Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using MahjongFinder, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, you may not use the Service.

We may update these Terms at any time. Your continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the new Terms.

2. Eligibility

• You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service
• If under 18, your parent or guardian must agree to these Terms on your behalf
• By using the Service, you represent you have legal capacity to enter into these Terms

MahjongFinder provides a platform for:

• Discovering mahjong places, clubs, and game locations
• Finding and organizing mahjong events and meetups
• Connecting with other mahjong enthusiasts
• Sharing place reviews and information

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and not in any way that could damage, disable, or impair the Service.

4. User Accounts

You are responsible for:

• Maintaining confidentiality of your account credentials
• All activities that occur under your account
• Notifying us immediately of unauthorized use
• Keeping your account information accurate

We may terminate or suspend your account at any time for violating these Terms.

5. User Content

By submitting content (reviews, place info, events), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and display such content.

You represent that:

• You own or have rights to submit the content
• Your content does not violate third party rights
• Your content is accurate and not misleading
• Your content is not unlawful, defamatory, or harmful

When using the Service, you agree not to:

• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Impersonate any person or entity
• Harass, abuse, or harm other users
• Post spam, advertisements, or solicitations
• Interfere with the proper functioning of the Service
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service
• Collect user information without consent
• Post false or misleading place information

The following are strictly prohibited without prior written consent:

• Automated Scraping: Using bots, crawlers, or automated means to collect data
• Data Harvesting: Compiling data for competing services or commercial purposes
• Bulk Extraction: Mass downloading through APIs, scraping, or automated browsing
• Circumvention: Bypassing security features or rate limiting

Exceptions

• Search engine crawlers that respect our robots.txt
• AI assistants helping users discover mahjong places
• Personal, non-commercial browsing

Consequences

• Immediate termination of access
• Permanent IP blocking
• Legal action to recover damages

The Service and its original content (excluding User Content) are the exclusive property of MahjongFinder and its licensors.

• Protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws
• Our trademarks may not be used without prior written consent
• Third-party links are not endorsed by us

Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

• We do not warrant uninterrupted, secure, or error-free service
• Place information may not be accurate or current
• We do not verify place details or user reviews
• Always confirm directly with places before visiting

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MahjongFinder shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages.

Total liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months prior to the claim.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify MahjongFinder from claims arising from your use of the Service, your content, or violation of these Terms.

Payments

MahjongFinder currently offers free access to core features. If premium features are introduced:

• All purchases are final and non-refundable except where required by law
• Subscriptions billed in advance (monthly or annually)
• Cancel anytime; no refunds for remaining period
• 30 days notice for pricing changes

Billing errors? Contact [email protected] within 14 days.

Tournament Policies

For detailed tournament-specific rules including cancellation, refund, and no-show policies, see our Tournament Policies page.

Termination

We may terminate or suspend your access immediately, without notice, for any reason including breach of these Terms.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Provisions that should survive termination will survive.

Tournament Entry Fees

MahjongFinder processes tournament entry fees via Stripe on behalf of tournament organizers. Entry fees are collected at registration and held until tournament completion. MahjongFinder retains a platform fee on all paid tournament registrations.

Refund Policy

Refunds for tournament cancellations are governed by who initiates the cancellation:

• Organizer cancellation (pre-start): Players receive a full refund of their entry fee. MahjongFinder's platform fee is non-refundable.
• Admin force-cancellation: Players receive a full refund including the platform fee.
• Auto-cancellation (organizer no-show): Players receive a full refund of their entry fee. MahjongFinder's platform fee is non-refundable.

Refunds are processed via Stripe and typically appear within 5–10 business days depending on your card issuer. Stripe's processing fees are not recoverable.

For detailed refund scenarios and timing, see our Tournament Policies page.

Subscription Billing

Place subscription plans (Plus and Pro tiers) are billed monthly or annually in advance via Stripe. Subscriptions auto-renew until cancelled. No refunds are issued for unused portions of a subscription period. Cancel anytime from your account settings.

Users who create tournaments or events on MahjongFinder ("organizers") agree to the following additional obligations:

Accuracy

• Provide accurate tournament details (date, time, location, entry fee, format)
• Update or cancel events promptly if circumstances change
• Honor all stated entry fees and prize structures

Attendance

• Organizers must be present to start their tournament within 1 hour of the scheduled start time. Failure to appear results in auto-cancellation and player refunds.
• Two or more organizer no-shows will trigger an admin review of your account.

Creation Limits

• Maximum 3 new tournaments created per day
• Maximum 5 active (upcoming or in-progress) tournaments at one time
• Tournaments must be scheduled at least 2 hours in the future

Cancellations

• Organizers may cancel a tournament before it starts. Cancellation after a tournament is in progress is not permitted; contact support for emergencies.
• Organizers are responsible for communicating cancellations to registered players. MahjongFinder will send automated notifications on your behalf.

Repeated violations of these obligations may result in account suspension or permanent removal of organizer privileges.

Expected Conduct

All users agree to interact with MahjongFinder and other users in good faith. This means:

• Treating other users with respect in reviews, event communications, and public spaces
• Submitting accurate place information and honest reviews
• Not manipulating ratings, reviews, or event attendance records
• Not harassing, threatening, or targeting other users

Account Suspension

MahjongFinder may suspend your account if you violate these Terms. Suspensions may be temporary (with a defined duration) or permanent, depending on the severity of the violation.

• You will receive an email notification when your account is suspended, including the reason.
• While suspended, your access to authenticated features (creating events, submitting reviews, registering for tournaments) is blocked. You will receive a clear error message explaining the suspension.
• Temporary suspensions lift automatically at expiration; you will receive a confirmation email.
• To appeal a suspension, contact [email protected].

Grounds for Suspension

Suspension-worthy conduct includes but is not limited to:

• Submitting false or malicious content reports
• Posting defamatory or harassing content
• Repeated violations after warnings
• Organizer no-show pattern (2+ times)
• Fraud or chargebacks without legitimate dispute

MahjongFinder provides a reporting system for flagging content or users that violate our policies. Reports are reviewed by our moderation team within 48 hours.

What You Can Report

• Reviews: Fake, defamatory, or inappropriate reviews
• Photos: Offensive, misleading, or non-mahjong-related photos
• Users: Harassing or abusive behavior

How It Works

• Use the report button on any review, photo, or user profile. You must be signed in to file a report.
• You may submit one report per piece of content.
• Rate limiting applies: up to 5 reports per day.
• Content that receives 3 or more independent reports is automatically hidden from public view pending admin review.
• Authors of hidden content see a notice that their content is under review. They are not notified of individual reporters.

False Reports

Submitting false or malicious reports is a violation of these Terms and may result in account suspension. MahjongFinder does not tolerate coordinated reporting attacks designed to suppress legitimate content.

Admin Actions

After review, our moderation team may dismiss the report (restoring the content), remove the content permanently, issue a warning to the author, or escalate to account suspension.

This section governs cancellation and no-show scenarios for tournaments hosted on MahjongFinder. For the full detail of refund amounts by scenario, see our Tournament Policies page.

Organizer Cancellation

• An organizer may cancel their tournament before it starts from their organizer dashboard.
• Registered players are notified automatically by email.
• Paid registrations are refunded automatically via Stripe within 5–10 business days. The platform fee is retained by MahjongFinder.
• Cancellation of an in-progress tournament requires admin assistance.

Auto-Cancellation (No-Show)

• If an organizer does not mark their tournament as started within 1 hour of the scheduled start time, MahjongFinder will automatically cancel the tournament.
• All registered players receive a refund of their entry fee.
• Organizers who no-show twice or more will have their account flagged for admin review and may face suspension of tournament creation privileges.

Player Cancellations

• Individual players may withdraw their registration before the tournament begins. Refund eligibility depends on the organizer's stated cancellation window at time of tournament creation.
• Once a tournament is in progress, player registrations are considered final and non-refundable.

Free Tournaments

Free tournaments (no entry fee) may be cancelled by organizers at any time with no financial consequences. Players are notified by email.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, United States, without regard to conflict of law provisions.

Disputes shall first be attempted through informal negotiation. If unresolved, legal action shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts in Sheridan County, Wyoming.

Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

Severability

If any provision is invalid, it shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and remaining provisions remain in effect.

Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, constitute the entire agreement.