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!

Yanbu. I wouldn't have been happy to eat it or serve it.

The only thing I can think about would be to present it with candles, sing happy birthday, then take it to another room to be cut up and serve up another cake. That way it hasn't totally gone to waste as presumably it looks nice.

Titty does that come under commercially made? I compare it with taking money for petrol if I give someone a lift doesn't mean I need a taxi licence, but I may be wrong (about selling the cake I mean).

There are actually regulations surrounding giving ‘lifts’ for money without a taxi licence too.

The Food Safety Act states businesses should ensure 'that the food you serve or sell is of the nature, substance or quality which consumers would expect.'

I.e., not smelling of smoke to any reasonable person. I doubt you would be classed as a reasonable person in this case Freudian.

Gross OP. And I do believe you. My DH bought an old computer off someone (some 5 years ago,) and it STUNK of cigarettes. Even the bloody MOUSE. If you smoke around ANYthing it will stink of smoke, no matter what it is.

And how many times does the OP have to say she DID NOT EAT THE CAKE. And also THE CAKE MAKER TOLD HER TO KEEP THE CAKE.

Problem is, smokers don't realise how foul they stink.

OP you were right to ask for a refund. A house with constant smokers in will make a cake stink of smoke even after a 24hours (assuming she made and decorated the cake the day before) it permeates everything.

You should make a complaint because her kitchen would have to be registered with the local authority and have insurance esp public liability because you collect from the home. The cake maker must know this if the kitchen had been registered.

IF the cake smells so badly of smoke I doubt the standard rules have been adhered to.

The issue with smoking FreudianSlurp is that the hands frequently touch the mouth when smoking and the cake maker must ensure strict hand washing, if she is the smoker, to avoid any potential cross contamination. With how badly the cake would've smelt That would be a lot of risks of contamination and an awful lot of hand washing.

Interesting that the seller hasn’t quibbled about the smell, just refunded bar the deposit.

Uuhhrk! I'd definitely have returned the cake. That's pretty disgusting! It's food after all!!

Another vote here for the fact that you should get a full refund. Don't really understand what the seller's logic is in keeping deposit - except she is less out of pocket obviously but don't understand the 'contractual' logic. Of course you couldn't serve something that smelled of smoke. I would be horrified if my child was given that cake, why should you have had to serve it. It wasn't want you agree you would purchase. If you haven't already I'd be getting back in touch and saying that you expect a full refund and that she is welcome to have the cake back. She is then at liberty to resell although she'd need to redecorate. If she can't, it's not your fault. It's not 'fit for purpose'. MIght be worth you checking out the

Yanbu!!!

Full refund. If she was that worried about the time and money shed not have smoked around the cake makimg it inedible.

Think Freudian must be the baker

Do we have to stipulate no dog hair or on it or that it's not kept in the bathroom or does that all come under common sense...

Seriously

Which site. It has a section on Facebook marketplace that covers your rights etc.

If it was my business I would not increase the risk of a bad review over a small deposit!

Report her to environmental health and leave an honest review.

I wonder if it came in a cardboard box? maybe the baker stores the cake boxes somewhere smoky, rather than the kitchen being the source of the smell?

I suppose the logic of keeping the deposit is that it still took someone's labour and tools to bake the cake in the first place, so a full refund would leave them out of pocket and also minus supplies. And unfortunately there probably are more than a few out there who would order these cakes and then suddenly decide they want their money back, thus bagging themselves a free cake!

I understand her cost -but what about my cost?

The house stunk so that is a good indication it is a house where people smoke.

I shouldn't have taken it in hindsight, but I was hoping the cake would be okay and felt a bit shocked at the smell of the house.

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.

I would return the cake to her whether she wants it or not and tell her you would like a full refund. She sold you a cake that you could not eat. It could have been the most amazing looking cake ever created, but if you couldn't eat it due to the smoky smell, it was not fit for purpose.

I would also leave an honest, concise review about your experience if she doesn't offer you a refund.

I suppose the logic of keeping the deposit is that it still took someone's labour and tools to bake the cake in the first place, so a full refund would leave them out of pocket and also minus supplies.

Ferchrissakes. It is the maker's problem that she put in 'labour and tools' but also seasoned the cake with fag smoke. Being out of pocket should be the least of her worries if the OP does the responsible thing and flags her up to environmental health.

I'm surprised there is any element of debate in this at all - a cake which is tainted by cigarette smoke is not fit for purpose and can't have been made in compliance with the relevant food safety regulations. I would be reporting her, and I would expect the deposit returned. I would also return the cake to avoid any suggestion that I was doing anything for my own gain!

urakidura, that logic doesn't work. You can't produce something that is unfit for purpose and still expect to keep the deposit: if you don't want to be out of pocket, it's up to you to produce what you agreed to provide.

If you bought, say, a computer that didn't work and was essentially a useless lump of metal and plastic to you, would you expect to get all your money back, or would you tell the shop that you were happy for them to keep 10% to pass back to the manufacturer because the manufacturer had used labour, tools, and material to produce the computer ?

OP did you get any use of the cake? Did you take any photos etc with the birthday child etc? To me that's key in deciding if you should have got a full refund or not.

You should have had a full refund. it wasn't fit for purpose.
I once ordered a custom made cushion, using bits of material that were sentimental. It came back stinking of smoke, so I febrezed it within an inch of its life and hung it on the line for about 3 days. So OP - I totally believe you. Smokers don't realise how much the smell permeates everything.

The difference is that if I buy a faulty computer then I can prove that it is faulty, because it won't work. How do you prove that a cake smells funny? It's very much a case of OPs word against the baker's.