 1st of each month (or the engagement start anniversary date — specified in your service agreement)
• All payments are processed via Stripe; Forté does not handle credit card data directly
• Failed payments suspend all monthly services after a 3-business-day grace period; services restore automatically once payment clears. Persistent non-payment may terminate the engagement
• Late fees: Past-due balances accrue interest at 1.5% per month, or the maximum amount allowed by California law, whichever is less. (Have your attorney confirm enforceability and adjust for the specific facts.)

5.3 Refund Policy

• Setup fees are non-refundable once work begins, except as specified in our written guarantees (Section 6)
• Monthly retainers are non-refundable for the current month; cancel anytime to stop future billing
• Disputes must be raised in writing within 30 days of the charge

6.Outcome Guarantees

Forté offers two written guarantees on productized services:

6.1 5-Day Website Live Guarantee

Your Starter website will go live within 5 business days of kickoff — or your first month of any ongoing retainer is free.

Conditions:

• “Kickoff” means: payment received AND all required client assets delivered (logo, photos, copy approved, domain access granted, technical credentials provided as listed in your onboarding checklist)
• The 5-day clock pauses if Forté is awaiting client input or asset delivery
• Applies to Starter tier on the productized Starter template only
• Does not apply to Pro or Flagship custom builds (which have separate 4-6 or 8-12 week timelines specified in their proposals)

6.2 80% Handled Guarantee

In the first 30 days of AI Customer Service Agent service (Pro tier), your agent will handle at least 80% of inbound inquiries without escalating to you — or we refund the Pro-tier $3,500 setup fee.

Conditions:

• Measured in n8n workflow logs after a 14-day calibration period
• “Handled” means the agent resolved the inquiry without needing human intervention (booking made, FAQ answered, lead captured with required fields)
• Safety escalations (medical emergencies, threats, anything outside the agent's defined scope) do not count against the handle rate
• At launch, the guarantee applies to web chat and phone channels (whether configured for overflow, after-hours, or both)
• SMS channel guarantee activates after Twilio A2P 10DLC registration is approved
• Appointment-booking outcomes via dispatch-system integrations (e.g. Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Jobber, FieldEdge) depend on the third-party system\'s uptime and API limits and are excluded from the handle-rate calculation when those systems are unavailable
• Customer email handling is NOT part of the AI Customer Service Agent — it is delivered by the AI Personal Assistant under a separate scope and is not covered by this 80% Handled Guarantee
• Measured per active month; does not apply retroactively

6.3 Exclusions

The guarantees in Sections 6.1 and 6.2 do not apply to Custom Flagship builds (AI Personal Assistant, AI Calendar Manager) or to any service in beta status. Custom Flagship engagements are scoped per client with their own timeline and success criteria specified in writing.

6.4 Refund Process

If a guarantee is triggered, refunds are processed within 10 business days via the original payment method. No negotiation required — provide your written request to info@builtwithforte.com along with the basis for the claim.

7.Intellectual Property

7.1 Client Deliverables

Upon full payment of all fees owed, you own:

• The website code and content created specifically for your business
• Your domain name (which you always control directly)
• Custom AI agent prompts and configurations specific to your business
• Custom copy written for your sales pages, emails, and ads
• Photos and brand assets you provided (you always own these)

Hosting. Website hosting is optional and arranged per engagement. For new website builds, Forté hosts the site on its infrastructure by default and bills a monthly hosting and maintenance fee. For rebuilds of an existing site, whether Forté hosts depends on the integrations your current site relies on — we will recommend either Forté-managed hosting or keeping your existing host. Where you keep your own hosting, you control those accounts directly, not Forté. Forté-managed hosting carries no lock-in: you may request a handoff of your site to your own hosting account at any time, and we will provide the source files and reasonable transition support.

7.2 Forté Retained Rights

Forté retains ownership of:

• The Forté platform, infrastructure, and underlying technology
• Reusable frameworks, templates, methodologies, and processes (collectively, the “Forté Operating System”)
• Any internal tools, scripts, or workflows developed during the engagement
• General know-how, skills, and expertise developed
• Aggregate, anonymized performance data used to improve our services

We may reference your engagement in our marketing portfolio (case studies, testimonials, before/after examples) only with your written consent as documented in your service agreement.

7.3 Third-Party IP

Many deliverables depend on third-party platforms and services (Anthropic, Vercel, Twilio, Stripe, Webflow, etc.). Those platforms retain their own IP rights, and you agree to comply with their respective terms of service when using deliverables built on them.

8.Confidentiality

Both parties agree to keep confidential any non-public business information shared during the engagement. This includes:

• Forté treating your business details, customer data, financials, and operational specifics as confidential
• You treating Forté's pricing, processes, custom methodologies, and any proprietary techniques shared during the engagement as confidential

This obligation survives termination of the Service Agreement for [3 years — confirm with lawyer].

9.Acceptable Use

You may not use the Services to:

• Violate any law or regulation
• Send spam, unsolicited bulk communications, or anything that would compromise Forté's email/SMS sender reputation
• Infringe anyone else's intellectual property
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract source code from any Forté technology
• Resell, sublicense, or rebrand Forté services without written permission
• Use the Services for any business engaged in illegal activity, hate speech, adult content, gambling, or weapons sales

We reserve the right to terminate any engagement that violates this Section, with no refund obligation.

10.Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FORTÉ DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that:

• The Services will be uninterrupted or error-free
• Defects will be corrected immediately
• The Services will meet specific business outcomes beyond the written guarantees in Section 6
• Third-party services (Anthropic, Twilio, Stripe, etc.) we depend on will be uninterrupted

Marketing results depend on factors beyond Forté's control (your offer, market conditions, ad spend, internal sales process, weather, season). We do not guarantee specific revenue increases, lead volume, or conversion rates beyond what is explicitly stated in writing.

11.Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL FORTÉ BE LIABLE FOR:

• INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES
• LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
• DAMAGES ARISING FROM THIRD-PARTY SERVICES WE INTEGRATE WITH

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (a) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO FORTÉ IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (b) $1,000.

This limitation applies even if the remedy fails of its essential purpose.

12.Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Forté, its officers, employees, and contractors from any claims, damages, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) arising from:

• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any law or third-party rights
• Content or instructions you provided that infringe third-party IP
• Your business operations, products, or services (Forté is not a co-seller or partner — we are a service provider)

13.Termination

13.1 By You

You may cancel a monthly retainer at any time with [30 days — confirm with lawyer] written notice. Cancellation does not entitle you to a refund of fees already paid for the current period.

13.2 By Forté

We may terminate or suspend service immediately if:

• You materially breach these Terms
• You fail to pay fees owed and don't cure within 5 business days of notice
• You engage in conduct that violates Section 9 (Acceptable Use)
• Continuing the engagement would expose Forté to legal or reputational risk

13.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination:

• All amounts owed become immediately due
• You retain ownership of deliverables already paid for (per Section 7.1)
• Forté will provide a reasonable transition period (typically 14 days) to hand off accounts and assets
• Confidentiality obligations (Section 8) survive termination

14.Modifications to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by:

• Updating the “Last Updated” date at the top
• Posting a notice on builtwithforte.com
• Emailing active clients and subscribers

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

15.Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles.

The parties will first attempt to resolve any dispute arising from these Terms through good-faith negotiation. If the dispute cannot be resolved within thirty (30) days, the parties agree to attempt mediation in Newport Beach, California, before commencing any formal proceeding. If mediation fails, any remaining dispute shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, with the arbitration to take place in Newport Beach, California. The parties knowingly waive any right to a jury trial and any right to participate in a class action. (Have your attorney review and adjust the venue, arbitration provider, and waiver language before publishing.)

16.Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with any signed service agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Forté regarding the Services. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

17.SMS / Text Messaging Program

Program: Built With Forté Audit & Service Updates. By providing your phone number and checking the SMS consent box on our audit or contact forms, you agree to receive text messages from Built With Forté about your requested website audit and the services you asked about.

Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe at any time and HELP for help, or email info@builtwithforte.com for support. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of any purchase. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

18.Contact

Questions about these Terms:

• Email: info@builtwithforte.com
• Mail: Built With Forté LLC, 4101 Birch Street, Newport Beach, CA 92660
• Contact Form: /contact