How much to refund bride?
In the 27 years that I've been providing cake for various events, I had my worst nightmare come true on Sunday. On the way to the wedding reception, I noticed that my three-tier, off-set construction wedding cake was not holding up structurally. I opted to take the cake apart and travel the rest of way to the reception with it in 3 different pieces. The bottom tier was beginning to crumble a bit on one side. I decided that there was no way that this cake could be displayed at the reception and scrambled to think of what to do. I stopped at a local grocery store, ran to their bakery department and asked them if they had a 'fake cake' that I could borrow so that she would have a cake to display on her cake table.
I was successful in borrowing the cake, arrived at the reception and placed the fake cake on the cake table and the cakes that were not fit for public view in the back. When it came time to serve the cake, I was able to cut and serve all of the cake that the bride had ordered...with some cake left over in the end.
When I had originally broke the news to the bride about the wedding cake mishap...she was SO mad that she was literally shaking. I explained that I did all that I could to get a 'stand in' cake for her, and offered a few free cakes for future events or a partial refund of this cake since it could not be displayed.
She just contacted me and is demanding a FULL refund on the cake. Before I repond, I want to get input from others who may have been in a similar situation. Our contract states: "This entire agreement of [Company Name] is subject to proven detention by any acts of God, or any other conditions beyond the control of [Company Name]." I have removed our company name, as that is not important to this question.
Please provide me with any and all suggestions, as I want to be fair, but also want to reiterate that I took time to bake, decorate and serve the guests the cake that she ordered. Thanks in advance!!!
I've attached photos of the cake that I made, and the fake cake that I was able to use for the event.
~ Lisa
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Quinn on
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I'm not sure form a legal standpoint, what to tell you but I have a couple of questions I have to take a 5 tier spiral square cake 3 states away in the middle of Sept, (It's supposed to be airbrushed and everything) I'm kinda freaking out about it!I'm assuming this cake was buttercream?? Do you think you would have had the same issues had it been fondant? and how did you stack the cake?? Cardboard/ dowell method, or stacked plate method?
Praying* I get it there without a glitch!
In your case, she got the cake flavors and her guests were served, she must pay something for this service!! If she didn't get her 1st anniversary tier, I'd take off the price I would have charged for the individual cake.
How much would you put into aesthetics? I'm sure she was probably saying...I didn't want a round cake!! I want something different!!! Wow...I hope this never happens to me ...again!. I'm sorry! My 1st wedding cake was kind of a disaster!!
Are you a new company? How will this affect future business?...Don't give her back more than 1/3 of the total!
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Chavez on
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Jennifer,
Yes, I was using buttercream. I used the cardboard/dowel method. Not sure about the fondant, as I choose not to use that to completely cover my cakes. Funny thing about the anniversary cake: I offer my brides a free anniversary cake if they choose to use all of their wedding cake to serve their guests. So, next August, she gets a free cake from me, anyway.
I completely understand that her cake choice was square, off-set, stacked construction with a simple ribbon design on the bottom of the cake. What she got was round, fancy design...but still had the same ribbon that she provided around the 'fake cake'. I am offering to give her 50% back...but she's is balking at it.
Thanks for your input. I have been doing cakes for over 27 years and this is the first disaster that I've had. I doubt that this will affect future business.
Jennifer Quinn said:I'm not sure form a legal standpoint, what to tell you but I have a couple of questions I have to take a 5 tier spiral square cake 3 states away in the middle of Sept, (It's supposed to be airbrushed and everything) I'm kinda freaking out about it!I'm assuming this cake was buttercream?? Do you think you would have had the same issues had it been fondant? and how did you stack the cake?? Cardboard/ dowell method, or stacked plate method?
Praying* I get it there without a glitch!
In your case, she got the cake flavors and her guests were served, she must pay something for this service!! If she didn't get her 1st anniversary tier, I'd take off the price I would have charged for the individual cake.
How much would you put into aesthetics? I'm sure she was probably saying...I didn't want a round cake!! I want something different!!! Wow...I hope this never happens to me ...again!. I'm sorry! My 1st wedding cake was kind of a disaster!!
Are you a new company? How will this affect future business?...Don't give her back more than 1/3 of the total!
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Permalink Reply by Liza Bibby on
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Hi, i think half her money back sounds fair. You did provide a service and her guests were fed and the colour scheme was correct. And you went out of your way to make the best of a bad situation which you didn't have to do
The only other suggestion i have if she is not accepting of that offer is to only charge for the ingredients/boards etc and waver the cost for your time as she didn't get her expected design. i spend many hrs on cakes where i only charge for the ingredients rather than my time due to me knowing the person. There again i do not run a business its just a hobby for me but i do understand the time and effort it takes.
Hope you manage to sort it with her.
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Thanks, Liza!!! I don't charge for my time...just per serving. I provided her with a free cake tasting (3 cake flavors & 3 filling flavors) and will be providing her with a free anniversary cake for their 1-year anniversary...if she decides to take me up on that offer. This was all pre-determined before the 'incident'.
I have called some local bakeries that I am familiar with and they have all suggested just the 50% refund since I did provide the service of making, decorating, delivering (50 minutes away) and cutting the cake for her and her guests. The unfortunate part was that nobody actually got to SEE the cake that I made.
Thanks again for your input!
Liza Bibby said:Hi, i think half her money back sounds fair. You did provide a service and her guests were fed and the colour scheme was correct. And you went out of your way to make the best of a bad situation which you didn't have to do
The only other suggestion i have if she is not accepting of that offer is to only charge for the ingredients/boards etc and waver the cost for your time as she didn't get her expected design. i spend many hrs on cakes where i only charge for the ingredients rather than my time due to me knowing the person. There again i do not run a business its just a hobby for me but i do understand the time and effort it takes.
Hope you manage to sort it with her.
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Permalink Reply by Theresa Happe on
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Why is it that people think they can eat the entire cake and be entitled to a full refund? Does any other business work that way?
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Permalink Reply by Kim Allemon on
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I think that 50% BAck is more than fair,, THats All i would do,, I know its a very bad situation,, I Hope that I Never havet tto face it,, But I think you are being fair with her,, THe guest Im sure Got a very yummy cake ,, Its just not the cake she ordered,, %0 % is good,, maybe throw in a free cake with it,, Sorry Im not helping Just dont see how people think they can have it for free,, Good Luck hun
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Permalink Reply by melissa pappalardo on
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Bottom line is the guests ate YOUR cake! The cake YOU made!!!!! She has to atleast pay for that. You offered a discount, and I think you were more than fair. And Theresa, you are right on point......they ate it, they pay for it. I know first hand from a very good friend of mine who was in a similar situation. The couple demanded a full refund and they went to court and the judge ruled that only half of the cost be refunded to the couple because the cake was served and consumed by all. Had the cake not been able to be eaten, the outcome would have been different. Stand your ground!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Faith Gealey-Brown on
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I agree, I think that the 50% refund is more than fair! The guests still got to eat the cake that you made, and the fact of the matter is that you were able to get the situation rectified and even got a fake cake for displaying purposes sorted out so that she wasn't without a cake! The fact that you are still willing to provide an anniversary cake as well shows that you are willing to uphold your part of the bargain. I don't think you're being anything but fair with this...honestly I'm sure some other bakeries would have not given her anything at all back!
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Permalink Reply by Stampinsher on
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I have a different way at looking at this and I certainly do not want to create an argument whatsoever. I think it would cost you more with what you offered her to give her an anniversary cake (you never know where she will have it delivered one year from now) and a few more cakes for other occasions OR 50% off the wedding cake as a refund.
You didn't specify what types of cakes you would make in the future for this bride. You never know what she might come up with to take advantage of you for a "few free cakes" in her eyes, she might just take you up on that offer and have you making cakes to feed 100+ people a few times. Where is the definition of "few" so it could be anywhere from 3 to 5 cakes that would feed more that 100+ people. Now that is a lot of time, effort and cost to you.
So I would go back to her to say professional and politely something like this: I drove the cake to your event, the cost of travel and delivery "gas" for my delivery is such-in-such which was not included in our agreement, I also cut and served the cake I made for you which all of your guests including you and your new husband consumed and again, it was not included in the cost of the cake. The cost of deliver, the time of cutting and serving the cake is far more than 50% of your cake total cost. Let's try to have a win-win agreement for the two of us. I will give you a 50% refund (but say the dollar amount not the percentage) and we will call it quits from there.
If she comes back to you in any way not agreeing with you, try it one more time and say the travel and deliver costs are: $100.00, my hourly rate is $25.00 (how many hours to drive), the amount of time you spent at the reception was (so many hours) and remember you drove home again!
Make it work so it comes to more than 50% of the total cost of the cake.
Or
pay her and walk away completely.
Or say, to her I'm not going to argue with you. It is now 25% or nothing now.
Think about it this way too:
Do you think she will take you to small claims court? If so, I think you will win. You did everything and the fake cake was pretty! She never complained about the taste of your cake!!!!! You cake was edible and served everyone with leftover!!!
I have a problem that if you give her too much of what she wants, that will be spread to everyone and your future business will have people coming and ordering cakes. Then having some type of problem or complaint and you paying for it all the time!
I might be full of Butter Cream and not know what I'm talking about but I guess I'm looking at it as a "consumer" not the Business person. Everyone has something go wrong or not quite planned as exactly for their event. If this is the worst thing that happened in their wedding she should be grateful and know not to sweat the little things in life!
So happy I do this for myself as a hobby to share with my family and friends!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Patty on
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I feel sooooo bad for you. Been there, done that...and I too own a bakery. Here is my two cents worth. When I did give a full refund (years ago)...the bride and her family STILL spoke ill of my work. I have since overcome...and having learned the hard way...your contract CLEARLY STATES the conditions which you met. I personally would say, since you did not choose to accept my 50% refund, I am sorry, but there will be no refund available to you. I know it sounds cold, but you more than accomodated the bride. A server's wages for cutting and serving the cake would most likely be close to a 25% refund for the evening. Just...in the future...get a contact person and number (I do now) that can make last minute decisions for your bride and then the responsibility will land on that person...not you....clearly state this in your contract. Keep us posted...hugs!
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Permalink Reply by Karen Marie on
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I agree with everyone else...giving her back 50% is very generous.....she is trying to get a free cake out of you. I could understand if the cake was un-serveable however you did do that and no one except the bride was the wiser...and I am sure there wasnt any negative feedback from the taste of your cake. I think Sher has some good points about negotiating with her...sounds like her friends and family are influencing her decision to deal harshly with you. You did everything you could and her guests got dessert, Stand your ground. I think if you offer her free cakes you will never be free of a bad situation.
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Thanks to everyone for your support and input on this very delicate situation. My husband and I have decided that we will definitely be sending her a refund of 50%. A wonderful photographer friend of mine is even using Photoshop to put the 'before' pictures of the cake that I originally made in place of the 'fake cake' that was on display at the wedding. We will be forwarding those photos on to her, as well. Although she will most likely still not be happy, I will feel that I have done all that I can to make the best of a horrible situation. Thanks again so much to all of you for your input, suggestions and support!!!!
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