EatFirst terms and conditions - corporate catering

Confirmation of your booking

When you place an order, we’ll send a confirmation email with a 6-digit reference number. If the email says it’s a quote, the order isn’t confirmed. If you don’t get a confirmation email, your order hasn’t been accepted. The order will be delivered based on the details in that email and may arrive within a delivery window around your requested time. Please check the confirmation and let us know if anything is missing or wrong.

Changes to your order

You are welcome to make changes to your order. However, changes made within 72 hours prior to delivery may not be accepted.

EatFirst will do its best to facilitate changes made with short notice, however, charges may be incurred. In the event a supplier cannot fulfil your order or part of your order, with your permission or notification, EatFirst will transfer the order to another supplier, or substitute unavailable menu items. Once notified or approved, the customer will be liable for full payment of the adjusted or transferred order. When a change is requested on your order, EatFirst will resend you your order confirmation reflecting the change and indicating the order is updated. More than 3 changes to an order may incur additional fees.

Order cancellation

All cancellations must be submitted in writing or through our online platform. The notice required depends on the type and value of your order:

Orders under $500: cancel at least 48 hours before delivery.
Orders over $500: cancel at least 72 hours before delivery.
Event/function orders: cancel at least 5 working days before delivery.
Melbourne Cup orders: cancel at least 7 working days before delivery.

If you cancel after these cutoffs, we may charge you for costs already incurred. We'll try to keep those charges as low as possible.

Changes and cancellation of standing orders

Changes or cancellations to standing orders must be made by the Wednesday before the week of delivery. More notice may be needed for non-metro deliveries. All updates must be submitted in writing or through our online platform.

Food allergies

Please be advised that EatFirst’s suppliers will do their best to ensure your catering does not contain any of the items to which your guest is allergic.

Please be advised however that EatFirst’s suppliers cannot guarantee your order may not contain traces of the substances to which your guest is allergic.

EatFirst and its suppliers will not take responsibility for any illness caused through consumption of catering containing traces of these substances or food groups. We recommend the severely allergic guests supply their own food from a reliable source that can guarantee no cross contamination.

Platter and equipment collection

For event orders, the supplier will collect their equipment within 48 hours. Please make sure everything is clean and easy to access. Lost or broken items will be charged at replacement cost.

Pricing information

Please note all menu prices exclude GST. The 10% Goods & Services Tax is added to those items that incur GST at time of purchase. EatFirst will strive to maintain our prices, however, we reserve the right to alter prices without notice. EatFirst can only guarantee pricing on accepted orders for a maximum of 4 weeks.

EatFirst service fees

There are no extra fees for online orders made by the individual user through the marketplace.

Standing orders include a 5% admin fee (minimum $1.95)
Orders placed by phone or email include a 5.5% booking fee (minimum $5)
Event orders include a 10% event management fee (minimum $20)
Orders placed after 2pm for next-day delivery include an additional 5% priority handling fee (minimum $10)
Orders placed after 4pm for next-day delivery or same-day orders include an additional 15% priority handling fee (minimum $15)

These fees will be shown in quotes and confirmations. They don't include charges for lost equipment, damage waivers, credit card payments, or late payments.

Invoicing

EatFirst will issue an invoice after the order has been delivered. The invoice will reflect the items and prices outlined within the confirmation email. Invoices are issued by email based on the agreed payment type and invoicing frequency terms. Please refer to payment terms below for more information.

Incidents and Post-Delivery Adjustments

If there’s an issue with your order, such as missing or incorrect items, or any quality concerns, please notify EatFirst within 24 hours of delivery. This is important for us to investigate thoroughly. Due to the nature of catering, we may not be able to properly address incidents reported after 24 hours.

If items are missing from your order, we’ll adjust your invoice once notified within 24 hours. If we are notified later than 72 hours after delivery, we cannot guarantee any changes to the invoice.

Payment options

Customer payments shall be effected by way of cheque, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or our secure online credit card merchant facility. The customer's business account will be credited from the date a payment is received by EatFirst, other than in the instance when a cheque is used as the method of payment. Where the customer pays by cheque, the customer's business account will be credited by the amount of a cheque payment when the cheque is cleared.

Note: A deposit may be required on certain orders. Invoices are sent to your email address unless otherwise requested.

Credit card payment

EatFirst accepts all major credit cards. Credit card payments will incur a fee that may be subject to change over time. Visa and MasterCard incur a 1.40% + GST merchant fee. American Express and Diners Club cards incur a 2.30% + GST merchant fee.

Payment terms

The customer is to pay EatFirst all amounts in the statement of account within 7 days of the date of issue of the Statement of Account, unless other terms have been agreed to.

Statements are emailed to your chosen billing address during the first week of each month. Payments by credit card are applied the day after delivery, however, we will apply a credit card preauthorization to hold funds up to the value of the order.

Late payments

Payments overdue by 30 days from the due date will incur a 2% late fee on the outstanding amount.

Payments overdue by 60 days from the due date will incur a 4% late fee on the outstanding amount.

Late payment fee will be applied to the order value each month that the invoice/s remain unpaid.

Payments remaining unpaid beyond 90 days will be referred to a debt collection agency, and any additional recovery costs will be charged to the customer.

Limitation of liability and disclaimer

To the extent permitted by law, EatFirst will have no responsibility or liability for:

Any refusal by a supplier of any other person to supply the product the customer seeks to purchase using the customer's business account, regardless of that refusal.
Products purchased by the customer from the supplier will be at the customer's risk upon delivery to the customer, or such place as specified by the customer or into the customer's custody (whichever occurs first).