1. The short version

Our refund philosophy: sort it with you first, fast and fair. If something’s gone wrong, the quickest path is almost always a quick email or phone call. Whatever we say below, your statutory rights under UK consumer law stay in your back pocket — they can’t be signed away.

2. What this policy covers (and what’s already elsewhere)

This page is the single place to look for refund and cancellation questions. Some things are covered in detail in our Terms of Service; rather than duplicate them here, we point you there:

• Deposit cancellations (large groups, special dates) → Terms of Service, Section 3
• Delivery problems after receipt (missing items, wrong items) → Terms of Service, Section 5
• Food quality issues → Terms of Service, Section 8
• What we do with payment data → Privacy Policy

The new ground covered on this page: the 14-day cooling-off period (and when it doesn’t apply), future gift card rules, and how chargebacks work.

3. Reservation cancellations and changes

If you booked without a deposit (walk-in or any small-table reservation, weekday or weekend):

Just tell us. Phone, email, in person. There’s no cancellation fee. We’d appreciate as much notice as you can manage so we can offer the table to someone else, but it isn’t a contractual obligation.

If you booked with a deposit (large groups, special dates):

The 48/24-hour refund schedule in Terms Section 3 applies. We won’t repeat it here — one source of truth is better than two slightly different ones.

Changing a booking (different time, different number of people):

Free, subject to availability. Email or phone us. Reducing the number of people for a deposit booking doesn’t change the deposit total — it just means more of the deposit gets credited against the bill on the night.

4. Delivery cancellations

Before we dispatch. Call or email us. If we haven’t started cooking yet, full refund. If we’ve started but we haven’t set off, we’ll do our best — there may be an unavoidable charge for ingredients we can’t re-use, and we’ll explain it on the call.

After dispatch but before delivery. By this point the food is on its way and refusing it means it goes in the bin. If you genuinely can’t accept it (emergency, address mistake noticed too late) tell us immediately — we’ll work out the fairest split.

After delivery and acceptance — quality issues. Cross-ref Terms Section 5: missing item, refund, or credit. Your call.

The lawyerly bit. Once an order has been delivered and accepted, the 14-day cooling-off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 doesn’t apply to the food itself — that’s the “perishable goods” exemption (Regulation 28(1)(c)). If something’s wrong with the food, that’s a quality issue, not a cooling-off issue, and we handle it under the path above or in Terms Section 8. More on cooling-off in Section 6.

5. Food quality refunds (the short reminder)

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, our food has to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. If a dish doesn’t meet those standards, we’ll work it out one of three ways: replace, refund, or credit. You pick.

This doesn’t affect your statutory rights — they can’t be signed away in any contract. Full process and citations on Terms Section 8.

6. The 14-day cooling-off period — and when it doesn’t apply

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day cooling-off right on most things bought online or by phone — cancel and get a full refund without giving a reason. Sounds good. Here’s where it actually applies for things bought from us, and where it doesn’t.

Doesn’t apply (if you’re keeping score, the law has a phrase for each):

• Reservations and deposits tied to a specific date. Excluded under Regulation 28(1)(h) — “catering or services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance.” Our 48/24-hour deposit schedule (Terms Section 3) is the actual deadline.
• Delivered food, after delivery. Excluded under Regulation 28(1)(c) — “goods which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly.” Quality issues go through Section 5 above; cooling-off doesn’t apply.

Does apply (or will, when we get there):

• Gift card purchases, once we start selling them. A gift card bought online is a distance contract for a voucher, not a date-specific service — the 14-day right kicks in. See Section 7.

7. Gift cards and vouchers (when we sell them)

We don’t sell gift cards yet. When we do, here’s how they’ll work — written in advance so you can decide before buying.

• Validity: 12 months from the purchase date.
• Cash exchange: none. Gift cards aren’t redeemable for cash.
• Partial use: allowed. Spend less than the full value, the balance stays on the card until you use it (or it expires).
• Lost or stolen cards: we’ll replace within 30 days of purchase, with proof of purchase. Beyond 30 days, sorry — we can’t track unredeemed balances reliably enough.
• Faulty cards (won’t redeem, never delivered, technical error): full refund regardless of the timeframes above.
• Cooling-off: the standard 14-day CCR 2013 right applies to the purchase of the gift card itself — cancel within 14 days, full refund. Once redeemed against a meal or booking, that meal or booking is governed by the rest of this policy.

8. Card payments, disputes, and chargebacks

The path we’d love you to take if something’s wrong.

1. Email hello@plantylondon.com with what happened, when, and what you’d like us to do.
2. We’ll get back to you within 7 working days with a resolution — usually faster.
3. If we still can’t resolve it, your card provider is your next stop.

Chargebacks and Section 75.

If you paid by credit card and the single item was between £100 and £30,000, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes your card issuer jointly liable with us for any breach of contract or misrepresentation. You can claim against the card issuer directly. This right isn’t affected by anything we say here.

For debit card payments, the equivalent is the chargeback rule run by Visa or Mastercard — not statutory, but a real practical option run by your bank.

We’d rather sort it with you than fight it through your card provider — but we respect your right to use chargeback if that’s what’s needed. We’ll contest chargebacks we believe are unfounded; we won’t contest ones we believe are fair.

9. How quickly, and how, you get refunded

Method. Refunds go back to the same payment method you used. Card payment → same card. Stripe deposit → original Stripe transaction. Cash payment for dine-in → bank transfer (we’ll ask for sort code and account number when we agree the refund).

Timing. For online and phone-order cancellations, Regulation 33 of the CCR 2013 gives us 14 days to refund — we usually settle within 2–3 working days. For dine-in and other situations not covered by the CCR, we aim for the same speed even though the legal deadline doesn’t strictly bind us.

10. Contact and your statutory rights

Email hello@plantylondon.com for anything in this document.

Nothing in this policy reduces your rights under UK consumer law. If we’ve written something here that contradicts those rights, the law wins — automatically. The route to enforce those rights — internal complaint, Citizens Advice, Small Claims — is in Terms of Service Section 12.