Terms of Service

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Frances Anderson Inc. (“Frances,” “we,” “us”), a Delaware corporation operating from California. By accessing or using Frances — including our website, our messaging service, and any related features — you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use Frances.

2. What Frances Is

Frances is a technology platform that connects families (“clients”) with home cooks (“cooks” or “providers”) who operate their own meal-preparation businesses. We provide:

• AI-powered meal recommendations and grocery lists
• A messaging assistant (“Frances”) accessible via web, SMS, WhatsApp, and other channels
• Software, lead generation, and payment processing for clients to discover, book, and pay cooks
• Software for cooks to manage menus, availability, and payouts

Frances is not a restaurant, caterer, food-preparation company, or food-handling business. Cooks who use the Frances platform run their own meal-preparation businesses; they are not employed by Frances, supervised by Frances, or directed by Frances in how they perform their work. Frances provides the technology and marketing that helps cooks reach clients — the meal-preparation service itself is delivered by the cook.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use Frances. By using the service, you represent that you are.

4. Accounts

• Provide accurate information when you sign up.
• Keep your password secure. You are responsible for activity under your account.
• Tell us right away if you suspect unauthorized use of your account.

5. SMS, WhatsApp, and Messaging

Our SMS and WhatsApp messaging program is called Frances Messaging. You opt in by providing your phone number during account signup at meetfrances.com or by initiating a conversation with our published number. By opting in, you consent to receive messages from us through Frances Messaging.

Frances Messaging may include conversational replies (you text Frances; Frances replies), weekly recipe recommendations, recommended grocery lists, booking confirmations, cook coordination, and account or security alerts. Cooks who use the platform may also receive booking notifications and payout updates.

Message frequency varies based on your activity. Casual use is typically a few messages per week. During active conversations or bookings you may receive significantly more — up to approximately 20 messages per day. Msg & data rates may apply.

To stop receiving messages, reply STOP to any text from us. For help, reply HELP or email frances@meetfrances.com. Opting out applies to the channel from which you opted out.

We will not share your phone number or SMS consent data with third parties for marketing.

For privacy details about messaging — including what we store, how we use AI, and your rights — see our Privacy Policy.

6. Acceptable Use

Don’t use Frances to:

• Break any law.
• Impersonate someone else.
• Harass, threaten, or harm other users (including cooks and Frances staff).
• Attempt to access accounts or data that aren’t yours.
• Disrupt the service or get around security controls.
• Scrape, copy, or republish data from Frances without permission.
• Submit content that infringes someone else’s intellectual property.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules.

7. Bookings, Payments, and Refunds

Booking a cook

When you book a cook through Frances, you enter into a service relationship with that cook. Frances facilitates discovery, scheduling, and payment, but the meal-prep service itself is delivered by an independent cook.

Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. By booking, you authorize the payment Frances quotes. Frances takes a service fee. The remainder is paid to the cook through Stripe Connect, on the schedule set by our payout policy.

Cancellations and refunds

Cancellation and refund terms are shown to you before you book. If something goes wrong with a booking — the cook doesn’t show up, the food is unsafe, or the service falls materially short of what was promised — contact us at frances@meetfrances.com and we’ll work in good faith with you and the cook to resolve it. Frances may issue refunds at our discretion as part of resolving disputes.

8. For Cooks (Providers)

If you sign up as a cook on Frances, you agree to the additional terms in this section.

• Your business, your terms. You operate your own meal-preparation business. Frances provides the platform — software, lead generation, and payment processing — that helps you reach clients. You set your own menu, hours, and rates. You decide which bookings to accept and how to perform them. You use your own equipment, apply your own skills, and exercise your own professional judgment. Frances does not supervise your work or direct the manner in which you perform your services.
• Not an employment relationship. Because you operate your own business, Frances does not pay wages, hourly compensation, or salary, and does not provide benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, or health insurance. You are a user of the Frances platform, not a Frances employee.
• Food safety and licensing. You are responsible for safe food handling, sanitation, allergen awareness, compliance with local food-handling and licensing laws (for example, California’s Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation rules where applicable), and accurate disclosure of ingredients and allergens.
• Service quality. When you accept a booking, you commit to delivering what you promised — show up on time and treat clients with respect. Repeated complaints, no-shows, or safety incidents may result in suspension or removal from the platform.
• Tax responsibility. You are responsible for your own taxes. As a marketplace facilitator, Frances will issue or enable issuance of tax forms (e.g., 1099-K via Stripe) where required by law.
• Insurance. We strongly recommend carrying your own general liability insurance covering your meal-preparation business. Frances is not your insurer and does not provide liability coverage on your behalf.
• Information you receive about clients. When you accept a booking, you’ll see information the client has provided — dietary restrictions, household size, address, contact info, and special requests. Use it only to perform that booking. Don’t retain it after the booking is complete or use it for any other purpose.

9. Health, Allergies, and AI Output

Recipes, meal plans, grocery lists, and conversational suggestions on Frances are for general meal-planning purposes. They are not medical, nutritional, or dietary advice. AI-generated content may be incomplete or wrong.

You are responsible for verifying allergens, ingredients, and food safety before preparing or eating any meal. If you or anyone in your household has a serious allergy or medical condition, talk directly to your cook and to your healthcare provider. Frances does not guarantee that any meal is free of any particular allergen.

10. Recipes and Imported Content

Frances includes recipes from many sources — Frances-authored content, AI-generated images, recipes you import to your own account, and recipes drawn from publicly available sources with attribution. We respect copyright and respond to valid DMCA notices.

If you believe content on Frances infringes your copyright, contact us at frances@meetfrances.com with a description of the work, the location of the alleged infringement, and your contact information.

If you import a recipe to your own Frances account, you represent that you have the right to use it. Imported recipes are stored as part of your personal library and are not republished publicly without our express decision to do so.

11. Intellectual Property

The Frances service, brand, code, design, and original content are owned by Frances Anderson Inc. and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use Frances for its intended personal purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or reverse-engineer the service without our written permission.

You retain ownership of content you provide (your preferences, your imports, your messages). You grant us a license to host, store, process, and display that content as needed to operate the service.

12. Disclaimers

Frances is provided “as is” and “as available.” We make no warranty that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that AI output, recommendations, recipes, or cook listings will meet your needs.

We are not responsible for:

• The conduct, performance, or food safety of independent cooks.
• The accuracy of recipes, ingredients, or AI-generated content.
• Outcomes of meals prepared from our recipes or recommendations.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Frances and its officers, directors, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenues, or data, arising out of your use of Frances. Our total liability for any claim arising out of these Terms or your use of Frances will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid Frances in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) $100.

Some jurisdictions don’t allow these limits — they apply only to the extent permitted.

14. Indemnification

You agree to defend and hold Frances harmless from claims arising out of your use of the service, your content, or your violation of these Terms. Cooks specifically agree to indemnify Frances against claims arising from their meal-preparation business, including food safety, allergens, licensing compliance, and the conduct of their service.

15. Termination

You may stop using Frances and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms, create risk for us or other users, or for legal or operational reasons. Sections that should survive termination (Sections 9–14, 16–17) will continue to apply.

16. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. You agree that any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in California, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts.

17. Miscellaneous

• Changes. We may update these Terms; we’ll update the “Last updated” date and, for material changes, give you notice. Continued use means you accept the updated Terms.
• Severability. If any part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right is not a waiver of that right.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, plus the Privacy Policy and any policies referenced from them, are the full agreement between you and Frances about the service.

18. Contact

Frances Anderson Inc.
Email: frances@meetfrances.com