Know More

Policies and General Information

Dark Brew Trading Limited trading as Dark Brew or Dark Brew Ltd

Location:

Our commercial baking studio, Sales outlet and pickup point is located at Shop 02, BP821/71, Garden Chilulu Road, Lusaka 10101. We do not keep bakery items in stock and only bake to order. All pick-ups and meetings must be scheduled in advance.

Business hours:

While we don’t have a formal storefront, we do generally offer scheduled pick-ups from our baking studio check out our hours and location page for updated hours. This can vary with seasonal changes, holidays, and our availability due to weddings or large custom orders. If you’re thinking about planning an event (large or small), reach out to double check our availability.

Please keep in mind that we prefer you call or email before stopping by to talk about planning for your event. If you prefer sit down consultations, please reach out to schedule a meeting with us.

Communication/Questions:

You can reach us via phone or email. We prefer to avoid using Instagram/Facebook/Text Messages, since we have found that it is easier to accidentally forget to respond or miss an order with those methods of communication.

While we’re not always available via the phone during our pick-up hours, we will do our best to take your information to call you back at a time that is better suited for us.

If you’re emailing, add us to your contacts to better avoid any of our emails ending up in spam folders.

Responses can take 24-72 hours for us to respond, we respond in order of retrieval. If your event is upcoming and requires priority attention, we will be sure to respond accordingly.

 

Pricing Quotes and Custom Orders:

When inquiring about a price quote or a custom order, please provide us with as much information as possible (flavor(s), guest count, size of cake, date and time needed, colors, names, ages, any writing, photos, theme, inside or outside event etc.). We do have an online form for quote inquiry that you can fill out or email us directly. If you have any pictures of what you would like, please include those but keep in mind that we do not replicate other people’s work. We can use it as a general guide when decorating your desserts.

Custom can mean many things from ordering. To help out with that, here’s some information that may help you get started:

·      Cakes and Cheesecakes can be customized through our regular ordering form if you’re just looking for some writing on top and a simple/singular buttercream decoration. If you’re looking for a particular image or a printed edible image on top please reach out directly to us before ordering, this is usually just a ZMW 50.00 – ZMW 1,000.00 add-on cost depending on the size and material.

·      As for some of our more elaborate cakes, many of them start at about ZMW 70.00 for a 6” round or ZMW 85.00 for an 8” round. We do have larger sizes depending on your serving needs.

·      Many custom sugar cookies start about ZMW 4.00-5.00 per cookie, minimum of half dozen order.

Quotes can take anywhere from 24-72 hours for us to create, this can include any phone calls or schedule appointments. Please keep this in mind when ordering with us.

General Orders

For all non-custom orders you can use our lovely online ordering and change your pick up date and time in the cart. Occasionally dates will be unavailable due to busy schedules and we will try to post those dates in the banner at the top of the screen.

** As of  January 2021 we need 7 days advance notice for all the online orders, or have the delivery date approved prior to placing the order

 

Payments

All orders require payment in full prior to pick up. Custom cake orders are required to be paid in full at least a week in advance, or may require a non-refundable deposit to hold your date. You will receive an invoice that can be paid online and has your due date. Please read everything thoroughly before paying so we can make any adjustments required. Any changes made after a paid invoice may not be accepted.

Smaller or non-custom orders are required to be paid in full at time of placing the order.  

We use DPO for all of our credit card processing and invoicing. We do not accept PayPal, checks are only accepted if received at least 2 weeks before your event on prior arrangements.

 

Delivery

We have very limited availability for delivery and this is not something we can add on after an order is accepted. We do require a minimum order of ZMW 1,000.00 plus delivery fee. Our delivery fees can vary, starting at ZMW50.00 and then based on distance a potential additional ZMW 10.00-15.00 per Km. Any deliveries outside our normal hours may have additional fees. Our delivery service is only within the 20Km radius from our bake studio. 

Changes in Orders

We understand that life happens and sometimes things to need to change with your order. We will always try to be as accommodating as possible.
For custom orders, we accept changes (flavors, fillings and some designs) for your order with 7 days’ notice before delivery or pick up date. This does not apply for wedding orders or large events or cakes with very intricate designs. This is because for some designs (such as sugar flowers or 3D characters) we may need more than 10 days in advance to start working on the decoration of your cake or have already purchased specific supplies for your cake. 

For large non-custom orders, we can accept most changes up to 4 days before your event. Any small non-custom orders, we can accept most changes up 2 days before pick up or delivery. However if we have already started production on your order, you may only be allow a partial refund.

All changes must be handled and confirmed directly with Thusha.

 

Order Cancellations

For custom orders we accept cancellation up to 10 days before your pick up date or delivery. This does not include weddings, large events, or any contracted orders.

We cannot accept cancellations on last minute orders placed with less than 48 hours, or certain intricate cake designs (highly decorated cakes). We reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee if insufficient time is given, as stated above, due to costs incurred in the purchase, preparation and prioritization of the order.

Charges for cancellations will be as follows:

·      In the event of an event cancellation your payment (minus any non-refundable deposits) is refundable up to 30 days prior to the scheduled event date and will be issued within 14 days of event cancellation notice.

·      If your event is cancelled between 29-15 days prior to the scheduled event date a 75% refund will be issued within 14 days of event cancellation notice. You can be billed for any remain balance.

·      If your event is cancelled between 14-8 days prior to the scheduled event date a 50% refund will be issued within 14 days of event cancellation notice. You can be billed for any remain balance.

·      There are no refunds applicable for event cancellations within 7 days of the scheduled event date.

·      If the balance is not paid in full 5 days prior to the event, this contract is null and void. The Dark Brew Trading Ltd will no longer assume any further responsibility.

It is entirely up to The Dark Brew Trading Ltd’s discretion to change or otherwise offer any other options to the customer.

Refund Policy

We take a lot of pride in all our products. All sales are final, with the exception of custom orders cancelled with sufficient notice (discussed above).  In the unlikely event that you are not happy with your order, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can fix any error, and return the uneaten portion within 24 hours. Partial or full refunds are decided on a case-by-case basis, but please note that we do not provide refunds in cases where an item was prepared correctly but a flavor or texture did not meet a personal preference.

We only give refunds in accordance with the refund policies stated below and indicated as https://dark-brew.com/refund-policy/.

·    Due to the tedious, handcrafted nature of our products, we are unable to provide refunds or exchanges for most custom orders

·    Once you or a designated party has picked up an order and left the premise, it is considered “accepted” – we will ask to make sure that everything is correct such as the design, spelling, etc. Refunds requested due to decorating style, writing, colour shade, or general design will not be honoured after leaving with your cake. In some instances you may bring the cake back in for design adjustments but this is an additional charge if the cake has been signed for.

·    All products are the responsibility of the customer once it leaves our shop. We are not responsible for any damage occurring to the cake during transport, set-up or any time thereafter. Keep in mind that cakes are very fragile and damages can happen if not handled properly – such as cracks, smudges, melted frosting, etc. We only give refunds in accordance with refund policies stated below.

·    Cake flavour and texture is subjective. Full refunds requested due to flavour or texture after the cake has been accepted and picked up will not be honoured. You may qualify for a percentage of a store credit if the product is brought back and the quality of the cake flavour or texture is determined to not meet our standards. Cakes must be brought back to us within a timely manner, preferably within 24 hours of pick up – please call or email us promptly to let us know of the issue. Quality determination is solely at the discretion of The Dark Brew Trading Ltd. Please understand that we cannot issue refunds for cakes that have already been completely eaten. *Store credit percents are based on how quickly the cake is returned, how much has been consumed, and what we determine the quality to be. Store credits of any kind will not be issued to customers who do not contact us within 48 hours. 

·    Any orders that are not picked up will NOT be refunded.

The following scenario is the only instance when we will provide a refund:

·     If you come to our store for pick up or if upon delivery the cake does not meet your expectations, we will give you a refund (minus 25% handling/cancellation fee). For weddings, if you are not present for the delivery we must be notified within 6 hours after the delivery is made. This refund will be given as a store credit (no cash/money refunds will be given) NOTE: If we give you a refund, you CANNOT keep the cake. You can only get the refund if you refuse to “accept” the cake. We will NOT negotiate a partial refund if you keep the cake. This is a “take it, or leave it” policy. We are not responsible for any expense you may incur for replacing our cake.

***We do not give refunds under any other circumstances. Refunds are only given within 7 days.

Guarantee / Disclaimer:

We always put in our best efforts to make sure that your order is decorated to the specification on your written order form. If for some reason something is not decorated correctly as stated on your order, we can usually make necessary changes right away.

Every order is hand-made. Decorative finishes are done by hand and are subject to the artistic interpretation of our expert cake decorators. You may provide us with a photograph for inspiration and duplication; however, we make no claims for exact duplication of the work done by other cake decorators.

Please note that creating your order always requires a lot of details and information to avoid any possible errors. If you are trying to order a highly decorated cake over the phone, you should provide us with a sketch or picture (by email). Please note that we cannot read your mind and there are a lot of chances that the design of your cake will be different than what you are expecting if not enough information is provided. We will do our best to follow up with the appropriate amount of questions but assumptions will be made. We do not take responsibility if the colour of the decoration is a different shade than you had in mind.

The Dark Brew Trading Ltd is not responsible for any damage done to the product after it has been delivered and set-up or picked up by the customer. The client assumes full responsibility arranging for the caterer/servers to cut, serve, and remove all existing supports inside of the cake. All cake supports used are made of non-toxic products. The Dark Brew Trading Ltd is not responsible for any injuries that may occur due to failure to remove the necessary supports. The Dark Brew Trading Ltd is not responsible for any damage the product may suffer due to the environmental conditions in which the cake or desserts are stored or displayed (location, temperature, weather, etc). An extended period without refrigeration will deteriorate the cake as well as the decorations.