Terms of Service
Agreeing to these terms
These Terms of Service are the agreement between you and Indulge Private Chefs ("Indulge", "we", "us") covering your use of the Indulge app and the services offered through it.
By tapping "I agree" you confirm that you have read these terms and accept them. If you do not accept them, you cannot use the app.
We record which edition of these terms you accepted and when. Whenever we change them in a way that affects your rights or obligations, we will ask you to read and accept the new edition before you continue using the app.
What Indulge is
Indulge is a marketplace. We introduce clients who want private chef or catering services to independent chefs who provide them, and we handle the booking, quoting and payment process that sits between the two.
Chefs on Indulge are independent professionals. They are not our employees, agents or partners, and we do not cook, serve, or supervise the food at your event. The chef is responsible for the service they provide and for meeting the professional and legal obligations of their trade.
We are not a party to the service agreement between a client and a chef. Our role is to operate the platform the two of you use to reach and carry out that agreement.
Service fees — 9% from each side
Indulge charges a service fee of 9%, and it is charged twice on every booking: once to the client and once to the chef. Please read this section carefully, because it is the point most often misunderstood.
The client pays 9% on top of the agreed booking subtotal. The chef is paid the agreed booking subtotal minus 9%.
Worked example. On a booking with an agreed subtotal of $1,000: the client is charged $1,090, the chef receives $910, and Indulge keeps $180 in total.
Both fees are always shown on the charge breakdown of a booking before anyone approves it. Nothing is charged to a client, and nothing is deducted from a chef, until the booking has been approved by everyone who has to approve it.
Fees are calculated on the service subtotal. Tips are passed to the chef in full and no service fee is taken from them.
We may change our fees in future. If we do, the change will apply to bookings created after the new terms take effect, never to a booking already agreed.
All communication stays in the app
Every conversation about a booking must happen inside the Indulge app.
You must not share, request, or attempt to obtain personal contact information. That includes phone numbers, email addresses, messaging handles, social media accounts, website addresses, payment handles, and home or business addresses beyond the service address a booking legitimately requires.
This rule applies everywhere in the app: booking comments, menu notes, invoice notes, support messages, chef showcases, and any photograph or document you upload. Do not use spelling tricks, images of text, or coded wording to get around it.
There are three reasons for this rule. It keeps a complete and reviewable record of what was agreed, so we can help if there is a dispute. It lets our team support you, which we cannot do for conversations we cannot see. And it protects both sides from fraud and impersonation.
Arranging or continuing a booking outside the app, or doing so to avoid our service fees, is a serious breach of these terms. It can result in the cancellation of a booking, the withholding of a payout, and the permanent removal of your account.
Your account
You must be at least 18 years old to use Indulge, and the information you give us must be accurate and kept up to date.
You are responsible for what happens on your account and for keeping your sign-in details private. Tell us straight away if you believe someone else has access to it.
One person, one account. Do not create an account on someone else's behalf or hold more than one account for yourself.
Bookings, menus and approvals
A booking moves through a series of steps in the app. A client describes what they want, the chef reviews it and composes menus, the client approves those menus, and Indulge gives a final sign-off before the booking is confirmed.
A booking is only confirmed once every step is complete. Nothing said earlier in the process is a binding commitment on either side.
The details agreed in the app — dates, times, guest numbers, menus, the service address and the price — are the agreement. Please make sure they are right before you approve them.
Payment
Clients pay through the invoice raised on the booking in the app. Chefs are paid out through our payments provider to the account they have connected.
Payment processing is handled by third-party providers. Using the app to pay or be paid also means accepting their terms, and we do not store your full card or bank details ourselves.
Chefs are responsible for their own taxes on what they earn through Indulge. We do not withhold tax on their behalf.
Cancellations and changes
If you need to change or cancel a confirmed booking, do it in the app and as early as you can, so the other side has a fair chance to respond.
A chef who cancels a confirmed booking without good reason, or a client who repeatedly cancels late, may be removed from the platform.
Where a cancellation leaves money to be returned or paid, we will settle it through the app.
How you must behave
Treat everyone you deal with on Indulge with respect. Harassment, threats, discrimination, and abusive language are not allowed.
Do not use Indulge for anything unlawful, do not misrepresent who you are or what you are qualified to do, and do not interfere with the security or operation of the app.
Clients must provide a safe working environment and honest information about their venue, their kitchen, and the number of guests. Chefs must hold the licences, insurance and food-safety certifications their work requires.
Allergies and dietary needs
Clients must tell the chef about every allergy, intolerance and dietary requirement in the booking, in writing, before the menus are approved.
Chefs must take reasonable care to meet the requirements they have been told about, and must say so plainly if they cannot safely meet one.
Indulge does not prepare, inspect or certify any food. We cannot be responsible for an allergic reaction or any other illness arising from a meal, and this is one of the reasons allergy information must be recorded in the app rather than mentioned in passing.
What you upload
You keep ownership of the photographs, menus, and other content you upload. By uploading it you give Indulge permission to store it, show it in the app, and use it to promote the platform.
Only upload content you have the right to use. Do not upload anything unlawful, misleading, offensive, or belonging to somebody else.
We may remove content that breaks these terms, and we may remove or refuse a chef showcase that we do not consider ready to show to clients.
Suspending or closing an account
You can close your account at any time from the Account screen in the app. If your account is suspended, Delete account is on the limited-access screen.
We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, that we reasonably believe is being used fraudulently, or where we are required to by law. A suspended account keeps access to support so the reason can be discussed, and can still close the account as described above.
Closing an account does not cancel obligations already incurred — an invoice already owed remains owed, and a payout already earned is still paid.
Disclaimers and limits on our liability
The app is provided as it is. We work to keep it accurate and available, but we do not promise it will always be uninterrupted or error-free.
We do not guarantee the quality, safety, punctuality, or legality of any service booked through Indulge, nor the truthfulness of anything a user tells you. Those are matters between the client and the chef.
To the fullest extent the law allows, Indulge is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability to you for any claim connected to the app is limited to the service fees we received on the booking the claim relates to.
Nothing in these terms removes a right you have that cannot legally be removed.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as Indulge grows or as the law requires.
When we do, the app will show you the new edition and ask you to accept it before you carry on using it. Continuing to use Indulge after accepting means the new terms apply to you.
If you do not want to accept a new edition, you can decline and close your account. Bookings already confirmed will be honoured under the terms in force when they were agreed.
Getting in touch
Questions about these terms, or about anything else, can be sent to our team through Support in the app. We would rather hear about a problem early than late.