Spoilt Cake

lovinituk

OK, here is some practical advice...

If you don't agree with the £80 you ask for more.
If they refuse your request for a higher amount you then either choose to accept the £80 or not.
If not, then you issue a Letter Before Action stating that if they don't refund you £x by a date (give them 30 days is fair) you will take legal action.
If they still don't pay, issue a small claim through MCOL.
If they still don't pay, then hope the judge is sympathetic to you.
You might be seen as unreasonable for not accepting the offer for £80.
You might get your £80 or less and be stung with your claim fees.
You might get lucky and be awarded more plus your fees.
The cake maker might pay up at that point.
The cake maker might, out of spite, not pay and then you will have request the court to issue a CCJ and then try and get bailiffs to retrieve some or all of the money you are owed. They might not get anything back.

Now my opinion....

Ask for a higher amount if that's what you want but if they say no then accept the £80. Its far less hassle than the alternative.

Gloomendoom

evherkes wrote: »

It's not only cake to as my correspondence to her says, I saved over 8 years to get married so I'm sorry but your comment really isn't very helpful to me.

Take the £80 and move on. You'll be laughing about it next year.

If you think my comment is unhelpful... tough.

lika_86

I'm not sure what you hope to get from this, the vendor has offered you money back which you can accept or not. Given that you weren't eating most of the raspberry-less tier there's little loss there to you personally, the guests will not have been able to tell the difference and honestly, as a guest, I've never had my opinion swayed about a wedding based on cake which to be honest is one of the more underwhelming aspects of the day.


You say you had an amazing day otherwise which is the main thing. Your photographer may even be able to manipulate the photos slightly so it looks better in the wedding album, if that's a priority.

*~Zephyr~*

Any event involving members of the human species is going to have things that go wrong. People get sick, people don't show, the sun doesn't shine, or it does and it melts the cake. Nothing can ever be guaranteed.

At my first wedding, the wrong colour buttonholes turned up, 4 guests travelling together broke down on the way and missed the ceremony and I was almost 30 minutes late because I got stuck at a level crossing! And then we had to have an ambulance to the reception when an elderly uncle had one too many scotches and thought he could limbo across the dance floor!

My mum turned up at her hairdressers appointment on her wedding day, only to find that she'd gone on holiday and forgot about my poor mum who had to try and sort out her own beehive (it was the 60's).

Things go wrong, but you still had a wedding, your guests still had (probably yummy) cake. And you probably have some fantastic memories of the day.

Please, don't dwell on this and let it overshadow your good memories. It's a good offer. Take it and spend it on a nice meal out with your new hubby. And then, frankly, forget about something that was actually just a teeny tiny part of the day.

IAmWales

And another thread on the subject!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5665001

kingfisherblue

evherkes wrote: »

Hi everyone,



So we've just had our wedding, which was amazing, however, the bottom tier of our cake collapsed and caused the other tiers to crack. I sent a balanced email to the cake maker:

I am just getting in touch with you following our wedding on DATE at VENUE. I wasn’t present when you arrived with the cake but was told by venue staff that the bottom tier collapsed and that you had accepted and acknowledged this and as a result the remaining three higher tiers were also all cracked and damaged as a result. I’ve attached the photos for your reference in which it shows cracks, damage and the icing shapeless in places. In addition, the largest tier was to be white chocolate and raspberry, however, from the tasting we attended at yours to the bottom tier (that in part was kept) was vastly different in taste and visually and in no way similar, the bottom tier we would compare and liken to a Victoria sponge. We chose the white chocolate and raspberry for our bottom tier as this was our favourite and feel thoroughly disappointed with the product received which does not give rise to our expectations having met and discussed the end product with you.

As I am sure you will understand a wedding is a huge, important and symbolic day for any couple and their family, as it only comes around once, and that as a result most couples (like us) paid out huge amounts for a photographer too in order to capture every possible moment of our day and worked hard to make sure that every little touch is how we want it.

We have been left feeling upset and disappointed about the cake, especially given the significance of the cake which is also used as a centrepiece, photo opportunity and symbolic with weddings so I am surprised that you have not been in touch with us since our wedding in order to seek a way forward on your thoughts to rectify this.

Please could I ask that you contact us in order to discuss a way that the above can be rectified as we recognise that it is important to address these issues with you directly in the first instance.


This is the response we've received:




I am really sorry for what has happened, I will attach the image to how it was decorated. Unfortunately because of the hot weather white transport the bottom tier collapsed. And because of the time short, I could not re do your cake. In such situations we would re decorate your cake . I am more than happy to refund you £80.00 as a compensation. This is the first time we have had this kind of situation.

The bottom tier was white chocolate and raspberry with white chocolate chunks covered in white chocolate ganache. Because of the weather being hot and causing the ganache to get very soft, could result in a different taste.

I deeply apologise for what has happened, and completely understand where you are coming from. As we were short of time , we could not redecorate the cake. I had gone back home to get all my decorating equipment and materials.


Please let me know if you are ok to accept a refund of £80.00 as a compensation for weather conditions causing the cake to collapse.



We paid £300 for our cake and this isn't even a third off. I'm really disappointed as every tier was spoilt as a result and the bottom tier (of what was saved) had no raspberries in it so in my eyes it isn't just "a change in flavour due to temperature". Our wedding was on Sunday morning so it was not above 20C by this time.



Could anyone kindly advise me on their thoughts around this?



Thank you,



Em

Quoted for reference.

LKRDN_Morgan

I'd accept the money and move on.

Yes it's disappointing when you feel your day hasn't gone perfectly but in the grand scheme of things it's just a cake.

RoonilWazlib_2

As already stated, all that's really left is to negotiate


Tell the trader what you want and justify as best you can why that is an appropriate amount.


If they disagree either move on with your life or consider further action against them through the courts and a judge will decide whether their offer is reasonable, bearing in mind that if it is deemed reasonable, you may be out of pocket further

Red-Squirrel_2

Ask for £150, compromise on £100.

Try to get a sense of humour about it, at least your guests will actually remember your wedding cake, they're generally a bit samey.

sheramber

What is suitable to one person is not to another.

The baker has asked if you accept her offer. If the answer is no then you have decide what you think is a fair offer and ask for that. What I or any other person thinks is fair is irrelevant if you don't think it is fair as you are the one with the disappointment.

You have not said what you think is fair or what you want despite being asked more than once.

You are obviously not hearing what you want to hear.
Do you know what you want?

If you do, then ask the baker for it. If you don't no one here can tell you.