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

larsonsmum

The bride most definitely deserves a full refund. Imagine how the wedding cake not being there may have spoilt her entire wedding reception…her entire wedding day. She didn’t know it WAS going to arrive eventually. Your daughter will have to double check all her orders, and not stress out/let anyone else down, or she will find she receives justifiably bad reviews, and will have no business.

Edina_Typhoon

Your daughter should have given a profuse apology, maybe sent a small gift too, plus full refund.  Otherwise,  her reputation will be trashed and her business will suffer, possibly irreparably.  I would imagine that for £450, the cake would look quite impressive,  therefore providing an important centrepiece for the reception.  Her late delivery caused stress and inconvenience on what should have been a lovely, worry-free day.  And, by the way, why is everyone assuming it was the bride making the complaint?  Could have been the groom, an inlaw or even a wedding planner.  Leave the bride alone!

Bookworm105

Edina_Typhoon said:

Your daughter should have given a profuse apology, maybe sent a small gift too, plus full refund.  Otherwise,  her reputation will be trashed and her business will suffer, possibly irreparably.  I would imagine that for £450, the cake would look quite impressive,  therefore providing an important centrepiece for the reception.  Her late delivery caused stress and inconvenience on what should have been a lovely, worry-free day.  And, by the way, why is everyone assuming it was the bride making the complaint?  Could have been the groom, an inlaw or even a wedding planner.  Leave the bride alone!

why are you assuming this is a real event?

Ringo90

General_Tactifer said:

The contributors suggesting that a full refund is applicable because the baker "broke the contract" are missing a key point - the customers accepted the cake.  The customers could have rejected the late delivery or negotiated for a discount at the time, but the amended contract (late delivery) has been fulfilled and so there is no "breach of contract" as such.  However, the exact terms of the contract will be important (whether a delivery time has been specified and "of the essence" and what has been agreed regarding late delivery) and, in any case, the baker has to consider reputational damage if they leave the customer feeling badly treated.  Negotiation is necessary to try to ensure both parties can walk away feeling justice has been done.  A full refund seems to be too much to ask, though might be justified IF the late delivery had serious consequences.  More context is needed than that given!

Have you read the OP? The cake was to be delivered at 6pm. So the delivery time HAD been specified. It's not about accepting the cake or not and having a slice of cake in the stomach at the end of the day. There are events where timing is of the essence and weddings are the perfect example. A person is only supposed to marry once. Why should they be left without a cake for their wedding just because SHE made a mistake? The bride and groom were supposed to have a cake at 6pm. They didn't. Hence the breach of contract, plus this surely created a damage/stress to a unique day. You can't be in this business if you can't even keep a diary in order or accept the consequences.

wy9n99wwf

I think it unfair to accept the cake and demand a full refund. As a previous person said, some more detail would be helpful. Eg was the timing made "or utmost importance" to the contract (ie was it a material breach)?

MeteredOut

Ringo90 said:

General_Tactifer said:

The contributors suggesting that a full refund is applicable because the baker "broke the contract" are missing a key point - the customers accepted the cake.  The customers could have rejected the late delivery or negotiated for a discount at the time, but the amended contract (late delivery) has been fulfilled and so there is no "breach of contract" as such.  However, the exact terms of the contract will be important (whether a delivery time has been specified and "of the essence" and what has been agreed regarding late delivery) and, in any case, the baker has to consider reputational damage if they leave the customer feeling badly treated.  Negotiation is necessary to try to ensure both parties can walk away feeling justice has been done.  A full refund seems to be too much to ask, though might be justified IF the late delivery had serious consequences.  More context is needed than that given!

Have you read the OP? The cake was to be delivered at 6pm. So the delivery time HAD been specified. It's not about accepting the cake or not and having a slice of cake in the stomach at the end of the day. There are events where timing is of the essence and weddings are the perfect example. A person is only supposed to marry once. Why should they be left without a cake for their wedding just because SHE made a mistake? The bride and groom were supposed to have a cake at 6pm. They didn't. Hence the breach of contract, plus this surely created a damage/stress to a unique day. You can't be in this business if you can't even keep a diary in order or accept the consequences.

There's nothing in the OP that states they were left without a cake for their wedding.

hannerrbabes

That's pretty bad practice from the business owner and she certainly won't be getting any return custom or recommendations from the bride and groom. She's left a bad taste on one of the most memorable days in their lives. I'd be expecting a refund of at least half. However, £450 for a cake is insane anyway!!

wy9n99wwf

Yes, I read the OP. However, I suspect that you have mis-read my post, as you are asking whether I have read the OP juxtaposed to adding that 6pm was in the contract, which I had not questioned.

My post was agreeing with another person who had opined that more information would help. It gave a specific example of such further information: that because contract law distinguishes between a “breach” and a “material breach”, it might be useful to know whether the timing had been stated in the contract to be of “utmost importance”. I suspect you are not aware of these legal nuances.

I have not disagreed with anyone who said the supplier was in the wrong, or that her failure might have had a substantially bad effect on the buyer. Had the supplier contacted the buyer as soon as she was aware of her mistake, and explained that the cake would not be delivered until 7pm, and asked whether the buyer would still want to proceed, I think there might have been an interesting conversation.

Ringo90 said:

General_Tactifer said:

The contributors suggesting that a full refund is applicable because the baker "broke the contract" are missing a key point - the customers accepted the cake.  The customers could have rejected the late delivery or negotiated for a discount at the time, but the amended contract (late delivery) has been fulfilled and so there is no "breach of contract" as such.  However, the exact terms of the contract will be important (whether a delivery time has been specified and "of the essence" and what has been agreed regarding late delivery) and, in any case, the baker has to consider reputational damage if they leave the customer feeling badly treated.  Negotiation is necessary to try to ensure both parties can walk away feeling justice has been done.  A full refund seems to be too much to ask, though might be justified IF the late delivery had serious consequences.  More context is needed than that given!

Have you read the OP? The cake was to be delivered at 6pm. So the delivery time HAD been specified. It's not about accepting the cake or not and having a slice of cake in the stomach at the end of the day. There are events where timing is of the essence and weddings are the perfect example. A person is only supposed to marry once. Why should they be left without a cake for their wedding just because SHE made a mistake? The bride and groom were supposed to have a cake at 6pm. They didn't. Hence the breach of contract, plus this surely created a damage/stress to a unique day. You can't be in this business if you can't even keep a diary in order or accept the consequences.

Ringo, I don’t think you appreciate the nuanced legal points that General_Tactifier is making. Contract law is but not as simple as you appear to think

lewisiablue

I think a £100 refund was fair. People get too stressed about these things - it's a cake get over it, It was delivered an hour late that's it! I wish people knew what real stress was then they wouldn't moan about a cake being an hour late.

I would probably have made a joke and asked if anyone had brought a cupcake they could share The baker was at fault and should not be messing orders up that was her fault and losing a £100 should make her more mindful.

Ringo90

MeteredOut said:

Ringo90 said:

General_Tactifer said:

The contributors suggesting that a full refund is applicable because the baker "broke the contract" are missing a key point - the customers accepted the cake.  The customers could have rejected the late delivery or negotiated for a discount at the time, but the amended contract (late delivery) has been fulfilled and so there is no "breach of contract" as such.  However, the exact terms of the contract will be important (whether a delivery time has been specified and "of the essence" and what has been agreed regarding late delivery) and, in any case, the baker has to consider reputational damage if they leave the customer feeling badly treated.  Negotiation is necessary to try to ensure both parties can walk away feeling justice has been done.  A full refund seems to be too much to ask, though might be justified IF the late delivery had serious consequences.  More context is needed than that given!

Have you read the OP? The cake was to be delivered at 6pm. So the delivery time HAD been specified. It's not about accepting the cake or not and having a slice of cake in the stomach at the end of the day. There are events where timing is of the essence and weddings are the perfect example. A person is only supposed to marry once. Why should they be left without a cake for their wedding just because SHE made a mistake? The bride and groom were supposed to have a cake at 6pm. They didn't. Hence the breach of contract, plus this surely created a damage/stress to a unique day. You can't be in this business if you can't even keep a diary in order or accept the consequences.

There's nothing in the OP that states they were left without a cake for their wedding.

I'm referring to the several people (including the person I was quoting) suggesting that they should have refused the cake, as if not having the cake I ordered for my wedding is an acceptable solution for such a poor mistake.