B.C. private chef company ordered to pay up after failing to deliver contest prize: tribunal

(Source: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A private chef company in Kelowna, B.C., that failed to deliver a contest prize for a free at-home dinner has been ordered to pay the winner cash, according to a small claims tribunal decision.

In January 2024, Naomi Marie Ee received an email announcing she was the winner of an online contest held by Chez You Experience for “an exquisite dinner for up to 6 people,” according to a Civil Resolution Tribunal decision outlining the events, posted Oct. 15.

Ee was asked to note her meal and date preferences for the dinner, which the contest had stated would be cooked by one of the company’s chefs in Ee’s home.

Over the following few months there was a back-and-forth email correspondence between Ee and Chez You as the two struggled to nail down the dinner’s date and menu.

According to the decision, Ee had provided “several dates” in February and had suggested some menu options from Chez You’s website, including a steak dinner, but was told by the company she had won a $500 gift card and that her choices would likely surpass the limit.

Ee told the tribunal she had been unaware of the prize limit, but agreed it. She wasn’t willing to pay any additional costs, however, and asked the company to send her more affordable menu options.

Later that month Chez You asked Ee if they could reschedule the dinner “over the next couple of weeks” because all the local chefs were fully booked. Ee gave dates for March, but Chez You “did not respond,” the decision said.

When Ee followed up again late March, proffering dates for April, she was told there still weren’t any chefs available and was advised to hold the event in June instead. Ee, again, offered some dates and her menu choices.

According to the decision, Ee didn’t hear back from Chez You until July, when the company, apologizing for its delay in response, said it had “paused operations as its website was being overhauled.” It asked Ee to put forward dates for after August.

Instead, Ee filed her dispute, claiming $900 for the prize’s value.

Tribunal member Kristin Gardner determined Chez You had entered a contract with Ee, and that the company scheduling a dinner within “a reasonable period” after Ee won the contest was a “fundamental term” of that contract.

Chez You had “repeatedly delayed scheduling the dinner over more than 6 months,” and Ee had been “accommodating and willing” to work with the company to lock down a date and menu during that time, the decision said.

“Mrs. Ee gave Chez You many opportunities to fulfil its obligation to provide her with a private dinner, and it failed to do so within a reasonable period,” Gardner said.

The tribunal found Ee was entitled to compensation equal to the value of the prize, which she had, as earlier noted, agreed to be $500.

Chez You was ordered to pay the damages alongside $125 in CRT fees.