Resolve a failed payment or read-only restaurant

Identify why editing is unavailable

A Viewer role intentionally has no editing controls. That is different from a restaurant-wide billing restriction. If you are a Viewer, ask the owner whether you need Editor access; buying a plan does not change your role.

Owners and editors may see Your restaurant is read-only when the trial or paid access has ended. The banner says saved information can still be viewed and exported. Open Manage your subscription or Settings → Plan & billing to inspect the status and dates.

A restaurant scheduled for deletion is also read-only and takes its public menu offline. In that case, follow Delete or restore before treating the problem as a payment failure.

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Restore access through the existing account

1. As the owner, confirm the selected restaurant and read its billing status. Check whether it says Free trial, Payment needs attention, Cancellation scheduled, Read-only, or Deletion scheduled.
2. For an existing subscription with a payment problem, select Open billing portal. Review the payment issue and update the payment details or complete the action offered there.
3. For a finished trial without a subscription, choose an interval and select Continue to checkout.
4. Wait for the provider’s confirmation, then return to Dishcard and refresh the account status.
5. Confirm editing controls are available again. Open the actual guest menu and check that publication is on; successful billing does not resolve an intentionally paused menu.

Keep using the existing restaurant. Creating a replacement would separate the new account from the saved menus and ingredients you are trying to recover.

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Use the displayed deadlines

An expired trial pauses editing at the trial end. A failed renewal on existing paid access can have a recovery window ending 14 days after the paid-through date. That is not necessarily 14 days after you receive an email, and an unpaid first checkout is not a confirmed paid subscription.

The public menu can remain available during a limited grace period. Plan & billing shows its deadline; after that, the public link shows a holding page. The link and saved restaurant information are not a substitute for confirming current account access.

If the provider is unavailable or the payment outcome is unclear, retain the error and avoid duplicate checkout attempts. Export saved data if needed and keep the team informed about the current guest-menu state. Restore a deleted restaurant within its recovery period separately; payment confirmation alone does not undo deletion.