Tracy`s Cakes In Rolla=Horrible Experience

I recently got married in a small town. The wedding cake options were limited: Walmart, grocery store or tracy`s in rolla. Tracy`s was over our budget but it tasted okay and I wanted a special cake for the occasion and she was very nice, so we went with her. BIG mistake! That nice southern demeanor was a complete joke. I signed the contract and gave her the $100 refundable deposit with the understanding that I would be getting our much-needed money back when we returned her cake stand. I didn`t really want to use it but I thought hey, it`ll look nice off the table. I didn`t even notice it at the wedding. She said the deposit was for the estimated cost of the cake stand :$89, well, with a little internet research, the same one sells for $34.99 so I guess that forty-five dollar mark-up is part of the southern charm I previously enjoyed. She was completely laid-back about the stand, we joked about me wanting to keep it after the wedding at our tasting so I really thought she was a genuinely nice person and didn`t think that there would be such a strict return time on the stand, especially with mitigating circumstances. So we had a horrible ice storm two days before our wedding. The cake was there, staler than what we had tasted, but present. Drama ensues. My mother has the cake stand washed and ready to go by Sunday night. My family spends the next two days shuttling elderly relatives and out-of-town guests two and three hours away in the icy and snow with deadly accidents at every turn and I return from a two-day honeymoon to an email informing me that I have forfeited my deposit but to drop off the cake stand, per the contract. I immediately email a response that my parents, who live much closer than we do, will drop it off the same day. I didn`t even read the contract because she was completely laid-back and seemingly sweet. My parents make the trip to return it and learn that she will not be returning the deposit but to go ahead and leave it on her doorstep. I can`t find the contract because our house looks like we just returned from our oot wedding and I`m sure it said something to the effect that our money becomes her property at the slightest inconvenience to her, but it`s simply not right. It was five days after our wedding and the effort was made to return the unwanted piece of junk. I am left really hating myself for not going with the grocery store and for ever thinking that money wasn`t the issue for her. I am disappointed and saddened to think that this is what I have to deal with so incredibly soon after our special day. Beware of seemingly nice merchants who will stab you in the back in the cold and icy weather.
Posted by Miffed Bride; updated 12/07/06

Reply

Did you sign a contract? And did you read that contract? Most wedding cake makers have some sort of language that says you are responsible for the return of rented equipment by a certian day, if you fail to return they keep your deposit because you are affecting their ability to do business. I.e they don`t have the equipment for the next order. Most people are well aware that they should read before they sign, that makes it your fault not the bakers....
Posted by Ray; updated 06/12/08