Terms of Service

Capacity Bounds: Zapcater strictly services events scaled between a minimum baseline of 10 participants and a hard ceiling of 1,500 participants. Advance Booking Window: The earliest any order can be reserved through our online system is 1-90 days prior to the target event date. Supply Chain Latitude: Zapcater retains absolute, unilateral discretion to swap specific ingredients with equivalent alternatives to combat market shortages or delivery shortfalls.

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Required Ordering:  Lead Times

To ensure kitchen capacity and ingredient availability, Zapcater enforces a strict, automated scheduling grid based on your total headcount:

• Small Groups (10 to 20 Guests): Requires a minimum of 24 hours advance notice before the requested delivery window.

• Mid-Sized Groups (21 to 99 Guests): Requires a minimum of 7 days advance notice before the requested delivery window.

• Large Groups (100 to 1,500 Guests): Requires a minimum of 30 days advance notice before the requested delivery window.

• Instant Cut-Off: The online checkout system automatically blocks bookings that fail to meet these specific group-size timelines.

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Order Changes

To maintain kitchen stability and supply chain integrity, order changes are governed by the following rigid legal schedule:

Outside the Lead Time Window: Reductions in headcount, menu swaps, or timeline shifts are permitted without penalty.

 

Inside the Lead Time Window: No decreases in headcount are accepted once your specific group tier deadline passes. The client remains financially liable for the original quantity ordered.

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Last-Minute Additions: Requests to increase headcounts or add menu items inside the deadline window must be approved manually via phone or email by Zapcater. If approved, these rush additions are subject to a 20% late-modification surcharge to cover emergency ingredient sourcing and expedited labor.

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Payments & Fees

• Upfront Clearances: Credit card validation occurs instantly at checkout. Production will not initiate without a cleared financial authorization.

• Non-Negotiable Surcharges: Every transaction incurs automated localized sales taxes plus a mandatory 10% delivery, logistics, and admin fee.

Collection Recovery: The Customer agrees to reimburse Zapcater for all legal fees, collection agency costs, and processing penalties incurred while pursuing unpaid corporate accounts.

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Cancellations

Because Zapcater purchases perishables and schedules kitchen staff well in advance, cancellation damages are enforced based on your specific tier deadline:

• Outside the Group Deadline Window: Full cancellation is permitted. A 100% refund will be issued to the original payment method.

Inside the Group Deadline Window: Cancellations inside your required tier deadline (24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days) trigger immediate, total forfeiture of the full order value. The Customer acknowledges this represents 100% liquidated damages for dead inventory, lost kitchen capacity, and committed labor. No refunds, credits, or transfers will be issued under any circumstances.

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Delivery Rules

• Access Compliance: The Customer bears sole responsibility for arranging unimpeded building entry, loading bay permits, security clearance codes, and freight elevator access.

The 15-Minute Abandonment Rule: Drivers will wait a maximum of 15 minutes post-arrival. If contact fails, Zapcater is legally authorized to abandon the order at the reception desk, loading dock, or exterior perimeter. This action constitutes a completed delivery, and no refunds will be issued.

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Food Safety

• Instant Shift of Custody: Absolute liability for food safety, biological freshness, and thermodynamic control transfers entirely to the Customer the exact microsecond the delivery driver relinquishes physical control of the items.

• Hot Food Holding Requirements: Zapcater delivers hot food items at or above legally mandated temperatures. Upon delivery, the Customer is solely responsible for consuming the food immediately or maintaining it using chafing dishes or sterno fuel to ensure hot foods stay at or above 140°F (60°C).

• Cold Food Holding Requirements: Zapcater delivers cold food items at or below legally mandated safe temperatures. Upon delivery, the Customer is solely responsible for consuming the food immediately or ensuring cold items are held on ice or refrigerated to stay at or below 41°F (5°C).

• The 4-Hour Expiration Mandate: To comply with sanitary standards, all perishable food items (hot or cold) must be entirely consumed or discarded within 4 hours of delivery.

• Injury Waiver: Zapcater is completely absolved of legal liability for foodborne illnesses, spoilage, toxic bacterial growth, or sickness occurring from food consumed past this 4-hour window, or from items reheated improperly by the Customer.

Severe Allergen Disclaimers: Zapcater facilities process wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and seafood. We cannot guarantee zero cross-contamination. The Customer assumes all medical and legal risks associated with severe food allergies.

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Liability Limits

• Financial Ceiling: The absolute maximum financial liability of Zapcater for any claim, error, omission, breach, or culinary failure is strictly limited to the exact dollar amount paid for that single specific order.

• No Consequential Damages: Zapcater is never liable for secondary losses, including missed corporate meetings, lost workplace productivity, reputational harm, or event disruption costs.

Force Majeure Clearances: Zapcater is fully released from performance obligations during catastrophic traffic delays, localized road closures, severe weather, labor strikes, regional supply shortages, or sudden utility failures.

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Equipment & Setup

• Disposable Ware: Standard drop-off orders include disposable serving utensils, plates, and napkins.

Hardware Loss: If an event order utilizes non-disposable hardware (such as heavy platters, catering crates, or electric warming units), all items remain the exclusive property of Zapcater. The Customer will be billed at full market replacement cost for any hardware that is lost, destroyed, or withheld after delivery.

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Law & Jurisdiction

• Governing Law: These terms and any legal actions arising from your order are governed strictly by the laws of the state where the Zapcater kitchen fulfilling the order is located.

Venue Selection: The Customer explicitly agrees that any formal legal disputes or claims must be filed exclusively in the local courts of Zapcater's home operating county.

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Contact Info

If you have questions regarding an order, delivery logistics, or these terms, contact us at:

• Company Name: Zapcater LLC.

• Email Support: support@zapcater.com]

• Phone Number: Toll Free 1-800-840-2220

• Corporate Office: 330 N Wabash Chicago, IL 60611