Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing, or using Mandarin Forge ("the Service," "we," "us," or "our"), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). These Terms constitute a binding legal agreement between you and Mandarin Forge.

Our Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference. By using the Service, you also consent to the collection and use of your information as described in the Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree to these Terms or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years of age to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 16 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

If you are between 16 and 18 years of age (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), you may only use the Service with the consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf.

3. Description of Service

Mandarin Forge is an AI-powered Mandarin Chinese learning platform that provides vocabulary management, spaced repetition, AI-generated stories and translations, example sentence generation, text-to-speech audio, and related learning tools.

The Service may be offered through free and paid subscription tiers, each with different feature sets and usage limits. AI-generated content is produced through third-party artificial intelligence providers and is subject to those providers' capabilities and limitations.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time, with or without notice. We will make reasonable efforts to notify users of significant changes in advance.

4. User Accounts

To use certain features of the Service, you must create an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account.

You agree to provide accurate and complete information when creating your account and to update your information as necessary. You may not create multiple accounts, share your account credentials with others, or allow others to access your account.

You must notify us immediately at hello@mandarinforge.com if you become aware of any unauthorized access to or use of your account.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable laws
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service, other accounts, or related systems
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, its servers, or its infrastructure
• Use automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access the Service without our written permission
• Transmit any malicious code, viruses, or harmful data
• Resell, redistribute, or commercially exploit AI-generated content produced by the Service
• Circumvent any usage limits, rate limits, or access restrictions
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity

6. Subscriptions, Payments & Billing

The Service may offer free and paid subscription tiers. Paid subscriptions are processed through our payment provider, Polar.sh. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to Polar.sh's terms of service in addition to these Terms.

Paid subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle unless you cancel before the renewal date. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

All fees are non-refundable except as required by applicable law. We do not provide partial refunds for unused portions of a billing period.

We reserve the right to change subscription pricing with at least 30 days' notice. Price changes will take effect at the start of your next billing cycle following the notice period. If you do not agree to the new pricing, you may cancel your subscription before the change takes effect.

7. Intellectual Property

The Service and its original content, features, functionality, design, and underlying technology are owned by Rubidiom, LLC and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

Content you create using the Service (such as saved phrases, collections, and study data) remains yours. By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to store, process, and display your content solely to provide and improve the Service.

AI-generated content (stories, translations, example sentences, and audio) produced through the Service is provided for your personal, non-commercial educational use. Due to the nature of AI generation, you do not receive exclusive rights to AI-generated content, and similar content may be generated for other users.

Any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you voluntarily provide about the Service may be used by us without obligation to you.

8. AI-Generated Content

The Service uses artificial intelligence to generate stories, translations, example sentences, and audio content. While we strive for accuracy, AI-generated content may contain errors, inaccuracies, or culturally inappropriate material.

AI-generated content does not represent the views or endorsement of Mandarin Forge. You should not rely on AI-generated content as your sole source of language information, and we encourage you to verify important information with other sources.

We reserve the right to review, filter, or remove AI-generated content at our discretion to maintain quality and safety standards.

9. Termination

We may terminate or suspend your account at any time, without prior notice, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms, is harmful to other users or third parties, or for any other reason at our sole discretion.

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at hello@mandarinforge.com. Upon account deletion, we will delete your personal data and content in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

If your account is terminated while you have an active paid subscription, your subscription will be cancelled and no further charges will be made. You will not receive a refund for the current billing period.

The following sections survive termination of these Terms: Intellectual Property, AI-Generated Content, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Governing Law & Dispute Resolution, and any other provisions that by their nature should survive.

10. Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of harmful components. We make no guarantees regarding your learning outcomes, language proficiency progress, or the accuracy of AI-generated content.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Mandarin Forge and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from or related to your use of or inability to use the Service.

In no event shall our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from or related to the Service exceed the total amount you paid to us in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or fifty US dollars (USD $50), whichever is greater.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

12. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. For material changes, we will provide at least 14 days' notice by sending an email to the address associated with your account or by posting a prominent notice on the Service.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

13. Third-Party Services & Links

The Service integrates with and relies on third-party services for payment processing, AI generation, text-to-speech, cloud storage, and other functionality. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or practices of these third-party services.

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or resources. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the content, products, or services offered by third parties. Your interactions with third-party services are governed by their respective terms and privacy policies.

14. Service Availability

We strive to maintain high availability of the Service but do not guarantee any specific uptime or service level. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, server issues, or circumstances beyond our control.

We are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from service interruptions or downtime. We will make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of planned maintenance when possible.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Mandarin Forge and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to your violation of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of any rights of a third party.

16. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Before initiating any formal legal proceedings, you agree to first attempt to resolve any dispute informally by contacting us at hello@mandarinforge.com. We will attempt to resolve the dispute within 30 days.

Any disputes arising from these Terms or the Service shall be resolved on an individual basis. You agree to waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration against Mandarin Forge.

17. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

18. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Mandarin Forge regarding your use of the Service and supersede all prior or contemporaneous agreements, communications, and proposals, whether oral or written.

19. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at hello@mandarinforge.com.