Birthday cake never arrived despite extra delivery fee; consumer commission orders Rs 4,000 compensation

When Mr Bhardwaj from New Friends Colony ordered a half kg pineapple birthday cake along with a bunch of six mixed roses for his Nani (Grandmother) on February 9, 2024 at 11.40AM through the official website of an e-commerce company, he thought that it would be delivered the same day, since the website claimed as such. The cake was meant to be delivered to his nani's house at Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh for her birthday.

He paid Rs 756 via UPI when he placed the order. But at 11.57AM, he got an email from the website asking for an extra delivery charge of Rs 275. After that, Bhardwaj sent e-mails at 12:24 and 12:32 p.m. to cancel the order and request a refund. He also called the website at 1:20 p.m. to follow up on the cancellation and refund.

At 1.32 PM, he paid the additional Rs 275 for the extra delivery charge, but did not get any invoice for this. So, at 1.41 p.m., he contacted the website enquiring about the delivery of the cake. At 6:31 p.m, he received an e-mail from the website saying: "The said order is processed for delivery"


At 9:02 p.m., he called the website again and was informed that the cake could not be delivered because the delivery address was remote and a refund was being processed.

The next day (February 10, 2024), at 11.03 a.m., he wrote an email to the website for cancellation and refund.

At 4.45 p.m, on the same day, he received an e-mail saying:"This is regarding the order you placed. Our delivery person had called for delivery at the delivery address. Your receiver had not accepted the order. Your order had been attempted. So it will be treated as delivered and no refund will be done."

Unhappy because he didn't get any refund, Bhardwaj responded to the e-mail with another e-mail of his own. On February 14, 2024, he registered a complaint in the National Consumer Helpline through docket no.5475640. Subsequently, he filed a case in the consumer commission. Since the website did not send any representative to the hearings, the case proceeded on an ex-parte basis.

The consumer commission said that it is evident that despite making full payment and following up continuously, Bhardwaj's nani didn't receive the cake on her birthday and considering the order was placed for a special occasion, the lapse assumes special significance.

For this reason, the consumer commission found the website guilty of deficiency in service and directed them to pay Rs 1,031 (756+275) with 7% interest and also compensation of Rs 2,000 towards mental and physical harassment and Rs 2,000 towards litigation expenses.

Consumer commission order

The Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, South-II, comprising Monika Aggarwal Srivastava (President) and Ritu Garodia (Member) passed this judgement on May 8, 2026.

A summary of the judgement is as follows:

Telephone conversation with delivery boy proved he returned without delivering

The consumer commission observed that Bhardwaj had placed on record a pen drive containing an audio recording of a conversation between two individuals.

On hearing the recording, the consumer commission said that it is clear that the delivery personnel had returned without trying to make delivery as the delivery location was at a considerable distance. It is further heard the concerned person being assured that the refund would be processed.

The consumer commission also observed that Bhardwaj is heard inquiring about the lack of response to repeated calls, to which the person on the other end replied that there ought to be no issue, particularly as the relevant birthday date had already elapsed.

Terms and conditions of the website mentions if delivery location is remote and can't be delivered, refund in the form of coupons will be issued

The consumer commission said that according to the stated refund policy of the website, in cases of non-delivery due to the delivery location being remote, the refund is to be issued in the form of a coupon code.

The invoice issued reflects a delivery time window between 11:00 a.m. and 09:00 p.m. and does not indicate any additional or extra delivery charges. Thus relying upon the said terms and representations, Bhardwaj proceeded to make the payment. However, after 15 mins, the website asked for an additional Rs 275 delivery charge, which he paid.

However, such a demand was neither disclosed at the time of placing the order nor at the time of making payment. Thus Bhardwaj, having no viable alternative and being constrained by the urgency of the occasion, initially objected but ultimately paid the amount. Thereafter, the website communicated via e-mail that the order was being processed for delivery.

However, the birthday cake was never delivered and no prior intimation or communication regarding non-delivery was provided by the website, thus Bhardway had to repeatedly follow-up with the website through e-mails and telephonic communications.

After two days the website via an e-mail claimed that the recipient of the cake had refused to accept the order and, on that basis, denied Bhardwaj any refund, even though he had clarified that the delivery personnel had merely contacted them to confirm the address but failed to reach the delivery location. The audio recordings placed on record corroborated the fact.

Thus the consumer commission said that in view of the aforesaid, it is evident that despite making full payment and undertaking continuous follow-ups, the complainants didn't receive the ordered cake for their grandmother's birthday. Considering the order was placed for a special occasion, the lapse assumes special significance.

The commission's order:

• Hence, we find OP guilty of deficiency in service and direct OP to pay Rs 1,031 (756+275) with 7% interest. We also award compensation of Rs.2,000 towards mental and physical harassment Rs 2,000 towards litigation expenses.
• OP to make the payment to the complainant within 60 days from the date of Order failing which the entire order will carry an interest of 8% from date of order till realization. Order to be uploaded. Copy of Order be sent to parties free of cost and file be consigned to record room.