Party Terms & Conditions

In short

• Accepting these terms doesn't confirm your Party. We confirm the date, package and price, a payment request holds the café for 24 hours, and your contract forms when the payment has been successfully received and your Party is confirmed.
• More than 14 days away: a £50 deposit books your Party (it's part of the total price), and the balance is due 14 days before. 14 days or fewer away: the full price is due to book.
• If the balance is late there's a 3-day grace period. After that your Party may be cancelled, but only after we've been in touch.
• If you cancel, the £50 deposit is non-refundable, except where required by law or where we agree otherwise.
• If we cancel, you can choose an available alternative date or a full refund of everything you've paid.
• Please tell us about any allergy, intolerance, medical need or dietary requirement we reasonably need to know to provide the Party safely, and keep us updated. Food you or your guests bring must follow the Party food rules, including no peanuts, tree nuts, sesame or shellfish.

1. About these terms

These terms apply to private hire and birthday parties ("Parties") at The Playdate Cafe. Our general Terms & Conditions also apply to everyone at your Party.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.

2. Enquiries and booking

An enquiry is not a booking. Agreeing details with you, creating your Party record or sending you the Party Details form does not reserve the date.

You complete your Party Details form and accept these terms. That alone does not confirm your Party or form the final booking contract.

We confirm the date, package and price and send you a payment request. This holds the café for your Party for 24 hours.

Your contract with us forms when the required payment (the £50 deposit or, where it is due, the full Party price) has been successfully received and your Party is confirmed. If it hasn't been received within the 24 hours, the hold ends and the date may be booked by someone else.

Parties are leisure services for a specific date, so the statutory 14-day right to cancel a distance contract does not apply. Your right to cancel is set out in these terms. Your other statutory rights are not affected.

3. Price and deposit

We agree an itemised price with you before the payment request.

The £50 deposit is applied to the Party price.

Once your Party is confirmed we will not increase its agreed price, unless you have requested or agreed to a change that affects the price. We keep a record of that agreement.

4. Paying the balance

If your Party is more than 14 days after the payment request, you pay the £50 deposit to book. The remaining balance is due 14 days before the Party: we'll tell you the exact due date and may send reminders before it.

If your Party is 14 days or fewer after the payment request, the full Party price is due to secure the date.

If the balance hasn't been received by the due date, there is a 3-day grace period. If it is still unpaid after that, your Party may be cancelled and the date released. We'll contact you first: a cancellation is confirmed by us, never made automatically.

We'll tell you how to pay with each payment request.

5. If you cancel

Please tell us as soon as possible.

If you cancel, the £50 deposit is non-refundable, except where required by law or where we agree otherwise. This is because we hold the date for you and turn away other bookings.

If you have paid more than the deposit, we will decide what happens to the rest having regard to how close the Party is, the costs and losses we have reasonably incurred, and those we have reasonably avoided or recovered. This does not affect your statutory rights.

If you need to move your Party because of unforeseen circumstances, please contact us as soon as possible. At our discretion, we may be able to transfer your deposit to a new date, subject to availability.

If you think exceptional circumstances apply, please contact us and we'll consider your situation.

Where these terms require you to contact the café directly, you can do so by email at info@theplaydatecafe.co.uk or through our social media channels. A member of staff will respond as soon as reasonably possible, but we cannot guarantee an immediate response.

Waiting for a reply does not extend any date in these terms, including your balance due date.

6. If we have to cancel

If we have to cancel your Party, we will let you know as soon as reasonably possible. You can choose an available alternative date, with your payments moved to it, or a full refund of all sums you have paid. We will not keep your deposit if we cancel. This does not affect your statutory rights.

7. Changes to your Party

You can update your own details on your Party page before the Party: contact details, what you're celebrating, allergies and medical needs, food notes, theme, decorations and other notes.

Changes to the date, time, package, number of guests or your email address are requests: they need our agreement and depend on availability.

A change that affects the price may change the agreed total. We'll confirm any new price with you, and we will only increase the price of a confirmed Party if you have requested or agreed to the change.

The link to your Party page stops working 14 days after your Party, or 14 days after a cancelled Party is cancelled. An old link also stops working if your email address is changed, and we can send you a new one.

8. On the day

Your package includes private hire of the café for the afternoon session, unless we've agreed different sessions with you. Your Party's start and finish times are the times of its sessions, shown on your Party page, and there is no separate earlier arrival time.

Parents and carers remain responsible for the children and guests in their group at all times. We don't provide childcare.

Our general rules apply to every guest, including socks in the play areas, keeping food and drink at the tables, not using the play area when unwell, and treating our staff, toys and equipment with respect.

Decorations, tableware and equipment supplied by The Playdate Cafe remain the café's property. Decorations and other items you bring remain yours.

9. Food and allergies

Our Party Food, Allergen & Self-Catering Rules explain food at your Party. You'll be asked to acknowledge them separately.

Party Food, Allergen & Self-Catering Rules

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