Refund Policy

Food Mealo is a marketplace: restaurants cook and fulfil your order, and we handle the ordering and the money. If something goes wrong, come to us first — we will sort it out with the restaurant on your behalf.

1. How long a refund takes

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays. Refunds go back to the payment method you used. If you paid cash on delivery, we will arrange the refund with you directly.

2. Why a card refund takes days to show

We send your refund the moment it is approved — there is no delay at our end. From there it travels through the card network to the bank that issued your card, and your bank decides when to post it to your account. That last step is outside our control and is why the wait varies between banks.

Two things commonly cause people to think a refund has not arrived when it has:

• Your bank may not notify you. Most alerts are set up for money leaving your account, not arriving, so a refund often appears silently. Check the statement itself rather than waiting for a text.
• It may not look like a new payment. Some banks show a separate credit; others simply remove the original charge, so it looks as though you were never charged.

If it has been more than 10 working days since we confirmed your refund, contact us with your order number and we will chase it with our payment provider.

3. When you are entitled to a refund

You can ask for a full or partial refund if:

• your order never arrived
• items were missing from what was delivered or collected
• you received the wrong items
• the food arrived in an unacceptable condition — spilled, cold on arrival, or spoiled
• the restaurant cancelled your order after you paid
• you were charged incorrectly, or charged twice

4. When a refund may not apply

• You changed your mind after the restaurant started preparing the food. Because takeaway food is perishable and made to order, it is exempt from the usual 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.
• You gave an incorrect or incomplete address, or nobody was there to receive the delivery and the driver could not reach you.
• You disliked the taste, but the order was correct and properly prepared.
• The complaint reaches us more than 48 hours after delivery, so we can no longer verify it with the restaurant.

None of this affects your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which entitles you to goods of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.

5. Cancelling an order

• Before the restaurant accepts — cancel from your order page for a full refund.
• After it is accepted — contact us straight away. If cooking has not begun, we will usually refund in full.
• Once the food is being prepared — we generally cannot cancel, because the restaurant has already spent the ingredients and time.

6. Table bookings

Where a booking fee applies, it is refunded in full if you cancel at least 2 hours before your booking, or if the restaurant cannot honour it. Later cancellations and no-shows may not be refunded, as the table was held for you.

7. How to request a refund

1. Open the order in My Orders.
2. Start a live chat with support using the button on any page.
3. Tell us what went wrong. Photos help a great deal for missing, wrong or damaged items.

Please contact us within 48 hours of receiving the order. You can also email support@foodmealo.com — see the help centre for all the ways to reach us.

8. If you disagree with our decision

Reply to us and ask for it to be reviewed; a different member of the team will look at it again. If we still cannot agree, you may be able to raise a chargeback with your bank or card provider, or take the matter to the relevant alternative dispute resolution scheme.