Cancellation & Refund Policy.
This is the single policy that governs cancellations and refunds across Lighthearted Kitchen. It is referenced by our Terms, shown at checkout, and incorporated into every booking agreement.
Private chef bookings
If the host cancels: 100% refund of amounts paid if cancelled 30 or more days before the event; 50% refund if cancelled 7–29 days before; no refund within 7 days of the event. Where the balance has not yet been auto-charged, it will not be charged once you cancel. Cancellation and refund calculations use the amounts recorded on the booking, payment, or ticket purchase.
If the chef cancels: the host receives a full refund of everything collected (deposit and any balance), every time. The chef must provide an explanation, which is shared with the host. Chef cancellations after acceptance may be reviewed by Lighthearted Kitchen and may affect account standing, visibility, or future booking eligibility. No automatic percentage penalty is charged. Lighthearted Kitchen may seek recovery of actual documented overpayments or losses where legally supported and manually reviewed.
How and when refunds are issued
Refunds are returned to the original payment method through Stripe. For one-time bookings the deposit is charged at checkout and the remaining balance is charged to your saved payment method on the day before the event; if that attempt fails, one further attempt may be made on the day of. If you cancel before the balance has been charged, it is not charged; the refund percentages above apply to the amounts you have actually paid. The refund schedule that applies to a booking is the one you accepted at checkout; a later change to this policy does not reprice an earlier booking.
Recurring engagements
Paying for sessions. Your first session and any one-time onboarding fee are paid at checkout. Each following session is charged to your saved payment method on the day before it; if that attempt fails, one further attempt may be made on the day of, and never once the session has started. A session whose payment has not gone through is placed on hold and is not served. Until the session starts you can pay for it from the booking page; once it has started it can no longer be paid there, and it is resolved with your chef and Lighthearted Kitchen through the booking thread.
Skipping a session. You can skip any session free of charge through the end of the day two days before it, in the booking's time zone. A skipped session is simply not charged; a make-up date can be agreed with your chef within the engagement's package dates. Sessions inside an open notice period cannot be skipped.
Ending an engagement. Give the notice period shown on your proposal (14 days if none is shown). Sessions scheduled inside that notice period still take place and are charged as usual. Ending immediately instead stops all future sessions, and 50% of the sessions scheduled inside your notice period is charged to your saved payment method to honour the chef's planning and preparation; the amount is shown to you before you confirm.
If the chef ends the engagement, you are refunded for every paid session that will not take place and for the onboarding fee.
Public event tickets
Public ticketed events are date-specific. Their refund, transfer, and cancellation/postponement rules are set out in the Public Event Ticket Policy.
Force majeure
If an event cannot proceed because of circumstances beyond either party's reasonable control, Lighthearted Kitchen will work with both sides on a rebooking or an equitable refund.
Last updated: 2026-09-18