Founding badge term
This section states the full term of the Founding Vendor badge. Where any other United Vows page, email, or marketing material describes the badge differently, this section governs.
- Duration: the badge is granted for 3 years from the date the Founding Vendor application is approved — the same 3-year term as the commission override. It is not renewable, and it does not depend on re-qualification or on a periodic review approving it again during that window.
- Two ways to lose it early, and they are not the same: before its 3-year term is up, the badge can also come off either because the account ends, or because the account falls below the Founding Vendor maintenance standards while it is still open. The first is permanent. The second is not. The two bullets below set out each one.
- Forfeiture on exit (permanent): the badge is lost for good if the account is delisted, deleted, removed, or cancelled. This applies however the account ends, whether the vendor chose it (closing or cancelling the account, requesting removal) or United Vows did (delisting or removal under the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Use Policy).
- Suspension on a standards failure (reversible): if the account stays open but falls below the maintenance standards, the badge, the directory listing and the commission reduction come off after a 30-day grace period and a further 30 days of probation. A seventh check, the account's Couple Response Index (a score reflecting how the vendor handles couples' concerns, including how they answer claims filed against their bookings — it also affects recommendation standing beyond the Founding badge), runs separately on its own clock: it is checked daily and carries no grace period or probation of its own, so a drop below 75 takes the badge off on that day's check. Neither kind of loss is permanent. Restoration requires both at once — all six maintenance standards met and a Couple Response Index of 75 or higher — and it lands on the clock the loss came off: a badge lost on the index is restored at the first daily check that finds the account at 75 or higher, and a badge lost on the six standards is restored at the first monthly review that finds the account passing all six. There is no application, no fee, no waiting period and no admin approval in that path. The badge and the commission reduction each resume for whatever remains of their original 3-year term; the suspension does not extend either one.
- Recreating an account does not restore it: if the account ends and a new account is later created with the same business name, owner, email, phone, address, or any other matching account information, the new account does not carry the Founding Vendor badge. It starts as a standard vendor account.
- No reinstatement after an exit: once the account has ended, the badge is lost permanently. There is no waiting period after which it returns, no appeal that restores it, and no path by which a later application, re-listing, or return to the platform brings it back. A vendor whose badge is lost may still use United Vows as a standard vendor with full access to every non-Founding feature. An account that ends after a standards suspension ends the same way: the exit governs, and the suspension stops being reversible.
- Same term as the badge: the 3-year commission reduction set out under “Locked positioning” below runs on the same clock as the badge — both start at approval and both end 3 years later, unless the badge ends earlier under one of the two ways set out above.
What it is
The Founding Vendor Program (“FVP”) is a limited-cohort early-supporter program for vendors who join United Vows during the launch window. Founding Vendors receive a badge on their profile and a separate commission override on top of their standard tier rate. Both benefits run for 3 years from approval and end together on that schedule; the badge can also end earlier under the terms set out under “Founding badge term” above.
Locked positioning
- Cohort size and tiers: up to 20 spots per vendor category, per city, split into two tiers of 10. The first 10 vendors approved in a category and city join as Gold Founding Vendors; the next 10 join as Silver Founding Vendors. Both tiers get the same 3-year badge term, and the same 3-year commission override. The one benefit that differs: on the Founding Partner directory, Gold partners are listed ahead of Silver partners, and within a tier the earliest to join leads. Which tier you land in is decided purely by application order — there is no way to apply directly for Gold.
- Enrollment window: the program accepts new members for up to 5 years from the program's launch date, or until the per-category-per-city cap is reached, whichever comes first. Spots are filled first-come-first-served. This is how long the program stays open to newcomers. It is not the length of the badge, which is set out under “Founding badge term” above.
- Commission benefit (time-limited, 3 years): a 1-percentage-point reduction off the standard platform fee for vendors at the Starter and Established tiers, for the first 3 years after enrollment. At the end of the 3 years the reduction stops and the standard tier rate resumes. Elite tier vendors receive the badge under the same 3-year term but are not eligible for the commission reduction (their tier rate is already the platform's most favorable). The commission benefit is not renewable.
- Founding badge (3-year term): displayed on the vendor's profile for 3 years from approval, the same term as the commission override. See “Founding badge term” above for the full condition.
- Founding Partner directory: a listing at unitedvows.com/founding-partners for 3 years from approval, the same term as the badge. The listing is removed at the end of that term, or earlier if the account is delisted, deleted, removed, or cancelled, on the same terms as the badge.
- Eligibility: active vendor account in good standing, a Google Business Profile rating of 4.3+ stars with at least 1 review, and passing our standard Trust & Safety review.
What is NOT in the program
- No search-ranking boost. Founding Vendors appear in matching and organic search results exactly the same way as non-Founding Vendors. The browse spotlight and the Founding Partner directory are separate, labeled surfaces; they do not move a vendor up the organic results.
- No exclusivity guarantees. A Founding Vendor's category + city slot does not block other vendors from joining the platform in the same category or city outside the FVP.
- No transferability. The Founding Vendor benefit attaches to the vendor account; it does not transfer to a successor business or buyer of the business.
Revocation
Founding Vendor status (badge + commission override) may be revoked for material breach of the Terms of Service, fraudulent activity, or repeated violations of the Acceptable Use Policy. Revocation follows the same notice-and-cure process described in the AUP for any account enforcement action.
Revocation on those grounds is permanent, on the terms set out under “Founding badge term” above. Once Founding Vendor status is revoked that way there is no reapplication that restores it and no waiting period after which it returns. If the account itself stays open, it continues as a standard vendor account with full access to every non-Founding feature.
A badge that came off because the account fell below the maintenance standards or below the Couple Response Index minimum has not been revoked on those grounds and is not covered by this section. It is the reversible case set out under “Founding badge term” above, and it is restored on recovery.
Independent of any revocation, Founding Vendor status also ends automatically 3 years after approval, per “Founding badge term” above.
Questions
Email support@unitedvows.com. This is the current, live version of the program terms — this page updates in place if the wording changes, so check back here rather than expecting a separate notice.