AIBU to expect the birthday cake booking date changed without extra charge?

I agree. I think if someone cancels and expects a refund then absolutely not, the baker has spent time and ingredients. But to say they are freezing the cake and then just give it away and expect you to pay full price is awful. She should have given the cake to you if she realised it wouldn't fit in the freezer.

very true too!

It’s the slot PLUS the cake that’s paid for. What had been made belongs to the OP.

Tbh I think it’s a lesson in getting proper contracts and being very clear if postponing is needed rather then cancelling, both for you and the cake maker.

If £200 is all it’s going to cost to rearrange a full party at short notice then I’d consider yourself very lucky. When we had to cancel a party with 48 hours notice because one of my children was critically ill in ICU we lost deposits from all of the suppliers. Only the church hall allowed us to rebook on a different date at no cost.

If you booked a hairdresser to come and do your hair and 2 of your friends on a monday and you cancelled on sunday, yes she loses out on that money as she cant now book any other clients in that short notice so yes you should have paid for the haircuts, its the same with the cake, shes running a business and you pay for her time, i dont know why you are moaning

That was your £200 cake. You paid for it. You also made it clear you still wanted it and discussed freezing. She should not have given it away for free to someone else without asking you. I mean, I’d have sent a cab to collect it rather than lose the whole thing! I’d tell her that you’re shocked that your whole cake was disposed of (in a stranger’s gob) without your permission given that you’d discussed freezing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she sold it to someone else, just iced to their taste.

I’d offer to pay for ingredients and time of sponge (so partial payment). Then expect to pay full whack for new cake.

It expect to pay her again for all of her time (including time she hadn’t yet spent eg decorating, as she won’t be able to get another customer who wants a short notice cake), which is presumably a substantial amount of the bill.
I wouldn’t expect to pay again for icing ingredients as they will keep.
But if she’s charging me again for the cake, I’d want the cake she gave away. But that is probably a minimal amount of the overall cost.

Ahahahaha!

If i were you, I’d have gone and collected the finished cake and had a mini birthday party just to cheer her up. I wouldn’t have been happy with a frozen cake but that’s just me. You could have always gone and got a Colin the Caterpillar for the new party.

How long did you leave it until you got in contact again with the new date? £200 on a child’s cake for a village hall party is insane

As I've seen others comment, if she intended to charge you in full she should have at least offered the cake ordered. She absolutely is entitled to some compensation for her time, as she could have taken another booking for that day. But full price again, if she didn't use all the materials ordered previously, feels a little steep.

As she didn't offer you the original cake, I would say half price for the rearranged time seems reasonable, £100 to compensate her time for the first booking and the full price for the second.

It may well end up as a lesson learned to check any cancellation policies more carefully, even with social media messaged bookings.

Why does everyone assume that the suppliers (including the cake baker) turned down other bookings to reserve the original party date? They might have done, but given that OP lives in a village, it’s quite possible that their bookings are few and far between.

OP paid for the sponges ? But they were given to a neighbour 🤔

You mean sponges appear out of thin air and don't have to be made? I have never heard of this. It took her time to make the sponge and she decided against freezing it to use later. She should offer you a partial rate but you have already used her time and are going to use it again. So pay for the new sponge.

Yes this!! The cake maker should have made it crystal clear from the second OP said the party was not happening that she wouldn’t be getting the cake but would still be charged and if she wanted another cake at a later date it would be full price.

The baker assumed that op just didn’t want the cake at all and essentially stole £200 off her. The baker should have delivered the cake as agreed.

I feel like she owes you a cake! You paid for a cake, you should have received a cake.

She should have said no cancellation at the time you contacted her and allowed you to collect the cake. Or she should have been upfront about a reduced fee as not decorated yet

Fair enough, but that wasn’t my point. My point was that she didn’t refund OP because of the late cancellation and that’s fine. But OP should have received the cake she paid for. That’s not okay.

Basically what should have happened if you'd had to cancel but didn't rebook or she couldn't fit you in, because I think the same applies here.

Either she says 'Don't worry, I can use the cake for someone else (whether freezing it or whatever), so won't charge you.' = fair.
Or she could have said. 'I've made the cake so still need full payment sorry. I'll bring the cake over' = fair.

'I want full payment for the cake but you can't have the cake,' is ridiculous!

But that doesn't take into account the last minute cancellation does it? I've turned people away because I've been booked, it would have been highly unlikely she could have had anyone else to fill the space