Cases Policy

1. Opening a Case
2. Case Eligibility
3. Ineligible Disputes and Transactions
4. Case Resolution

1. Opening a Case

When a buyer is considering returning an item, getting a refund, or otherwise notifying a seller of an issue with their order on Food Prepped, the first thing they are obligated to do is contact the seller directly to let the seller know the issue. This is done via the Help with Order link within Purchases and Reviews. It is important for sellers to consult this cases policy to fill out their shop policies to explain returns and refunds, and for buyers to read and comprehend those policies prior to ordering.

Sellers are expected to frequently reply to Messages, including Help with Order messages, from buyers. Buyers can open a “case”, if a buyer has preseted a query to the seller, by clicking Help with Order inside their account, and the seller has not replied within 48 hours, or if the seller is unable to resolve the issue within 48 hours. With Food Prepped’s case system, a buyer informs Food Prepped that there is a problem with their order that they were unable to resolve with the seller within 48 hours, and Food Prepped will contribute assistance in the resolution of the case between the buyer and seller. Included in this contribution is the means to, but not limited to, automatically closing the case, and issuing a refund, or assessing the case further to help both parties work together to resolve the issue.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

A buyer must have a Food Prepped account to open a case. If a buyer purchases an item using guest checkout, they’ll have to register for an account on Food Prepped before opening a case. Click here for more information.
A buyer can only use one method of dispute resolution against sellers on Food Prepped. If a buyer has filed a chargeback with their credit card company, they cannot also open a case. If a buyer files a chargeback after opening a case on Food Prepped, that Food Prepped case will be closed.
If a buyer paid through PayPal, Food Prepped may advise them to contact PayPal for a refund.

This Help article contains additional information about opening a case. To get help with an order, please look at this Help article.

2. Case Eligibility

For a case to be opened with Food Prepped, an order must meet the following criteria:

The order is within the adequate time frame to open a case, determined by an order’s expected delivery date, dispatch by date or processing time. This Help article elucidates case time eligibility.

The buyer has given the seller 48 hours to settle the issue by specifying the order concern to the seller by clicking ‘Help with Order’ within the Purchases and Reviews section.

The buyer would like to open a case since the item never arrived, arrived damaged, or does not match the listing depiction, as described below.

Food Prepped’s Purchase Protection Programme

In many cases, order issues can be settled directly with the seller, or items can be returned congruent to the seller’s return policy. However, we believe that you should always get the item you ordered, or get your money back, so when those expectations aren’t met, Food Prepped will step in to support you. For purchases that did not arrive, arrive spoiled, or do not match the listing depiction, Buyers will receive a full refund.

If an order does not meet the expectations in our programme, the buyer is entitled to a full refund, including all taxes and postage costs:

Items are delivered. They should be shipped inside the seller’s identified processing times and sent to the address stipulated by the buyer at the time of purchase on Food Prepped. Updates to processing times or delivery address through Messages or other informal channels will not qualify. Understand that if an item was shipped and has a tracking number, you may be able to open a delivery company claim by directly contacting the delivery company.

Items arrive unspoiled and are packaged to withstand handling in shipment.

Items match the listing description. Items received should not be considerably different from the listing depiction or photos. We may ask the buyer to provide us with documentation to validate that the item is significantly different. Here are a few examples of qualifying scenarios:

The item received is a different colour, model, version, or size.
The item has a different design or material.
The seller unsuccessfully disclosed that an item is damaged or is missing parts.
The buyer received the wrong number of items (e.g., the buyer bought three items but only received two).
The item was advertised as genuine but is not genuine.
The state of the item is misrepresented (e.g., the item is defined as new but is used).

Some exclusions apply, subject to review by Food Prepped’s case system. Qualified buyers must have a registered account on Food Prepped in good standing, that means not violating any of Food Prepped’s policies. Abuse of this programme could result in programme exclusion at Food Prepped’s discretion.

Food Prepped’s Purchase Protection Programme for Sellers

Food Prepped’s Purchase Protection Programme for Sellers helps qualified sellers to resolve eligible non-delivery, damaged, and not-as-described cases. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that even if a seller has taken all the essential steps to ensure a good buyer experience, things can still go wrong. In these cases, where an order meets all our requirements, Food Prepped will refund buyers for orders up to £200 GBP (including postage & taxes) and sellers will not be held responsible.

3. Ineligible Disputes and Transactions

Unless necessary by law, some disagreements and transactions are unqualified for the case system, including:

Items that have been modified, used, worn, cleaned, or discarded after receipt.
Items that are received after the agreed-upon delivery date due to delivery delays.
Items that are returned without a return agreement.
Items that are correctly depicted but don’t meet a buyer’s expectations.
Cost of postage disputes.
Items that are purchased in person.
Transactions where payment is not processed by Food Prepped Payments, for example in an offsite transaction, or via Standalone PayPal.
Disputes covered by local guarantee or return laws related to a seller or their product

Wherever a qualifying case is risen for Food Prepped’s analysis, we will evaluate the claim to the best of our competence. Be mindful that our case mediation competencies may be limited for certain kinds of items, which may result in a refund. Food Prepped reserves the right, in its solitary decision, to change its original conclusion drawn from new information obtained after the case was originally evaluated.

4. Case Resolution

Once a case is opened, Food Prepped will typically conclude and close the case automatically on behalf of the buyer and seller. Food Prepped reserves the right to resolve the case on a seller’s behalf. This includes, but is not restricted to, by dispensing a refund to the buyer and recovering funds from the seller’s account.

In some cases, Food Prepped may need to investigate further to resolve the case. Each case must stay open until a resolution has been determined. Food Prepped may reach out to you to provide more information on the case, and you should promptly respond. Sellers must respond within 2 calendar days.

Food Prepped reserves the right to decide an order issue before the 48-hour window for circumstances incorporating, but not limited to, seller inoperativeness, harassment, refusal of service, manipulation, and undermining the integrity of the case system. Food Prepped may close or resolve a case due to lack of participation from either party or reopen a previously closed case to further investigate tracking issues or other aspects of the dispute. To maintain the integrity of the case system, a seller cannot pressure, encourage or require a buyer to conclude a case as a condition of resolving the dispute.

In the unlikely event that a case remains unresolved for more than 365 days, it will be considered a late delivery, and the only acceptable resolution is a full refund.

Last updated on 04 Dec 2023