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

YANBU message her right away as others have said.

I couldn't tell someone their handmade bread bin was crap

It isn't necessarily crap - it might be a thing of beauty - it's just not what was agreed. It's a

a) different design

b) different size

c) different wood

d) has "bread" on it in red (For this alone I'd refuse to shell out!)

I don't know what has possessed this "lovely" woman to vary so much from the agreed spec, but she is effectively trying to make OP pay for an entirely different item.

OP - for both your sakes, turn it down. You need to get the Bread Bin Of Your Dreams, and she needs to learn that she can't just make what she likes when a commission has been agreed.

If you had said. "Make me a bread bin - any design, whatever wood you fancy and decorate it at your whim", then fair enough - you'd be responsible. But you didn't. You gave specific parameters for her to follow, she made suggestions, you agreed a spec between you and that's what you contracted for.

(And reclaimed oak is umpteen times the price of old pallet. She can bugger off with that one!)

She sounds like neither an artisan nor a businesswoman.

Also hoping for photos

Pics please!

@ShirleyPhallus I think the OP needs to roll with general consensus on this thread and refuse to buy it.

BREAD

OP needs to use her loaf and not pay for something she did not order

Definitely don’t pay it op. You’ll regret it. It’s not what you ordered so aren’t under any obligation.

I had similar with a lady that I'd asked to make some cushions for my daughters bed. I met her at a summer fete her work was lovely she had other bits on the stall that were all lovely. I specified Grey and Pink cushions with a flowery initial on one and the other plainer.
She sent me a text with a picture of the finished cushions. One was red flowery and one was fuschia pink as opposed to pale pink and my daughters initial was so curly it didn't even look like the initial. I had to tell her, I felt awful but didn't want to pay £40 for something I didn't want

Made me laugh for some reason, why does it need to have BREAD written on it?

Just be clear with her, this doesn't meet the brief she agreed with you.

No need to be horrid, nor to assume shes pulling any sort of 'fast one' (sorry, making the wrong item or failing to meet the breif really ISN'T 'pulling a fast one', at best it's a mistake in sending images to the wrong client, at worst it's a failure to communicate or even have the skills required to make the item agreed. But given she's sent WIP images to the client, who can now say 'no that's not right' it is not an attempt to scam someone!), just be clear with her.

If shes able to make the correct item, give her the chance (but not ages!), but it may well be an error and the photos were meant for someone else.

Definitely DO NOT pay for something you did not agree to, it will do no one any favours at all.

I do commissioned art work, i would not ever want someone to pay for something they were not happy with!

It sounds hideous. Made from pallets and with BREAD on the side? I'd have no compunction telling her I didn't want it.

More concerning is that a bloody bread bin is your 'Christmas birthday and Mother’s Day present all in one'.

crumbs ShirleyPhallus, cut us a bit of slack. It's all too easy to make a bit of a bloomer when you are typing in a hurry, I haven't made any puns for a bit so my pun genes are a bit crusty I'm afraid, so I'm sorry if my posts have board you, it's bin hard, I've taken a lot of stick, especially from the French, I'll try to do butter next time.

I'll try to do butter next time

Mic drop

I would reply "i think you have confused me with someone else's order, - my sketches are attached and I wanted oak. Let me know when it's ready. Thanks."

Pallet wood is NOT food safe.

Say “I’m glad you’ve made a mock-up. Here are my comments before you go ahead and make it in oak”...then list what’s wrong with it.

Just politely tell her it’s wrong. I ordered a bespoke headpiece from Etsy last year and she put the wrong colour flowers on it. I messaged her and she sent out one with the correct colours right away. I felt slightly mean as obvs it’s a small business but she wasn’t bothered at all and apologised. I left her a nice review.

For £70 I’d expect to get what I’d ordered! I wonder if she found that she couldn’t afford to do it in oak to the agreed cost and that’s why she changed it to pallet wood?

I wouldn't pay for it, she's totally changed the design.

At yeast you haven’t paid anything up front, have you?

Whatever you do, OP, don't let her get a rise out of you.

Agree you need to do the whole “ I think you have mixed my order up with someone else’s” .
Also agree that pallet wood is not ok. Mind you reclaimed oak might not be food safe either - would you want your loaf resting on something that had been coated in toxic anti-woodworm treatment ? Say if it was from an old cupboard or wardrobe ?

If she’s doing this for Money she needs to get used to doing what the client has ordered and accepting that she has misunderstood the (detailed) brief.
Do not pay for her mistakes.

@CountessAlexandrovna I don't think there was any kneed for that.