I have a pending charge before cutoff cay

You may have noticed a pending amount from CookUnity on your card a few days earlier than usual — sometimes during a week you've already received a delivery, or even for a week you've skipped. This is not an extra charge. It is a temporary payment hold, and this article explains how it works.

What is a payment hold?

When you confirm an order, your bank reserves the order total on your card to make sure the payment method is valid and the funds are available. The money is set aside, but it has not actually left your account yet. Your bank may display this as "pending," "authorization," or "temporary hold."

The final charge — the one that actually moves the money — only happens at your usual weekly cutoff time: 12:00 PM (local time) 4-6 days before your delivery day depending on your area.

When does the hold appear?

A payment hold may appear a few days before your cutoff. For example, if your cutoff is Saturday at 12:00 PM for a Wednesday delivery the following week, you may see the hold appear as early as the Wednesday or Thursday before your cutoff.

Why did we add this step?

Previously, the charge was only attempted at the exact cutoff time. When a payment failed at that moment — an expired card, an insufficient balance, a bank decline — there wasn't enough time to fix the issue, and the order was cancelled. Verifying the payment a few days in advance allows us to flag any problems early so your meals still arrive on schedule.

How to tell a hold from a final charge

Common payment hold situations

1. "I see two amounts from CookUnity this week — am I being charged twice?" Most likely not. One of those amounts is the final charge for the order you are about to receive. The other is the hold for your next order. Once your next order is finalized at its cutoff, only one of these amounts will fully post; the other will be released.
2. "I skipped this week but I still see a charge." The amount you are seeing is the hold for an upcoming order, not the week you skipped. If you skip or cancel the upcoming order before its cutoff, the hold is released automatically.
3. "I cancelled my order but the pending charge is still there." We released the hold on our side immediately. Depending on your bank, the pending line can take 1-3 business days to disappear from your statement. The funds are not being collected.
4. "I see multiple attempts on different days." This usually only happens if you have more than one payment method on file. If the first card cannot complete the hold, our system will automatically try the next card in your wallet to make sure your order is not interrupted. Each attempt is for the same single order — not multiple orders.
5. "I can't find a receipt for the pending amount." Receipts are generated only when the final charge is captured at cutoff. Until then, the amount is a hold, not a completed transaction, so it will not appear in your Order History.
6. "I edit my order, what happens with the payment hold". When the order is edited, the original order is cancelled internally. The original hold is voided right away, and a new hold may appear for the updated order total.

Still have questions?

If you have reviewed the above and something still does not add up — for example, you see a hold that does not match any upcoming order, or a hold remains pending more than 7 business days after you skipped — please contact us at support@cookunity.com with your order ID and we will take a look.