Refund policy

Please kindly read the following Refund Policy which applies to our online cake shop range only. For our custom celebration and wedding cake product range cancellation and refund policies, as well as all other refund policies, please refer to our Terms and Conditions (section 1.5). Please read our Terms and Conditions carefully before confirming your order with Bel Bear Bakes. Bel Bear Bakes may at any time, amend, vary or modify this policy without notice. Any modifications to this site will be effective immediately, and any subsequent use by you of the website will constitute an acceptance of those modifications. Please re-read this policy, product information and other Policies before subsequent use. Your submission of personal information through our website and online store is governed by our Privacy Policy.

PICKUP TIME CHANGE REQUESTS

Pickup and delivery dates, addresses, and time windows are final and refunds will not be issued for any date entry errors or change requests that cannot be accommodated. Delivery details cannot be altered under any circumstances. Studio pickup dates are also final; however, a same-day time adjustment or a 24-hour shift may be requested for studio pickups only. Requests require a minimum of 3 business days' notice via email and are approved solely at our discretion, depending on studio capacity and product compatibility. Requests to move a pickup date forward (early) will not be accommodated due to strict production schedules. Requests to move a pickup date back (later) are strictly limited to a maximum of 24 hours from the original collection window. Approved collection shifts do not alter the physical production date, which remains permanently locked to the scheduled pickup date secured through our automated website checkout. Any request to move a collection beyond this 24-hour window, including to a following week, is considered a formal date change. Such requests will not be accommodated, and the order will remain fixed to its original details unless the customer chooses to cancel subject to our standard cancellation policy below. Changes are not confirmed until you receive a revised automated confirmation; if no email response is received, the original scheduled window remains final. Pickup time requests that fall outside our in-studio opening hours will not be accommodated.

DESIGN AND ORDER MODIFICAION REQUESTS

Our Online Shop and Express Range product designs are set, and we do not offer any further customisation on this range. Once an order is placed, it is not possible to change or modify sizing, flavours, or any design components. Our production schedule is locked to the specific product and components authorised at checkout; we do not permit the exchanging or swapping of one pre-designed product for another, regardless of price parity.

All Online Shop and Express Range orders are processed as a unified transaction. We do not offer partial refunds, credits, or cancellations for individual components of an order for change of mind. Full refunds will not be issued for customisation requests or delivery cancellations made by a customer after an order has already been placed. Bel Bear Bakes does not swap out or credit Express Cake or Online Cake Shop range purchases for custom cake orders.

ORDER CANCELLATIONS

Full refunds will not be issued for change of mind, incorrect date and time entry via our shop, change of circumstances, or failure of the customer to notify us of any incorrect information. Any order scheduled for a collection that is not collected will not be refunded, and any perishable products will be disposed of 48 hours after the scheduled collection date has lapsed. Any processed refunds are returned to the account the order was placed with within 3-7 business days. If you have no other option but to cancel your order, we accept weekday cancellations via email before 4:00pm, up to 7 days before your event.

Our standard charges for cancellations are as follows:
- For an order cancelled more than 7 days before the scheduled pickup or delivery date, a 80% refund will be issued.
- For an order cancelled less than 7 days before the scheduled pickup or delivery date, no refund will be issued.
-Any custom acrylic cake toppers or bespoke accessories are non-refundable once an order is placed. In the event of a cancellation, these items are excluded from the 80% refund calculation or any applicable store credit offer.

Store Credits: At our discretion, a store credit may be issued under certain circumstances. If a store credit is issued, it will be valid for 6 months from the date and time your original order was scheduled for pickup or delivery. Store credits are applicable to our online cake shop products only and may not be redeemed for custom celebration or wedding cake orders. A store credit cannot be refunded partially or in full. A store credit cannot be transferred to another individual or party. Once a store credit is redeemed, no refund or additional store credit will be issued for change of mind or circumstance on any new order placed. If a store credit isn’t redeemed by its expiration date, no extension will be provided.

COLLECTION AND TRANSPORT

Pickup is from Gladstone Park 3043 and all order collections are scheduled by appointment only. Afterhours pickup requests will not be accommodated. Once a cake has been collected and has left our studio, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure it arrives safely at its destination. Bel Bear Bakes will not be held liable or issue refunds for any damage that may occur to your cake product once it has left our studio, including during collection or transport.

PICKUP AND DELIVERY

Change of Delivery or Pickup Information
Once an order is placed for delivery, it may not be changed to a pickup option, and refunds will not be issued for change of mind on delivery at any point after making payment on any orders. Delivery address changes will not be accommodated. Once an order is placed for pickup, it may not be changed to a delivery option, and refunds will not be issued for change of mind on pickup at any point after making payment on any orders.

Incorrect Delivery Information
Refunds will not be issued due to the customer’s failure to enter the correct delivery address in our shop entry, shipping fields, or website forms. Any order scheduled for collection that is not collected will not be refunded. If incorrect details are provided, subsequent re-delivery will not be accommodated.

Absence of Recipient
For business locations or multi-level buildings or apartment and unit blocks, deliveries will be made via the delivery dock or reception. It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that someone will be present at the delivery address to receive your order at the allocated delivery time. Bel Bear Bakes will not be able to wait at a delivery location in the event there is no authorised person to receive the order. If no one is present at the address, your order will be left at the doorstep or primary entrance. Bel Bear Bakes is not responsible and will not be held liable to issue refunds for lost or damaged deliveries made in the absence of the recipient.

Incorrect Delivery Service and Venue Logistics
As standard, all online orders include a Standard Courier Service (third-party drop-off) only, which operates within fixed delivery windows. This standard service strictly excludes venue coordination, adherence to specific "bump-in" schedules, navigating the interior of buildings, or managing logistics with venue staff. If a venue requires in-house setup or logistics management, this Premium Delivery service must be requested, finalised, and paid for prior to your initial order confirmation.We do not accommodate post-purchase upgrades to the Premium tier, and standard delivery details cannot be altered after booking under any circumstances. If an order is placed under Standard Delivery for a venue that strictly requires Premium logistics, or if a customer fails to provide mandatory venue contact information at checkout, Bel Bear Bakes reserves the right to cancel or void the order in accordance with our standard terms. Bel Bear Bakes is not responsible, and will not be held liable to issue refunds, where a delivery is mismanaged by venue staff or fails due to the customer selecting an incorrect delivery service tier that does not meet the venue’s specific requirements.

Order Cancellation Due to Logistics
While delivery is recommended for large or tiered orders, we may be unable to offer delivery due to scheduling limitations. Bel Bear Bakes reserves the right to void or cancel an order if a standard online shop order is placed for a location requiring Premium logistics, if an online customer attempts an unauthorised post-purchase address change to a venue, or if a custom cake client fails to provide mandatory venue access and contact details. In such instances, the order will be voided at zero cost or cancelled subject to the respective online shop or custom booking policies outlined in our Terms of Service.

STORAGE AND DISPLAY

Bel Bear Bakes will not be held responsible for, or issue refunds regarding, incorrect display, storage, or serving conditions once products are in the possession of a client or public venue. We are not liable for condensation, melting, or structural damage occurring when products are displayed for more than 4 hours, or stored or displayed in environments including: direct sunlight; outdoors; humid, moist, or poorly ventilated areas; spaces lacking refrigerated air-conditioning; or temperatures exceeding 21 °C.

CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance and priority to us. Refunds requested due to customer dissatisfaction will be assessed on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of Bel Bear Bakes. Refunds will not be issued under circumstances where dissatisfaction has arisen from design concept, decorations or colour shades, where the final product reasonably aligns with the advertised or agreed upon design, or where our substitution policy has been utilised, as outlined via acceptance of our terms and conditions of sale and service. While we strive for perfection, any minor errors or omissions will be addressed via a partial refund or store credit proportional to the error. Full refunds are not available for products that have been served or consumed; a full refund request requires the return of the product (at least 80% intact) to Bel Bear Bakes for quality assessment within 24 hours of delivery/pickup.

DOCUMENTS

Bel Bear Bakes does not provide electronic copies of any private business records to third-party venues or vendors. Any document arrangements made between a customer and their nominated venue prior to purchasing have been made independent of Bel Bear Bakes. Bel Bear Bakes is not legally obligated to provide its business records to any third-party venue, as we are not their customer and therefore no direct contractual agreement exists between Bel Bear Bakes and the third-party. Without a contractual agreement for an exchange of goods and services, Bel Bear Bakes does not consent to have its private business records governed by a third-party privacy policy. Refunds will not be issued in the event of a third-party venue refusing to serve our products, on the grounds that a request for third-party business records was denied.

EARLY AND LATE ARRIVAL

Our arrival time cancellation and refund policy includes, but is not limited to, order collections, drop offs, and design consultation appointments.

Customers who arrive before opening hours, or earlier than their scheduled pickup window, may be required to wait until opening time or return during their scheduled window. Customers who arrive later than their scheduled pickup window, or request to arrive later, may not be able to collect their orders on the same day.

Refunds will not be issued if customers fail to arrive during their allocated pickup window. Because our studio is closed Sunday through Wednesday, any missed pickup on a Saturday will result in the order being automatically discarded at closing time, and no refunds or store credits will be issued. Late arrival to a design consultation appointment will result in a shortened consultation, or where this is not possible, immediate appointment cancellation with no refund.

If a scheduled pickup window has lapsed between Thursday and Friday, missed collections are automatically rescheduled by our automated system for your original time slot on the next consecutive business day. We do not offer manual rescheduling or time-slot consultations. If you do not arrive during this auto-rescheduled window, the order will be discarded within 48 hours of your original lapsed window. All designs featuring fresh florals or delicate perishables are prepared strictly for same-day collection. Bel Bear Bakes is not responsible for the condition, wilting, or aesthetic degradation of any elements resulting from a missed pickup. By missing your original window, you accept the product 'as is' at the time of the rescheduled collection.

SECURITY AND SAFETY NON-COMPLIANCE

Order Acceptance & Security Audit: All orders are subject to a manual security review before a contract is formed. We reserve the right to void or refund any order that triggers high-risk indicators (including anonymising proxies, VPNs, or mismatched billing data). If an order is voided during this review, no funds are captured, no contract of sale exists, and the transaction is reversed immediately.
Automated & Scripted Orders: To ensure the safety and scheduled production of our products, all predesigned orders must be placed through our official website interface, including the mandatory selection of a pickup or delivery date. Any order generated by bypassing our standard checkout process (via direct permalinks, automated scripts, or "botting" software) is considered a breach of our security protocol. We reserve the right to immediately void or refund any such order, as no valid contract of sale exists without a confirmed production slot.
Mandatory Security Protocol: As detailed in our Terms of Service (Section 13), our studio is based at a private residence. The provision of a current, original, plastic government-issued photo ID card and the completion and signature of our Studio Collection Log are mandatory conditions of every collection and essential to the contract. These protocols are in place to ensure orders are released only to the authorised party and to ensure the safety of our visitors and team.
Information Privacy: We are strictly unable to provide our studio address or privileged order information to any parties that are not directly confirmed customers.
Customer Responsibility & Forfeiture of Payment: It is the sole responsibility of the customer to ensure that any party they have nominated to collect or receive a delivery is fully informed of, and complies with, all Storage and Security Protocols. The customer agrees that any nominated representative acts as their Authorised Agent. If a collection is denied at the studio because the customer (or their agent) refuses to comply with our security protocols, fails to provide valid Photo ID, refuses to sign our Studio Collection Log, or fails to provide the appropriate order information, the order is forfeited. In these instances, no refund, credit, or replacement will be issued.
Production Finality and Loss Mitigation: As all Bel Bear Bakes products are bespoke or predesigned, made-to-order, and highly perishable, they are produced exclusively for your specific booking date and cannot be resold, repurposed, or stored for future sale due to strict health, safety, and hygiene regulations. Consequently, in the event of a security breach, a failure to provide a government-issued Photo ID that matches the buyer or authorised agent, or a failure to follow established collection protocols, the full purchase price is non-refundable and will be retained in its entirety to cover the costs of specialised labour, ingredients, and the administrative resources exhausted by the order.

CUSTOMER CONDUCT

Bel Bear Bakes reserves the right to cancel orders and refuse to engage in business with any uncooperative customers (or potential customers) who are disrespectful, or unwilling or unable to comply with our business policies or procedures; including but not limited to, completing the required website forms to obtain pricing, making payment by an invoice due date, or providing any other necessary information required to process or confirm an enquiry or order.

CONSENT

By visiting our website and/ or purchasing from us, you confirm that you have understood and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Sale and Service, including those additional terms and conditions and policies referenced herein and/or available by hyperlink. These Terms of Service apply to all users of the site, including without limitation users who are browsers, vendors, customers, merchants, and/ or contributors of content.

By agreeing to our Terms of Service, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site.

By placing an order, you confirm all order details are correct and accept our store policies. As our products are fresh and perishable, all transport, storage, and handling risks transfer to you at collection or delivery and are governed strictly by our online terms and packaging care instructions. This agreement forms the final basis of your order, superseding any prior email inquiries or informal advice. Studio staff cannot verbally modify, waive, or override these terms at collection or delivery handover, and any logistical changes must be approved in writing by Bel Bear Bakes management prior to your scheduled collection or delivery date.