Terms of Service

Last updated: March 25, 2026

Welcome to Dine With Me. By accessing or using our mobile application or website (collectively, the "Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. Please read them carefully before using our services.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account or using any part of the Dine With Me Platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you may not use our services.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and use Dine With Me. By registering, you represent that you meet this age requirement and that the information you provide is accurate and complete.

3. Account Responsibilities

When you create an account, you are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials.
• All activities that occur under your account.
• Providing accurate and up-to-date profile information.
• Notifying us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

4. Third-Party Authentication

Dine With Me offers sign-in through third-party services such as Google and Facebook. By using these services to access our Platform:

• You authorize us to access and use certain information from your third-party account as permitted by that service's terms and your privacy settings.
• You acknowledge that your use of these third-party services is governed by their respective terms of service and privacy policies.
• You are responsible for managing the permissions granted to Dine With Me through these services.
• You may disconnect your third-party account at any time through your profile settings or through the third-party service's settings.

5. Competitions & Participation

Dine With Me enables users to create and participate in dinner competitions. When participating, you agree to:

• Fair Play: compete honestly and in the spirit of friendly culinary competition.
• Respectful Conduct: treat all participants, hosts, and guests with respect.
• Accurate Ratings: provide honest and fair ratings based on your genuine experience of each dinner.
• Host Responsibilities: if you host a competition, ensure a safe dining environment and accurately describe competition details.

6. Ratings & Reviews

Our rating system is fundamental to the platform experience. You agree that:

• Ratings should reflect your honest assessment of the dining experience.
• You will not engage in rating manipulation, including exchanging favorable ratings or coordinating with others to inflate or deflate scores.
• You will not use ratings to harass, bully, or target other users.
• We reserve the right to remove ratings that violate these guidelines.

7. Fees, Payments & Financial Terms

Dine With Me facilitates financial transactions related to competitions and chef lessons. By using these features, you agree to the following terms:

• Competition Entry Fees: entry fees are set by the competition organizer. A 25% platform service fee is added on top of the entry fee at checkout. For example, if the entry fee is $20, you will pay $25 total ($20 entry fee + $5 service fee).
• Prize Pool & Payouts: the competition winner receives 100% of the prize pool (the sum of all entry fees collected, excluding the platform service fee). Payouts are processed via Stripe Connect directly to the winner's connected bank account, typically within 24 hours of competition completion.
• Payment Processing: all payments are processed securely by Stripe (stripe.com), a PCI-DSS compliant payment processor. We do not store your credit card numbers or bank account details on our servers.
• Chef Lesson Payments: payments for chef lessons are processed via Stripe at the price set by the chef.
• Charity Donations: when a competition is configured for charity, prize funds are directed to the specified charitable organization.
• No Cancellations or Refunds After Payment: once you accept an invitation and complete payment, your participation is confirmed. Cancellations and refunds are not available. Your entry fee becomes part of the prize pool that the winner receives. If a competition is cancelled by the organizer before it begins, all participants receive a full refund including the platform service fee. For exceptional circumstances (serious illness, emergency), contact support@dinewithme.org for case-by-case evaluation.
• Currency: all transactions are processed in the currency specified by the competition organizer or chef.

8. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

• Use the platform for any unlawful purpose.
• Impersonate another person or entity.
• Post harmful, offensive, or misleading content.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to other users' accounts or platform systems.
• Use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to access the platform.
• Manipulate competition outcomes or rating results.
• Engage in harassment, discrimination, or abusive behavior toward other users.
• Create fraudulent competitions or misrepresent entry fees or prize amounts.
• Attempt to circumvent the platform's payment system or service fees.

9. Push Notifications

Dine With Me may send push notifications to your device to keep you informed about competition updates, invitations, chat messages, payment confirmations, and other relevant activity. Push notifications are delivered via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). You can manage or disable push notifications at any time through your device settings. Disabling notifications will not affect your ability to use the Platform, but you may miss time-sensitive updates about competitions you have joined.

10. Intellectual Property

The Dine With Me platform, including its design, logos, features, and content, is owned by Dine With Me and protected by intellectual property laws. Content you upload (such as profile photos and competition descriptions) remains yours, but you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display it on the Platform as necessary for its operation.

11. Limitation of Liability

Dine With Me provides the Platform on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• We are not responsible for the quality, safety, or outcome of any dinner or competition.
• We do not guarantee the accuracy of user-provided information, ratings, or reviews.
• We are not liable for any disputes between users, including those related to competitions, ratings, or prizes.
• Our total liability shall not exceed the amount you paid to use the Platform in the preceding 12 months.
• We are not responsible for any issues arising from third-party payment processing by Stripe.

12. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at our discretion if you violate these Terms of Service or engage in conduct that we determine is harmful to the Platform or its community. You may also delete your account at any time from Settings > Delete Account. Upon deletion, your data will be permanently removed within 30 days, subject to our Privacy Policy.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Service from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the updated terms on our Platform and, where appropriate, via push notification or email. Continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

14. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with applicable law. Any disputes arising from these terms or your use of the Platform will be resolved through appropriate legal channels.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at:

Email: legal@dinewithme.org

Support: support@dinewithme.org

Website: https://www.dinewithme.org