This is a partial translation of the most important questions from our German FAQ. For the missing FAQ numbers, please refer to the German version of this site.

 

FAQ 0. Are the classes being held in English language?

Most classes are in German. We do offer a few English ones, though. You can find them by filtering: 'English language courses'. This category will only be visible if there are any English classes on offer.

We also offer 'English-friendly' classes, where the teacher is a native, or almost native English speaker and can help you out occasionally.

 

FAQ 1.

The whole truth about cancelling a cooking class: 

Questions:

• Will you make exceptions from your cancellation policy in very severe cases?
• I missed the cancellation deadline by just one day, because I though it was 14 days before and not 15 days before. Will you make an exception?
• The ticket was a gift and nobody told me that it will expire if I can not join.
• The tickets cost me 150 euros, that is a lot of money.
• There was a death in the family
• I have influenza and can provide a sick message
• you guys have cancelled on me once before. even though I have received a refund from you, I still feel you are in my debt and should be accommodating please..

Answer

• Sorry. No exceptions whatsoever. We offer free rebooking until 15 days before the class (or a refund minus a 5 euros fee). If you cancel later than that, our cancellation fees apply, see FAQ 6. If you cancel your booking for a class that is currently fully booked (check our website), you might want to start "Experiment 7" --- please read FAQ 7 for more information.

 

 

FAQ 2. Can I switch to an alternative date of the same class? I don't want to cancel my booking, I just want to join the same class another time.

Ummm. No. Can you cancel your flight to Honolulu on short notice and ask the airline to keep the money and let you fly two months later? Probably not ;)

You can cancel your booking according to our cancellation terms and we will give you a voucher worth what remains from the original booking minus the cancellation fees (70%, 50% or nothing at all if you cancel 2 days before). With that voucher you can book a new class.

 

FAQ 6. May I cancel my booking?

Yes, please send your cancellation via e-mail. Since we are also a brick and mortar store, and our staff is busy with selling books and delicatessen, we decided that it would be best to handle cancellations via e-mail. We promise it will be quick and easy.

These are the rules: Until 15 days before the class, cancellation is free of charge. Well, almost. Our accounts department wants 5 euros for the trouble. Same is true for switching to a different class. 

From 14 days before the class, we can refund 70% of the original payment. 

From 7 days before the class, we can refund 50% of the original payment. 

From 2 days before the class, there will be no refund. Sorry.

 

FAQ 7. What kind of risk and/or hope is there, if I cancel my spot(s) on short notice to make them available again for being booked possibly by somebody from the waitlist?

There is a chance that you will get full compensation, if you are lucky. This is what has to happen: A class is fully booked. Somebody cancels one or more spots on short notice. Since the person has explicitly agreed to this “Experiment 7”, we make the spots that have been cancelled available again in our online booking system. Somebody -- possibly somebody from the automatic waitlist -- books one or all of the spots. Voilà, the class is fully booked again. No damage is done. As a result, we can give you 100% compensation in form of a voucher. We can also refund the payment on request, but we hope you understand that we have to take a 5 euros fee for processing the refund.

If the experiment fails (you can follow the state of bookings on our website) you can always send us a message, even shortly before the class, and let us know that you would like to un-cancel and join the class (or send a friend on your behalf) .

The risk that you have to live with when agreeing to Experiment 7 is that if you cancel two or more spots, only one of them might get booked and you can’t have all spots back in case you reconsider. Once somebody else booked your spots, you can not have them back because the space in our kitchen is limited to a certain number of participants. As unlikely as this ‘experiment’ might seem at first, there is a chance that you are lucky!

 

FAQ 11. May I reserve a spot and pay later?

Afraid not. You can book a place, with the cancellation terms applying. Non-binding reservations would have us spend our days calling everybody to see if their reservation still stands, or whether maybe we could offer the place to someone else. And you would rather see us spend our days researching (and selling) delicious food, wine, and books, wouldn't you?  ;)

 

FAQ 22.
None of classes suit me. Can you tell me when/if class xyz is going to be available in the next quarter?

A very good question, and a polular one, too! Unfortunaly we can only give you are somewhat restrained response.

This is our planning schedule:

1st quarter (Jan-Mar), to be published shortly after Nov 20. 
2nd quarter (Apr-Jun), to be published shortly after Feb 20. 
3rd quarter (Jul-Sep), to be published shortly after May 20. 
4th quarter (Oct-Dec), to be published shortly after Aug 20. 

We start planning just a couple of days ahead of the publication date. Once the schedule is fixed, we publish it. As a result, 99% of all times we know just as much as you do. We can of course ask our office oracle to gaze into the crystal ball, but the answers can be rather vague and won't help you much ("Yes, that class could be on the list, but the teacher might take three months off for a holiday and bang goes the cooking class.")

There is hope though. We have an online list of wishes, where you can ad your email address to certain cooking class themes that are usually repeated, and you shall be notified by email the very second the class is back. These classes are marked with a little orange heart.

In addition to have yourself notified of future classes, you can also add your email to classes that are fully booked, so you will get an email as soon as somebody cancels their spot.

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