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?

They are going ahead without me and apparently good cooks don't need a lot of fancy ingredients. I'll be interested to see how they get on.

In some ways this might be a better outcome - you are well clear and they have taken full ownership of the event. I suspect that people might have a good time (it’s always fun to do something in a group) but they might get a few requests for discounts once people see the poor quality ingredients.

But what a dilemma! Before you received the email from the chair I would have been tempted to say get the extra ingredients yourself, but once she had taken her stance you really were backed into a tight spot.

I guess people will feel they can't complain because it's for charity.

How insulting- she’s saying if you need ‘proper’ ingredients you aren’t a good cook- yet have a successful business! Wow I’d be glad not to be associated with these people!

They think using proper butter and cream is "fancy?"
Good luck to them.

Translation: we expected you to roll over, but instead you've called us out and we don't like it, so now we're going to be spiteful

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Numpties.

😂One wonders why they ever asked you to do it in the first place. It will be interesting to see how people react to paying a lot for tickets to neither get the person they were expecting, nor the food.

Good luck to them.
Keep an eye out to ensure your name is not linked with a margarine and squirty cream tea.

Good grief what a horrible person. You are better off out of it be prepared for her to blacken your name though.

What cheeky (rude) fuckers they are!!

I wonder how they'll explain your absence, was the event sold as being with you as a skilled person?

Well done for standing your ground OP!

I suspect that they have strong-armed the best home-cook amongst them into running the workshop. However, that person will probably find it harder than they anticipated to facilitate a workshop for a large group of people. Anyone who has done this will know that the instructional elements need a lot of thought!

Well of course they are going ahead! Otherwise they will be out of pocket for their rubbish ingredients, so they may as well try to produce a professional experience using Janet from up the road, who does nice scones, in your place 😁What could possibly go wrong?!

How much have they paid for their experience @caffelattetogo ?

If I had paid X amount for a ticket fro a demonstration/event by a particular person, skilled in their craft, I would be pretty miffed at finding I was confronted with a half-arsed cack-handed amateur . . . ***

TBH - I'm not sure that this isn't fraudulent if they don't offer people the opportunity to have their tickets refunded.

Do let us know how the event goes.

*Or even a very skilled home cook - they have benefitted from the use of your name to sell tickets

People will have been saying "Oh - I've been to one of OP's events before - I learned so much and the food was fantastic!" and now they have poor Noreen who has been bullied into it (or worse - the treasurer who has said "I'll do it - how hard can it be? We've all made scones (or whatever)")

I'm glad that you bowed out.

Out of curiosity, is the event a demonstration, or are each of the ticket holders going to attempt to cook the same thing, following the direction of whoever they have leading the workshop?

Can you send a spy to observe and report back about the inevitable cluster-F!? It would be worth the price of a ticket.

@caffelattetogo

What did you decide about dissociating yourself from this event via your social media? I really wouldn't put it beyond them to smear you. 🌹

They are going ahead without me and apparently good cooks don't need a lot of fancy ingredients. I'll be interested to see how they get on

That's really fucking rude!

The thing is, you'll never hear from them the truth. It will always be presented as a success.

Baking with margarine I bet they 'forget' to update the event listing and tell the attendees on the day that you were ill.
If you have any socials you really need to say 'despite this using my name to advertise, I am not involved'.

I often get ingredients from ALDI and Lidl so it's not about where it comes from, it's that - for me at least - different ingredients don't taste the same or behave the same in recipes.
I'm not very active on social media and neither are they, so I'm not expecting a lot that way.
Yes, the participants will eat what they make, some of it at the end of the session, and some gets packaged up for them to take home.
After we have cleared the prep space we put in some music and serve up their warm scones on vintage tea sets with tea/coffee, clotted cream and homemade jam (I was going to donate the jam but I imagine they will now buy some).
They also have other things they've made to take home for friends/family/the freezer).
Maybe it really is me being precious about ingredients and it will all be delicious.

Do you bring all the baking equipment and tea sets as well?

Maybe it really is me being precious about ingredients and it will all be delicious.

I think there is learning on all sides - if you offer your services again agree the detailed budget in advance and make sure you do the purchasing.

But I think they were extremely rude to you, and I would not have wanted to go forwards in those circumstances either. They also had no agreed budget so should have respected your shopping list when presented.

You are not being precious, you just have your personal professional standards - which you are entitled to.

Oh wow. I made a guess upthread about it being a cream tea event but I was joking. I am so shocked that they think it acceptable to provide squirty cream instead of clotted cream for a cream tea. A cream tea is ONLY a cream tea if it has clotted cream. It should never ever be any other type. Not double cream, and absolutely not squirty cream. The flavour of clotted cream is very specific.
You are right to kick up a fuss OP.

It drives me crazy when people offer a cream tea without understanding what the ingredients are. It’s like offering people a steak and then giving them a Birds Eye beef burger.

I’ve been the unwitting Noreen. I was invited at the last minute to a Pampered Chef event by someone in the village. I didn’t know them well, but a couple of friends were going and said that the host had persuaded a local well known professional chef to cook for everyone. When I turned up, the professional chef hadn’t turned up, and the host said “Oh Aydel, I know you’re a good cook, can you do the dinner for us?” So I did. I am not a professional chef by any means, and could sense that I was a huge disappointment. It was also evident that the host wasn’t a cook as one of the dishes was a casserole and there was not enough time to cook it. I thought this was odd, and found out later that the prof chef had asked her to get fillet steak, to be used in a quick stroganoff, but the host had got braising steak instead (she obviously wasn’t a cook). So the gathering had chewy and undercooked beef instead!