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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:
juliewoojulie · 23/03/2012 14:10

your cake is much better, how anyone could be unhappy with that i really dont know?? i wouldn't refund!!

scarlettsmummy2 · 23/03/2012 14:16

She sounds like a total nutter and her dad is just as bad. He should be telling her to grow up!

Imnotaslimjim · 23/03/2012 14:20

Nomoremarbles, I'm a fellow (local) caker. If you'd like to PM me with an email address I will happily send you a template order form to use. And you did a fab job on the cake, I'd tell her to take a running jump and eat it myself lol

Imnotaslimjim · 23/03/2012 14:22

Oh, and happycamel is right, you need to register with local trading standards, even if you aren't running an official business you are selling to the public so you need a kitchen inspection doing. Its really easy to sort out though

eurochick · 23/03/2012 14:24

Your cake looks really lovely but I would say it is rather different to the photo (nicer, but definitly different). The colour looks more purpley rather than pink. I was going to post that you shouldn't refund her at all, but having seen the two pictures, I think she might have a point, sorry!

She is being a brat, but send her the half refund and chalk it up to experience.

Labradorlover · 23/03/2012 14:24

As well as getting your kitchen checked, have you got food handling/hygine certificate and insurance? Essential when preparing food for cash, even with no profit. I know cakes are "low" risk, but you can get a huge fine/prison for food poisoning.

SoupDragon · 23/03/2012 14:25

Her picture looks pink, your cake looks blue.

nickelhasababy · 23/03/2012 14:25

you can get a hygiene certificate through a one-day course.

and yes, do register self-employed (NI stamps are dead cheap) with hmrc.

SoupDragon · 23/03/2012 14:25

i'm changing my vote to the "refund her" side, sorry.

crazycanuck · 23/03/2012 14:32

OP said that the spoilt brat woman had changed her mind and asked for lilac icing instead of pink

Catsdontcare · 23/03/2012 14:37

I'vejust finished making ds's birthday cake (nowhere near as fancy though!) and it quite shocking the cost of making a cake I totally get why professionals charge what they do as the hours that go into making it are LONG!

Anyway I think your version is much nicer the other one looks a mess

ChaoticAngel · 23/03/2012 14:38

I wouldn't refund purely on principle after her father threatened you.

I also think your cake is much nicer than the original and if I had the money I'd buy it. I'm not that far from you myself :)

YonWhaleFish · 23/03/2012 14:44

*I'd say you need to be careful. You dont think of it as a business but you're taking orders from strangers, manufacturing a product and exchanging it for money, you also have a website that is advertising. Youve got HSE risk because you're kitchen needs assessing for hygiene certification, you need a basic food hygiene certificate and you should be paying tax on your profit. Even if you make a loss it's still a business. You don't need to go ltd company though, you could be a sole trader.

I'd get it sorted before someone makes trouble for you.*

I agree with this!

nickelhasababy · 23/03/2012 14:46

and you can post-date your declaration of self-employment by 3 months, if that helps.

Charleymouse · 23/03/2012 14:55

Cheers for the pics Nomore. Yours looks lovely, good enough to eat in fact.

MissFaversham · 23/03/2012 14:58

She sounds like a total spoilt brat OP and a for her father threatening Angry I'd refund only what wasn't "materials".

Also I'd think about covering my backside like others have said.

soverylucky · 23/03/2012 15:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tiggles · 23/03/2012 15:20

Your cake looks fantastic, better than her picture but it does at least in the photo, appear a lot more purple that the original, so you might have to refund.

Regarding self employment, I believe that if you are taking money on top of materials even occasionally (think about the stick people on benefits get for doing the odd job cash in hand) that you should register as self employed. I have a full time job and am also self employed. As long as your SE job brings in less than a certain amount (sorry can't remember what as i am now way over it) you can have a small earning NI exemption certificate, so other than paying a small amount of income tax each year (presuming your normal job puts you over the threshold) it won't cost you anything. You need to keep a spreadsheet of money in and money out for materials and just put the total of each of these columns in a tax return - really easy. But as others have said there will be implications in your case presumably for HSE.

SoupDragon · 23/03/2012 15:39

"OP said that the spoilt brat woman had changed her mind and asked for lilac icing instead of pink"

Technically, I thought she asked for the cake in the picture which, apparently, is lilac. The cake that was made (unless it has not photographed true to colour) is not at all what I imagined lilac to be and, colourwise, it's nothing like the one in the picture.

LtEveDallas · 23/03/2012 15:53

NoMoreMarbles, I do like your cake, it looks very professional and much less 'busy' than the original.

I do think you'll have to 'suck up' the half refund though, if you don't you may find they make trouble for you if you don't Sad

(as an aside - your dog could be my dogs twin - pic on my profile for comparison!)

PuffPants · 23/03/2012 16:01

Wasn't there a similar thread on here a few months ago, but written from the perspective of the buyer? The cake maker had wriiten abuse about her on Facebook because she didn't collect and pay for the cake as quickly as she should have... or something?

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 23/03/2012 16:10

Your cake looks much better, but it also looks very blue. I'm sure the picture is making it darker, but it looks like it is a long way from lilac. Sorry.

IloveJudgeJudy · 23/03/2012 16:14

My bridesmaid's dress was violet/mauve/lilac and when most of the photos came through, it came out as blue - nothing like the actual colour of the dress!

OP, my DM makes cakes, but she only ever does it via word of mouth, ie my friends, family or her friends.

You aren't really charging enough for your time, though, are you? DM is much cheaper than bakers, but would have charged more than you did for the cake. In this world, if you don't value your work, I have found, then others won't, either!

I think a half-refund is fair on both parties, in this case.

GravyAndALumpyMashBaby · 23/03/2012 16:25

I'm confused!

Marbles So she isn't willing to take the cakes...but will accept only £32 back?
Sounded to me like she expected you to refund half the price AND have the cake. Confused

Why would she NOT accept the cake? She has no other options now surely? Otherwise she's paid £32 for nothing?

puffinnuffin · 23/03/2012 16:27

Your cake looks lovely but could you doctorate it abit and add a few pink/dolly mixture type things to keep the lady happy? I don't know about cake making but is it possible to paint/stick something around the base to make it more pink? I'm probably talking rubbish but wondered if you could just adapt your cake or swop some of the cupcakes for pink ones??

Word of mouth is how things become successful and you don't want this difficult family ruining your cake making reputation.

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