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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Permalink Reply by Laurie L Allard on August 26, 2010 at 6:57pm

Know you did the right thing. As with all weddings, brides and grooms, esp. brides are very emotional. We are only human. You did not do anything to deliberatly hurt her day. You did everything you could to make it right. I really hope you do not beat yourself up over this. I also hope the bride will let it go and realize, the marriage itself and the people there, are truly what matters. If you hear unpleasant things from her or from people she has talked to, you can say I did the best to make what was a good situation turned bad, back into a good situation. I did not do this maliciously. I bent over backwards to fix it.
I wish you the best and please do not beat yourself up over this. You are a baker, and these things happen. I hope you never go through this again. I think she is fortunate that she had such a considerate baker to go to the legnths you did and offered her a 50% refund plus the anniversary cake, and the pictures. Good luck to you!

Lisa Chavez said:

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!!!!

How much to refund bride?

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