Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of Zula's website, mobile applications, chef tools, admin tools, messaging, order management, payment, notification, and support services.

By creating an account, browsing services, placing an order, listing a service, accepting an order, using wallet features, or otherwise using Zula, you agree to these Terms and to any policies referenced here.

If you use the services on behalf of a business, chef profile, or organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that business or organization to these Terms.

Zula provides technology that helps customers discover chefs, place orders, manage communications, receive status updates, and process payments.

Chefs and service providers are independent providers unless we state otherwise. They are responsible for food preparation, service accuracy, ingredient handling, kitchen operations, and fulfillment of accepted orders.

We may provide tools, quality standards, support, dispute handling, and safety controls, but we do not guarantee that every user, chef, service, delivery, or item will meet every expectation.

You must be old enough to form a binding agreement under applicable law and must not be barred from using the services.

You agree to provide accurate account information, keep your credentials confidential, and promptly update information such as phone number, email address, delivery addresses, business details, and payout information.

You are responsible for activity under your account unless you report unauthorized access and we determine the activity was not caused by your actions or failure to secure the account.

Customers must review order details before checkout, including items, quantity, budget, delivery or pickup method, delivery location, timing, allergies, dietary restrictions, and special notes.

Allergy and dietary notes are important, but Zula cannot guarantee allergen-free preparation. Customers with severe allergies should contact the chef directly and use caution before ordering.

Chefs should review the full order detail, including notes, allergies, delivery time, delivery location, included or excluded items, and customer messages before accepting or preparing an order.

Delivery times, preparation estimates, and availability are estimates unless explicitly confirmed. Weather, chef availability, payment delays, traffic, and operational issues can affect timing.

Prices, service fees, delivery fees, taxes, discounts, wallet credits, and payment options are displayed in the app or checkout flow when applicable.

By submitting payment information or using wallet funds, you authorize the applicable charge, hold, deduction, refund, or payout action for the transaction.

Chefs are responsible for keeping payout information accurate and for any taxes, permits, deductions, or reporting obligations that apply to their earnings.

We may reverse, delay, hold, or adjust payments where required for fraud prevention, refunds, disputes, chargebacks, operational errors, legal compliance, or policy enforcement.

Cancellation eligibility may depend on order status, chef acceptance, preparation progress, delivery timing, payment status, subscription rules, Flash Drop rules, and the reason for cancellation.

Refunds may be full, partial, wallet-based, original-payment based, or unavailable depending on the circumstances and applicable policy shown in the app.

If there is a problem with an order, contact support with the order ID, photos where relevant, timing details, and a clear description of the issue. We may ask the chef, customer, courier, or payment provider for additional information.

We may decline refunds or credits for inaccurate customer instructions, unreachable customers, misuse of the platform, repeated abuse, completed orders, or issues outside our reasonable control.

Some services may allow recurring meal plans or scheduled orders. The app will show available frequency, delivery window, duration, price, and cancellation or pause options where available.

You are responsible for reviewing subscription details before confirming. Changes may apply only to future deliveries and may require chef approval or sufficient notice.

We may pause, cancel, or adjust a subscription if payment fails, the chef becomes unavailable, capacity is reached, the service changes, or continued fulfillment is not practical.

Flash Drops and Rush Hour deals are limited by time, quantity, location, chef availability, and payment confirmation. A deal may expire or sell out before checkout is completed.

Discounts, deal pricing, and availability are valid only while the deal is live and only under the rules displayed for that deal.

You are responsible for messages, reviews, photos, videos, service descriptions, profile information, notes, and other content you submit.

You may not post or send content that is unlawful, misleading, abusive, discriminatory, harassing, infringing, unsafe, sexually exploitative, fraudulent, or intended to manipulate ratings, orders, or payments.

You grant Zula permission to host, store, display, transmit, moderate, and use your content as needed to operate, improve, market, and protect the services, subject to our Privacy Policy.

Chefs must provide accurate service information, pricing, availability, ingredients where relevant, preparation constraints, location details, and media they have the right to use.

Chefs must comply with applicable food safety, business, tax, labor, licensing, consumer protection, and advertising rules that apply to their operations.

Chefs should not accept orders they cannot reasonably fulfill and must update order statuses accurately and promptly.

We may review, hide, suspend, reject, or remove chef profiles, services, payouts, or content that appears unsafe, misleading, inactive, fraudulent, non-compliant, or harmful to the platform.

You may not misuse the services, attempt unauthorized access, scrape data, interfere with systems, bypass payment flows, impersonate another person, manipulate reviews, abuse refunds, spam users, or use the platform for unlawful activity.

You may not pressure users to move transactions off-platform where doing so avoids platform protections, payment records, safety controls, or applicable fees.

We may investigate suspicious activity and take action including warnings, feature restrictions, order cancellation, withholding payouts, account suspension, account deletion, or referral to relevant authorities.

Zula, our logos, brand assets, product designs, software, documentation, and platform content are protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, sell, reverse engineer, or misuse them except as permitted by us in writing.

You retain ownership of content you create, subject to the license you grant us to operate and improve the services.

We may add, remove, suspend, or change features, fees, eligibility rules, payment options, regions, service categories, or policies. Some features may be available only in certain locations or to certain account types.

We work to keep the services reliable, but interruptions, bugs, maintenance, network issues, third-party outages, payment provider issues, or force majeure events may occur.

The services are provided on an as-is and as-available basis to the maximum extent permitted by law. We do not promise uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, or that every order or chef will meet expectations.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Zula will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, business interruption, or reputational harm.

Nothing in these Terms limits rights or remedies that cannot be limited under applicable law.

You may stop using the services at any time. You may request account closure through support, subject to retention needed for orders, payments, disputes, safety, legal, and financial records.

We may suspend or terminate access if we believe you violated these Terms, created risk for users or chefs, used the platform fraudulently, or caused legal, security, operational, or reputational risk.

We may update these Terms as the services evolve. If changes are material, we will provide notice through the website, app, email, or another reasonable channel. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

Questions about these Terms should be sent through the support channel in the app or through the website contact form. Include your account email, order ID where relevant, and enough detail for us to review the request.