FAQ

Please use on our online reservation system. Pick your destination café:

Thirsty Meeples Bath

Thirsty Meeples Oxford

Bookings can be made for groups of up to 10 people and last for 3 hours. Once a reservation is made you will have the option cancel the booking or to adjust the number of people booked for up to 24 hours prior to the start of the booking.

Please be aware that there is a per person cover charge of £7 for Adults / £6 for Children (if ordering from our food and drink menu) and £9 per person without a food or drink order.

To confirm a table booking at Thirsty Meeples, debit or credit card details are required from the person making the booking. No charge is made when making a reservation. However, in the event that the booking is cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice or the booking is a no-show, a charge will be made to the debit/credit card provided of £9 per person booked. Where a group size arriving at Thirsty Meeples is less than that booked for, an additional £9 per person will be added to the final table bill for each person missing.

Well behaved dogs are welcome at our cafés. When making a booking, please leave a note that you'll be bringing a dog.

Making a purchase could not be easier. Just browse our store, and add any items that you wish to buy into the shopping cart.

As well as our cafés, Thirsty Meeples has a separate warehouse where online orders are fulfilled from. All our stock for sale is brand new and sealed. We only purchase stock from certified distributors or direct from publishers.

After you have finished your selection, click on 'checkout' and you will be asked for a few details that we need to be able to complete the order.

We accept credit/debit card payment or payments by PayPal, ApplePay, Google Pay and SuperPayments.

Our warehouse operates Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). In most cases, orders placed by 1:30 pm will be dispatched the same day.

As long as the order has not already been shipped, we would be happy to amend an order. Get in touch with us here

If you request to cancel an order before it has been shipped, including pre-order items, a refund will automatically be issued as store credit. Should you prefer a cash refund instead of store credit, any PayPal or card processing fees incurred will be deducted from the refund amount.

If, upon receiving your order, you find that the items sent do not match your order, please notify us within 48 hours so we can investigate and resolve the issue.

If you receive an item that has been damaged in transit, please contact us at hello@thirstymeeples.co.uk. Include your name, order number, and a description of the damage. Attaching a photo of the damage will help expedite the process. To assist us in addressing the issue, please notify us within 48 hours of receiving the item, and inspect your product promptly upon arrival. Do not remove the outer cellophane wrapping or open the item in any way.

After reaching out, please await further instructions from our sales team. We typically respond to emails within one working day.

If you have purchased a new product which has faulty or missing items, the fastest way for you to get a missing component is to be in direct contact with the publisher. Most publishers have their own service that provide players with missing components, these are typically listed on their websites.

If you don't receive a response from the publisher, or they are unable to assist, then please contact us.

Gift Cards can be emailed or sent as a physical card. Choose which version you wish to purchase in our webstore. Both versions can be used for game purchases in our café as well as online through our webstore.

Gift cards issued via email include the option to enable Apple Wallet Passes which will allow our gift cards to be used on iOS devices in Apple Wallet. With Passes, customers can check a gift card's balance and redeem a gift card in-store.

Can a gift card be used more than once?

Yes, provided there is still a balance remaining on the card.

Can more than one gift card be used towards a purchase?

Yes. A customer can redeem another gift card during checkout.

How do customers check their balance?

If a gift card is associated with a customer account, then the customer can check the balance by using the link provided in the gift card email. For customers without accounts, please contact us via email and we will confirm it for you.

Can gift cards be reloaded?

No, you can't reload a gift card.

Can a gift card be used to buy a gift card?

No, you can't use a gift card to buy another gift card.

Unfortunately, it is the policy of Thirsty Meeples not to price-match with other retailers. We make every effort to price our products at competitive rates.

We also have a generous loyalty scheme which offers fantastic savings. Read up here.

All online orders are picked from our separate warehouse. We always ensure that your games are well packed before leaving. Wherever possible we'll re-use a cardboard box that we received games in from one of our suppliers. We figure it's better that way for our planet. But we do also use new boxes and wraps. If you have a strong preference either way please let us know in your Order Comments.

We aim for orders placed before 1:30pm Monday to Friday to be dispatched on the same working day. If this is not possible, your order will be dispatched on the next working day. Orders placed outside our Monday to Friday office hours will be dispatched on the next working day.

Delivery is free on all orders of £65 or more. Orders with a value of less than £65 will incur a delivery charge as follows:

£4.50 - Royal Mail Tracked 48 (2-3 business days delivery time)

£6.00 - Royal Mail Tracked 24 (1-2 business days delivery time)

All delivery costs are presented at the 'My Basket' screen once the shipping destination is chosen, before any money is taken.

Please note working day delivery does not include Sunday, Bank Holidays, Public Holidays and substitute days (see the GOV UK website for clarification).

If you request that the package is left in a safe place, this will only be done at the discretion of the delivery driver.

Shipping times are not guaranteed. From time to time unforeseen problems that are outside of our control can lead to postal delays. We do not accept responsibility for this these and will not refund shipping fees in these circumstance.

At this time we do not ship outside the UK.

At check-out you will to have the option to collect your order from our cafés in either Oxford or Bath and avoid the shipping charge.

We will notify you by email as soon as your order is ready to collect. Allow up to 3 days for Oxford collection orders and 7 days for Bath collection orders.

Orders will be held for a maximum of 21 days before being returned to our warehouse.

At Thirsty Meeples, we offer a 30-day returns policy beginning on the day you receive your items. During this period, you can return your items for store credit or an exchange. If you prefer a cash refund for an online order rather than store credit or an exchange, any PayPal or card processing fees incurred will be deducted from the refund.

Our returns policy is valid for 30 days. Once 30 days have passed since you received your items, we cannot offer store credit or an exchange.

For an item to be eligible for return, it must be unopened and in the same condition as when you received it. This includes being in its original packaging, with any outer cellophane wrapping intact. For book returns, there should be no visible signs of use.

We cannot accept returns if:

• The item has been opened.
• The item was damaged during return transit due to inadequate packaging.
• The item is returned after the 30-day return period.

Please note: Gift cards are non-returnable.

To process your return, please include a receipt or proof of purchase.

You can return items directly to one of our cafés, where a café manager will be happy to assist you.

Alternatively, items can be returned by post. Please ensure not to place any tape or labels directly on the product packaging, as this will render the product unsaleable. Instead, cover the product with protective packaging, ideally using an outer cardboard box, before applying any tape or labels.

To return your product by mail, please send it to:

Thirsty Meeples, Unit 5 Wroslyn Road Industrial Estate, Freeland, Oxon OX29 8HZ.

You are responsible for paying the shipping costs for returning your item, and these costs are non-refundable. If a refund is issued, the cost of shipping will be deducted from the refund amount.

Please allow 2-4 days for processing once we have received your return. A member of our returns team will then reach out via email to confirm the action taken.

Shipping fees paid for an order are non-refundable when returning an item. For orders that qualified for free shipping, Thirsty Meeples reserves the right to deduct the original shipping cost from the refund amount.

If the item was marked as a gift at the time of purchase and shipped directly to you, you’ll receive a gift credit equal to the value of your return. Once we receive the returned item, a gift voucher will be mailed to you.

When a new item is announced, we will list it for pre-order with an estimated arrival window. Please note that the expected release date is only an estimate and is subject to change. The actual delivery of the product may occur earlier or later than expected due to factors such as supplier delays, production issues, shipping, customs, or licencing processes.

 These types of delays are common in the world of board games and are unfortunately beyond our control. If you would like to check the status of your pre-order, we are happy to enquire with our suppliers, though please be aware we currently do not have an automatic notification system for changes in delivery times.

If you order multiple items, including a pre-order, in one order, all items will be delivered to you at once. This means that your order will not be shipped until the pre-ordered item (and all other products in your order) have arrived at Thirsty Meeples. If a pre-ordered product arrives earlier, we will, of course, set it aside in our warehouse. To receive deliverable items sooner, please place two separate orders: one with the deliverable items, and another with the pre-order(s).

Once the pre-order item arrives at Thirsty Meeples’ warehouse, it will be shipped to you within 1-2 business days.

To secure a pre-order, we offer two payment options: pay in full or pay a 10% deposit.

• Full Payment: Pay the full amount for your pre-order straight away.
• Deposit: When you pay a deposit, your payment method will be kept on file to allow us to charge the remaining balance before we ship the order. Once your order is ready for shipping, your payment method will be charged automatically and then removed for security.

You can also pay the remaining balance early:

• Go to your order confirmation email and click “View Order”.
• Select "Pay Now" and complete the checkout to pay the remaining balance.

If your payment method is expiring, you can update it by following these steps:

• In your order confirmation email, click “View Order”.
• In the box titled “This order has a payment due in the future”, click “click here” to manage your payment.
• Click “Update payment method”, and an email will guide you on updating the payment method on file.

You may cancel any pre-order item at any time before it ships, whether paid in full or with a deposit.

To cancel, please email us at hello@thirstymeeples.co.uk and include your order number in the subject line.

Note: Store credit will be issued for the cancellation of any pre-order item paid for in advance. If you prefer a cash refund instead of store credit, any PayPal or card processing fees will be deducted from the refund.

All pre-order items display an estimated arrival window, which may change based on updated information from our suppliers. We will update our listings if we receive confirmation of any changes. Please note that we cannot guarantee that pre-order items will arrive within the estimated arrival window, and we do not offer compensation for items that do not arrive within this timeframe.

In rare cases, the price of a pre-order item may change after it is listed. If the price is reduced before shipping, your order will be adjusted to the lower price.

Occasionally, mandatory price increases may occur for a pre-order item. This can happen if our supplier listed the item with a pricing error or if there are changes in currency or tax rates. If a price increase affects your order, we will notify you, and as always, you are free to cancel your pre-order at any time.