Thanks CarolAnn! If I lived closer to you I'd make you a birthday cake also.
I threw a surprise birthday party for a woman who owns a big restaurant here once (when I owned my bar). She was turning 67 and had never in her life had a birthday party. When she walked in the door and we all hollered "Surprise", she started bawling. I didn't realize she had NEVER had a birthday party. I just can't imagine any mother not having a birthday party for her child or her own children not having one for her at some point.
When my stepdaughter came to visit me (we didn't really get acquainted until after her father and I divorced) and my daughter who is her half sister, I fixed her a Christmas stocking and it was her very first. Also fixed her an Easter basket and it was her very first. After she went to college and was a 2nd Lieu. in the Air Force, I still sent her Easter baskets as far away as San Remo, Italy.
I try to treat others as they would like to be treated and I try to remember my mom's saying, "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say anything." I, by all means, don't always live up to that but I really do try. 
This lady was obviously just a hateful witch that thought she would get her money back if she complained.
Diane
CarolAnn WOW i am sooo sorry yo have never had a birthday party,
It's not so uncommon. When I was growing up, we never had what you all call a birthday party.....inviting friends who arrive with gifts and play games, eating cake afterward. On our birthday, we got to choose what we had for dinner, we got a grocery store refrigerator case cake and a card with $10. I can't remember any of us actually getting a present to open. We'd MUCH rather have the ten bucks anyway!
When we got older, since 4 of the 6 kids were born in August, we started calling a summer cookout "The August Birthday Party". There was a cake (somewhere in the kitchen, I think), and we'd have a big cookout, maybe play volleyball. If relatives came over, they came for the cookout .... no gifts were brought for the 4 birthday people. And that was ok .... it was more of a cookout than a birthday party anyway.
We never felt deprived, we never felt that we were missing anything. Remember, we were dirt-poor .... sometimes just being able to have food for dinner was a big event for us, let alone being able to have your FAVORITE food! 
I am actually almost an anti-birthday party person because I've seen too many ADULTS turn into the birthday version of a bridezilla. It's disgusting to watch and worse to be around them. Going thru the "birthday charade" with my immediate family is actually hard on me, because I view it as all fake-n-phoney, but I put on my plastic smile and do it because it's for them.
But my birthday? I am MUCH happier that it goes by unnoticed. Not because I don't like getting older ... I actually REVEL in getting older ... but because I don't view it as an important "accomplishment" that should be marked by some big self-centered blow out. It's why I tend to keep my BD a secret.... from friends, from family and ESPECIALLY from co-workers!! (office birthdays are the WORST!!)
(But when I turn 50 ..... I'm turning into a self-centered guest of honor with a big blow out!!! It will be my first B-Party and we're doing it up right! Y'all are invited! But no gifts!)
wolfley29 opps yeah i wrote that at i think it was 1 am ok so thats my excuse for messing up lol....
Yeah americans say vegemite is wayyy to salty but in its defence it isnt as salty as it was in the beginning lol the heart foundation made them rduce the salt hahaha yeah its crazy but we are used to it from birth pretty much, when you have a crying baby mothers love to put it on there pacifier or dummy as we call it in aus....it works almost every time....
indydebi awesome have that big party......I understand not being able to allways afford a party i grew up with 8 brothers and sisters so we didnt allways have the money for a party but mum allways tried to do something like at times we would be allowed to go to pizza hut and bring 1 friend or soemthing lol, Like you i didnt mind but now i am older the partys seem to dwindle...though i havnt had that many hubby did plan a great surprise party for me a couple years back when we lived in japan. It was my first and i can say one of the best...
OK guys not that i want to get back to this horrid woman but i want to share something with you, So as she told me these 2 statements
Perhaps we are just tired of foreigners coming into our country. Maybe you really should go home to Australia. What a wonderful idea! Save the US from your godawful cakes! LOL
and
GO HOME! We don't want you here in our country!
Well she says she is sick of foreigners coming to her country look what it says on her myspace page....
My husband is a gorgeous Ecuadorian and a great father to my boys.
Ecuadorian huh i guess he doesnt count as a foreigner lol
Ok so i know this women is crazy but i cant help but feel scared about any new cakes and peoples reactions from now on, I just got done making a elmo doll cake and as i think it looks good and the guy seemed to love it i am still so worried about him emailing me with some problem.....Has anyone felt like this or am i just being silly....
OK guys not that i want to get back to this horrid woman but i want to share something with you, So as she told me these 2 statements
Perhaps we are just tired of foreigners coming into our country. Maybe you really should go home to Australia. What a wonderful idea! Save the US from your godawful cakes! LOL
and
GO HOME! We don't want you here in our country!
Well she says she is sick of foreigners coming to her country look what it says on her myspace page....
My husband is a gorgeous Ecuadorian and a great father to my boys.
Ecuadorian huh i guess he doesnt count as a foreigner lol
OMG!!! Your right,,,,I read that on her myspace too!!! How funny....
lol yeah i guess the rules dont count for her lol it just goes to show how insane this women is...I would never tell just say an american visiting my country to go home we dont want your kind here and at the same time hubby is american lol she is something else....
I have to chime in here... how RUDE of her!!! YOUR HUSBAND is a U.S. Marine, willing to fight for this country, you have moved all over the place in support of him and our country, and she tells YOU to leave??? Yeah right!! I for one am thankful to people like you and your husband. I don't think I could move to all different countries like that. I hope all goes well for your move, and that you don't get any more NASTY customers...
I agree with LilyS, you should sent her an e-mail. your cake is totally adorable, and it looks like a lot of work went into it. Some people don't know how to appreciate anything. But of course she sound like she is mad...not at you but at life in total.
Best of luck next time.
I always say excuse me when I have to walk in front of someone, you should see the look I get. They looked shocked that someone had manners.
I've also seen people say "excuse me" but use it for an excuse to BOWL YOU OVER. It's as if they are saying 'excuse me' but their actions are "get the h*ll out of my way".
geesh why was it ok for her husband a quote" foreigner " to be here and marry an american but it wasn't ok for you? geesh this woman must have her panties in a permanent twist.
her second email realy did shock me and as several already said what she's threatening you with is libel and slander- and you have proof of this. not encouraging another email to her but too bad one couldn't be sent to her by some lawyer etc lol informing her if she decides to go through with said threat; there could be legal consequences lol...
so when you go back to aussy
bring me back something good! hubby's always wanted to live thelre.
lol yeah i guess she thinks she is special or something, I dont see we will be coming back to the US for a very long time,, To much to get done you know how it is lol i feel like we are starting over so we have to buy a house, car and so on..I want to also open a cake shop or something sooo i know we wont have money for holidays for awhile......Aus is so pretty you shold visit sometime
foxymomma521 Oh yeah it is hard at times but it is well worth it, I love him with everything i have so i will follow him to the ends of the earth and back.....I guess the one thing this lady doesnt understand even though her hubby is from another country is that america just like so many other countrys are full of people from all over the world and she should be happy that people love her country enough to want to come here....
Ok so i know this women is crazy but i cant help but feel scared about any new cakes and peoples reactions from now on, I just got done making a elmo doll cake and as i think it looks good and the guy seemed to love it i am still so worried about him emailing me with some problem.....Has anyone felt like this or am i just being silly....
Dont let one sour puss with a chip on her shoulder ruin your belief in yourself. It's fairly obvious this woman would not be happy with ANYTHING she gets.. she seems to thrive on negativity. I reckon it would probably kill her to know you are going from success to success despite her efforts to derail your confidence.
It's hard to let go of the negative.. it's always easier to believe the bad than the good. But that silly woman doesnt deserve a second more of your time and energy... except in this thread of course
I wonder how it would make her "foreigner" husband feel to know that his wife was spewing such sewage from her mouth!! Too bad you couldn't find a way to let him know....lol
I don't think there's much else that can be said, but I would like to point out that #1, what the he** difference does it make if you did use a box mix if it was good, but #2 did you notice she never said it wasn't good. She just kept saying it wasn't from scratch! AND she never asked for her money back. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but when something genuinely isn't good and I know I'm right, I demand satisfaction. This lady didn't seem to want anything except to be a bi**h and make you feel bad! I wouldn't worry about her a bit, I'm sure she is this way about everything and people who know her are sick of hearing her complaint of the week! I would definately NOT respond to her any more, it's just not worth the aggrivation. Good luck in all you do! -Lori
Thanks! (insert big cheesy grin here!)
-Lori
AHH! ceshell, Vegemite is a salty black tar looking spread that EVERY kid has on bread, or crackers. It can be used as a broth. It is the scum that is formed on the top layer of the vat during the production of good 'ol Aussie beer.
The chunky stuff gets sent to farms for cow fodder and the liquid is set to make VEGEMITE.
All good Aussie kids love Vegemite - got to say my daughter doesn't eat it - she is BAD.
LOL well when you put it THAT way....
Can I just get the beer instead?!
tbroskoski i was wondering if her husband had read that email and if he did how he felt about it
CelebrationsbyLori i would also ask for money back or something if the cake was that horrid.....
I actually had to laugh today as i read in her myspace page under who her heros are it says her heros are kind people haha make melaugh
I have now read this entire thread, and can only say OMG.
Her first letter was a bit rude, and I can understand that your feelings were hurt, as you KNOW you baked from scratch (and the cake was really, really cool.... well done!).
It is very true that some people are only happy when they are unhappy, and perhaps this customer is one of them. She got a steal of a cke for only thirty smackers and she knows it.... she should have kept her mouth shut.
But jeez looeez..... what the heck were you THINKING when you sent that letter to her? Your letter to her was absolutely the most unprofessional I have ever seen (not to mention just downright MEAN and full of personal attacks). You received wise advice from others and even som sample letters that you could have adjusted to fit your needs, and that would have made you look like a professional, and NOT like a whiny 10 year old.
I suffice to say that her seond letter back to you was NOT an action in itself, but a reaction to your attack.
Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
I'm with ozcookie! i'm dying to have her myspace page! iwant to add her as a friend and then play with her mind some! Rude nasty old woman.
I know!!! Make her a nice old choccie cake to say sorry! But use vegemite!!! Mwahahahahaa!
wahaha! (sorry could help myself) That'll teach her to diss our beautiful country. Cant wait to have you back! Where are you moving to?
well the only thing i can tell you is that dont let people know how you make cakes..... people do have a right to want a GOOD cake not a something put together.... the cake was nice real pretty... dont let people know what you put in it maybe she could tell... it was a mix people have tastes like that.... 
not everyone has cake talent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for real
Why do I have Men at Work lyrics playing and replaying in my head?
I think she was rude from the beginning, but your letter to her was also a shocker!!!! 
She probably wouldn't have sent the 2nd threatening letter without that prompting. Anyway, she should be told that she can't go around bad-mouthing you...I would definitely send a formal letter to warn (and scare the crap out of) her.
I think there's something in the psychology of pricing a cake. I agree with everyone about the price of this cake being way to low. I would have put a price of $60 on this one. For some reason, when people have to pay a higher price it automatically elevates the quality of the product. In reverse, when they feel like it was a cheap price, they think it's a cheap product.
Nuff said...Stacey your cake is awesome. I would have been thrilled to produce such a clever confection. Hold you head up...charge more and don't deal with this lady again.
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