Money Moral Dilemma: My daughter delivered a wedding cake an hour late - should she fully refund?

john_evmk

The question is was time of the essence? In other words was the cake needed by that time because of some important reason (i.e. the reception etc.). If there was no real reason for it being delivered on time and the impact was minimal then the bride has an obligation to pay and pay in full. Did the order stipulate a time and did the terms and conditions state that time was of the essence. If one of these are missing then there is no obligation for the baker to deliver at a specific time.

If being one hour late had minimal impact and the bride refuses to pay, a letter should be sent requesting payment (it can include a deduction) and it should be made clear that a refusal to pay within a set number of days will result in further legal action - a County Court claim would cots £50 to initiate and if the bride still refused to pay the case would be heard. If the outcome is in favour of the baker the bride will have to pay and will probably have to pay the court costs.

Would this action damage the baker's reputation? Probably - but who would want customers like the bride if there is a constant threat of not being paid. Is it worth £450? That's for the baker to decide.

Missy15

6pm is very late for a baker to be delivering a cake isn't it?
Surely it's usually delivered to the venue on the morning of the wedding.
I would have also thought that if it wasn't there at least a good hour before the reception started , someone should have been chasing it up, especially as even by that time normal businesses would be closed/ closing.
Personally I think the customer got a good deal, and the baker in question needs to change her timings for deliveries ie mornings for an evening reception or the night before for an earlier reception, that at least covers her for the odd moment of forgetfulness.

2702

Yes £450 for a cake. That is probably the going rate for a wedding cake but it is more than a cake.Guests are advised a time for the cake cutting and the photographer is there to take photos. You pay this premium fee for everything to be perfect.
Your daughter needs to wake up and double or triple check her orders. She also needs to up the refund.

TeaBee72

Full refund and late cake as goodwill.
her business will solely be based on reputation ( and taste!) and without that she’s done. 

The bride would have been stressed about this on their big day and there is a reason you pay extortionate prices for a wedding cake in the first place. 

Might seem harsh but how much that would have peeved off and potentially changed the emotions of the day is a lot more than £450 worth! 

squirrel59

Of course your daughter should have offered a full refund on the spot. She broke the contract. 

penners324

Stick to the £100 discount, that's more than generous 

LadyElDee

The wedding cake was booked under a contract with a specified time for delivery.. the daughter breached the contract by ‘getting mixed up”.. so should not ask for payment. 

Of course the cake was accepted upon late arrival.. can you imagine the stress this caused? 

In fact the cake should have been delivered a bit BEFORE the scheduled time, to ensure it was perfect and did not need any onsite adjustments.. or in case it got delayed in traffic etc

Your daughter should cut her losses and not charge and get a decent clock do she can time manage correctly. The negative publicity she could receive won’t help get business either 

Nasqueron

Southendormargate said:

How can a cake possibly cost £450

Cakes can be expensive with multiple tiers, quality ingredients and decoration skills. However also - welcome to wedding price inflation. Have a browse over cake shops online, you can get a generic cake for say £200, call it a wedding cake and it's £400 even if they are pretty much identical. 

Nasqueron

KenWDen said:

What sort of stupid bride gives no margin, could have been a traffic jam, breakdown, road closed. Should have allowed 24 hr! For a credit card company to refund baker can demand cake back - going to be difficult as eaten. If bride wanted a full refund she should have rejected cake and done without, then gone and bought cakes from supermarket. No impressive cake cutting but tough. 25% discount more than generous - don't think a judge would award that!

Sorry but that's not an excuse, I am involved with a sport as on official, we can drive 2-4 hours for a game at national level, we always aim for at least an hour before the game precisely for that. Anyone doing timed deliveries, particularly for a wedding with the already inflated prices from Wedding Tax, that aims to arrive for 6pm is asking for trouble. The wedding party undoubtedly booked the cake well in advance, the cake place should have been on site for 5-5:30pm just in case. I don't agree with a full discount but it should be at cost price for the cake (as much as they will hate to admit the real costs) as the wedding had their cake even if they missed the cutting - particularly if they incurred extra costs e.g. photographer having to stay later

LadyBee_2

squirrel59 said:

Of course your daughter should have offered a full refund on the spot. She broke the contract. 

I agree.    No excuse for delivering the cake late on such an important occasion.