Refund & Cancellation Policy

This Policy explains when and how you can cancel a Cook4Me booking, when refunds are issued, and how disputes are resolved. It applies in addition to our Terms of Service.

1. Escrow protection

Every Cook4Me payment is held in escrow by Livora Limited until the customer confirms delivery. Funds are not released to the chef at booking — this protects both parties.

2. Customer cancellations

If the customer cancels a booking before the event, refunds are issued as follows:

• More than 7 days before the event — full refund of the food price, service fee, and delivery fee.
• 3–7 days before the event — full refund of food price and service fee. Delivery fee non-refundable if a courier has already been booked.
• 24–72 hours before the event — 50% refund of the food price (chef has begun shopping/prep). Service fee and delivery fee non-refundable.
• Less than 24 hours before the event — no refund unless the chef agrees. Service fee and delivery fee non-refundable.

These windows reflect the chef's sunk costs (ingredients, kitchen time) at each stage. Cancel as early as you can.

3. Chef cancellations

If a chef cancels a booking after the customer has paid, the customer is automatically entitled to a full refund (food price, service fee, delivery fee). We may also apply penalties to the chef (account warnings, suspension, or removal) depending on the circumstances and the notice given.

4. Day-of-event issues

If something goes wrong on the day — chef no-show, food not delivered, or delivery substantially late — the customer should:

1. Try to contact the chef through the in-platform chat.
2. If the issue is not resolved within 1 hour, raise a dispute from the booking screen.

Funds remain in escrow while a dispute is open.

5. Quality issues

If the food was delivered but you have a serious quality concern (food spoiled, substantially different from what was ordered, inedible portion), you have 48 hours from delivery to raise a dispute. Photographs and a clear description help us resolve the case.

Outcomes can include:

• Full refund — when the issue clearly amounts to non-delivery (e.g. food unsafe to eat, missing items).
• Partial refund — when only part of the order was affected.
• No refund — when the complaint is not supported by evidence or relates to subjective taste preferences.

6. How to request a refund

The fastest way to request a refund is from the booking screen:

1. Open My Bookings in your account.
2. Expand the booking and click Request a refund.
3. Tell us briefly what happened. Our team responds within 2 business days.

If the booking has a dispute open, follow the dispute flow instead — the two are merged automatically.

7. How refunds are issued

• Approved refunds are pushed back to the original card via Stripe.
• Stripe typically takes 5–10 business days to credit your statement, depending on your bank.
• Refunds for cross-border bookings are issued in the original payment currency. Currency conversion fluctuations are not compensated.
• You will receive an email when the refund is processed.

8. Service fees and platform commission

When a refund is issued because of chef fault, no-show, or upheld dispute, Livora also refunds the 5% Service Fee in full and reverses the 10% Commission deducted from the chef's payout.

For customer-cancellation refunds in the partial windows above, the refunded amount excludes the Service Fee — the platform fee covers the cost of operating the marketplace.

9. Subscriptions

Subscription fees (Chef Pro, Customer Premium) are billed monthly. You can cancel any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period and we do not refund partial months.

10. Statutory rights

Nothing in this Policy affects your statutory rights as a consumer in the UK, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Where statutory rights give you a stronger remedy than this Policy, the statutory rights apply.

11. Contact

Need help with a refund? Email contactus@livoralimited.com with your booking ID and a brief description.