Terms and conditions

These terms apply to every use of horecabenelux.com, including the business directory and reviews, the webshop, the marketplace, partners, vacancies, events, the newsletter and our paid business plans. By using the platform, creating an account or placing an order, you accept them. Extra rules shown for a specific service prevail for that service. For personal data, see our privacy policy and cookie policy.

• Platform: horecabenelux.com and all related services operated by Horeca Benelux (“we”, “us”).
• User (“you”): anyone who visits or uses the platform, with or without an account.
• Business: a user acting for professional purposes, such as a restaurant owner, employer, partner or supplier. If you act for a business, you confirm that you may bind it to these terms.
• Consumer: a natural person acting outside their trade, business, craft or profession.
• Content: everything users place on the platform, such as reviews, photos, business profiles, ads, vacancies, events and messages.

The Dutch, French and English versions have the same value. Where a provision is unclear, consumers get the reading most favourable to them.

The platform is run by:

• Horeca Benelux
• Belgiëlei 129, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
• Enterprise and VAT number: BE 0655.845.308
• E-mail: info@horecabenelux.com

You can browse most of the platform without an account. To write a review, apply for a job, post an ad or manage a business, you do need one. You sign up with your e-mail address and a password (confirmed through a link we send you) or with “Continue with Google”.

• One account per person. Your account is personal; do not share or transfer it. The account type you choose (visitor, jobseeker, business owner or employer, partner or supplier) determines your features.
• Minimum age 16. The platform is intended for hospitality professionals and adult guests.
• Accurate details. Give correct information and keep it up to date in your profile. Only manage a business profile if you are authorised to act for that business.
• Password. Keep it secret and tell us straight away at info@horecabenelux.com if you suspect misuse. You are responsible for activity on your account, unless you could not reasonably have prevented it.
• Google sign-in. What we then receive from Google is described in our privacy policy.

You can delete your account at any time in your privacy settings. Your reviews are then removed, or kept anonymously as “Former member” if you choose. A running paid plan continues until the end of its period, and invoices already due remain payable. An account that has not been used for three years is deleted 30 days after we send you a notice.

Help us keep the platform reliable for everyone. You may not:

• scrape, crawl or otherwise collect content or data in bulk by automated means without our written permission;
• send spam or unsolicited advertising, including through contact forms, quote requests or messages to sellers;
• post fake, bought or misleading reviews, review your own business or a competitor, or manipulate ratings;
• post illegal, discriminatory, hateful, threatening, defamatory or pornographic content, or content that infringes the rights of others;
• impersonate another person or business, or mislead others about your identity or authority;
• spread malware, disrupt the platform, get around its security or access accounts or systems without authorisation;
• use other users’ personal data for purposes they did not agree to, such as marketing;
• offer illegal goods, services or jobs, or commit fraud.

Breaches may lead to the measures described under suspension and termination.

If you write a review, you:

• only write about a visit you actually made, and state its date;
• describe your own experience honestly and factually: criticism is fine, but insults, discrimination, staff members’ personal details and unproven accusations are not;
• do not review a business you own, work for, are connected with or compete with;
• accept nothing in return for your review.

Reviews appear with your first name, the initial of your last name and your city. You can edit or delete them in your account. Businesses may reply publicly, factually and courteously.

How we check reviews

• Only logged-in users can write a review, and every reviewer states the date of their visit.
• We do not verify every visit. A review is the writer’s personal opinion, not our confirmation that the visit took place.
• We do not accept paid or incentivised reviews; businesses may not offer anything in exchange for a review.
• We never remove a review because it is negative, only when it breaks these terms or the law.
• Anyone can report a review; our moderation team assesses every report.

Your rights. What you post stays yours: business profiles, events, vacancies, ads, photos and reviews. You give us a free, non-exclusive licence to host, display and distribute that content on the platform and in our newsletters, and to adapt it technically (such as cropping a photo), for as long as it is online. The licence ends when you remove the content, except for reviews you choose to keep anonymously.

Your responsibility. You are responsible for your content and confirm that it is accurate and lawful and that you may share it, including with the consent of anyone recognisable in your photos. We do not check everything in advance, but we may refuse, restrict or remove content that breaks the law or these terms. We do so carefully and proportionately, with respect for freedom of expression.

Reporting illegal content. Use the report button next to the content or e-mail info@horecabenelux.com. Tell us where the content is, why it is illegal, and your name and e-mail address (unless you may report anonymously), and confirm that you report in good faith. We handle reports diligently and objectively and tell you what we decide. If we remove or restrict content or an account, the user receives a statement of reasons. We inform the authorities of suspected offences that threaten someone’s life or safety.

Complaints. You can challenge our decision free of charge within six months through our internal complaint procedure, by replying to the decision or writing to info@horecabenelux.com. A person reviews your complaint, and we reverse unjustified decisions. You can also turn to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body or to the courts.

Single point of contact (Digital Services Act) for authorities and users: info@horecabenelux.com, in Dutch, French or English.

Businesses can buy paid plans (Pro, Premium, Spotlight) and one-off promotions, for example for a vacancy, an event or a marketplace ad. Features and prices are on our pricing page.

• Prices exclude VAT, which is added at the applicable rate.
• Yearly billing gives you 12 months for the price of 10.
• Automatic renewal. Plans renew for the same period. You can cancel at any time from your account or at info@horecabenelux.com; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period. Periods that have started are not refunded.
• Upgrades take effect immediately and are charged pro rata; downgrades take effect at the next renewal.
• Promotions run for the period shown when you order them and do not renew.
• Payment. Payments are handled by Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. (Ireland). Invoices are payable within 14 days.
• Late payment. Unpaid invoices bear late-payment interest and a flat-rate recovery fee under the Belgian rules on late payment in commercial transactions. After a reminder, we may suspend paid features.
• Price changes for future periods are announced at least 30 days in advance; you can cancel before they apply.
• No right of withdrawal. Plans and promotions are meant for businesses, so the consumer right of withdrawal does not apply.

Paid placement in lists and search results is always marked as such. Paying never buys influence over reviews or ratings, and we do not guarantee results.

HB Dine is Horeca Benelux’s ordering at the table and is part of the Spotlight plan. Guests scan a QR code at their table, browse the menu and send their order; the venue’s team sees those orders on its own screens.

HB Dine is not a cash register system and does not replace the registered cash register system (GKS). HB Dine only creates digital order slips. Receipts, VAT and payments stay in your registered cash register system (GKS). HB Dine does not process payments, does not print bills and has no tips or discounts.

• Your responsibility: you remain responsible for your registered cash register, your prices, your allergen information and your guests. What you put in HB Dine, you check yourself.
• After your subscription: when your Spotlight plan ends, your menu, tables and team stay in HB Dine and become read-only. New orders are no longer possible. Table visits, orders and ratings are still deleted 30 days after the visit.
• Abuse: in case of abuse, for example misleading information or use that breaks the law or these terms, we may pause HB Dine for a venue. We will let you know.

Processing agreement (Article 28 GDPR). For HB Dine, you are the controller of the personal data of your guests and your team, and Horeca Benelux is your processor. By activating HB Dine you accept this processing agreement, which forms part of these terms.

• Subject and duration: we process the data only to run HB Dine for you (getting orders to your team and showing you your reports and ratings), for as long as we hold data of your venue in HB Dine.
• Data: for your guests, the party size at the table, their orders and notes, their language, a masked network address, a cookie token for the table session and any rating with its comment; for your team, the first name or nickname, the role, a hashed PIN and the device name.
• Your instructions: we act only on your documented instructions, which are these terms and the settings you choose in HB Dine, and we never use the data for our own purposes. If we believe an instruction breaks data protection law, we tell you.
• Confidentiality and security: everyone at Horeca Benelux who works with this data is bound to confidentiality. We protect it with appropriate technical and organisational measures, such as TLS encryption on every connection, hashed PINs and masked network addresses.
• Sub-processors: for HB Dine we use only our hosting provider, as listed in our privacy policy, under a data processing agreement. Before we add or replace a sub-processor, we tell you, so you can object.
• Assistance: we help you answer requests from guests and team members who exercise their rights, and with your other obligations under the GDPR, such as security and data breach notifications, as far as the information we hold allows.
• Data breaches: if a personal data breach affects this data, we notify you without undue delay after becoming aware of it, with the information we have, so you can meet your own obligations.
• Deletion: table visits with their orders, notes and ratings are deleted automatically 30 days after the visit, and masked network addresses after 30 days. A device you remove is deleted 30 days later. Team members stay until you ask us to delete them; you can deactivate them yourself at any time. When you stop using HB Dine, we delete your venue’s HB Dine data on request.
• Audits: on request, we give you the information you need to show that these obligations are met.
• Contact: send requests under this agreement to privacy@horecabenelux.com.

We publish job ads and pass on applications, but we are only an intermediary: not the employer, and not a party to any employment contract. Hiring decisions are the employer’s alone.

Employers are responsible for their ads, which must be real, accurate, lawful, non-discriminatory and in line with employment and social security law. Employers never ask candidates for money and use applicants’ data only for that recruitment.

Flexi jobs. Vacancies marked “via De Flexijobber” run through De Flexijobber, a Belgian partner platform for flexi jobs. Applications are passed on to De Flexijobber, and its own terms may also apply. We do not check whether you meet the legal conditions for a flexi job.

Users offer second-hand equipment and business takeovers, for sale or for rent. The deal is between buyer and seller only: we are not a party, we do not inspect the goods and there is no escrow, so payment and delivery are arranged between you.

Sellers describe what they offer honestly, with their own photos, and must be entitled to sell it. Anyone selling as a business says so and complies with consumer law. If you buy from a private seller, consumer rights such as the right of withdrawal and the legal guarantee do not apply.

Not allowed

• stolen, counterfeit or recalled goods;
• unsafe equipment, unless clearly offered for parts;
• weapons, drugs, medicines and other goods restricted by law;
• perishable food, alcohol or tobacco, except as stock in a takeover with the required licences;
• customer files or other personal data;
• anything unrelated to hospitality.

Staying safe

• inspect and test the item before you pay, and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true or sellers who rush you;
• never pay strangers in advance by untraceable methods, and never share passwords or copies of your identity card;
• for a takeover, check the lease, permits, accounts and debts, and get professional advice.

We may remove ads that break these terms or the law, and block users who misuse the marketplace.

In the webshop, you buy professional hospitality equipment from Horeca Benelux, your contracting party. We deliver in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

• Contract. The contract is concluded when we confirm your order by e-mail. If a product is unavailable or a price is obviously wrong, we let you know and you can cancel free of charge.
• Prices are shown including or excluding VAT, as indicated. Delivery costs are shown before you order.
• Payment is handled securely by Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. (Ireland).
• Delivery takes place within the stated time or, if none is stated, within 30 days. For consumers, the risk passes on receipt of the goods.

Right of withdrawal (consumers). You can withdraw within 14 days of receiving the goods, without giving a reason: let us know at info@horecabenelux.com and return the goods within 14 days after that. We refund everything you paid, including standard delivery costs, within 14 days, but may wait until the goods are back or you have shown that you sent them. Return costs are yours unless stated otherwise, and you are liable for any loss in value caused by handling the goods beyond what is needed to examine them.

The right of withdrawal does not apply to goods made to measure or personalised, goods that spoil quickly, sealed hygiene products opened after delivery, or goods inseparably mixed with other items after delivery.

Legal guarantee (consumers). You have a two-year legal guarantee for defects that existed at delivery. Report a defect within two months of discovering it. You can ask for repair or replacement or, if that is not possible, a price reduction or refund.

Professional buyers have no right of withdrawal and no consumer guarantee. Check the goods on delivery and report visible damage immediately; the Belgian rules on hidden defects still apply.

Organisers are solely responsible for their events: accurate information, permits, safety and the event itself. Tickets are sold by the organiser, not by us, under the organiser’s terms. We are not liable if an event is cancelled, postponed or changed; for refunds, please contact the organiser. We may remove misleading or outdated events.

The platform’s design, name, logo, texts, editorial content, software and databases are protected by copyright, trademark law and database rights, and belong to Horeca Benelux or its licensors (user content excepted). You may use the platform for its intended purpose. Copying or extracting substantial parts of our databases, or using our name or logo, requires our prior written permission. Report infringements of your own rights as described under your content.

We provide the platform as it is, without a guarantee that it will always be available or error-free.

Reviews, profiles, ads, vacancies, events and other user content come from third parties. We are not liable for that content, provided we act promptly once we know it is illegal. The same applies to agreements between users and to external websites.

For businesses, we are only liable for direct damage, capped at the amounts you paid us in the 12 months before the event that caused the damage. We are not liable for indirect damage, such as lost profit or lost data.

For consumers, we are liable in accordance with the law; nothing in these terms limits your mandatory rights.

These limits never apply in the event of intent, fraud or gross negligence, death or personal injury, or where mandatory law, including consumer law, does not allow them. We are not liable for force majeure. A business indemnifies us against third-party claims arising from its unlawful content or its breach of these terms.

If you break these terms or the law, or put others at serious risk, we may warn you, remove or restrict content, block features, or suspend or close your account. We act proportionately and warn you first where reasonable, but may act immediately in serious cases such as fraud. You receive a statement of reasons and can file a complaint as described under your content.

If we close an account for a serious breach, there is no refund. If we close it for any other reason or discontinue a service, we give you at least 30 days’ notice and refund prepaid amounts pro rata.

We may update these terms, for example for new features or changes in the law. We announce material changes at least 30 days in advance, by e-mail and on the platform. If you do not agree, you can cancel your plan or delete your account before they take effect, with a pro rata refund of any prepaid amounts. Purely editorial or legally required changes may apply sooner. Changes never apply retroactively.

Belgian law applies. Consumers who live elsewhere, such as in the Netherlands or Luxembourg, keep the protection of the mandatory law of their country.

If something goes wrong, please contact us first at info@horecabenelux.com; we would rather solve it together.

• Businesses: disputes fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Antwerp.
• Consumers: you keep the right to go to the courts of your place of residence, and we can only sue you there. You can also contact the Belgian Consumer Mediation Service (Consumentenombudsdienst / Service de Médiation pour le Consommateur) free of charge: consumentenombudsdienst.be or mediationconsommateur.be.

If a provision turns out to be invalid, the other provisions remain in force.

A question about these terms, a report or a complaint? We are happy to help, in Dutch, French or English.

• Horeca Benelux, Belgiëlei 129, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
• General questions, reports and complaints: info@horecabenelux.com
• Privacy: privacy@horecabenelux.com