What can I report?
If something went wrong with a completed order, you can raise it with our team. The categories we handle are:
- Order not received — the order never arrived, or was marked completed without being delivered.
- Item quality — food was spoiled, undercooked, or well below what was described.
- Wrong or missing item — wrong items arrived, or part of the order was missing.
- Damaged on arrival — items arrived broken, crushed, or with spilled packaging.
- Vendor no-show — the vendor didn't turn up for a scheduled service or pickup.
- Late delivery — the order arrived significantly past the scheduled time.
- Refund not received — you were told a refund was issued but it hasn't reached you.
- Something else — anything that doesn't fit the categories above.
How long do I have?
You have 3 days from when your order is completed to open a report.
The deadline is firm, and it exists for a concrete reason: vendors are paid out shortly after an event, and once those funds have left GatherPlate we can't pull them back. Raising an issue inside the window is what keeps a refund on the table.
If your event was a disappointment, report it the same week — don't wait to see whether it bothers you later.
Try the vendor first
Most problems are resolved faster by messaging the vendor directly than by opening a ticket. A missing tray, a wrong dish, or a late arrival is often something they'll fix, refund, or redo on the spot, and they can act immediately where our team has to investigate.
Your order page has a Get help section that walks through the checks worth doing for each type of issue before escalating.
Go straight to a ticket if the vendor is unresponsive, declines to help, or the issue is serious — food safety problems in particular.
What evidence should I include?
Evidence is what decides these cases, so gather it before you clean up.
- Photograph everything, before discarding anything. Damaged packaging, the food as it arrived, and the quantity delivered. Attach up to 5 images or PDFs, 5MB each.
- Don't throw away damaged items until the claim is resolved.
- Say what you actually received against what your order summary listed.
- Explain the impact — spoiled food, a missed meal service, guests unserved. For lateness in particular, the impact matters more than the number of minutes.
- Be specific and factual. A clear account of what happened carries far more weight than a strongly worded one.
If the food looked unsafe, don't eat it. Photograph it and report it.
What happens after I file?
You'll get a ticket number and the ticket moves through a few states you'll see on the page: Open, In progress, Awaiting your reply, and finally Resolved, Rejected or Closed.
Our team reviews your account, the chat history on the order, your evidence, and the vendor's side. If we need something from you, the ticket moves to Awaiting your reply — respond promptly, because a stalled ticket delays the outcome.
There's one open ticket per order at a time, and once a ticket reaches a final state it can't be reopened. So put everything into the original report rather than filing thin and adding later.
What outcomes are possible?
A review ends in one of four ways:
- Refunded — the order is refunded to you in full.
- Partial refund — part of the order is refunded, which is the common outcome when most of an order was fine.
- Released to vendor — we found the vendor delivered what was ordered, and they're paid.
- No action — no fault established on either side.
We can't promise a refund for every complaint. Each case is judged on its evidence, and the result is explained to you either way.
My order was fine, I just want a refund
The cancellation and refund policy covers changing your mind — that's a different process with its own deadline, and it has to happen before your event. Reporting an issue is for orders that didn't go as they should have.
Still need help?
For anything outside these categories, or if your reporting window has already closed, email [email protected] with your order number. We'd rather hear about it late than not at all.