Terms & Conditions

About these terms

These terms apply when you order from Merrivane Bakery (“we”, “us”) through merrivanebakery.com. We’re a small home bakery and we sell to individual customers. By placing an order, you agree to these terms. Please read them along with our allergen information and privacy policy.

Nothing here takes away your legal rights as a consumer.

Ordering

• Your order is confirmed once your payment goes through and you get our confirmation email. If we can’t make your order for any reason, we’ll tell you as soon as possible and refund you in full.
• Notice: we need 3 days’ notice for every order — Derby delivery, collection and posted delivery elsewhere in the UK — for orders placed by 1pm (UK time). Orders placed after 1pm need one day more. You can order up to a year ahead. Posted orders can arrive Tuesday to Saturday only (see posted orders).
• Quick bake: need it sooner? Switch on Quick bake when you choose your date and you can have it the next day if you order by 1pm (UK time), or the day after if you order later. For posted delivery elsewhere in the UK, Quick bake is from 2 days ahead (3 after 1pm), because the parcel needs a day with the courier. It costs an extra £1.50. Because of how quickly we have to start on it, a Quick bake can’t be cancelled and isn’t eligible for a refund if you change your mind. Switching Quick bake on is how you agree to this. If a Quick bake arrives damaged or wrong, we’ll still put it right (see refunds).
• Prices are in pounds (£) and shown at checkout before you pay. If a price changes after you’ve paid, you still pay the price you paid.
• Every bake is handmade, so yours may look a little different from the photos. Photos show the style of each bake. They aren’t a promise of exactly how it will look.
• Payment is taken securely by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
• Please check your details (especially your address, date and email) before you pay. We make and send your order based on what you give us.

Allergies

Please read our allergen information before ordering. All our bakes are made in one kitchen that handles gluten (wheat and oats), eggs, milk, soya, tree nuts and peanuts, so we can’t guarantee any bake is free from any allergen. Tell us about allergies in the Special Requests / Allergens box or by email before you order.

Delivery & collection

Delivery costs

• £3 for local delivery. Checkout tells you if your postcode qualifies.
• £5 for delivery anywhere else in the UK.
• Collection is free. We’ll email you the collection address and time after you order.
• Cupcakes are too delicate to post, so they’re local delivery or collection only.

Who delivers it

• In Derby, we deliver your order ourselves on the date you choose.
• Elsewhere in the UK, your order is posted with a third-party courier, usually Royal Mail Tracked 24. See posted orders & delays below.
• Collection is open to everyone, wherever you live. You collect on the date you choose at checkout, with the same notice as any other order.

When it arrives

• We aim to deliver on, or as close as possible to, the date you choose. Posted orders depend on the courier, so we can’t guarantee an exact day or time for them (see posted orders & delays).
• Your order is our responsibility until it reaches you. If it arrives damaged, see refunds below.
• Please make sure someone can take the delivery, or tell us a safe place to leave it. Bakes left outside or uncollected for days won’t keep. If a delivery fails because the address was wrong or nobody was in, we can’t offer a refund.

Collection

• Please collect at the time we agree. If you can’t make it, tell us as soon as you can and we’ll try to find another time.
• Uncollected orders aren’t eligible for a refund. Fresh bakes don’t keep, so if an order isn’t collected within 24 hours of the agreed time and you haven’t contacted us, we can’t refund it or bake it again free of charge. If we’ve made a mistake (for example the order wasn’t ready, or we gave you the wrong time), this doesn’t apply.

Storing your bakes

Follow the storage and “best before” information on the label. Bakes with cream, cream cheese or custard should go in the fridge.

Posted orders & delays

This section applies to orders delivered outside Derby.

How it works

• We bake your order fresh and send it with a third-party courier, usually Royal Mail Tracked 24. Sometimes we use another courier, such as Evri, DPD or Parcelforce.
• At checkout you choose your preferred arrival date, from Tuesday to Saturday. We post your order on the working day before, so it spends as little time as possible in transit. We don’t post for Sunday or Monday arrival, so parcels are never left in a depot over the weekend.
• Once your order is posted, we’ll email you the courier’s name and your tracking number. You can also see the tracking on your order in your account.
• Please make sure your address is correct and that someone can take the parcel, or that the courier can leave it somewhere safe and cool.
• Our posted bakes are chosen because they keep well. Each order is labelled with its best-before date. Cupcakes are too delicate to post, so they’re Derby delivery or collection only.

If your parcel is late

Couriers aim to deliver on the date you choose, but once your parcel is with them, its delivery time is outside our control and we can’t guarantee an arrival date. This is what we’ll do:

To report a problem, use “Refund / issues” on your order in your account, or email us, within 48 hours of delivery (or of your chosen date, if the parcel hasn’t arrived). Please include a photo if anything is damaged. None of this affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Cancellations & refunds

If you change your mind

• More than 48 hours before your delivery or collection date: cancel it from your account (or email us) and we’ll refund you in full straight away, delivery included. Or we can move your order to another date.
• Within 48 hours of your date: by then we’ve usually bought ingredients and started baking, so we can’t give a refund. We’ll still try to move the date if we can.
• Quick bake orders can’t be cancelled and aren’t refunded if you change your mind, at any point (see Quick bake).
• Collection orders that aren’t collected within 24 hours of the agreed time, without contacting us, aren’t eligible for a refund (see collection).

If something’s wrong with your order

• If your order arrives damaged, wrong or with items missing, tell us within 48 hours: use “Refund / issues” on the order in your account, or email us with your order details. Add a photo if you can. This applies to Quick bake orders too.
• We’ll put it right with a replacement or a full or partial refund, whichever is fairer. This is on top of your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
• If we can’t make or deliver your order on your date, you can choose a new date or a full refund.

How refunds are paid

Refunds go back to the card you paid with, usually within 5–10 working days. You get back what you actually paid, after any discount. If we refund a whole order, we refund the delivery charge too.

Custom & celebration cakes

• Enquiries: sending an enquiry doesn’t book a cake. We’ll reply with a quote. Your date is booked only once you pay through the secure payment link we send you.
• Notice: we need at least 3 weeks’ notice for celebration cakes.
• Collection only: celebration cakes are collection only for now.
• Deposits: we may ask for a deposit to book your date. The rest must be paid by the date shown in your quote, before collection.
• Design: every cake is handmade. We’ll follow your design and inspiration photos as closely as we can, but it won’t be an exact copy, and colours can look different on a screen. If you change the design after booking, the price may change. We’ll agree any change with you first.
• If you cancel: tell us as soon as possible. We’ll refund what you’ve paid, minus any costs we’ve already had for your cake (for example ingredients, toppers or decorations bought for it). In the last 7 days before your date, most of the work is done, so that usually means we can’t give a refund.
• Moving the date: we’ll do our best, but it depends on our other bookings.

The same goes for custom cupcakes, cookies, brownies, muffins, loaves and crumble buns. They’re made to your design, so please check your notes and photos carefully before you pay.

Offers, codes & loyalty card

Welcome discount

• New customers with a confirmed account get 20% off their first order when they spend £20 or more on bakes (delivery doesn’t count towards the £20).
• It’s for first orders only: one per person, and not for anyone who has ordered from us before, with or without an account.

Discount codes

• One code per order. Codes come off the bakes, never the delivery charge.
• Codes can’t be combined with a loyalty-card discount.
• A code may have its own rules (an end date, a minimum spend, a limit on how many times it can be used). These are shown when you use it.

Loyalty card

• You need an account. New accounts start with 2 free stamps.
• You earn 1 stamp per paid order with £15 or more of bakes (before discounts, not counting delivery). Cancelled or refunded orders don’t earn a stamp.
• 5 stamps: 20% off one order, once per card.
• 10 stamps: one free single treat (cupcake, cookie, brownie, muffin or crumble bun) and 25% off that order. Then you start a new card. A free cupcake needs local delivery or collection, like any cupcake.
• Loyalty discounts come off full-price bakes only.

For all offers

• Offers, codes, stamps and rewards have no cash value and can’t be swapped for money or given to someone else.
• We may change or end an offer. Stamps and rewards you’ve already earned stay valid for at least 3 months after any change.
• We may cancel offers or stamps obtained by misuse, for example through several accounts or fake details.

Your account

• Keep your password private. You’re responsible for orders placed from your account.
• Please keep your details accurate. You can update them from My Account at any time.
• You can delete your account from My Account whenever you like. Unused stamps and rewards are lost when you do.
• We may suspend or close an account that’s used to misuse our offers or that breaks these terms.

Reviews, feedback & photos

• Feedback: when you send feedback, you let us show it on our website and social media. We show your first name and the first letter of your last name (and your town, if you chose to give it). We never show your email address. Ask us any time and we’ll take it down.
• Photos you send us (for a cake or a custom order) must be yours to share. We only use them to make your order. We won’t post them anywhere without asking you first.
• Photos of our bakes: we may photograph the bakes we make for you and share those photos. They never show you, your guests or anything that identifies you, unless you’ve said yes.
• Everything on this website (text, photos and logo) belongs to Merrivane Bakery. Please don’t copy it without asking.

Our responsibility to you

• If we break these terms, we’re responsible for loss or damage you suffer that was a foreseeable result. We aren’t responsible for loss that wasn’t foreseeable.
• Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn’t allow us to limit.
• Our bakes are for you and your guests to enjoy, not for resale. We aren’t responsible for business losses.
• We aren’t responsible for delays caused by things outside our control (for example severe weather, delivery service problems or illness). If that happens, we’ll tell you and offer a new date or a refund.

Changes & the law

We may update these terms from time to time. The version on this page when you place your order is the one that applies to that order. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can also bring a claim in the courts of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there.

Contact us

For anything about an order (changes, cancellations, problems or allergies), email merrivanebakery@gmail.com. We usually reply within one working day.