Community Guidelines

1. The Social Contract: Presence & Punctuality

A group is matched as five people, and each of them spent a dinner credit on that seat. Your absence is not a free action.

• Cancelling: you can leave a dinner from the app at any point before the booked time. Your credit is not returned — the seat was already taken out of the pool for you. If enough people leave that fewer than three remain, the dinner is called off and everyone still coming gets their credit back.
• The "No-Show" Rule: if you are matched, you are expected to turn up. Simply not appearing is worse than cancelling: after every dinner we ask the people who were there whether anyone failed to show, and repeated reports get your account reviewed and can lead to it being suspended. A person reads every report — see section 7.
• Be on Time: Arriving more than 20 minutes late disrupts the dinner flow and the restaurant's reservation. Respect your group's time.

After the dinner everyone at the table also rates the others from 1 to 5. Those ratings are private: nobody is told who rated them or what score anyone gave, and the app shows you nothing but your own average. You can ask us what was said about you, and we delete ratings and no-show reports after twelve months — the Privacy Policy sets out both.

2. Dining Etiquette & Payments

We form the group and book the table. From the moment you sit down the evening is yours: the conversation, the food and the bill are between you, your table and the restaurant.

• Individual Responsibility: Unless otherwise explicitly stated for a specific sponsored event, every member is responsible for their own bill (food, drinks, tax, and tip).
• Transparency: To avoid awkwardness, be clear with your group and the server at the beginning of the meal if you require a separate check.
• Respect the Venue: You are an ambassador of the Gatherly community. Treat restaurant staff with the same respect you show your matches.

3. Respect, Consent & Boundaries

Gatherly is for social connection, not necessarily dating. Treat all members with dignity.

• No Pressure: Do not pressure group members to share social media handles, phone numbers, or "after-party" plans.
• Inclusive Conduct: Expect a table of people unlike you, and be inclusive of all backgrounds, religions and lifestyles.
• Privacy: What is discussed at the table stays at the table. Do not record, photograph (without explicit consent), or "dox" your fellow diners.

4. Profile Integrity & Authenticity

• Be Real: Use your real first name. Your photo is not shown to the other guests — you find each other at the venue by the name the table is booked under, which we send you once the dinner is confirmed.
• Adults Only: Gatherly is strictly for adults aged 18+. Do not create accounts for minors.
• No "Gaming" the System: Do not give false answers to steer who you are grouped with. Everyone at the table chose their dinner on the assumption that the answers were honest.

5. Safety & Offline Conduct

Your safety is our priority, but you are responsible for your own judgment.

• Public Meetings Only: Never agree to change a Gatherly dinner location to a private residence. Stay in public spaces.
• Alcohol & Substances: Drink responsibly. Excessive intoxication that makes other group members uncomfortable or unsafe is grounds for immediate removal from the platform.
• The "Exit" Right: If at any point you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you have the right to leave. We ask that you report the incident to [email protected] so we can take action. Gatherly is not an emergency service; call local authorities for immediate danger.

6. Prohibited Content & Harassment

Gatherly has a zero-tolerance policy for:

• Hate Speech: Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
• Abusive Behavior: Stalking, bullying, sexual solicitation, or shaming.
• Commercial Use: Do not use Gatherly to "pitch" businesses, MLMs, or commercial services to your matches.
• Inappropriate Media: No nudity, graphic violence, or sexually explicit content in profiles.

7. Enforcement & Appeals

Enforcement is done by people, on the basis of what members report to us — both the no-show reports collected after a dinner and anything you email us. Nothing is decided automatically, and no rating or report suspends an account on its own.

• Sanctions: depending on what happened, we may warn you, disable your account, or remove it. We may act on serious off-platform conduct that threatens the safety of other members.
• Appeals: If you believe a sanction was applied in error, you may appeal via [email protected] within 14 days of the action.

Reporting Concerns

If you witness a violation of these guidelines, email [email protected]. There is no reporting button in the app yet, so email is the way to reach us — tell us the date of the dinner and what happened, and a person will read it. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.