This article explains how budget preference works and what to do if your restaurant doesn’t match your expectations.
At Timeleft, we aim to make dining experiences accessible and enjoyable. While we strive to match participants with restaurants that fit their budget preferences, the availability of options can sometimes vary depending on the location and the week. Here’s how we handle budget preferences and what to do if the restaurant assigned doesn’t fit your expectations.
How We Categorize Restaurants by Budget
We classify restaurants into three categories based on price ranges for a typical dinner (including a main course and a beverage). Here’s how our budget symbols work:
- $/€: Budget-friendly
- $$/€€: Mid-range
- $$$/€€€: Premium
These ranges are designed to give you a general sense of what to expect, but please remember that prices can vary depending on the city or country you’re in. We do our best to match you with restaurants that align with your budget preference, but sometimes, due to demand and availability, we may have limited options.
How to Change Your Budget Preference
You can update your budget preference each time you book an event. Only dinner events include this as most cities have a smaller price range.
Before finalizing your reservation, you’ll see an option called “Edit my preferences.” This appears during the booking flow.
From there, you can:
- Select your preferred budget category
- Review and adjust your preferences before confirming your booking
Your selected budget preference will apply to that specific event. This will be the default for future bookings but can be changed for each booking.
We recommend reviewing your preferences carefully before completing your reservation.
What to Do if a Restaurant is Too Expensive or Too Casual
If the assigned restaurant is more expensive or too casual than what you’re comfortable with, we are happy to look for alternatives. We do our best to meet everyone's budget preference but group matching and dietary restrictions are considered to be more important for our algorithm. This is the most common reason why the restaurant budget is not within your preferred range.
Before canceling, contact customer support by submitting a request to ask for another venue.
You can contact us, and we’ll try to find a better solution. Here’s how:
- Submit a request through our Help Center.
- Select "Reservation Issue" as your contact reason.
- Let us know about the budget concern and what you prefer, and we’ll do our best to find a more suitable option or reschedule you for a future dinner.
- Wait for a confirmation of the change. If we do not have another option, we will also let you know.
We strive to meet everyone’s budget preferences, but in some cases, rescheduling may be the best solution if an alternative option is unavailable.