Overview of the Policy

This cancellation and refund policy (“Policy”) governs the cancellations and refunds relating to the booking of home-cooked meal experiences between hosts and guests, booked on Palatelocal (the “Platform”). The Platform facilitates home-cooked meal experiences (“Experiences”) booked through Platform between the (“Hosts”) and (“Guests”). This Policy is an integral part of our Terms and Conditions applicable to each of the Hosts and Guests and is binding on all users. The goal is to create a fair, transparent, and reliable framework for both Guests and Hosts.

1. For Hosts:

This section outlines the rules, obligations, and consequences pertaining to cancellations of confirmed bookings by Hosts. Hosts are strongly discouraged from initiating cancellations of confirmed bookings due to the significant inconvenience caused to Guests and the potential disruption to the Platform's operations.

a. Restriction on Host-Initiated Cancellations:

All bookings accepted by Host must be honored and delivered in their entirety. Any failure to provide the Experience as booked, or repeated cancellations, may result in the imposition of penalties as described herein, and Palatelocal reserves all other rights available to it under these terms and applicable law. The Host may cancel confirmed bookings only in the limited exceptions set forth below:

• Occurrence of force majeure events, including but not limited to natural disasters, fire, governmental orders, personal or family medical emergencies, government-imposed lockdowns or other restrictions on gatherings, or other unforeseen circumstances outside your control, rendering your residence/the Experience location unusable or making it unsafe/unviable to host the Experience (Force Majeure Events); and/or
• Situations posing a genuine and immediate safety or health risk to you or the Guests. The Host shall bear the burden of proving the existence and applicability of any such exceptional circumstances.

b. Penalties for Hosts:

1. If a Host cancels a confirmed booking for any other reason (other than as set forth in Clause (a) above), or in the event of repeated cancellations, Palatelocal reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to impose penalties, which may include, without limitation, any one or more of the following:

   • Publication of an automated review or notation on the Host’s profile indicating the cancellation.
   • Deduction of a cancellation fee from the Host's next payout or any future earnings; and/or
   • Temporary or permanent suspension of the Host's account and access to the Platform.

2. These penalties are cumulative and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to Palatelocal under these terms or applicable law.

3. In addition to this, Host-initiated cancellations may negatively impact the Host's performance metrics, including response rates, reliability scores, and overall ratings. Such impacts may result in a reduced ranking or visibility of the Host's Experiences within the Platform's search results, promotional campaigns, or recommendation algorithms, thereby potentially affecting future bookings.

4. If the Host cancels confirmed bookings, the affected Guests shall automatically receive a full refund and may be issued credit points as goodwill compensation.

c. Host’s Obligations in case of Cancellations:

In the event of any cancellation, whether permissible or not, the Host shall:

• Promptly notify Palatelocal through the designated communication channels.
• Promptly notify all affected Guests; and
• Provide clear and valid reasoning for the cancellation, accompanied by any reasonable supporting documentation requested by Palatelocal.

d. Termination:

In the event the Host’s account is terminated or suspended for any reason, the Host shall immediately cease to host, list, offer, or provide any Experiences on the Platform. All confirmed or scheduled Experiences will be automatically cancelled, and any payments made by Guests for such Experiences will be refunded to the Guests in accordance with the Platform’s refund policy.

e. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability:

• The Host acknowledges and agrees that any and all liability, including but not limited to claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, and expenses (including legal fees), arising directly or indirectly from Host-initiated cancellations, shall rest solely with the Host. Palatelocal shall not be responsible or liable for any such claims, refunds (beyond processing the refund of booking fees already paid by the Guest through the Platform), or damages arising from such cancellations. The Host further agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Palatelocal from and against any and all such liabilities.
• If a Guest cancels a confirmed booking, Palatelocal shall not be responsible or liable for any resulting loss of income, damages, or compensation to the Host. Any cancellation charges or refund policies applicable to Guests will be governed solely by Palatelocal’s user terms and policies, and Hosts agree not to dispute or interfere with such policies.
• In all cases of cancellation or refund, whether initiated by the Host or the Guest, the refund amount shall not be a full refund. Any transaction fees, payment gateway charges, processing fees, or similar costs levied by third-party payment processing vendors shall be deducted from the refundable amount. Such transaction costs are non-refundable and shall be borne by the Host or Guest, as applicable.

2. For Guests

This section outlines the rules, obligations, and consequences pertaining to cancellations of confirmed bookings by Guest.

a. Deemed Cancellation:

The Host shall have a period of 24 (twenty-four) hours from the time a Guest submits a booking request to confirm the booking. If the Host does not confirm the booking within the aforesaid period, the booking request shall be deemed to be cancelled automatically without any further action or notice.

b. Non-refundable Bookings:

• All bookings and consideration, once paid, are non-refundable, except in the case mentioned below, or unless otherwise specified by the Host and displayed at the time of making the booking.
• If the Guest is a no-show, or reports to the Experience belatedly, or otherwise is unable to avail the Experience, all consideration paid by the Guest will be forfeited, and the Guest is not eligible for a refund.
• A refund shall not be issued in cases where delay or issues arising from the Guest’s own negligence, late arrival, or failure to comply with the Host’s reasonable instructions, or for any dissatisfaction with the Experience, including but not limited to dissatisfaction with the food, personal taste, or change of mind after the commencement or consumption of the Experience.

c. Limited Refunds:

1. The Guest is eligible for a full refund of the consideration paid at the time of booking if:

   • the Host cancels a confirmed booking.
   • the Experience must be cancelled due to a Force Majeure Event; or
   • the situation poses a genuine and immediate safety or health risk to you or the Host.

2. Upon acceptance of an Experience by the Host, it becomes a confirmed booking. In such a case, the following rules for refund shall apply:

   • Cancellation < 24 hours of the date of the Experience* No refund
   • Cancellation between 24 to 48 hours of the date of the Experience* 50% refund
   • Cancellation > 48 hours of the date of the Experience* 100% refund

The cancellation timelines stated herein, including the 48-hour refund window, shall be subject to the sole discretion of the Platform. Palatelocal reserves the right to amend these timelines as and when incorporated and deemed necessary by the Platform and shall duly inform its users of any such changes through appropriate means of communication.

3. In case of Host cancellations, Guests may be granted credit points as a goodwill measure. Such credit points may be redeemable against future bookings made through the Platform and shall be subject to the Platform’s credit point policy. No cashout of credit points is permitted.

4. In the event that a Host’s account is suspended, delisted, or terminated for any reason, any booking(s) confirmed with such Host for a future date shall stand canceled. The Guest shall be entitled to a refund in accordance with this Policy. The Guest acknowledges that the Platform shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss or inconvenience arising from such cancellation.

d. Guest relation cancellations:

• 1. If the Guest is found to have engaged in any misconduct, fraudulent behavior, or violation of the Platform’s Terms or Policies, the Platform may, at its discretion, suspend or terminate the Guest’s account. Upon such suspension or termination, all current and future bookings shall stand canceled, and any refund shall be processed strictly in accordance with this Policy. The Platform also reserves the right to forfeit all the payments already made by the Guest for confirmed bookings. The Guest shall have no claim against the Platform or any Host for any loss, inconvenience, or denial of service arising therefrom.
• 2. In the event a Guest is unable to attend the Experience due to an event directly impacting the Guest (e.g., personal or family medical emergency, travel restrictions), the Guest must provide prompt notification to Palatelocal and the Host, along with reasonable documentation supporting the same. Palatelocal will assess such cases on a case-by-case basis and, if approved, will issue a full refund. The Guest acknowledges and agrees that Palatelocal’s determination in this regard shall be final and binding.

e. In all cases of cancellation or refund, whether initiated by the Host or the Guest, the refund amount shall not be a full refund. Any transaction fees, payment gateway charges, processing fees, or similar costs levied by third-party payment processing vendors shall be deducted from the refundable amount. Such transaction costs are non-refundable and shall be borne by the Host or Guest, as applicable.

f. In the event that a Host’s account is terminated or suspended for any reason, Guests will not be able to avail of any Experiences booked or confirmed with that Host. Any payments made by Guests for such Experiences will be refunded in accordance with the Platform’s refund policy. Guests acknowledge and agree that Palatelocal, its affiliates, officers, and employees shall not be held liable for or responsible for any losses, inconvenience, or claims arising from such termination or suspension of a Host’s account.

g. All refunds shall be processed through the same payment method used during booking.