Le Gourmet Factory - Food Business Incubator

Refund Policy

Effective date: August 24, 2026  |  Last updated: August 24, 2026

This Refund Policy explains how payments, cancellations, and refunds work at Le Gourmet Factory. The Site does not sell products or process payments. Membership, kitchen access, storage, and all payments are governed by the written Member Agreement you sign before any membership or kitchen use begins, and are processed through our third-party booking and billing platforms. This page summarizes our standard terms; if anything here conflicts with your Member Agreement, the Member Agreement controls.

1. Billing basics

Every membership bills on the calendar month: your billing cycle starts on the 1st, no matter when you join. The tier fee is charged at the start of the cycle, and your full kitchen credit is issued at that moment. Neither the fee nor the credit is prorated for a partial first month: you are not paying for elapsed time, you are paying for kitchen time. A member who joins on the 10th receives the full credit of their tier and has the rest of that month to use it.

Plan changes never take effect mid-cycle: upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations all take effect on the 1st of a month, and nothing is prorated mid-cycle.

2. Kitchen credit and overage

Your membership fee converts 1:1 into booking credit: pay $300, receive $300 of kitchen time. Credit is valid for the billing month in which it is issued. Unused credit expires at the end of the cycle; it is not carried over, banked, refunded, or transferred, and it has no cash value.

Hours booked beyond your monthly credit are billed in arrears on your next invoice at overage rates (the kitchen category’s day credit rate plus 20%; night hours are always 40% off the corresponding day rate). Overage charges reflect kitchen time already used and are not refundable.

3. Signup fee, Facilities Reinvestment Fee and security deposit

A one-time signup fee of $250 applies to all tiered plans, monthly or yearly, and is non-refundable. Food Truck term plans are not charged a signup fee. It covers onboarding: keycards, facility walkthrough, information materials, and the LGF member kit. The fee is charged with your first paid plan that includes keycard access; payments made on the entry tier count as credit against the signup fee, up to $250. If you cancel your membership entirely and later rejoin, the signup fee applies again. The signup fee sits outside all prepaid balances and is never part of any refund calculation.

In addition, memberships on Tiers 1 through 3 and the Food Truck track are charged a Facilities Reinvestment Fee of $250 every 12 months, on each anniversary of the membership start date. This fee is reinvested in maintaining and improving the facilities for members to enjoy, and is non-refundable.

Members on Tiers 1 through 3, whether billed monthly or yearly, also pay a refundable security deposit equal to one month of their plan: $300 on Starter, $600 on Builder, $1,200 on Producer. The deposit rises when you upgrade, is retained at the higher amount after a downgrade until you leave, and is returned by ACH within 30 days of the end of your membership, less any amounts properly applied, with an itemized statement of any deductions. Members who paid a deposit under a prior agreement carry it forward at the amount paid. The entry tier and Food Truck term plans carry no deposit.

4. Monthly plans: cancellations and downgrades

Upgrades need at least 5 calendar days notice: request by the 25th of the month and the new tier starts on the 1st of the next month. Downgrades need at least 15 calendar days notice: request by the 15th of the month and the new tier starts on the 1st of the next month; downgrades are limited to 2 in any rolling 12 months. Ending a membership takes one full calendar month of notice: tell us by the 1st and your membership ends on the last day of that month. There are no refunds for partial months: your credit and access remain available through the end of the final paid cycle. Send all plan-change and cancellation requests in writing to contact@legourmetfactory.com.

5. Yearly plans: early change or exit

Yearly plans collect 12 months up front at an 18% discount. The discount belongs to the commitment: it applies only to the months completed on the committed tier, stops going forward on any early change, and is never charged back retroactively. There are no refunds on early change or exit from a yearly plan. If you change plans or stop before renewal, your remaining prepaid balance stays at face value and pays for your tier membership at that tier’s regular monthly rate until the balance runs out; then normal monthly billing resumes. No part of a prepaid balance is returned in money, converted to cash, or transferred.

Recommitment: you may start a new 12-month commitment at any time. The 18% discount applies again from that point, and any remaining account balance counts toward the new prepay.

6. Food Truck term plans

Food Truck memberships are sold as term prepays: 12 months for $2,700, 18 months for $3,807, or 24 months for $4,752. There are no refunds on early exit; the same rule as yearly plans applies, and a remaining balance can pay for a tiered membership at regular monthly rates until it runs out. Balances pro-rate at $225, $211.50, or $198 per month depending on your term. Food Truck plans carry no signup fee and no security deposit, and are not eligible for a freeze. The commissary-of-record letter is valid while the membership is active.

7. Membership freeze

A freeze pauses your membership for $150 per frozen month, for a maximum of 3 consecutive months in any rolling 12. A freeze is a pause, not a refund: no booking credit is issued while frozen, storage continues to bill at catalog prices while your goods remain on site, and on yearly plans the end date extends by the frozen months with the prepaid balance untouched. Food Truck term plans are not eligible for a freeze.

8. Storage

Storage must be requested in advance and is assigned by us; this includes the storage covered by your tier’s storage credit. Storage assignments are monthly recurring items and are subject to availability. If no storage unit of a given type is available, that unavailability does not give rise to a refund, credit conversion, or compensation of any kind, in cash or otherwise. Storage credit follows the same rules as kitchen credit: it resets each billing cycle, does not roll over, and has no cash value. Storage units beyond your credit bill monthly at catalog prices, and there are no refunds for partial storage months.

9. How refunds are paid

In the rare case where money is due back to you, such as the return of a security deposit, it is paid by ACH to your bank or business bank account, with no fee in either direction.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Refund Policy or a specific charge, contact us: