I had been asked over the summer by a friend to do her friend's wedding cake (which was due today). On Tuesday I got an email telling me how excited she was for the cake. On Thursday I got an email telling me that the wedding is cancelled and that she wanted to make 'final arrangements'.

Well, I was only charging $150 for this cake. (2 tier, white with black damask stencil & red ribbon). Needless to say I wasn't making money on it at all. Upon our first meeting we went through the contract etc. and I made sure to discuss with her the cancellation policies (with less than 7 days notice of cancellation, all monies are non-refundable).

Of course by Thursday, cakes were baked, the chocolate hazelnut truffle ganache was made, buttercream & fondant were all made too. I have offered to do her son's birthday cake in November (which we had previously discussed) for free but she is not understanding that she is not getting her money back.

I'm not trying to be unreasonable but this stuff that I've already made are flavours that I rarely use and I'm obviously out the $$ and time and $150 is nothing...

what do you all think? give her a partial refund or policy is policy?
I've never had ANY problems at all doing cakes and just when I decided to slow down on cakes because of my 'real job' I run into a problem and I'm stressing...HELP!

Very simply, and friendly, explain to her that it was the contract that she signed, that you dont give refunds past certain points etc. . Im sure if she is a real friend, and you explain to her, that you'd already went ahead and prepared everything, she will understand. as for others, you need to make sure you have a line in your contract so you arent left out of pocket!

NO MONEY BACK! No discount, no future discount, nothing! A business is a business for a reason! Regardless of who she is, she gets NO money back! She can be mad, but she will get over it or not ask you to do a cake again....oh well!

Friend or no friend, POLICY IS POLICY, and CONTRACT IS KING!

She signed the contract and it clearly states that all monies are nonrefundable with such short notice.

Now that said, if you are concerned that this "friend" is too "good" of a friend to lose over $150, you may want to consider splitting it with her. It's only reasonable that she pay SOMETHING, as you have put in time to design, shop, bake and prepare, as well as the necessary ingredients involved. And the "opportunity cost" of doing someone else's cake since her event was booked for this weekend.

Just my 2-cents. HTH

Business is business no matter who the customer is. I'm sure noe of the other vendors are refunding her money.

No refund. No future cake. I would hive her the cake you baked for her that she paid for. Evergreens wedding is on or off, once the contractual payments have been made, you owe her that cake on the date. She can take it and smash it on his car if she wants...

This is a friend of a friend? Stop fretting and stand by your contract. This situation is EXACTLY why you have that clause!

I agree with the other posts. She either gets the cake delivered to do with what she will, or not, but there's no refund. She willingly signed your contract. No discussion. Period.

no refund. no future cake. if she wants to take the uniced baked cakes off of your hands, you'll be happy to give those to her, but the "no refund" is to protect YOU because of any business you may have turned down because you set aside this day just for her.

It's not personal .... it's business. She couldn't do this to her mechanic, her dentist or her doctor. A contract is a legally binding item and if the roles were reversed, you can bet your patootie she'd be holding YOU to every clause that was of benefit to HER!

Never good business doing business with family and friends...........I agree...no refund

NO refund! SOrry that is why contracts are done..regardless. Plus you gave you a big fat discount and would do her son's cake for FREE>..Give her the cake anyways and if she is mad..don't opt to do her son's cake then b/c really,,it's not worth the stresses from people like this. If she is upset about son's cake ALSO...then just politely tell her you got plans instead and you are sorry..and move on with your cake life.

I tell people that none of the payments are refundable. I tell them that the cake order is not contingent on them actually getting married. Although I get it that it's their plan A--it's not mine. If something happens, they still contracted with me for a cake and they're getting what they ordered.

I had to keep two of three payments (2/3 of the total price) for a family friend because they broke up right after the second payment. She understood. Even if she didn't she wasn't getting the money back.

So when she did get married she paid for the whole next cake--I lowballed it a little by tossing a few freebies like delivery & some artwork but I went way above and beyond on it.

I, too, agree that there should be no refund given. You stated, however, that she said she wanted to make "final arrangements". Are you absolutely SURE that she meant that she wanted a refund? Was she paid in full? If not, maybe-just maybe-she meant that she wanted to pay you the rest of the money that she owed you. Or, maybe she meant that she wanted to give you a different address to deliver the cake to?

IMO, I think that you need to clarify what EXACTLY it was that she meant by the verbage "final arrangements" and THEN you will have some peace of mind and will be able to handle the situation like what you are, a professional.

By the way, just out of curiosity (read: nosiness) did she say why the wedding was cancelled? If he called it off, I can tell you from experience since I, too, have been "stood up at the alter" and if that is, in fact, what happened, then I guarantee you, your friend feels very embarassed, is hurting more than she ever has in her life, and just wants everything that reminds her of him or this day, gone.

And, it is for that reason and only that reason that I think that you can make a concession here and do the son's cake with today's cakes, etc by freezing them. You said the son's b-day is in November, so that's not too long for the cake to be frozen.

Otherwise, I would agree with everyone else and just say no refund and no free cake later. Further, I would explain to her that you were not MAKING money on her cake. That what she paid you for was ingredients, overhead, and your time spent.

I think that anyone that is reasonable would understand that and be thankful that you are atleast willing to give her something for her money. (I would also explain THAT to her and make darn well sure that she knows that with anyone else, you would just tell them that you are sorry for their circumstances and tell them to have a nice life).

Anyway, sorry I got so long winded, and I HTH you be able to look at the situation from a different perspective.

I would bet you a dime to a dollar that none of the other vendors are refunding her money, per the terms of their contracts, too. Two points: 1) I think she is trying to take advantage of your relationship and 2) No refund should not be a difficult concept for her to understand, since none of her other vendors are handing out refunds, either.

Stay firm. Good luck!

I wouldn't give any money back, and I hope you didn't either.
Its bad that the wedding didn't go through, but you didn't have anything to do with it... It's not your problem( might sound mean but its true)
Jodi

If she's cancelled her wedding with two days notice, there's all kinds of other service providers that she'll have to cancel with e.g. florist, caterer, venue, etc. It is unlikely any of these will hand back deposits/full payments either.

You've got a contract, make her abide by it. I wouldn't offer a free b/d cake either...especially thinking you could use her frozen wedding cake. She'd probably want a different flavour any way.

Good luck.

If she doesn't want the cake, maybe even ask her if there is a charity or group of people or local soup kitchen she may prefer you give it to in her honor. (The design can be changed to make it a celebration cake instead of a wedding cake).

Then she doesn't have to see it but knows it wasn't just thrown away.

I have to agree. No refund.

Okay, first off, yes, I agree, no refund.

Second, did she seriously cancel her wedding cake via email??? My gosh, has all common decency gone in this world?? Doesn't anyone know how to use a phone anymore? (And no, not to text either). Yes, she's probably embarrased, etc., etc. but sometimes when I'm in the midst of baking & decorating I don't even have a chance to check my email -- what if that was the case with you and you had gotten much further along in the project.

Sorry for the rant, and I'm all for technology, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

I haven't think about that, what to do if the wedding get canceled. It is time to review my contract!!!

No refund.

Many years ago, my very young DD was engaged to a "not nice" person. We had all the deposits down, the dress bought, and he insisted on a very expensive ring, that she bought and that could not be returned. Thank God (seriously, I was thanking God for at least a year!) she called it off, with 5 months to spare. I didn't get a penny back, didn't even ask The way we saw it - it was well worth the price to have her be safe!!!

Our contracts clearly stated no refunds within so many months, no matter what the circumstance. It wasn't personal.


Edited to fix stupid typo = Don't type before first cup of coffee! LOL

why is a friend of a friend purchasing the cake anyway? Was it her gift? If she's upset about losing the $, she should get a refund from the bride.

Oh boy - you gotta feel for the bride. Bummer. But, maybe explaining to her, if in fact she wanted her money back, that she won't get refunded for X, Y or Z vendor. And, then maybe add on the doctor, dentist, mechanic bit. On top of that, you could enter in the "I'm hurt you would expect me to pay the $150 out of my own pocket" Since of course, you didn't make anything on it.

This is for sure a lesson in "TACT 101". That's why I like the "I'm hurt" line. You could always say "shocked" if you think "hurt" is laying it on a little thick. You get my drift though. I'm not sure just telling her "oh you signed a contract - tough noogies" is gonna cover it. I mean...it could. But, I guess I'm not that cold.

I love those shows when people are bargaining...and they say "I just can't do any better than that". For some reason, even when you kinda feel like they are full of it - it doesn't come off as rude. Ahhhhh, the art of saying no.

I wish you luck. Don't get taken advantage of - but don't be a jerkface. Easier said than done sometimes.

Is this a friend or an aquaintence? If she is a true friend then I would freeze the cake, icing, filling, etc and do this as her "free" birthday cake later this month. And I would return her $150.00. You won't be out anything and you would save your friendship. If she is a true friend then she will be thrilled with the free cake even if its not her preferred flavor.

However I don't think she really is a real friend or you would not have done a contract to begin with, because you don't have to protect yourself from a real friend. JMHO Since she is just an aquaintence, then you have nothing to lose by standing by your contract.

Hope it all works out for you.