Terms of Service

1. Introduction

Welcome to The Village Market. These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a legally binding agreement between you ("you", "the customer", "the buyer") and Village Market Trading LTD (trading as The Village Market, "we", "us", "our") and govern your use of our online cake ordering service, our website, and any orders you place with us through any channel including but not limited to in-store, by telephone, by email, or via our website.

Please read these Terms carefully before using our service. By browsing, registering, placing an order, or otherwise engaging with our service, you confirm that you accept these Terms and that you agree to comply with them in full. If you do not agree with these Terms, you must not use our service or place an order with us. We recommend that you save or print a copy of these Terms for future reference.

2. About Us

The Village Market is a family-run international food store located on Prescot Road in the Fairfield area of Liverpool. Our in-house bakery has been producing hand-decorated celebration cakes, occasion cakes, and bespoke designs for our local community for many years. Every cake we make is prepared fresh to order in our own kitchen by our team of skilled bakers and decorators, using ingredients we have selected for their quality and provenance.

We pride ourselves on serving the diverse communities of Liverpool with cakes suitable for a wide range of occasions including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, religious celebrations, baby showers, christenings, christmas, eid, diwali, corporate events, and any other event where a memorable cake is called for. Because every cake is made fresh and to your specification, our operating model differs from that of a high-street retailer holding finished stock — please read the sections below carefully so you understand how this affects your order.

You can find us at 110 Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool. Our store opening hours are Monday - Saturday: 9:00 AM - 10:00 PM and Sunday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM. Our bakery counter follows the same hours, and our cake ordering service is available online twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, subject to the minimum notice requirements set out below.

3. Acceptance of Terms and Contract Formation

By placing an order through our website or by any other means, you are making an offer to purchase the goods you have selected on the terms set out in these Terms. No contract exists between you and us until we have accepted your order and received cleared payment in full. Acceptance of your order takes place when we display an order confirmation page to you on screen and send you an order confirmation email containing your order number. At that point, a binding contract between you and us comes into existence on these Terms.

We reserve the right to decline any order at our discretion, including but not limited to orders that we believe are placed in error, orders containing requests we are unable to fulfil, orders for collection dates we cannot accommodate, orders where payment cannot be processed, or orders that contravene any law or regulation. Where we decline an order after payment has been taken, any sums you have paid will be refunded to your original payment method without unreasonable delay.

You confirm that any information you provide to us in connection with an order is accurate, complete, and current, and that you are at least 18 years of age or are placing the order with the consent of a parent or guardian. You also confirm that you are the cardholder or otherwise authorised to use the payment method you provide.

4. Ordering Process

Orders may be placed through our online ordering service, in person at our bakery counter, or by telephone. Whichever channel you use, the same Terms apply. To place an order online you will be asked to select a cake from our catalogue or design a bespoke cake using our online builder, provide collection date and time preferences, supply contact details so we can reach you about your order, and complete payment.

• All orders require a minimum of 48 hours notice between order placement and collection.
• Orders can be placed up to 30 days in advance of your chosen collection date.
• A maximum of 10 cakes may be included in a single order. For larger orders, please contact us directly.
• Full payment is required at the time of ordering. We do not operate a deposit or pay-on-collection scheme.
• You will receive an email confirmation once your order is placed, containing your unique order number for reference.
• Please retain your order confirmation email and quote your order number in any correspondence with us about the order.

5. Pricing and Payment

All prices displayed on our website are in pounds sterling (GBP) and are inclusive of any applicable Value Added Tax. The price of any cake is the price displayed at the time you place your order. We make every reasonable effort to ensure that prices are accurate at the time you place your order, but in the unlikely event of an obvious pricing error we reserve the right to cancel the order and issue a full refund.

Payment is taken at the point of order and processed by our payment service provider. We accept all major debit and credit cards. We do not store full card details on our systems. By submitting your payment details you authorise us to debit the full order amount from your account immediately.

Where a discount, voucher, or loyalty reward has been applied to your order, the discount applies only to the items and quantities included at the time of order placement and cannot be retrospectively applied. Discounts cannot be redeemed for cash and may be subject to additional terms set out at the point of issue.

6. Custom and Bespoke Orders

We accept commissions for fully bespoke cakes designed to your specification, as well as variations of cakes in our standard catalogue. Where you have provided reference images, written descriptions, or other materials to guide the design, these are used by our decorators as inspiration. The finished cake will be created in the artistic interpretation of our team and may differ in fine detail from any reference image you provide. Variations in shading, piping, fondant texture, the arrangement of decorative elements, and other artistic features are an inherent part of hand-crafted cake decoration and are not considered defects.

For complex bespoke orders, we may contact you using the telephone number or email address you have provided to confirm design details, discuss feasibility, or suggest amendments. If we are unable to reach you and the requested design cannot be produced as specified within the available timeframe, we reserve the right to produce a reasonable interpretation of the design or, where this is not possible, to cancel the order in line with section 8 below.

All custom and bespoke cakes are produced specifically for you, to your specification. Such goods are personalised within the meaning of regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the statutory fourteen-day cooling-off period does not apply. The cancellation policy set out in section 8 of these Terms applies instead.

We reserve the right to decline any bespoke commission at our discretion, including but not limited to requests for designs that are technically unfeasible within the available timeframe, requests that infringe third-party intellectual property rights, requests that include offensive, defamatory, or unlawful imagery or text, and requests for which we cannot source the required ingredients or materials.

7. Collection

All orders are for collection only. We do not offer delivery at this time. Your cake should be collected from our store at:

110 Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool

When placing your order you will select a collection date and a collection time window. Please arrive within your chosen window and present either your order confirmation email or your order number at the bakery counter. If you are sending someone else to collect on your behalf, please ensure they have the order number; we may also ask them to confirm the name on the order as a security measure.

Our cakes are made fresh and are at their best when collected and consumed on the same day. While we do our best to store completed orders safely until your collection window, we cannot guarantee storage beyond your chosen window and we cannot accept responsibility for any deterioration in appearance or quality resulting from late collection. If you anticipate being delayed, please contact us as soon as possible on 0151 259 9881 so we can make alternative arrangements where possible.

Once a cake has been collected, the risk in the goods passes to you. We strongly recommend transporting cakes on a flat surface in the footwell of a vehicle and keeping them cool. We cannot accept liability for damage to cakes occurring after they have left our premises.

8. Cancellations and Refunds

Because every cake is made to your specification, ingredients are procured and kitchen time is reserved as soon as your order is placed. The following cancellation terms apply to all orders:

• Cancellations made more than 48 hours before your collection time: full refund of the order value.
• Cancellations made between 24 and 48 hours before your collection time: 50% refund of the order value.
• Cancellations made less than 24 hours before your collection time: no refund.
• If we are unable to fulfil your order for any reason, you will receive a full refund.

Cancellation requests must be made by contacting us directly on 0151 259 9881 or by emailing l7villagemarket@gmail.com, quoting your order number. The cancellation takes effect from the time we receive your request, not the time at which it was sent. Refunds will be processed to your original payment method and may take up to ten working days to appear in your account depending on your card issuer.

We reserve the right to cancel your order at any time prior to collection in circumstances including but not limited to ingredient unavailability, equipment failure, unforeseen staff absence, force majeure events, or any circumstance that prevents us from preparing your cake to the standard you should expect. In such cases we will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable and issue a full refund.

9. Late Collection and Uncollected Orders

If your order has not been collected by the end of our trading hours on your chosen collection date, the order will be considered uncollected. We will make reasonable attempts to contact you using the telephone number and email address provided with the order. Uncollected cakes cannot be held over to a future date as they will not meet our freshness standards, and no refund will be due on uncollected orders.

Where you have provided incorrect contact details and we are unable to reach you, the order will be treated as uncollected at the end of trading hours on the collection date. It is your responsibility to ensure that contact details are correct at the point of order.

10. Allergens and Dietary Information

Our cakes are prepared in a kitchen that handles a wide range of ingredients including but not limited to wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy products, nuts (including peanuts and tree nuts), sesame, soy, and various seeds. While we take reasonable care to manage allergens and follow good hygiene practices, our kitchen is not a segregated allergen-free environment and we cannot guarantee that any product is free from traces of any allergen.

If you or any intended consumer of the cake has a serious food allergy, intolerance, or other dietary requirement, you must inform us in writing at the point of ordering using the allergy information field provided at checkout. We will use reasonable endeavours to accommodate your requirements where possible, but we cannot accept responsibility for any adverse reaction where you have not informed us of the allergy or requirement in advance. By placing an order without disclosing an allergy, you accept the risk that the cake may contain or have come into contact with that allergen.

Detailed ingredient information for catalogue cakes can be provided on request. Please contact us before placing your order if you require this information.

11. Photographs and Marketing

We may from time to time photograph cakes we have produced for use in our catalogue, on our website, on social media channels, in printed marketing materials, and in our store. Such photographs are taken before collection and depict the cake only; no personal information about the customer is included. By placing an order you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual licence to use photographs of cakes produced for your order for these purposes. If you would prefer that photographs of your cake are not used in this way, please let us know in writing at the time of ordering and we will respect your preference.

12. Intellectual Property

All content on our website, including but not limited to text, photographs, graphics, logos, icons, and the design of our online cake builder, is owned by Village Market Trading LTD or licensed to us and is protected by copyright, trade mark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from this content without our prior written consent.

Where you provide reference images, designs, photographs, logos, or other materials to us as part of a bespoke cake order, you warrant that you own or have permission to use such materials and that their use by us in producing your cake will not infringe any third-party intellectual property right. We reserve the right to decline any commission that we reasonably believe may infringe a third party's rights. You agree to indemnify us against any claim arising from your provision of such materials.

13. Complaints and Disputes

We take all complaints seriously. If you are not satisfied with your order, please contact us within 24 hours of collection by telephone on 0151 259 9881 or by email at l7villagemarket@gmail.com, quoting your order number and providing as much detail as possible about the issue. Where possible, please retain the cake and any packaging and provide photographs, as this helps us investigate and resolve the matter.

We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to provide a substantive response within five working days. Where we are unable to resolve the matter directly, we will work with you in good faith to reach a fair outcome. Complaints made more than 24 hours after collection may be more difficult to investigate and resolve due to the perishable nature of the goods.

Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, including the right to goods of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described.

14. Privacy and Data Protection

We collect and process personal information you provide to us in connection with your order in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available at /privacy. Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have in respect of your personal information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

15. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for any breach of the terms implied by section 12 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or by section 17 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (title and quiet possession), or for any other matter for which it would be unlawful for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our liability.

Subject to the paragraph above, our total liability to you in connection with any order, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, is limited to the price paid by you for that order. We are not liable for any indirect, special, or consequential losses, including but not limited to loss of profit, loss of opportunity, loss of enjoyment, or any losses connected to an event the cake was intended for.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law, in regulatory requirements, in the way our service operates, or in our business practices. The version of the Terms in force at the time you place your order will govern that order. The current version is always available on this page and is dated at the top. We recommend that you check this page each time you place an order so you are aware of the Terms that will apply.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim, save that if you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.

18. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms or about an order you have placed, please contact us using the details below:

Village Market Trading LTD
The Village Market
110 Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool
Email: l7villagemarket@gmail.com
Phone: 0151 259 9881