Frequently Asked Questions

Renting or leasing your restaurant equipment can be a good alternative to buying. Firstly, there are a lot of costs involved in setting up and running a hospitality business, so choosing to rent or lease your restaurant equipment can leave you more money for running your business and other expenses.

Secondly, there may be tax benefits to renting or leasing kitchen equipment – it’s important you discuss these with a qualified tax advisor before making any decisions.

Finally, with SilverChef’s Rent-Try-Buy® you get additional flexibility over typical financing options. You can decide to upgrade your equipment in the first 12 months if you need something bigger and better (in the same equipment category e.g. upgrade rented fridge to a bigger fridge); you can also decide to purchase it and get a rebate on your payments so far (up to 12 months).

At the end of your 12-month contract, you can decide whether to keep renting your restaurant equipment, work towards ownership, or return. Please note that if you decide to continue renting your equipment after the end of your 12-month term, and then decide to buy, the net rental rebate is lower. Also, if you return your equipment, you are responsible for cleaning and shipping costs.

Typically, the difference between leasing and renting has to do with the length of term – with the length of a lease typically being longer. SilverChef offers a rental product – Rent-Try-Buy, and a finance lease product – Lease-to-Keep®. They are different in several important ways.

With Rent-Try-Buy, you rent your restaurant equipment and make weekly rental payments for a 12-month term, while retaining the option to purchase your equipment or upgrade it during the term. At the end of the 12-month rental term, you have the additional options to return, continue renting or work towards ownership with our Easy Own® product.

With Lease-to-Keep you must be financing a minimum amount of $10,000 and have been trading for at least 12 months. You sign up for a four- or five-year term, you make monthly lease payments, and at the end of the term you own the restaurant equipment (providing the last payment has been made and customer is not in breach of the agreement).

Servicing is different to warranty. Servicing is an optional maintenance cost, and the responsibility of the customer. For example, in some areas, coffee machines need to have their boilers serviced every 6 -12 months to remove water scale. When you finance through SilverChef you need to make sure you follow the manufacturer's recommended servicing schedule as, if the equipment breaks down, SilverChef is not responsible for repairing or replacing it – this is a matter for the manufacturer and you may be covered by their warranty (but typically not if you haven't followed their recommended service schedule).

If you want to return your restaurant equipment after your 12-month term, first remember that you need to give us four weeks' notice. You will also need to cover the cost of shipping the restaurant equipment back to us. You can use our freight company or your own. It will need to be properly cleaned, then tagged and tested so it can go back on the market. This is just like renting a house, it needs to be fit for the next person. If you return your restaurant equipment before the end of your 12-month rental agreement you will also be liable for any rent payments up to the full 12-month period.

With Rent-Try-Buy you have the option to purchase your equipment at any time during or at the end of the 12-month term. Remember that you are renting the equipment for the first 12 months, so this is not an arrangement where the payments you make are working towards ownership of the restaurant equipment. However, we do currently offer a 60% net rental rebate during this timeframe – our friendly customer success team can work out your payout quote including the rebate (if eligible) when you contact them on 1-866-311-3805.

It's important that you make a choice at the end of your term about the next stage. You can opt to continue renting your equipment, and you may be eligible for a discount on your rental payments if you sign up for an additional term – however, you should note that the 60% net rental rebate is only payable during and at the end of the first 12 months.