1. Our commitment
We want every Good Food Buddy order to be correct, safe and enjoyable. This policy explains practical steps for cancellation and complaints involving our fresh meals, frozen meals, deli goods, desserts and monthly packages. It must be read subject to the Consumer Protection Act and other applicable South African law. No provision removes your legal rights to a remedy for defective, unsafe, incorrect or non-conforming goods.
2. Change-of-mind cancellations
Daily fresh meals: Please request any cancellation or adjustment before 10:00 on the scheduled preparation day. We will confirm what can be changed or refunded before preparation starts. After preparation has started, change-of-mind cancellations may not be possible because the food has been prepared for a specific date. This is subject to any cancellation right that applies by law.
Frozen meals, deli and desserts: Contact us immediately if you wish to cancel. If the order has not been prepared, packed or dispatched, we will consider cancellation and repayment; once perishable food has been prepared or dispatched, change-of-mind returns may not be available.
Monthly packages: You may ask to amend or cancel future unprepared service days. We will explain any adjustment to the remaining package value, taking account of the package discount, the already supplied meals, reasonable costs where lawful and applicable consumer protections. Any cancellation terms for a recurring or fixed-term agreement must comply with applicable law; these packages are not automatically recurring unless expressly disclosed at checkout.
Certain food orders may fall within the exceptions to the seven-day electronic cooling-off right in section 42 of ECTA, including food for everyday consumption delivered to a residence/workplace, customised goods, goods likely to deteriorate rapidly and certain date-specific catering. Those exceptions do not cancel other statutory rights.
3. Problems we will investigate and remedy
Contact us if you receive the wrong meal, missing items, leaking or damaged containers, broken seals, food that appears unsafe, a product supplied after an applicable use-by date, or food that differs materially from its ordered description. If an allergy or agreed dietary requirement has not been met, do not eat the food; tell us immediately.
We may request your order number, a photograph, packaging or batch details to investigate. We will not insist that you return food where doing so would create a hygiene risk. Depending on your legal rights and the circumstances, remedies may include replacement, correction or refund. Where law gives you a right to choose a remedy, we will respect that choice.
4. Perishable-food returns and safety
For hygiene and food-safety reasons, we generally cannot resell or accept change-of-mind returns of fresh or thawed meals, unsealed food or temperature-sensitive goods that have left our control. This hygiene rule is not a blanket refusal of a legal claim for unsafe, defective or wrongly supplied food. Report suspected food-safety issues promptly; keep the product safely segregated and retain labels or photos if practical.
5. Refund method and timing
Where a monetary refund is due, we will return it using the original payment channel where reasonably possible, or another mutually agreed lawful method. Store credit or Buddy Bucks will never be forced in place of a monetary refund where you are legally entitled to one. We will process approved refunds as soon as reasonably practicable and within applicable legal time limits; bank or payment-provider clearing times may vary.
If a replacement or redelivery is appropriate because of our error, we will not charge you for correcting our mistake. If an order cannot be supplied due to unavailability, we will notify you and reimburse applicable payments in accordance with ECTA.
6. How to report a problem
Contact us promptly, ideally within 24 hours for an urgent food-safety or temperature issue, at 083 427 9710 or orders@goodfoodbuddy.co.za. Include your name, order number, delivery/collection date, a brief description and any useful photographs. The 24-hour request is for rapid investigation, not a legal cut-off for statutory rights.
We will review your complaint fairly and communicate the next steps. Unresolved complaints may be taken to the appropriate South African consumer-protection forum or legal authority.
7. Contact
Good Food Buddy • www.goodfoodbuddy.co.za
083 427 9710 • orders@goodfoodbuddy.co.za