Refunds, cancellations and disputes

1. The starting point

CakeConnect does not take or hold money for orders, so it cannot issue an order refund itself. Money moves between the customer and the bakery, and a refund moves back the same way.

Custom cakes are made to order, so the rules that apply to off-the-shelf goods do not always fit. What matters is what was agreed in the quote and how much work had started.

2. Cancelling before the bakery confirms

While an order still shows as requested in your orders list, you can cancel it yourself in the app. The order number is released and nothing is owed.

3. Cancelling after the bakery confirms

• Contact the bakery through the order as early as you can.
• If no work has started, the bakery will usually cancel at no cost.
• If ingredients have been bought or work has started, the bakery may keep the cost of that work. Any deposit terms agreed in the quote apply.
• Bakeries should be reasonable and explain any charge.

4. When something is wrong with an order

• Wrong design, damaged, late, not handed over, or an allergen problem: contact the bakery first, through the order, and be specific with the order number and photographs where you can.
• If the bakery does not put it right within 14 days of the handover date, contact CakeConnect and we will step in.
• Serious food safety concerns should also be reported to the local authority that covers the bakery.

5. How refunds are paid

When a bakery agrees a refund it pays it back by the method it was paid, as soon as it reasonably can. Card refunds usually appear within five to ten working days; bank transfers depend on the banks involved.

Partial refunds are normal where part of an order was delivered as agreed.

6. What CakeConnect can and cannot do

We can share the full record of the order — the design brief, quote, messages and status history — with both sides to help settle things, and we can suggest a fair outcome.

We cannot force a bakery to refund, and we cannot pay you out of CakeConnect funds. What we can do is act on patterns: where a listing produces repeated unresolved problems, we may suspend it from the marketplace.

7. Commission on refunded orders

Commission is not charged on a refunded order. When a refund is agreed, tell us so the commission record for that order is corrected and no fee is collected.

8. Deposits and card disputes

For custom work a bakery may ask for a deposit to secure the date. Agree the deposit and whether it is refundable in the quote before you accept it.

Where a card payment was taken by a bakery, a chargeback is between you, the bakery and the banks. Please try to resolve the order with the bakery first — using a chargeback on a genuine order that is being made is not fair on the baker, and misuse of disputes may lead to your account being closed.

9. Plan fees

If a bakery plan is cancelled part way through a paid period, the fee for that period normally stands and the plan runs to the end of it. Where a plan fee was taken in error, or the plan could not be used at all, contact us and we will refund it.