What Do I Do About A Client Wanting Her Deposit Back?

Decorating By shirls22 Updated 28 Jan 2013 , 9:07pm by Izzy Sweet

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shirls22 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 2:22pm
post #1 of 16

Hi All, 

 

I recently started a cupcake business in South Africa which is going well. Until this morning that is. 

I have a bride who booked cupcakes for her wedding in April phone to cancel her order and now is demanding her deposit be returned. 

 

I have already had 2 tastings with the bride as she changed her mind on flavours during the first. 

I offered to give her 50% of her deposit back, but she is not budging and wants the full amount. My terms state 

Should you cancel your order, depending on time scale and order quantity, charges may apply. Please advise The Vanilla Pod immediately of your intentions.

 

As a new business, I don't want to get bad reviews and press. How would you recommend I handle the situation?

 

The positive to this is that I have now amended my terms to state that all deposits are non refundable. I'm not getting caught out again. 

 

 

15 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 2:43pm
post #2 of 16

just to have something concrete to sink your teeth into

 

charge her for the two tastings and the time and for the rental on the booking date

 

itemize it for her

 

re-stocking fees are common things

 

she'll go away

 

if she bad mouths you that's exposure for you

 

not the exact way you hoped but her story is she ordered then cancelled and was unhappy

 

and she's taking some of it out on you

 

it's not like her cake fell apart or tasted like soap

 

no one will really find it odd that a refund is not fully returned

 

so what i mean is don't worry about her negativity she's clearly doing you a favor

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BakingIrene Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 2:52pm
post #3 of 16

Give her the deposit back in full.  GET RID OF THIS PEST.

 

You need to figure out how to say that you will provide ONE tasting per bride...your contract and policies have to be very clear and specific...

 

Write this bridezilla off as several cheap lessons in how to run your business.

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 3:21pm
post #4 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene 

 

You need to figure out how to say that you will provide ONE tasting per bride...your contract and policies have to be very clear and specific...

 

 

 

VERY specific.  There should be no question.  That is what is known as a "meeting of the minds."

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shirls22 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 3:42pm
post #5 of 16
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Marianna46 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 3:54pm
post #6 of 16

You might also want to reword your policies along the lines of "A non-refundable deposit of [you decide the amount or percentage] is due [you decide how long] before the date of delivery. The remaining amount is due [x number of weeks] before the date.". Everybody's right about being as specific as possible about EVERY LITTLE THING YOU CAN THINK OF in a cake contract. Otherwise, sooner or later, it will all come back to bite you in the you-know-where.

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jason_kraft Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 4:00pm
post #7 of 16

AHow big was this order?

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 4:15pm
post #8 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by shirls22 

Hi All, 

 

I recently started a cupcake business in South Africa which is going well. Until this morning that is. 

I have a bride who booked cupcakes for her wedding in April phone to cancel her order and now is demanding her deposit be returned. 

 

I have already had 2 tastings with the bride as she changed her mind on flavours during the first. 

I offered to give her 50% of her deposit back, but she is not budging and wants the full amount. My terms state 

Should you cancel your order, depending on time scale and order quantity, charges may apply. Please advise The Vanilla Pod immediately of your intentions.

 

As a new business, I don't want to get bad reviews and press. How would you recommend I handle the situation?

 

The positive to this is that I have now amended my terms to state that all deposits are non refundable. I'm not getting caught out again. 

 

 

 

she already did that icon_biggrin.gif

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 4:33pm
post #9 of 16

my own personal opinion of cake contracts is that they are scary

 

we just did a refi that probably pales in comparison  to some of y'alls paper works

 

i just call them cake orders give the details of the order, dates of non refundable payments, serving sizes

 

last payment means no changes, additional servings can be added 25 servings a pop but order stands as written

 

we sign and/or payments received approves changes made by email (i incorporate changes into the order and email them)

 

this actually sounds much more complicated than it is

 

oh i also reserve the right to make the cake to the best of my ability

 

i just figure that covers it all

 

meaning if the cake table is in sunlight i get it moved--if there's a car wreck and i can put a cake out but i can't redo the japanese string work--they get what i can do and then we'll deal with the circumstances later--if a train derails and i'm evacuated from my house i'll do everything humanly possible to fulfill that order but sh*t happens even on wedding days

 

done

 

i do not chronolog every bad memory or potential situation 

 

the bride leaves with two pieces of paper--a copy of the order and her homework--getting color swatch or whatever phone# etc.

 

that's just moi

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 4:56pm
post #10 of 16

ANo one is recommending you jot down every possibility, but your client should know what to expect in terms of refund. If you offer amounts relative to timeline, state them. If you live in potential hurricane evacuation area (as do I), outline your re-schedule/postponement policy.

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andertoncakes Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 5:24pm
post #11 of 16

A

Original message sent by Marianna46

You might also want to reword your policies along the lines of "A [U]non-refundable[/U] deposit of [you decide the amount or percentage] is due [you decide how long] before the date of delivery. The remaining amount is due [x number of weeks] before the date.". Everybody's right about being as specific as possible about EVERY LITTLE THING YOU CAN THINK OF in a cake contract. Otherwise, sooner or later, it will all come back to bite you in the you-know-where.

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jgifford Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 7:20pm
post #12 of 16

I looked at one contract template that was 16 pages - - what a ridiculous piece of horse hockey!  I like K8's way of doing it much, much better.

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jason_kraft Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 7:28pm
post #13 of 16

AA contract is definitely important, but if it is more than a few pages you need to tighten it up. For most orders our contract consisted of a few paragraphs at the bottom of the invoice.

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KHalstead Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 7:46pm
post #14 of 16

My cake contract is 3 pages, and most of my "rules" are because of past customers lol

 

 

 

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ShelbyLyn Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 7:54pm
post #15 of 16

Sometimes as we learn what works and what doesn't we end up getting the short end of the stick. If your terms weren't clear as to a non-refundable deposit and if she argues with the %75 refund (which btw I think is MORE than fair) I would give her the deposit back and chalk it up to an expensive learning experience. As long as you use this opportunity to come up with a more clear and comprehensive contract it could be the expense now saves you several times over with headaches in the future.

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Izzy Sweet Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:07pm
post #16 of 16

I am sorry you had to go through this and sometimes we learn the hard way.. I revised my contract over and over again because of situations that would happen that i never thought about.. At the time they hand me the deposit I always say to them that the deposit is non refundable and i make sure they know this.. This business is so funny because it is a face game, we have to be overly pleasent but then you have to make sure when somebody goes against the terms of agreement we stand tall and stand by our signed contract.

 

you have gone above and beyond offering the 75%.

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