To think no good deed goes unpunished

[caffelattetogo]

Please tell me if IABU...

I was asked to run a fundraiser for a group my DC attends. It's a class to teach something I do professionally, and I have done for many years. All good, until it came to setting the ticket price - the treasurer looked on my website and saw how much I usually charge for a session. But this is in a village hall, not the venues I'd usually use, which cost much more to hire. I'd thought we could charge less than I usually do, as the experience won't be the same.
But maybe I was wrong: Tickets went on sale and have sold out.
I said I'd buy the materials and invoice them. No need, says the treasurer, and asks me to send her a list.
The session is on Saturday and the ingredients have arrived - with loads missing and much cheaper quality than I'd usually use. There's no way the food we are making will look or taste the same. I rang tonight and she isn't budging - says my list was too expensive and would eat up their profits. In total, the ingredients I wanted were about 25% of the ticket price. I'm giving my time and equipment for free.
Any other circumstances and I'd walk away, but I feel bad for the people who have bought tickets.
What should I do?

@Standingupagainsttheplayers What products do you use?

Good call Op. You can be ready to tell anyone who asks why you pulled out.

I think you misunderstood - I wouldn't expect sorry or reasonable from the organisers and would never agree to work with them again, but would suck it up as a one of for the good press and marketing.

Then make damn sure for any future similar events with other committees that my contract was tighter.

I'm an artist too and really identify with this. I turned down two charity workshops for the same reason. They wouldn't let me order the paints, wanted to buy themselves more cheaply. No matter how many times I explained that if I used the wrong paints the participants wouldn't get the expected results, they just weren't having it.

👏👏👏

I once offered a colleague a lift home from work, to save her a 45 minute bus journey. We worked in a supermarket. She said she needed to pick up a couple of items first. I said fine, I'll see you outside in 10 minutes.
After 20 minutes still no sign of her so I went back in to see where she was. She was just approaching the checkout with a trolley packed with a weeks worth of shopping. I was furious.
By that time rush hour traffic was starting to build so I was well over an hour late home from work.
Needless to say she was never offered a lift ever again 🤣

I’m amazed at that response from the committee. The treasurer clearly holds a lot of power and must have been expecting you to contribute not only your time and expertise but also your own cash for the ingredients. So cheeky.

Damage limitation for you now, using your own sm platforms.

“I am sad to have had to pull out of the fund raiser which I happily agreed to do when asked by …….

I was looking forward to this event but am unable to work with the resources provided and know the outcome would therefore be far from successful for all concerned.
Far better for those who bought tickets to request their refund by contacting …………
Thank you for your understanding and my apologies for the inconvenience. I’m sure you will be as disappointed as I am.

Well done for standing your ground op.
Ppl on fundraising committees can be awkward sods!

I think you've made the only decision you could, OP
As mentioned they'll probably slate you for "letting them down", but that'll pass whereas damage to your reputation from offering a lousy product could be harder to overcome

An excellent suggestion ...

Another vote for pulling out. Or at least threatening to, unless more money is provided.

Speaking as someone who also offers a professional service on a self-employed basis, I rely on world of mouth, and my reputation is everything.
People talk, and if the final product is sub-standard, that reflects on you. Even if it's under the umbrella of the hosting club. You want to win over a heap of potential new clients. Not have a load of people walking away feeling slightly cheated.

If you do put up a statement on your website, it's important to be specific about the exact issue.

They supplied inferior ingredients which would have resulted in an inferior experience and end product.

Spell the issue out with your regrets.

I’m going to jump to conclusions and assume it’s a cream tea event where you make your own scones first. In which case, if I was given squirty cream in place of clotted cream, I would burn the village hall to the ground.

(I was once given squirty cream in a cream tea in a very posh tea garden. It was very much NOT ACCEPTABLE)

I’d pull out. The workshop will not be to your usual standard and will reflect badly on you. The treasurer is being grabby and had entire thing.

Maintaining professional standard is hardly pissing on your chips. They sound like a load of cheeky fuckers. I am amused at their arrogance especially the debate about quantities. Poster does it professionally but what does she know 🤷‍♀️

You have done the right thing. It is the reputation of your business that could take a hit if you’re not careful.
I’ve known a couple of village hall committee members and the power goes to their heads and they always know best! (Obv, I am sure there are some lovely ones out there!).
You have standards - continue to uphold them!

You should tell them you have kept all communication and if they attempt to blame you in any way you will ensure people know the truth.

Because I would bet all my money and my first born son that they're going to try to claim you've let them down for no reason or you've run off with the money or something.

Don’t name names in your statement, rise above it and remain professional. Just refer to being asked to make compromises that you were not prepared to make and the effect it could have on your reputation.

If you make it personal so will they. Remember they go low, you go high.

YANBU and well done for standing your ground, OP

"All they could afford" - then what have they done with all the money people have paid?

They were getting your full session fee from the ticket price (which I assume you usually set to a point which covers your overheads, your time and give you some profit?) without having to pay any overheads beyond ingredients as you were giving your time for free, they own the hall and already pay the bills for heat/light/water etc so surely they could still make a massive profit for the charity whilst providing all of the ingredients you require to do the job properly. It's better to spend 40% of the ticket cost on overheads and 60% profit for the charity (even if they'd have preferred to have 75% profit) than get 0 profit from cancelling the event due to their stubbornness over their budget and end up costing money because they now have to spend time refunding people and are left with ingredients they cannot use.

I would be sure to get out ahead of the news though - post something on social media to make it clear that you wanted to do the session but the committee made it impossible for you to do so.

"It is with great disappointment that I have to announce that my baking class for Skinflint Charity that was due to take place this evening has had to be cancelled.

I was very much looking forward to being able to share the Baked Blueberry Pavlova recipe with you tonight but Skinflint Charity, who insisted on providing the ingredients despite me offering to source them from my usual suppliers to ensure everything was correct, have not provided me with the ingredients I require or have substituted them with inappropriate alternatives that would change the quality and taste of the recipe. After repeated discussions asking them to rectify this situation so that I could ensure you all receive the usual standard of class that I provide they have refused, citing budget constraints.

Had I been made aware of a specific budget I would have adapted my class offering appropriately but at this late stage it is too late to do this and I was left with two options: take the class knowing that we would not be able to produce anything close to the usual standard I expect of my classes or cancel to ensure that people do not waste their time and my professional reputation is not damaged due to the fact you would not be getting the service you paid for despite paying the same ticket price I usually charge

Therefore I made the difficult decision to withdraw from the class as I could not in good conscience allow it to go ahead knowing that the ingredients provided would result in a dish that was nowhere near the standard I would expect to present. I would like to offer my apologies to those who were looking forward to attending this evening as I was, but I am sure you can understand why I have had to take the action I have done and hope to see you in a future class where you will get the service you have paid for.

^Anyone requiring a refund for their ticket should contact Skinflint Charity directly^

Best wishes, OP"

Well Done on standing your ground OP. This is your business and your name on the line, and if you serve up something inferior then people will think that is what you do all the time.

the substitutes are ridiculous, ie squirty cream is in no way a replacement for clotted cream.

Next time, for anything like this, I think that you will need to stand your ground and insist that you buy your own ingredients and bill them, (but give them an idea of the price first).

If they couldn't afford your ingredients, they would have been better asking what you could do within their budget.

Margarine vs butter is one thing...

Squirty cream is definitely not a substitute for clotted cream.

I'd be specific about the squirty cream. Anyone who cooks (or eats) knows that's no substitute for clotted cream.

Well done for sticking to your guns in the face of them wanting to cheat everyone out of the proper experience that they had paid for.

I think that's what's known in Comms and PR speak as pompous twattage. Do that if you want to damage yourself even more, OP.

This

Word of mouth could really hurt your reputation going forward from this if you treat them as 'lesser' with lesser ingredients, as others have said

@suitsyoumissus also as a non arty person I didn’t really get it. We just think this stuff is easy and don’t always realise the work it takes. Artists do have to be willing to stand their ground and piss people off.