Every one in a while you'll order an item which arrives damaged or not as expected. We realise this and we're happy to try and keep the returns process as simple and as fair as possible. As an experienced and ethical business, we are happy to protect your rights as a consumer and to operate within the relevant laws at all times.
Following the 1997 EU directive on "the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts", certain new rights were brought into force to protect UK consumers who shopped on-line or entered a contract some distance from the supplier. These rights are called the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.
The regulations are designed to protect consumers where, among other things, they purchase goods without the chance to physically inspect them first, as would happen when purchasing from a physical shop. It's a good idea, but major problems have been encountered through the interpretation and application of the regulations, with thousands of companies allegedly falling foul of the new rules. . . and not just small on-line companies like us, but trusted market leaders like Next, M&S, Amazon and many others. If they can get it wrong (allegedly!) with access to expensive legal teams then what chance do we have of getting every single detail correct? 
Here is a summary of our RETURNS POLICY. It's simple and (we think) very fair. It meets the spirit of the legislation as far as we can see. If you disagree with our interpretation then by all means let us know where yours differs, but perhaps it would be better not to place an order with us.
The following is not intended as a comprehensive explanation of Distance Selling Regulations, but only as a summary of how they affect your order with Cake Stuff Ltd.
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HOW DO I RETURN A DAMAGED OR INCORRECT ITEM?
Please remember that the Distance Selling Regulations are additional rights over and above the Sale of Goods Act 1979. If any item is supplied to you incorrectly or arrives damaged, not as described or unfit for purpose we are happy to replace or refund as you prefer and to cover all reasonable additional shipping costs involved in returning the item to us*. These statutory rights are not affected by the Distance Selling Regulations.
For damaged or incorrect items, please contact us within 7 days and we will make arrangements to replace / refund for you. We may be also able to offer other solutions, and are happy to discuss these with you. We try not to make mistakes but we realise they'll happen now and then, so we're happy to put things right for you with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience.
*We are obliged to refund reasonable return shipping costs. For example, we are happy to refund 1st class postage costs but not Special Delivery or other courier services. Why? Because if you return an item costing £2 and spend a further £5 on Special Delivery, we would consider this unreasonable. The responsibility for safe return lies with the customer - so additional postal services such as Recorded Delivery are used at the customer's discretion but may not be refundable . . . please speak to us first if in any doubt.
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Distance Selling Regulations additional rights and protection . . .
We sell well-known brand-named goods from the sugarcraft industry's biggest names and assume that most customers will be familiar with these brands and products. We also recognise that not every customer will be familiar with goods in this way and we accept that customers have the right to EXAMINE goods on delivery and can decide to return them. However, we politely emphasise the word "examine" which excludes trying / using an item or even removing most items from their retail packaging.
We do not supply goods "on approval". Where a customer buys two or more items with the intention of choosing which to keep, we are happy to refund the price of the returned item only - we combine shipping costs so these will be understood to apply to the item(s) the customer has decided to keep and will not be refunded.
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AM I COVERED?
All UK consumers are covered by the regulations except business customers. Business to business distance selling is not covered by the regulations. So, if you are a UK resident and not ordering in connection with a business activity (including part-time and home-business) then you are protected by the regulations.
Consumers in some other EU countries may be covered by similar legislation, providing they are not buying in connection with any business activity. In any contract with Cake Stuff Ltd, Scots Law applies in all cases. More information can be found at The Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995.
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WHAT ADDITIONAL RIGHTS DO I HAVE?
Once your order arrives, you have a seven day cooling off period, during which time you can examine and decide to return items from the order. You must contact us within this period to let us know you wish to exercise your rights under the regulations, and then return the order within a "reasonable time", which we suggest would be within 14 days. This is explained in more detail below.
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WHAT ARE CAKE STUFF REQUIRED TO DO?
We must give you certain information prior to conclusion of the contract - this includes information about who we are, where we are located and how you can contact us, accurate product information, prices (including all taxes), delivery timescales, your right to cancel, our VAT registration number and information like that . . . basically, accurate and honest information to help you make an informed choice about your purchase. We believe we have done all this but let us know where you feel we can improve information. The contract is formed when you place an order.
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WHEN CAN I CANCEL MY ORDER?
You can cancel your order at any point prior to it being shipped and we will refund the full cost paid, including any shipping costs. The only exception is where the order includes a special order / customised / personalised item which is already being manufactured / supplied, in which case that item / those items cannot be cancelled. Your cancellation rights end as soon as we begin work on personalised, customised, made-to-order or specially sourced / ordered / non-stock items as identified on the website.
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CAN I CANCEL AN ORDER AFTER IT HAS BEEN SHIPPED?
Yes, the Distance Selling Regulations give you the right to cancel the order at any point up until the seventh day after delivery. In the case of courier delivery, we advise simply refusing to sign for the order and the couriers will return it to us. Because it can take Royal Mail several weeks to return undelivered mail, we advise accepting delivery and then posting back to us. If you accept the order then delivery will be deemed to have taken place.
We will refund the full amount of the order including outwards shipping costs, but will deduct any return shipping charge as made by the couriers / Royal Mail. We are only allowed to charge the precise amount of return shipping, with no additional charges for re-stocking or administration, nor can we profit from this charge.
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HOW CAN I RETURN AN ORDER?
An order can also be cancelled / returned within seven days of delivery to you - the first day being the day after you take delivery. You must contact us to inform us of your intention to cancel. The regulations state you must contact us in writing - so really by fax, email or letter but contact must be made within seven days and you will receive an acknowledgement as soon as we have received your message. No acknowledgement simply means we haven't received (for example) your email or letter - simply "sending" the message is not sufficient; you must actually make contact.
In addition to these rights, we are also happy to accept your notice of cancellation by phone. Time is of the essence, so we advise phoning first.
You then must return the order to us within a "reasonable time". As yet, the courts have not decided what this means but we suggest 14 days. You are responsible for taking care of the goods during this period.
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CAN I RETURN ANY ITEM I'VE ORDERED FROM CAKE STUFF?
This is a very important area and we'd ask you note our explanation carefully . . . there isn't just one piece of legislation at work, the Distance Selling Regulations, Sale of Goods Act and various pieces of food safety legislation are supposed to all dovetail together to protect consumers. The truth is they don't do this particularly well and have left a few grey areas. We're not out to exploit these grey areas - we're making our position clear from the outset, before you order from us.
Some products are exempt from return under the Distance Selling Regulations; these include personalised and customised items - which we interpret as including special order / made-to-order items ordered specifically for you - and perishable goods. "Perishable goods" covers edible products. These exceptions are listed in section 13. (1) of the Regulations.
Included in the list of exceptions are "goods that by reason of their nature cannot be returned". We interpret this to include goods where food safety is a consideration.
To try and further explain our position . . . we take food safety extremely seriously. We will never, ever, re-sell any edible item which has been returned by a customer, nor will we re-sell cake boards, boxes or other items designed to come in to contact with food. The reason is simple: in our own premises we can control hygiene, temperature and humidity but we have no idea how clean someone else's house is. For all we know, a cake board could be stored next to the pet dog's food bowl, or in the boot of a car, or handled by dirty fingers - there is just no way we would expect a customer to buy a product from us if it has been returned by someone else. Would you be happy buying such a product? Of course not!
The term "perishable" is not defined by the legislation, so it is open to the courts to interpret the term and is subject to a test of reasonableness. Our position is that any edible product displaying a BBE date is perishable and, regardless of this interpretation the regulations do confirm that "goods that by reason of their nature cannot be returned".
One other important point . . . if your original order is over £75 the you will quality for fre shipping but if you return an item and your remaining order value falls below £75, shipping charges apply so in a small number of cases it may not be worth returning an inexpensive item simply because you change your mind as the £5.95 shipping charge (for example) may have to be applied.
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WHAT ARE MY RESPONSIBILITIES?
The regulations say that the consumer must contact the supplier within seven days of delivery as explained above. The consumer is responsible for the safety of the item until it is returned to the supplier. Used, part-used and other items which are no longer in a re-saleable condition cannot be returned. Care should be taken with packaging where this forms part of the item - ie retail packaging. Please always remember we're talking about items where you've simply changed your mind, so we submit that there is no need for such an item to have been removed from its retail packaging and / or used. The consumer is responsible for the safe delivery of the item with the supplier, just as the supplier was responsible for safe delivery to the customer.
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HOW DO I ACTUALLY RETURN AN ORDER?
To be honest, this part is down to you - it's the consumer's responsibility to return the item(s) safely and in accordance with the regulations, this summary can be taken as our written notice that this is what we require to happen. We're happy to offer suggestions based on item size and weight when you contact us.
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WILL I GET A FULL REFUND?
Yes, absolutely - if everything has been done as outlined above.
When we receive the item(s) back from you and have checked they are unused and in good condition, we will refund you in full including any shipping costs included in delivering the order to you. Where the returned items formed part of a larger order, we will calculate a pro-rata refund based on the weight and size of items. The refund is normally processed the same way you paid - eg via PayPal and / or a refund to your debit / credit card. Your refund will be processed within 48 hours of the item(s) arriving with us and the regulations state that we are obliged in all cases to refund within 30 days at most. There's no reason why a refund would take anything like that long to arrange unless there is a problem with the actual item(s) being returned.
There is one area of exception and that is where the regulations consider that "work" has commenced on an order. In such circumstances the cancellation rights end at the point work commeces. In relation to Cake Stuff orders this applies to Express Shipping orders where orders are packed for shipping very soon after the order has been placed and for which a small premium has been charged. We are happy to accept the cancellation / return of such orders but reserve the right not to refund the part of the charge relating to the express nature of the service.
For the avoidance of doubt we stress this is not a re-stocking or administration charge (both of which are not permitted by the regulations) but is the charge for an additional service.
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WILL I GET A REFUND OF MY RETURN POSTAGE?
Sorry, but no. Some companies (normally mail-order catalogue companies) can build the costs of free returns into their prices but for most businesses this is not possible and it's not something we feel the regulations are trying to impose on businesses. Please remember that this does not apply to damaged or incorrect items, (in which case we are happy to refund reasonable return postage costs) . . . we are only talking about item(s) where you've changed your mind.
One exception to this rule is where, on the odd occasion where we sell out of an item, we may supply a substitute item to the one you ordered. If you do not wish to keep the substitute item, you can return this and we will refund your reasonable return postage costs.
We really hope that this sounds fair.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
