Customer terms

Eat Seaham is a trading name of Accelerated Media UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14817428) with its registered office at Suite 2 Byron House, Hall Dene Way, Seaham Grange Industrial Estate, Seaham, SR7 0PY. In these terms, "we", "us" and "Eat Seaham" mean Accelerated Media UK Limited. You can contact us at hello@eat-seaham.co.uk.

Eat Seaham is an online marketplace. We run the website that lets you find independent local takeaways ("kitchens"), see their menus and place and pay for orders with them. We are not a restaurant or takeaway, and we do not prepare, handle, package or deliver food.

Every kitchen on Eat Seaham is an independent business. When you order, your contract for the food (and for its delivery, if you choose delivery) is between you and that kitchen. We act only as the kitchen's agent to take your order and payment on its behalf, and we pass the money on to the kitchen less our fee.

The kitchen is solely responsible for:

• preparing, cooking, storing and packaging the food, and its quality, safety and hygiene;
• the accuracy of its menu, descriptions, prices, photos and allergen information;
• delivering your order using its own drivers, or having it ready for you to collect;
• the conduct, vehicles, insurance and licences of its staff and drivers; and
• meeting food safety, food labelling and all other laws that apply to it.

Each kitchen's name is shown on its page, its menu and your order, so you always know who you are buying from.

You can order as a guest or with an account. Either way, please give a correct name, phone number, email address and (for delivery) address, as the kitchen uses them to make and deliver your order. Keep access to your email account secure, as we use it to sign you in.

You must be 16 or over to use Eat Seaham. Some items may only be sold to people aged 18 or over; the kitchen may ask for ID.

1. When you place an order, we ask your bank to hold the total on your card. You are not charged at this point.
2. The kitchen then accepts or rejects your order, usually within a few minutes.
3. Your order is only confirmed, and your contract with the kitchen only formed, when the kitchen accepts it. Only then is your card charged. We show the kitchen's estimated time on your order page.
4. If the kitchen rejects your order, or does not respond in time, your order is cancelled and the hold on your card is released, so you are not charged. Your bank decides how quickly the held amount reappears in your available balance, usually within a few days.

Times shown are the kitchen's estimates, not guarantees. Busy periods, weather and traffic can cause delays.

Prices are set by each kitchen and include VAT where the kitchen charges it. Delivery fees and minimum orders are set by each kitchen and depend on your address; they are shown before you pay. Eat Seaham adds a service charge of 50p per order, which is paid to us for running the platform. The total you see at checkout, including any delivery fee and the service charge, is the total you pay.

If a price is clearly wrong (for example, a dish listed at £0.01), the kitchen may reject the order. You will not be charged.

Accelerated Media UK Limited donates 10% of the commission it receives from kitchens on each accepted order to The Bradley Lowery Foundation (registered charity 1174333). For example, on a £20 order our commission is £1, of which 10p is donated. Donations are not made on rejected, cancelled or refunded orders, and are paid to the Foundation monthly. The donation comes from our commission: it does not increase the price you pay. At checkout you can also choose to round up your order to the next pound; the whole round-up is passed to the Foundation (we pay the card fees on it), and it is only charged if the kitchen accepts your order. Round-ups are not Gift Aided. The total raised is shown on our charity page.

Kitchens provide their own allergen and ingredient information, and are responsible for it being correct. Food is prepared in kitchens that handle many allergens, so kitchens cannot guarantee that any dish is free from allergens or traces of them. If you have an allergy or intolerance, contact the kitchen before ordering and add it to the note on your order. See our allergy information.

You can cancel an order free of charge before the kitchen accepts it. Because food is prepared to order and perishable, the 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not apply once the kitchen has accepted your order.

If your food is missing, wrong, late or not as described, contact the kitchen first, using the phone number on your order, as only the kitchen can put it right. If you can't resolve it, email us at hello@eat-seaham.co.uk with your order number and we will help you take it up with the kitchen. Where a refund is due, it goes back to the card you paid with.

Your legal rights in relation to the food and its delivery, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, are rights against the kitchen, as the seller. Nothing in these terms affects those rights.

We are responsible for running the Eat Seaham website and passing your order and payment to the kitchen with reasonable care and skill. Because we are a marketplace and not the seller, to the fullest extent the law allows we are not responsible for:

• the food itself, including its quality, safety, hygiene, temperature, ingredients or allergen content, or any illness or reaction it causes;
• anything that happens during delivery or collection, including the acts, omissions, driving or conduct of a kitchen's staff or drivers;
• late, missing or incorrect orders, which are the kitchen's responsibility; or
• a kitchen's menu, prices, descriptions, photos or allergen information.

We are not liable for losses that were not foreseeable, business losses, or losses caused by events outside our reasonable control. Where we are liable to you, our total liability for any order is limited to the amount you paid for that order.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under the law of England and Wales.

Please don't place fake or prank orders, misuse discount codes, abuse kitchen staff or drivers, or try to interfere with the website. We may cancel orders or close accounts where this happens.

We handle your personal information as set out in our privacy policy. We only send you offers and news if you tick the box to say you want them, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Messages about your orders are not marketing and are always sent.

We may update these terms from time to time; the version on this page when you place an order applies to that order. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.