Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of TattooPointer (the 'Platform'), operated by Dirty Hippos BV, a Belgian company with its registered office at Sint-Apollonialaan 188B, 2400 Mol, Belgium, registered under enterprise number BE 0695.953.323 ('TattooPointer', 'we', 'us', 'our'). By using the Platform you agree to these Terms. You are a 'User' as soon as you visit the Platform, and a 'Consumer User' if you use our paid services for purposes outside any business or professional activity. Please read these Terms carefully before using the Platform and at every notified change. If you use the Platform on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you bind that entity and yourself individually to these Terms. We reserve all rights not expressly granted.

1. Subject — Access and use of the Platform

TattooPointer is an online marketplace that connects clients with tattoo artists, studios, and related professionals. We facilitate discovery, communication, and bookings, but we do not perform tattoo services ourselves and we are not a party to any agreement entered into between a User and an artist or studio. The Platform is intended for adults. To use it you must meet the minimum age set by your country's legislation; for Belgium this is 18 years. We strongly encourage you to verify the credentials, hygiene practices, and aftercare advice of any artist or studio you contact and to take all reasonable precautions before any in-person session.

2. Registration

Most features of the Platform require the creation of a User account. Registration is free and is completed through the online registration form. You may not create or maintain more than one account, even under a different name; duplicate accounts will be removed. You agree to provide accurate, truthful, current, and complete information during registration and to keep that information up to date. You may not infringe the rights of any third party when registering. Identity misappropriation (Article 231 Belgian Criminal Code), computer forgery (Article 210bis §1), defamation (Articles 443 and 453bis), and other forms of identity fraud are criminal offences. We will take all necessary steps to ensure such conduct is prosecuted. Your account is personal and you are exclusively responsible for everything done through it. Accounts may not be transferred. You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and must report any breach of confidentiality to us at [email protected] so that we can take appropriate action. We monitor account creation and reserve the right to take proportionate measures where a User acts in breach of these Terms, applicable law, third-party rights, or generally accepted online conduct. Where reasonably possible we will notify the User of the alleged breach and offer a reasonable opportunity to respond. Measures may include temporary or permanent suspension and the deletion of an account, in proportion to the severity of the breach.

3. Content on the Platform

Content offered on the Platform — whether by us, by Users, or by third parties — may contain inaccuracies of any kind. We provide content without any warranty as to its suitability, reliability, accuracy, or currency. TattooPointer cannot be held liable for any direct or indirect damage you incur as a result of information published on the Platform. The following content is, in any event, prohibited: • Content that is illegal, unlawful, harmful, misleading, threatening, abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, or otherwise contrary to public order and morality. • Content that infringes the intellectual property rights or portrait rights of other Users or third parties. • Content that results from, refers to, or incites criminal offences. • Content that may harm other Users, including malware, viruses, worms, trojans, and similar. We take reasonable steps to prevent inappropriate content but cannot guarantee that all content meets our standards. Please report concerns to [email protected] so we can take action. Removing an account may also remove all content posted from that account.

4. Artist and Studio Listings

Verified professionals — tattoo artists, piercers, and studios — may publish listings (profiles, portfolios, availability, pricing, and promotional content). The features and conditions of our listing services are as presented on the Platform at the time of order. We may adjust the features and pricing of our services from time to time in line with market or regulatory changes. Listings are subject to review. We may verify the identity of professionals and the legality of content before publication. Listings that are not truthful, that contain illegal practices, or that suggest minors, trafficking, or coercion will be refused and reported to the competent authorities. We may take corrective measures (suspension, removal) at our discretion, and where the circumstances require, without prior notice. Listings must be placed in the relevant category and must not be misleading. To publish certain professional listings we may ask you to verify your identity (e.g. KBO/CBE registration). We treat any documentation you submit with the utmost confidentiality and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

5. Payments and Deposits

Once we receive your order you will receive an order confirmation by email. Paid services are delivered after receipt of payment; the chosen payment method may affect timing. You must check the performance of our services on receipt. Defective performance must be reported in writing and with reasons within 7 days of discovery. The User's remedy for defective performance is limited to re-performance. Prices are expressed in EUR and include VAT and any other applicable taxes. Manifest pricing errors may be corrected after the order is placed. Any additional costs (e.g. those related to a particular payment method) are clearly disclosed before the order is placed and are borne by the User. Online payments are processed by Stripe. The terms of Stripe apply in addition to ours. The following payment methods are accepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, China UnionPay, Cartes Bancaires, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Revolut Pay, Bancontact, BLIK, EPS, Giropay, iDEAL, Klarna. We take reasonable measures to secure online transactions, including TLS encryption and use of recognised payment partners. The closed payment system processes your bank details in encrypted form. Deposits paid through the Platform for an artist's session are released to the artist net of platform fees. Deposit amounts and refund conditions are set by individual artists and disclosed at the time of booking. After the artist has accepted the booking, cancellation is subject to that artist's refund policy. Expired bookings (the configured booking window) are automatically cancelled.

6. Use Restrictions

Your right to use the Platform is limited. You must not act in a way that is or could be harmful to the Platform's operation, security, or other Users. The following are strictly prohibited: • Use of automated tools (spiders, crawlers, robots, scrapers) to extract data from the Platform. • Use of the Platform for spam, chain mail, junk mail, or similar. • Stalking other Users or imposing political or religious views on them. • Unauthorised access to other Users' accounts or to non-public parts of the Platform. The list above is indicative, not exhaustive. We have a broad margin of appreciation in deciding what action to take, including temporary or permanent suspension or full or partial restriction of access. Where circumstances require, action may be taken without prior notice. If we suspend a User without a serious breach on their part, we will refund a pro-rata share of paid amounts for the period during which services cannot be used. Decisions on refund will be communicated in writing.

7. Privacy

We attach great importance to privacy. Personal data are processed in accordance with the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and Belgian privacy law. We have taken all reasonable legal and technical measures to prevent unauthorised access to personal data. Providing inaccurate or false personal data is a breach of these Terms. For full details see our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

8. Intellectual Property and Links

The Platform, our trademarks, images, logos, animations, and texts are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Dirty Hippos BV. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive licence to access the Platform for personal use. You may not reproduce, communicate to the public, or distribute the Platform or its content in whole or in part outside of that licence. You are responsible for the intellectual property rights to any content you upload (including portfolio images, logos, descriptions). By uploading content you grant TattooPointer a worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable licence to use, reproduce, adapt, and communicate that content to the extent necessary to operate the Platform and promote your listing. Tattoo artists retain copyright in their original artwork. The Platform may link to third-party websites that are not under our control. We give no warranty regarding linked sites and visiting them is at your own risk. Linking to TattooPointer is permitted only via the homepage; deep-linking, in-line linking, or framing requires our prior written consent. We may remove links that breach these conditions without prior notice and without compensation.

9. Liability

The Platform is provided 'as is' and 'as available', without express or implied warranties. Use is at your own risk. We commit to a best-efforts obligation to keep the Platform secure, reliable, continuous, and accessible. TattooPointer is liable only for direct damage resulting from a serious or repeated minor contractual or extra-contractual breach attributable to us. Our total liability is limited to the amount paid by the User for the relevant service in the 12 months preceding the claim, except where mandatory law provides otherwise. In no event are we liable for indirect damage including (but not limited to) consequential damage, loss of profit, financial or commercial loss, increased overheads, increased staffing costs, loss of clients or opportunities, or non-material damage. We expressly exclude liability for the conduct of Users and third parties on or off the Platform. These limitations do not apply in case of fraud or wilful misconduct attributable to us, nor in respect of liability for personal injury or death to the extent the law does not permit exclusion. If a User causes us to be held liable through their breach, the User shall indemnify us against the resulting damage.

10. Force Majeure

We are not liable for any failure to perform caused by force majeure, meaning any sudden and unforeseeable event beyond the control of the parties that makes performance impossible. We may suspend our obligations for the duration of such event. ICT-specific events (server failure, communications-infrastructure issues, software or hardware failure on the User's side) may also qualify as force majeure. The above list is indicative, not exhaustive.

11. General

We may amend, suspend, or discontinue the Platform and its services at any time without compensation. If a change negatively impacts a paid service, the affected User has the right to terminate that service and request a refund proportionate to undelivered services, by giving written notice within 14 days of the change. These Terms (including the payment terms) are governed exclusively by Belgian law. The parties shall first attempt to resolve any dispute amicably. If no amicable settlement is reached within 30 days, the dispute shall be submitted to the competent courts of the judicial district of Antwerp, division Turnhout. The parties may also agree to submit the dispute to arbitration or mediation through a recognised Belgian institution. The invalidity of any provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. Any disclaimer of liability is to be construed broadly. Section titles are illustrative only.