diff --git a/src/app/api/auth/forgot-password/route.ts b/src/app/api/auth/forgot-password/route.ts
index 480923ff5..6d3e0cb8b 100644
--- a/src/app/api/auth/forgot-password/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/auth/forgot-password/route.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { logger } from '@/lib/logger'
 import { ERROR_MESSAGES } from '@/config/error-messages'
 import { checkRateLimit, getClientIp } from '@/lib/auth/rate-limiter'
 import { validateBody, ForgotPasswordSchema } from '@/lib/schemas'
-import { ORG } from '@/config/org'
+import { ORG, CONTACT } from '@/config/org'
 import { getPasswordResetUrl } from '@/config/urls'
 
 export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
@@ -86,7 +86,12 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
       // delivery failure so they are not stuck behind a false success message.
       return apiError(
         new Error('Password reset email not delivered'),
-        'E-Mail konnte nicht gesendet werden. Bitte versuche es später erneut oder kontaktiere uns unter kontakt@revamp-it.ch.',
+        // Address comes from CONTACT, never typed here: this message is shown
+        // precisely WHEN mail delivery just failed, so the address in it is the
+        // user's only remaining way back in. It used to name a hardcoded
+        // kontakt@revamp-it.ch, which is neither the org's address nor
+        // guaranteed to be monitored.
+        `E-Mail konnte nicht gesendet werden. Bitte versuche es später erneut oder kontaktiere uns unter ${CONTACT.email}.`,
         503,
       )
     }
diff --git a/src/config/__tests__/contact-address-reachable.test.ts b/src/config/__tests__/contact-address-reachable.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4919eb0dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config/__tests__/contact-address-reachable.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * @jest-environment node
+ */
+import { readFileSync, readdirSync, statSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { join, relative } from 'node:path'
+import { CONTACT, ORG } from '@/config/org'
+
+/**
+ * The address we tell users to write to must reach a mailbox, and must come
+ * from ORG config rather than being typed into a message.
+ *
+ * It was `hallo@evig.ch`. evig.ch is not registered — no MX, no A record — so
+ * every message a would-be buyer sent bounced. That mattered because it is the
+ * ONLY route to a human: online payment is deliberately unset until go-live
+ * (`.env.selfhost.local.example`: "leave unset until go-live"), the checkout
+ * wall tells people to "kontaktiere evig", and `CONTACT.phone` is empty. A
+ * catalogue of 200+ live listings with a dead-end call to action.
+ *
+ * Two rules, both cheap to check:
+ *   1. Do not publish an address on a domain that is not set up yet.
+ *   2. Do not type a contact address inline — it drifts from config, which is
+ *      how a password-reset failure ended up naming kontakt@revamp-it.ch.
+ */
+
+// Domains evig does not (yet) receive mail on. Remove an entry the same day
+// the domain is registered AND its mail is authenticated — not before.
+const UNREACHABLE_DOMAINS = ['evig.ch']
+
+const SRC = join(process.cwd(), 'src')
+const MESSAGES = join(process.cwd(), 'messages')
+
+/**
+ * Files that legitimately name a non-CONTACT address:
+ *  - org.ts itself defines it
+ *  - staff identity / logins are Layer B and really are @revamp-it.ch until the
+ *    infra cutover (see .claude/CLAUDE.md)
+ *  - form placeholders showing the STAFF address format are accurate
+ */
+const ALLOW = [
+  /src\/config\/org\.ts$/,
+  /src\/lib\/permissions\.ts$/,
+  /src\/config\/e2e-test-accounts\.ts$/,
+  /src\/config\/blog-authors\.ts$/,
+  /src\/lib\/marketplace\/publish-revampit-listing\.ts$/,
+  /src\/lib\/ai\/config\/prompts\//,
+  /src\/components\/admin\/teams\//,
+  /src\/app\/einladung\//,
+  /__tests__/,
+]
+
+function files(dir: string, exts: RegExp): string[] {
+  if (!statSync(dir, { throwIfNoEntry: false })?.isDirectory()) return []
+  return readdirSync(dir).flatMap((e) => {
+    const full = join(dir, e)
+    if (statSync(full).isDirectory()) return files(full, exts)
+    return exts.test(e) ? [full] : []
+  })
+}
+
+describe('the published contact address is reachable', () => {
+  it('is not on a domain that receives no mail', () => {
+    const domain = CONTACT.email.split('@')[1]
+    expect(UNREACHABLE_DOMAINS).not.toContain(domain)
+  })
+
+  it('supportEmail falls back to the same reachable address', () => {
+    const domain = CONTACT.supportEmail.split('@')[1]
+    expect(UNREACHABLE_DOMAINS).not.toContain(domain)
+  })
+
+  it('ORG.emailDomain stays the brand domain (it is not the contact mailbox)', () => {
+    // Deliberate: emailDomain drives staff-email detection and the default
+    // sender. It is NOT where users write to — do not repoint it at gmail.
+    expect(ORG.emailDomain).toBe('evig.ch')
+  })
+
+  it('no user-facing message hardcodes an org contact address', () => {
+    const offenders: string[] = []
+    for (const file of [...files(SRC, /\.tsx?$/), ...files(MESSAGES, /\.json$/)]) {
+      const rel = relative(process.cwd(), file)
+      if (ALLOW.some((rx) => rx.test(rel))) continue
+      let src = readFileSync(file, 'utf8')
+      // Strip comments in TS/TSX: prose EXPLAINING this rule legitimately names
+      // the old address, and a gate that trips on its own documentation just
+      // teaches people to delete the documentation. JSON has no comments.
+      if (/\.tsx?$/.test(file)) {
+        src = src
+          .replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, '')
+          .split('\n')
+          .filter((l) => !l.trim().startsWith('//') && !l.trim().startsWith('*'))
+          .join('\n')
+      }
+      // An org address written as a literal, not interpolated from CONTACT.
+      const hits = src.match(/[a-z0-9._-]+@(evig\.ch|revamp-it\.ch|revampit\.ch)/gi)
+      if (hits) offenders.push(`${rel}: ${[...new Set(hits)].join(', ')}`)
+    }
+    expect(offenders).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('scans a meaningful number of files (guards an always-green sweep)', () => {
+    expect(files(SRC, /\.tsx?$/).length).toBeGreaterThan(500)
+    expect(files(MESSAGES, /\.json$/).length).toBeGreaterThan(3)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/config/org.ts b/src/config/org.ts
index d7be8b0fd..64e5d80a0 100644
--- a/src/config/org.ts
+++ b/src/config/org.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,22 @@ export const BASE_REGION = {
 // CONTACT
 // ============================================================================
 
-const DEFAULT_CONTACT_EMAIL = 'hallo@evig.ch' as const // TODO: register evig.ch mailbox
+/**
+ * The address users are told to write to. It must be a mailbox that ACTUALLY
+ * RECEIVES MAIL — this string is printed on public pages and is the fallback
+ * the checkout wall points at ("Bitte kontaktiere evig, wenn du sofort bezahlen
+ * möchtest") while Payrexx is unset.
+ *
+ * It was `hallo@evig.ch`. `evig.ch` is not purchased yet — it publishes no MX
+ * and no A record — so every message a would-be buyer sent to it bounced, on a
+ * catalogue of 200+ live listings with online payment deliberately switched off
+ * and no phone number configured. The one route to a human was a dead end.
+ *
+ * Gmail is not the long-term brand address; it is the one that works today.
+ * When evig.ch is registered and its mail is authenticated (Brevo SPF+DKIM),
+ * change this ONE line back — everything user-facing reads it from here.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_CONTACT_EMAIL = 'butaeff@gmail.com' as const
 
 export const CONTACT = {
   email: DEFAULT_CONTACT_EMAIL,