To think a full refund should have been offered

[wowzawoo]

I picked up cake today for DC birthday party - looked gorgeous but it stunk of smoke! The house smelled too but I thought maybe the cake would be okay - but when I checked at home it really smelt strongly.

I messaged the lady and said I thought the cake was wonderful looking but I wouldn't eat it or serve it because of the smell of stale smoke and asked for a refund also said happy to return the cake to her.

She has apologised and said no one smoked around the cake, she said she would refund my money minus the deposit.

Now, I am okay with this because actually I feel sorry for her, clearly she doesn't know how bad her house smells and then in turn the cake. But really I feel she should have offered a full refund.

Aibu to think this? Every time I look at the cake I feel sorry for her and then doubt my thought that she was being unreasonable to, one sell a cake like that and two that she should have offered a full refund.

I am out of pocket because I have lost the deposit and had to go to a supermarket and buy another cake.

Seller sells through FB page and has five stars!

I didn't use it! I bought a cake from a super market.

Freudian- are you being deliberately ridiculous? A smoke smelling cake is not important to some people? Ffs. Op you should not have had to state that you wanted a non smoke smelling cake....

But seen as you kept the cake, I'd say the deposit was hers to keep. She could argue that it didn't smell of smoke really...

I offered to return the cake and she didn't want it.

Have you eaten it?

I agree, OP. When you are eating in a smoky environment you don’t really notice. Non smoker in a non smoky environment, you really can tell.

No I have not eaten it. We ate one from Tesco.

It’s illegal to smoke at a workplace.

YANBU, OP, and people, please stop accusing her of using it when she didn't!

Unless it was commercially made, in which case it's reasonable to expect no smoking nearby, you should have stipulated that at the time of ordering.

FFS. I cannot fathom why anyone would think you should have to specify to anyone making food that the food shouldn't smell of fags.

I'd ask for a refund of your deposit as well, OP. It was part of the cost of the cake that you paid for in good faith but then couldn't use.

FFS. I cannot fathom why anyone would think you should have to specify to anyone making food that the food shouldn't smell of fags.

This

Of course you shouldn't have to stipulate to someone who is making a cake in return for money that you don't want them smoking around it!!! How ridiculous. Should you also stipulate you don't want anyone vomiting on it? Or baking with dirty hands? Or spitting in it?! If you have a business making cakes for money then they need to be fit for purpose.

Yes but this is food. Clothes/toys etc although still grim you can wash it.

Is everyone hard of reading?

The OP has quite clearly said more than once that she didn't eat it.

And as for saying you don't want a cake that smells of smoke as part of the instructions to the baker, that's ridiculous, there's no way any one would say that FreudianSlurp.

I’m not saying the cake didn’t smell - it clearly did. But I’m wondering if the smell is something else other than cigarette smoke. I am a huge anti smoker - I can smell smoke a mile off. My hubby smokes so I’m very familiar with the smell! But never in my life have I tasted food which smells of smoke. And I’m old enough to hand flown on planes and eaten plane food when it was legal to smoke on plane flights. I also used to work in pubs when it was legal to smoke there too.

It would never occur to me that food I ordered would smell of cigarette smoke, until reading this thread. So I wouldn't think to stipulate that it shouldn't. And to be honest I'd feel a bit weird/rude requesting it as it seems so obvious I'd also expect the baker to wash their hands and maintain reasonable hygiene standards, not let their children or animals touch the cake etc. Again, things I wouldn't think to request...

YANBU OP. I would've been mortified in her position and offered a full refund. Sorry you couldn't use the cake. I hope the supermarket one was OK

YANBU
Of course she doesn't want the cake back - you having it is grounds for her to keep the deposit which is of more use to her than a custom cake. If I had the guts, I'd drive the cake back anyway and insist on a full refund. But I'm a pushover who probably wouldn't have even messaged for the initial refund. You should keep pushing if you can though, a smoky cake is totally grim.

It would be odd for someone not to know their house smells of smoke . . . unless it doesn't. I wonder if it was actually the DP who smokes and the smell transferred from them.

I don't smoke, and I've thankfully never been around it (other than in passing in the street). I can imagine though, if a cake had been sitting in a kitchen for a full day waiting to be picked up, and people were smoking like chimneys in the same room , the cake would smell?

Slow typing what Fluffy said!

Of course you shouldn't have had to stipulate that the cake shouldn't smell of smoke! She should definitely refund the full amount if she provided an inedible product and if she doesn't then review her accordingly. Rubbish service.

Has anyone ever in their life eaten food that smelt or tasted of smoke?? It sounds to me that when you collected the cake you could smell cigarette smoke from inside the house and then got massively paranoid about the cake.

No way should you have to specify that food shouldn't be smoked over. She's running a food business which means she should be registered with environmental health (at least that's the situation here) who check and would absolutely not allow smoking in the food prep area.

I can also well imagine that fondant would absorb smoke smells, as I've had icing absorb flavours from the fridge before (garlicky icing is not yummy!)

Blimey, I don't want ANYTHING I purchase to smell of cigarette smoke! Let alone something I need to eat.

But clearly I need to put that writing before I set foot in Asda?!