Refund Policy

When refunds apply, how to request one, and how long they take. Plain English, no fine-print games.

1. The short version

• Cancelled before vendor accepts → full refund, automatic
• Vendor cancels (out of stock, kitchen closed) → full refund, automatic
• Quality issue (cold food, wrong order, missing items) → refund or credit, decided case-by-case after photo evidence
• Delivered late but acceptable → partial credit (delivery fee only) on request
• You changed your mind after delivery → no refund (the food was made for you)

2. When refunds are automatic

You don't need to do anything for these — the refund posts to your original payment method automatically:

• You cancel before the vendor accepts the order (typically within 5 minutes of placing)
• The vendor cancels for any reason
• The vendor doesn't accept within the timeout window (auto-cancellation)
• Payment fails after order placement

3. When you need to request a refund

For these, open your order detail within 24 hours of delivery and click "Report a Problem":

• Wrong item delivered
• Missing item from your order
• Food arrived spoiled, contaminated, or in unsafe condition
• Food was significantly cold or stale (not just lukewarm — that's normal for delivery)
• Allergen present that wasn't declared on the menu
• Food was wildly inconsistent with the menu description (quantity, ingredients)

Submit photos of the item showing the issue. Our support team reviews within 24 hours and contacts the vendor if needed. Decisions are issued within 3 business days.

4. What you'll get

• Full refund for completely undeliverable orders (food safety, total wrong order)
• Item-level refund for missing or wrong individual items
• Delivery fee refund for orders delivered significantly later than promised
• Credit on BiryaniHub as an alternative when you prefer (often processed faster than card refunds)

5. What's not refundable

• "I changed my mind after eating" — once the food is made and delivered, the vendor has fulfilled their obligation
• Subjective taste preferences ("I didn't like the flavor")
• Issues reported more than 24 hours after delivery
• Issues with no supporting evidence when requested
• Repeated refund requests by the same account flagged for abuse

6. How long refunds take

• BiryaniHub credit: instant, applies to next order
• Card refund: 5–10 business days depending on your bank
• Cash on delivery refund: issued as BiryaniHub credit (we can't reverse cash)
• Vendor-paid refund: processed by us first, deducted from the vendor's next weekly payout

7. Disputes and chargebacks

Please give us a chance to resolve issues before initiating a chargeback with your bank. Filing a chargeback while we're investigating freezes your account and the order under review. We honor legitimate chargebacks but contest disputes that bypass our resolution process.

Vendors: when a customer files a chargeback, you'll see it on your disputes dashboard with the deadline to respond and a form to submit evidence to the card issuer. Missing the deadline means losing the disputed amount automatically.

8. Vendor-side refunds

Refunds for customer-reported issues are charged back to the vendor when:

• The complaint is supported by photo evidence and is reasonable on its face
• The issue is within the vendor's control (food quality, missing items, allergens)

Refunds are not charged to the vendor when:

• The customer cancels before vendor acceptance
• The issue is delivery-related (driver error, late delivery from courier)
• Investigation finds the customer's claim unsubstantiated

Vendors can dispute a charged refund within 7 days via the disputes dashboard.

9. Catering and bulk orders

Bulk and catering orders have a separate refund policy because of the prep cost and lead time involved:

• Cancelled 48+ hours before scheduled time → full refund
• Cancelled 24–48 hours before → 50% refund
• Cancelled less than 24 hours before → no refund (vendor has already prepped)
• Quality issues at delivery → handled per Section 3 above

10. Contact

Questions or stuck on a refund? Use our contact form.