Refund & Cancellation Policy

This policy explains when money you paid through Bento comes back to you, and how quickly. It applies to every payment made in the Bento app: Dine Passes, table-booking deposits and purchased experiences. Free perks and free bookings involve no payment and so no refund; they can be cancelled in the app at any time before use.

Payments are processed by Cashfree Payments India Pvt. Ltd. Bento adds no fee of its own to any payment, and no fee is ever retained by Bento on a refund.

1. Refunds we always make

You get a full refund to the original payment method, without asking, when:

• Money was debited but nothing was issued. If a payment succeeds at your bank but the app does not create your pass or booking, the payment is refunded automatically. Do not retry more than once.
• The restaurant cancels your booking, or cannot honour your pass or perk for a reason on their side: they are closed, the offer's item is out of stock, they refuse a valid snapshot.
• We cancel a pass, booking or experience because of an error on our side, a listing mistake, or because the restaurant has left Bento.
• A duplicate payment was taken for the same purchase.

2. Dine Passes

• A Dine Pass is a prepaid commitment adjusted in full against your bill during its validity window. Its price, perk, minimum spend, validity and cancellation window are shown before you pay and frozen after.
• Cancel inside the stated cancellation window in the app (Passes → the pass → Cancel) for a full refund.
• After the cancellation window closes, the pass is non-refundable unless section 1 applies. It remains valid until its window ends, and you can still use it.
• A pass that expires unused is not refunded, unless section 1 applies. Restaurants may choose to offer a longer window or a free reschedule; if they do, it appears on the pass.
• If your bill is below the pass amount, the restaurant adjusts the full bill and the difference is not refunded; the pass terms say this before you buy.

3. Table bookings and deposits

• Most bookings are free. Where a restaurant asks for a deposit, the amount, the cancellation window and the grace period are shown before you confirm.
• Cancelled by you inside the window: full refund of the deposit.
• Cancelled by you after the window: the deposit is forfeited to the restaurant, unless the restaurant chooses to waive it.
• Cancelled by the restaurant: full refund, always.
• No-show: if you do not arrive within the grace period and did not cancel within the window, the booking is marked a no-show and the deposit is forfeited to the restaurant. The restaurant held a table for you; the deposit compensates them for it.
• If you arrive, the deposit is adjusted in full against your bill.

4. Purchased experiences and events

Ticketed experiences (a tasting, a chef's table, a food walk) state their own cancellation terms on the listing, which are frozen when you buy. Where the listing states no terms, you may cancel for a full refund up to 48 hours before the start time. Section 1 always applies.

5. Something went wrong at the restaurant

If a valid pass or perk was refused, the perk was not provided, or the bill adjustment was wrong, tell us within 7 days of the visit at support@createbento.in with the pass or booking reference, the restaurant and the date. We check our verification records and the restaurant's, and if the snapshot was not honoured we refund the pass or deposit in full and may credit you further at our discretion. Where the restaurant disputes the facts we decide on the records we hold, and tell you the reasons.

6. How to cancel

1. Open the Bento app and go to Passes or Bookings.
2. Open the pass or booking and tap Cancel. The screen shows whether a refund applies before you confirm.
3. You receive an in-app confirmation immediately.

If you cannot access the app, email support@createbento.in from the phone number's linked account or call +91 89048 48440 during 10:00 to 19:00 IST, Monday to Saturday. The time of your message counts as the time of cancellation.

7. How refunds are paid and how long they take

• Refunds go to the original payment method. We cannot redirect a refund to a different card or account.
• We instruct Cashfree the same working day the refund is approved. The money reaches your account within 5 to 7 business days for UPI and cards; some banks take up to 10 business days for cards. The app shows the refund reference you can quote to your bank.
• Automatic refunds under section 1 are initiated within 24 hours of the failed transaction.
• We never refund as Bento credit unless you ask us to.

8. Effect on rewards

Rewards are released only after a verified visit. If a purchase is refunded or a booking is cancelled, any reward that was pending on it is cancelled, and any reward already released on it (including to a creator) is reversed. This is how we keep rewards tied to real visits.

9. For restaurant partners

Forfeited deposits and no-show fees are settled to the restaurant net of the payment processing cost actually incurred, with GST applied at the restaurant's own rate as the law requires. Refunds caused by a restaurant's cancellation or failure to honour a snapshot are borne by the restaurant. Details are in the Partner Agreement.

10. Questions

support@createbento.in · +91 89048 48440 · 10:00 to 19:00 IST, Monday to Saturday. Unresolved complaints go to our Grievance Officer, The Proprietor, Bento Ventures, at grievance@createbento.in; see the Terms of Service.