Trust & Safety
How Meal Prep Direct handles chef vetting, home access safety, payment protection, incident response, and review integrity.
What we review
Hearth Dispatch may review chef identity, food safety training, work experience, references, service settings, and marketplace history before a chef can take bookings.
Verification badges only describe records that exist for that chef. We avoid broad claims like licensed chef unless the verification record supports it.
Home access and safety
The customer address is hidden until a booking is confirmed. Chefs can report unsafe home conditions, harassment, weapons, unsanitary kitchens, aggressive pets, or access issues.
A chef may cancel without penalty when a home is unsafe or materially different from the kitchen readiness checklist.
Incident response
Food safety, allergen, payment, receipt, no-show, harassment, and unsafe-home reports create Hearth Dispatch support or safety cases.
High-severity incidents are routed to admin review and may suspend a customer or chef while facts are reviewed.
Required disclaimers
Cooking happens in the customer's home unless a booking explicitly states otherwise.
Local rules may vary by city, county, and state.
Chefs may be independent providers unless a different employment model is stated in writing.
Meal Prep Direct does not claim all chefs are licensed unless a specific verified record supports that claim.
Meals are not guaranteed allergy-safe.
Meal Prep Direct does not provide medical, therapeutic, or nutrition-outcome advice.
Customers must disclose allergies and household restrictions before booking.
Chefs must disclose known allergens in menu items and grocery substitutions.
Groceries are separate from labor and reconciled against receipts.