To not pay a crafter for a bespoke made item

[wherethewildrosesgrow]

I’ve wanted a really nice bread bin for ages, fed up of my old rusty one leaving marks all over the kitchen worktop, saw a nice one on the internet, lovely design, but it wasn’t big enough, I needed a double/two loaf model.
Decided to splash out and get one made (wooden), spent ages sending pics/designs to local crafter, lots didn’t answer, or didn’t come back with a price after initially showing interest in taking on the project, or some couldn’t make it for nearly a year.
After a while I found a lovely new to crafting lady at an event, her work was amazing, and she quoted me £70 for a reclaimed solid oak bread bin, based on some pics I sent her, and included a rough sketch with measurements (internal& external), but I did say the size could altered slightly if she felt it would look more proportional, as long as it fitted two loaves (one on top of each other, with internal shelf), I even sent her a pic with the tape measure in front of the loaves I use for clarity...she sent me a sketch back, and I asked her to go ahead with the make.
Shes in the final stages, and today she’s sent me an update with pics.
Problem...it isn’t anything like the sketches either of us sent, she’s added the word BREAD in red to the front of it, which I never asked for, and wasn’t included in any of the pics or sketches.
It hasn’t got an internal shelf, the loaves look as if they are to fit side by side, so it’s going to take up far more valuable work surface space, and my kitchen isn’t big.
Im unsure if it’s even going to fit two loaves in...but it’s very hard to judge from a pic.
AND she has told me she’s made it out of pallet wood instead of the reclaimed oak, as she felt it looked more rustic...I did say initially I wanted rustic...but she gave me a samples of wood to chose from, and pallet wood is not the agreed oak.
EEEK.
Would I be really really unreasonable to say ‘I don’t want it, it’s not what we agreed’
I feel awful, as she new to crafting, and she’s lovely....but it, in my eyes anyway, it looks awful, I don’t feel I could use it elsewhere even.
This is my Christmas birthday and Mother’s Day present all in one, I feel like somebody like me should never even of attempted to have something handmade, I should of stuck to one for a fiver from B&M.
She’s on holiday til the weekend, so I don’t want to message her immediately, and spoil things for her

Gosh, her business isn't going to last long with an attitude like hers!

Bespoke means you do it to the customer's spec.
If you need to change anything, you clear it with the customer.
If it's not what the customer ordered/wanted, then you suck it up and you DO NOT plaster your bitchy whinings all over social media. You ESPECIALLY DO NOT start a harassment campaign against said customer!

In fact, as it is a harassment campaign she's started (involving your WORK??) I'd be strongly tempted to contact the police yourself. She's guilty of defamation, harassment etc. and it's a jolly good job she got none of your money.

What a total arse of a woman!

'at yeast'

Sorry OP.

You said but don't expect a skilled craftsperson to make you bespoke delights for less than a living wage.

You didn't say it was ops fault, but that certainly implies that the op had unreasonable expectations. Its not unreasonable to expect to pay the price asked by the seller for the specific item ordered.

She's certainly inciting harassment and deserves all she gets.

Make complaints that cost her money - breach of privacy is a good start, but you sound like you've identified yourself by responding to her posts?

Does the UK have laws about using a carriage service (internet, phone) to harass or intimidate? That is what these people are doing, particularly by calling your totally unrelated place of work.

Slander is also another option, but would require a solicitor to progress.

Copy all social media posts while you have access so you can pursue further if you decide to.

She sounds one slice short of a loaf

Oh OP

It’s heartbreaking reading your messages about not being deserving of something nice. A well used and good quality household item is a good use of money, and fair play to you trying to support what you thought was a local business instead of M&S or John Lewis etc.

Hold your head up high and give your manager a heads up than you’re being targeted by malicious allegations. Can you call the police on 101 to get some advice?

Wow! I hope you are logging all this with screen shots OP.

Also OP- I’ve found this one on amazon which seems to fit your brief- and cheaper too!

I agree with @Ellisandra, say you think its someone else's bread bin cause it's not the one she's working on for you. Remind her then of everything your wanted. She will then now you're not happy with the changes she's made without outright telling her.

Blimey.

"the op had unreasonable expectations. Its not unreasonable to expect to pay the price asked by the seller for the specific item ordered."

Well it's hard to know how to answer that. It is in fact clearly unreasonable to expect a bespoke solid oak piece of joinery for 70 quid, in the sense that it is just not possible to produce one for that price and make a profit. Some craftspeople might well do it, like I said, because they don't bother charging for their time. The OP didn't know this, that's fair enough, and 70 quid is a lot of money in and of itself. It's just that producing good craft is slow and material costs are high. When you account for that, 70 quid might get you only about an hours' worth of making depending on materials. We all know this at the extreme (if someone says they'll make you a bespoke solid gold ring with inset diamonds for 20 quid, you'll think 'yeah, scammer', right?). I was pointing out that unfortunately it holds in this case as well.

TerribleCustomerCervix makes my point for me. A factory-made relatively bog standard bread bin will set you back 50 quid. So a handmade bespoke-design one for 70...doesn't quite stack up.

I hope she doesnt cause you any problems at work tomorrow, OP.

the breach of your private information is illegal.. as someone upthread already stated.. it's a breach of GDPR...

I'm so sorry this has gotten so ugly... I hope people are taking her to task online 🌺

Sounds like she'll be having you on judge rinder next 😂

I'd fight fire with fire OP and stick the picture on here and let a few people know what site she's on bad mouthing you and a few of us can stick up for you on there and what the hell is her friend on she sounds really aggressive!

It’s not a very leaven-headed response from the woman is it? Quite unpalletable.

Wow, OP I'm so sorry this has happened to you. She sounds like a really awful person - especially with the naming of you and all of her friends ganging up! I think as a pp said if they do contact your work then you can report her for gdpr?

Can't believe she would deviate from the brief so much without consulting with you, especially changing the materials and especially especially when it's to wood pallet! (Thanks btw everyone for warning of the dangers - I had no idea)

I really hope you get something wonderful coming to you soon. As others have said you deserve it!

This crafter seem to be on a roll! No one kneads this much drama over a bread bin.

Have you tried Etsy, OP?

Blimey, she’s got a right cob on!

If the harassment continues I would go to the police, she should t be blasting you on the internet

Don't post the finished item pic OP. It is her copyright so you might be breaching Copyright Design and Patents act. Maintain the high ground. This is absolutely nothing to do with your work and you have done nothing wrong. Can't believe your work would be the slightest bit interested. So sorry it has turned out like this.

Can share the fb page though 😁

Clearly she was trying to shaft you with a very cheap naff version of what you were asking and paying for... she's a con merchant 🙄