Table manners for Wherebly.

Your account

To save places, post notes, or submit a spot, you need a free account. To keep things civil, a few ground rules:

• You need to be at least 16 years old. This isn't a gated-club rule; it's a consequence of EU data-protection law.
• One person, one account. If you want multiple personas (a public pen-name and a private save list, say), contact us and we'll set that up properly.
• Keep your login to yourself. If someone else uses it, we'll assume it was you.
• The name on your account should be the one you'd like to be known by. Impersonation — of a critic, a chef, a restaurant, or another Wherebly user — gets the account suspended on first offence.

What you post

"Content" means everything you put into Wherebly: tasting notes, submitted places, photos, list descriptions, replies to comments. It's what makes the site useful, so we take it seriously.

Community conduct

Wherebly is read by diners, chefs, restaurant owners, food writers, and curious travellers. That's a mixed room, so:

• Criticise food, not people. A bland risotto is fair game. A line cook's accent is not.
• Disagree generously. If you think another reader got a place wrong, say so in your own note. Don't pile onto theirs.
• Leave identifying staff out unless they're publicly the chef or owner. No "the rude blonde waitress on Thursday."
• Don't photograph other diners. If a person is recognisably in your shot, please crop them out.
• One voice per conversation. Sockpuppeting to amplify your own take is a quick way to lose the account.

Content licence

You keep ownership of everything you post. We'd never claim otherwise. What we do need is a limited licence so the site can actually work.

Moderation & strikes

A real human moderator — usually Helena, Amal, or Tran — reads every submission. If something you post crosses a line, here's the graduated response. We've never had to use step four.

Every moderation decision can be appealed to appeals@wherebly.com. Appeals go to a moderator who wasn't involved in the original call. We aim to answer within three working days.

Our content & brand

The stories in our magazine, the guides, the illustrations, the logo, the typefaces as we've paired them, the word "Wherebly" itself — those belong to Wherebly Lda.

• You're welcome to quote short passages (say, up to 250 words) for reviews or criticism, with a link back.
• Don't reproduce whole stories on another site or in a newsletter without asking. We'll almost always say yes — we just like to know.
• Our illustrations are commissioned artwork. They're not free to reuse. Please just email us.
• The Wherebly name isn't a generic term. Don't use it in your own product, domain, or marketing without permission.

Money matters

Wherebly is free to read and free to post. There is no paywall, no tip-jar, no "premium" membership. The only place money changes hands is on the restaurant-partner side.

• Restaurants who claim their page pay a small monthly fee to manage hours, respond to notes, and link to a booking provider. No placement is sold — the fee doesn't buy better rankings.
• Invoicing is handled by Stripe. We see the last four digits of the card and the billing email; we don't store the full card number anywhere.
• Refunds on any partnership fee are pro-rated to the day if you cancel within 30 days. No questions, no retention calls.
• Taxes are added where required — 23% VAT for customers in Portugal, appropriate VAT for EU customers with a valid VAT ID, no VAT outside the EU.

For restaurant partners

If you've claimed your restaurant's page, a few extras apply in addition to the general rules:

• You can edit your own practical info (hours, menu, photos), and reply to notes in the owner-reply slot. You can't edit or delete visitor notes.
• You won't buy, solicit, or incentivise reviews. If a friend or regular wants to post about you, they're welcome to — unpaid and undirected.
• If you disagree with a note, reply to it publicly or flag it for moderation. Don't contact the reviewer off-platform.
• Your claim can be suspended if we get credible, specific reports of harassment directed at reviewers, staff, or other customers.

Disclaimers

We do a lot of legwork to keep the site accurate. But: restaurants close, menus change, chefs move on. Wherebly is a guide, not a live reservation system.

• Hours, prices, and menu items are "as reported" — we verify them quarterly, but always call ahead for special occasions.
• Dietary and allergen information is the restaurant's responsibility. If it's critical, confirm it on the night.
• Any health, safety, or hygiene claims you read on the site are the reviewer's or restaurant's own. We can't inspect kitchens ourselves.
• Third-party links (a restaurant's booking page, a partner newsletter) go to sites we don't control. Their terms, not ours, apply there.

Liability & limits

We promise to run the site with reasonable care. We don't promise it'll be up 100% of the time, that every piece of information will be perfect, or that using Wherebly will cure your Wednesday-night indecision.

To the extent the law allows:

• Our total liability, across all your claims, is capped at either €100 or the amount you paid us in the last 12 months (whichever is greater).
• We aren't liable for indirect loss — missed train connections, disappointing anniversaries, or a bad meal you'd been looking forward to.
• None of this removes your statutory consumer rights under Portuguese or EU law. Those always apply.

Ending the agreement

You can end your relationship with Wherebly at any time by deleting your account (one button, Settings → Data & privacy). We can end it with you in these situations only:

• Repeated or severe breaches of these Terms (see §06 on strikes).
• A legal requirement we can't ignore.
• If we shut Wherebly down entirely — in which case we'll give at least 90 days' notice and provide an export tool.

If we end your account, we'll explain why in writing. If you end it, we'll thank you for your time and keep the door open should you ever want to come back.

Disputes & applicable law

If something goes wrong, we'd like to fix it before anyone involves a lawyer. So:

• Step 1 — email us. Write to hello@wherebly.com with the problem. We reply within 4 working hours on weekdays.
• Step 2 — if we can't resolve it, EU consumers can use the online dispute-resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
• Step 3 — if it still can't be resolved, these Terms are governed by Portuguese law, and the courts of the Comarca de Lisboa have exclusive jurisdiction.

Definitions

A few terms we use often enough that it helps to pin them down: