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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to only partially refund...

103 replies

NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 11:50

ok so...

i make cakes as a hobby and only charge for materials and maybe another £10 on top. i had an order request in november from a girl who works with my sister and she kept changing her mind on what she wanted. she wanted her cake for todays date.

i sent her a message in febuary confirming details and she sent me a picture of a cake she had seen and said she wanted this one (lilac icing, 1 tier with 24 cupcakes) i told her this would be £65 as materials for what she wanted amounted to around £55 factoring in electric to bake and petrol to run around buying things and she agreed to this price and wanted to pay there and then.

i made the cake, spent 2 days (evenings after work) baking and decorating it to how she has asked going from the pic she sent and put my own take on it (it really does look nice too)

she asked for a pic this morning before i was taking it to her house (15 miles away) this afternoon and she says she doesnt like it, the lilac is not the colour she wanted, she wants pink and she wants a 3 tier pink icing...nothing AT ALL like the sample pic she sent me...

i then received a call from her dad who proceeded to threaten me and said either i give a full refund with compensation or he will "sort you out, im warning you" (his exact words) and then sue me for the refundHmm

at this stage i had already offered a 50% refund but said i was not willing to refund the full amount just because she had changed her mind. alot of the original messages between myself and the girl had been via my facebook cake profile page and due to issues with FB i cant see the original messages (hate FB!) and messages were relayed between my sister and the girl and myself as she wouldnt contact me (mobile phone) herself...

so i suppose what im asking is, given the above info, if you were me, what would you do and AIBU to say no to giving a full refund?

TIA and sorry about the long message on such a petty issue as cake...

OP posts:
YonWhaleFish · 23/03/2012 11:55

Isn't this situation what paperwork is for?

Nothing can be proved or disproved without a paper trail.

YonWhaleFish · 23/03/2012 11:55

Or electronic "paper" trail! You don't have to give her anything I would have thought as it's not "official"

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 11:57

not sure what you mean, do you mean reciepts and suchlike?...its a hobby not a business and she knows this...therefore no paper trail...

OP posts:
BareBums · 23/03/2012 12:00

No refund and if you ever have to speak to her dad you can inform him you have recorded his threat and will be informing the police so they can go "sort him out"

WillSingForCake · 23/03/2012 12:02

I think if you go to your Facebook message page there's an option to view archived messages? If you can prove you made what she asked for then it's worth fighting for your money, if not it may be best to cut your losses and chalk it up as a bad experience.

Can your sister help at all?

And if you're getting paid it becomes a business, not a hobby!

Good luck, a miserable situation to be in, hope it gets sorted.

DowagersHump · 23/03/2012 12:02

But it's not a petty issue - you're out of pocket. I'd tell her to whistle (and that you'll be reporting her dad to the police for threatening you)

Do you not have a copy of the sample pic she sent?

AmazingBouncingFerret · 23/03/2012 12:04

I wouldnt give them a penny now.

Report his threat to the police and if they contact you again inform them of it

cheeky fuckers.

Tiggles · 23/03/2012 12:04

If you have a picture she sent you and it looks like the picture, YANBU to not refund (Which depends how much of your own take you put on the cake)

YABU not to have any paperwork as surely if you are making money from this you should be registered as self employed which will require an audit trail.

LaurieFairyCake · 23/03/2012 12:09

Post a picture on FB of the pic SHE sent you and a pic of the cake you actually made.

Then lots of people will comment favourably.

When the dad calls again record the conversation and report it to the police. I'd have done that already if I were you.

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 12:10

dowagers i do have the pic she sent me and its NOTHING like what she says she now wants...

its such a ridiculous argument and shes being very childish and rude on the texts she is sending me! my sister spoke to her before and can see her FB messages and she did originally say she wanted a pink cake but then changed her mind 3 times before sending the sample picture in feb. i asked her in feb if shes happy with the design etc (the design was HORRID and a mess of clashing colours covered in dolly mixtures with skewers sticking out of the top) as i always make my own take on the designs so im not stealing someone elses design. i made a spray (curled wire with sweets fed onto it- rather elegant but quirky too) for the top and did the same colours- lilac marbled icing etc. she is now saying that as the cake is lilac and not pink i have RUINED her entire birthdayHmm

OP posts:
buttonmoon78 · 23/03/2012 12:13

Well, someone's certainly being childish.

I would refuse to refund anything if you have made it like the photo she supplied. Did you point out it wouldn't be exactly as the pic?

I would also report her dad to the police. He sounds charming Hmm

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 12:16

littlemissgreen i dont make anything from the cakes...i very rarely add anything on for myself and the money i charge is to buy the required materials...i make about 2 cakes per month at the min too so im not raking it in from them by no means... i added £11 to the cost of this one as she was arsing me about and i wanted to make sure i would be covered if she did change her mind again... would i still have to declare it? (im not treating it like a business as it wouldnt even pay for a weeks shopping never mind a wage and i work full time)

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 23/03/2012 12:17

Any chance you're in Hertfordshire?

I like cake. I've got £55. It would make a nice housewarming gift for my friend.

Then you can pay the crazy bitch off and be smug with the fact the daft mare has no birthday cake.

SoupDragon · 23/03/2012 12:18

I wouldn't refund her at all and, as others have said, tell the father the you will report him to the police if he threatens you further.

How old is she??

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 12:23

laurie Grin im in the north west sorry...

OP posts:
Plaguegroup · 23/03/2012 12:35

You wouldn't have to declare income (under your personal allowance) but your kitchen should be checked by the council hygiene people if you're taking money for cakes. It's not hugely expensive or difficult but probably worth doing in case some nutter, like this girl, wants to make trouble for you.

I wouldn't refund her under the circumstances, not even partially.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 23/03/2012 12:40

What a spoiled brat. She needs to learn a few lessons about what actually matters in life, and some lessons in manners too! It sounds like a beautiful cake, and I would be delighted to have something unique and pretty like that.

I would want to stick to my guns, and not refund a penny - but it does sound like they might make lots of trouble for you, if you do that. Might it be worth £55 to get them out of your life?

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 12:43

thanks for the replies so far...Smile

im quietly calming down from being quite annoyed earlier...

i hate having the piss taken out of me...

OP posts:
fluffiphlox · 23/03/2012 12:45

Give them the money back (annoying, but you'll hopefully have a quieter life) and re-think your 'business' model

altinkum · 23/03/2012 12:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
NoMoreMarbles · 23/03/2012 12:46

she has said she will "begrugeonly" (begrudgingly im thinking) accept £32.50 and she will "never get a cake from me agen" via text... so we have both lost out money wise but i have cake to eat so...

OP posts:
Callisto · 23/03/2012 12:51

Jesus - £55 for materials? Is the cake big enough to live in?

Also, the customer is always right and if she doesn't like the look of your take on the picture she provided, she is within her rights to ask for her money back. Did you not discuss colours first? Perhaps she thought the 'lilac' was in fact pink. And really, doing business deals through facebook and then being suprised when it all goes TU? Think you need to either do you cakes as a real hobby (ie not charge for them) or as a business and set up properly so everyone knows where they stand.

scaryteacher · 23/03/2012 12:53

Eat it and don't pay her a thing. She wanted literally to have her (free) cake and eat it.

GnomeDePlume · 23/03/2012 12:54

As others have said, dont refund and if the father phones back let him rant a bit and then inform him that you are recording the call (and do so).

Learn from this, get paperwork in order including hygiene certificates and make sure you detail orders properly in future so that when somebody says do X you confirm it back and keep a paper trail.

Keep all your receipts for ingredients, materials etc and put these together with the order details. That way you always have something to refer back to.

Many years ago my DM made wedding cakes. She was always a lot cheaper than the local bakers because it was a hobby for her. Problem was that this meant she ended up with the skinflint customers who would try and get money off at every turn.

YonWhaleFish · 23/03/2012 12:58

*Learn from this, get paperwork in order including hygiene certificates and make sure you detail orders properly in future so that when somebody says do X you confirm it back and keep a paper trail.

Keep all your receipts for ingredients, materials etc and put these together with the order details. That way you always have something to refer back to.*

All of this is great advice, plus written details, photos and sketches of an order can be kept for reference if this type of situation crops up again - ie: "here, (rustle of papers) in front of you, nobby customer, is what you asked for. Now kindly leave". Some terms and conditions need drawing up too, to help protect you with this.