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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Birthday cake disaster, what would you do?

156 replies

Cakeybreakyheart · 01/03/2015 21:41

I bought DP a birthday cake for a v special birthday, we didn't have a chance to cut it at his party.

We cut it today to start giving it out to people.

The cake itself looks fab but it's totally inedible. Dry, very very heavy consistency almost bread-like.

It doesn't taste very nice at all and I'm just gutted about it. You really couldn't even force a piece down.

Would you tell the person who made it? I paid over £50.

What would you expect them to say/do?

OP posts:
angelohsodelight · 03/03/2015 20:14

Does their website mention a late fee? Get a friend to call them to see what they say - enquire about a fake booking in 7 days. I wouldn't be happy and would leave negative reviews.

wowfudge · 03/03/2015 20:27

Just read the thread. The late fee is a smokescreen and the refund should be in full. The late fee is possibly to cover extra staffing at short notice or other logistical things. If the cake is inedible then the late fee is irrelevant imo because your total spend has been wasted.

Anyone running a business wants their customers to be happy. In simple terms repeat business is easier and cheaper to develop if you give a good service than new business is to get so they should want someone to come back. If I were the cake maker I would be offering a replacement cake to show I could get it right.

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 03/03/2015 20:42

Thanks wow

I'm just glad it was old DP and not a little child who would have been so disappointed not to have a cake.

quietbatperson I will check out that lemon drizzle tomorrow! Thank you so much.

OP posts:
Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 03/03/2015 20:45

To be fair Angel they told me the price included a late fee and I was happy to pay the total cost.

OP posts:
DaffyDuck88 · 03/03/2015 21:26

Totally agree they should refund the whole amount. An inedible cake is useless. And regardless of whether the actually do stump up the refund or not, I would be actively telling people how awful the cake was.

diddl · 04/03/2015 08:19

You paid the extra to have the cake made quickly presumably.

But it was still inedible, so I don't see what the "late fee" has to do with anything.

They haven't fulfilled their part of the contract!

CharityD · 04/03/2015 09:48

They should refund the whole amount. The cake wasn't usable, so they haven't fulfilled their side of things.

musicalendorphins2 · 04/03/2015 12:11

Refund the entire fee sounds right to me.
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a late fee?

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 04/03/2015 13:15

They charged a late fee as it was ordered at short notice (10 days before)

OP posts:
DancingHat · 04/03/2015 13:27

I ordered a similar sized cake and kept it in a cupboard for 24 hours and it looked and tasted amazing. It was virtually an identical price too with no late fee. I don't think how you stored it or how much you paid are issues in this. Ideally you want a replacement cake for free. Which presumably would be cheaper for them than giving an actual cash refund?

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 04/03/2015 13:34

No I wouldn't want a replacement cake. Party was on Saturday.

OP posts:
diddl · 04/03/2015 14:53

Ideally I think that they should be refunding in full, plus sending a small cake to priove that they can bake edible cakes!

"Fortunately" for OP, the birthday wasn't ruined, but it easily could have been if the cake had been cut & handed out to be eaten on the day!

Well maybe not ruined, but certainly it would have been much worse (imo) for the cake maker as people would be asking where on earth it was from.
And not in a good way!

The business should be thinking themselves damn lucky that it wasn't any worse for them & bending over backwards to appease OP!

AmyElliotDunne · 04/03/2015 15:03

What SweetValentine said, take the partial refund then you can still slag them off to anyone who will listen!

musicalendorphins2 · 04/03/2015 15:06

I see, thanks.

DeliciousMonster · 04/03/2015 15:07

They charged a late fee as it was ordered at short notice (10 days before)

It still needs to be edible!

18yearsoftrying · 04/03/2015 19:23

Surely under the Sales of Goods Act you should be refunded as it wasn't "fit for purpose"?

londonrach · 04/03/2015 21:09

What if anyone eating the cake had become ill. I hope the baker had insurance. I think a full refund now as the late fee is misleading....

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 05/03/2015 20:46

Update - we've had a full refund. Really pleased.

Thanks for the comments everyone Cake

OP posts:
CharityD · 05/03/2015 20:49

Well done. Cake

Messygirl · 05/03/2015 21:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SnottyCowbag · 05/03/2015 21:42

That's good. Did they agree that there was something wrong with the cake?

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 05/03/2015 21:44

Hi Madrigals, no I think they asked if we'd bring it back at first to make sure we were genuine.

We said straight away that we would bring it back and they then said it wouldn't be necessary. We also sent a pic showing we had cut it but not eaten it, so I think they were satisfied with that.

What do I do with a great big cake though now? I think the birds are going to have a lovely treat on the weekend Cake

OP posts:
DirtyDancing · 05/03/2015 22:24

You need to give them fair & honest review that states the problem. It's not nice but if the cake was so terrible their amazing reviews need some balance

Midori1999 · 05/03/2015 23:04

Glad you got a refund.

Really though, a 12" square cake is 50-60 portions and £50 is really very cheap for a decorated cake of this size. There are loads of people setting up cake making 'businesses' at the moment and I'm pretty sure many of them haven't costed correctly, as even if they don't include a percentage of their equipment costs or electricity in their calculations and are using the cheapest possible ingredients, they still are often charging the same or not much more than the ingredients, board etc would cost and sometimes even less. You get what you pay for generally, although obviously regardless of how mug you pay, it's not unreasonable to expect it to be edible.

Original poster
Cakeybreakyheart · 05/03/2015 23:55

Midori I did get one other quote for the same cake which was £50 (from a cake shop) but decided to go with the place I ordered from.

Also my DB had a similar sized cake made last year with a lot more decoration for £40.

So I truly don't think they had undercharged. My mum who makes cakes occasionally (I couldn't ask her to make this as she was already helping with the food but we've really kicked ourselves that she didn't make it) has costed the ingredients as about £25.

It wasn't a complicated decorated cake at all. So I don't think it was particularly cheap/undercharged.

OP posts:
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