FWH Appeal Process

At Olio, we value your commitment to reducing food waste as a Food Waste Hero (FWH). To maintain a fair and safe community, we sometimes issue warnings, suspensions or bans when guidelines aren’t followed. We know the rules can be complex, and mistakes—whether from human oversight or automation—do happen. That’s why we’ve created a new appeal process, giving you the chance to seek clarification and correct any errors promptly.

📝 The Appeal Process

Please find below a quick overview of the process.

1. Submit an Appeal Form

   If you believe a warning, suspension or ban was issued in error, you can submit an appeal form. This form is available directly in the communication you received with the warning, suspension or ban (either via email or Olio's Little Helper).

1. Agent Review

   An agent will review your case, cross-checking the information provided with the data available in our system. They will aim to respond within 48-72 hours.

1. Team Lead Review (if necessary)

   If you still believe an error has been made after the initial review, your case will be escalated to a Team Lead for a final decision.

When we reinstate FWH Slots, FWH Status & Squad Captaincy:

• Human error

  If a warning, suspension or ban was issued in error and a review shows that the mistake was made by the Olio team, not the FWH's. 🙌

• System Error

  E.g., if the post-collection Olio Little Helper message was sent to the wrong FWH who was not assigned to the slot. ⚠️

When We Don't Reinstate FWH Slots or Squad Captaincy:

• Missed Collection

  If food was confirmed, but the FWH didn’t list it within 1.5 hours or didn’t reply to the post-collection Olio Little Helper message within 15 hours. 🚫

• Wrong Slot Listed

  If the items were listed under the wrong slot and the post-collection Olio Little Helper message wasn't answered within 15 hours. Please ensure you’re listing under the correct slot. 📍

• Unassigned Slots

  If FWHs have unassigned/skipped a slot themselves and later request to have it reinstated. 🕑

• Charity Slot Release

  If a charity stepped forward and then quickly released the ongoing slot back to Olio. 🚫

• Inactive Squad Captain

  If a Squad Captain has been inactive in the Squad chat for over a month, they will be removed from the role.

Temporary Suspensions

While it’s important to keep the community safe and uphold our guidelines, we also want to give our FWHs an opportunity to learn and improve from previous mistakes. Upon request, the Olio team will remove a FWH suspension if :

• The suspension was issued more than 3 months prior
• The suspension was due to:
  • Missed Collections
  • Food Safety Issues (e.g., placing food on unsanitary surfaces, no date on pictures, sending non-FWH to collect, failing to provide allergen info, food on the floor, no-contact pickups, sharing chilled food after 24 hours, sharing from unregistered addresses/multiple locations, sharing past use-by date).

We are not offering a second chance to those who have violated our conduct rules, acceptable use policy, or attempted to circumvent our guidelines—such as keeping more than the 10% allowance. These actions go against Olio's core values, which we take very seriously.