Website, booking module, management software: many restaurant owners have signed a multi-year contract, often during a sales visit. The day you want to switch, one question comes up: when and how do you get out without being locked in for another term?
This guide walks you through it step by step: find your dates in the contract, know who to write to, send the right letter, then get your domain name and customer file back before you switch tools.
The trap to avoid: automatic renewal. If your letter arrives after the notice deadline, the contract usually renews for another term, at the same price. Everything hinges on one date, which you need to know several months in advance.
1. Find your dates in the contract
Get out the order form (or specific terms) and the general terms and conditions. You need three pieces of information:
- 1 The term and its start date: the term is stated in months. Check when it starts: at signature, when the website goes live, or at the first payment. That gives you your end date.
- 2 The notice period: look for the "Term", "Termination" or "Renewal" clauses. For example: "by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, at least 3 months before the end of the term".
- 3 The automatic renewal clause: it states how long the contract renews for if nobody terminates it (one year, or the same term as the original).
Work out your deadline
Deadline = end date − notice period. Example: a contract ending on March 31, 2027 with a 3-month notice period must be terminated by December 31, 2026 at the latest. If the contract refers to the date the letter is received, send it at least ten days earlier.
Between businesses, your contract's clauses are what apply. The rules that require providers to remind consumers before a subscription renews generally do not protect you: nobody has to remind you of the date. Put it in your calendar, with an alert one month before.
2. Know who to send the termination to
The letter must go to the company you signed with, at the address given in the termination clause (otherwise, its registered office). That is not always the company you deal with on the phone.
Financed contracts
Check who takes your monthly payments on your bank statement. If it is a different company from your provider, your website or equipment is probably financed by a leasing company. There are then often two contracts: one with the provider, one with the leasing company.
Read both: termination is often sent to the leasing company, and sometimes to both. If in doubt, send the same letter to both companies.
3. Send your termination letter
Send it by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt (or electronic registered mail), and keep a copy of the letter, the proof of posting and the acknowledgment of receipt. Use it to request everything you will need to switch tools.
This template is for termination at the end of the term. Early termination usually comes with a fee (sometimes all the remaining monthly payments): read the relevant clause before writing.
4. Get your domain name back
Your domain name (your website's address, and often your email address) matters most: it is what your customers and Google know.
- → Check who owns it: for a ".fr", Afnic's Whois search (afnic.fr) shows the owner; for other extensions, use ICANN's lookup tool (lookup.icann.org).
- → If it is in your name: ask for the transfer code (also called authorization code or "AuthInfo"). It lets you move it to another registrar.
- → If it is in your provider's name: request a change of ownership to your name before the contract ends, in writing.
- → Do your emails use this domain? (contact@your-restaurant.com) Note it before any change: a poorly prepared switch can cut off your emails.
Think about the content too: keep a copy of your texts, your menu and your photos. The website design usually belongs to the provider, but the content you supplied remains yours.
5. Request an export of your customer file
Your customers' contact details and booking history are your data. Under the GDPR, you are the data controller and your provider is your processor: at the end of the contract, it must, at your choice, delete this data or return it to you (article 28 of the GDPR).
Request the export before the end date: access to your account often stops that day. For future email or SMS campaigns, you may only contact customers who gave their consent: ask for the export to show it.
6. Switch without any interruption
Ideally, set up the new tool while the old one is still running:
- 1 Three months before the end: try the new tool in parallel, on one or two services, without cancelling anything else.
- 2 One month before: prepare the new website on a temporary address, re-import your customer file if the export is usable.
- 3 On the end date: switch the domain name, update the website link and booking button on your Google listing and social media.
How Diiing can help
Still under contract? Note your end date: we will remind you before the notice deadline, with this letter template. Free, no sign-up.
Set my notice reminderAlready free? Diiing brings together online booking and no-show protection, a multilingual QR code menu, table ordering and payment, group meals and customer reviews, for €49 excl. tax per month, with no commitment. As an option, we recreate your website for you.
Switch tools without losing anything