I know you guys have heard many of these stories but I just want to make sure that I'm not going crazy in thinking that the story sounds fishy.
I made 3 dozen cupcakes and a 10" cake for a little girl's birthday party. the cake was supposed to have a tiara on it. At the last minute, the party was changed from 3P on Saturday to 10:30 on Saturday. I explained to the mom that she would not have a stand up tiara on the cake as there would not be enough time for it to dry. That was the first issue. I had several cakes last weekend and had a schedule and she messed that all up.
She picked up the cake and cupcakes Saturday morning, everything was cool. Now today, Tuesday, I get an email saying that she felt that the product was not worth what she paid for it, the kids were spitting it out, the cupcakes were burned, so burned that people thought it was chocolate cake. Seriously, who in their right mind would send something like that out the door?
So I email her back and say first of all, I've never had a complaint. And that I assume if it was as bad as she stated, that she would have brought it back to me, unconsumed, and requested a refund. Not waited 3 days, until she was no longer in the city. She lives in MD, was here for the weekend where the party was held. Why would you wait until Tuesday instead of coming back to my home, or at least calling, saying that you were not satisfied with the order. Still, I tried to be nice, I asked her to give me an estimate of the amount of cake which was not consumed and that I would refund her an amount I deemed necessary.
She then emails me back saying that they didn't eat the cake, nor did they throw it away. The cupcakes were so bad, that they didn't even cut the main cake. But she took it all home with her and it was sitting on her dining room table. Okay, does this make sense to anyone?
I asked her to provide pictures and I would refund accordingly.
Does this even sound valid to anyone? Does she seriously believe that I think she had a cupcake so burned someone thought it was chocolate? Come on!
Sorry so long but I'm a little angry. Am I being illogical?
Some people know their way around the block to freebe land.
Are you legal? If not, give her all the money back or you may risk being fined.
If you are are legal then do as you are doing.
I agree completely!!! I think if it really was this bad, she would have called you after the party. It sounds like she doesn't live in your area, so at least you won't have to deal with any problems with her word-of-mouth "advertising!"
A "normal" person would have called straight-away with a complaint that bad. Taking the cake back to MD with her.....nawwwwww, it would either have been returned to show you, or tossed out.
You are being very nice under the circumstances. Who knows why people say and do these things.....crazy folks, avoid em like the plague.
do these people think we bake with blindfolds on? you would know if you burned your cake.
I recently posted that I had a similar situation wth a bride who said her cake was so burned they had a hard time cutting it.
I couldn't believe it, it was obviously a lie because they day before the wedding I leveled and torted the cake and it was certainly not burned nor dry. Infact I was thinking it was slightly underbaked.
neither of us had proof so I gave her a 25% refund.
sorry this is happening to you. I suggest you deal with it like other retailers. You don't get a refund or replacement unless you return the original item.
tell her to FedEx it to you and you'll refund what she sends you, *if* it is infact burned.
Oh my gosh!...this lady must be the clone of an idiot I dealt with before. This lady called me saying that the cake she ordered was so hard you couldn't cut it with knife and the layers were sliding off of each other (it was a 3-layer cake). I think she was trying to get out of 2 more upcoming orders that she had placed. Already this lady was indecisive on what she wanted in the 1st place.
This really bothered me to the point I had to pray for God to take it off my mind. I know that when I checked that cake it was moist. Some people will just come up with all types of stuff!!! I'm glad that happended, though...lesson learned: if someome has a complaint, they need to bring back the UNEATEN product so you can see for YOURSELF, BEFORE any $$ is refunded.
Also, I keep saying, not all $ is good $. I would rather not have any problem customers, and if I have to experience that to learn what orders NOT to accept, then I'm cool.
I think your customer is lying! She would've known upon delivery if cupcakes were burnt...I'm quite sure you would be able to smell "charcoal/burnt" instead of "sweet-smelling frosting"
I would tell her "sorry you feel that way...please don't call me anymore"
WHAT???
Am I nuts, or is this woman a total whack-job?? Not to be rude, but Really? Would you pack up a cake that you thought was disgusting, and take it home to another city??? And then keep it on your dining room table??? I agree, if you are legal, tell her you're sorry but she's S*O*L!
[quote="janebrophy] Would you pack up a cake that you thought was disgusting, and take it home to another city??? And then keep it on your dining room table??? I agree, if you are legal, tell her you're sorry but she's S*O*L![/quote]
That's the craziest part. Why would you go to the trouble to pack a cake up and drive it to another place??? I think it would have either went in the garbage or back to you.
Let's see if I have this right ... the cupcakes are SO bad that they don't even try to cut the 10" round cake ..... that she took ALL THE WAY HOME with her instead of trashing it or leaving it with the in-town hostess. 
If I thought a cake was so bad that I wouldn't even TRY to cut it, then I don't think I'd haul it all the way back to my out-of-state home.
(sniff! sniff! Yep! I smell it! It's smells "fishy" to me!) 
More likely she took it all the way home to scoff the lot.
and a 'hard time cutting the cake' can also be translated as 'we were so bladdered we were trying to saw through the table....hic'
I attended an army wedding where the 'happy' couple were so out of their skulls they didn't realise they were trying to carve the cake stand. (It was the sort of wedding where everyone was a -zilla of some sort. Definitely not officers and gentlemen)
Maybe we should all have a clause in our contracts saying:
If there is any problem with the quality of the cake, please return the uneaten portion within 12 hours for assesment.
No complaints will be accepted without the cake being returned. ( or something like that)
I think that would stop a lot of these people who do this kind of scam & they are everywhere, they will eat at a good restuarant & when there is only one bite left they call the server & complain about their meal, 9 out of 10 times they get the meal for nothing even tho the restuarant knows very well that if there was a problem they would have complained after the first bite. It is the same thing.
Okay, I just wanted to make sure that my judgement wasn't being clouded by the fact that I was upset to receive a complaint! I personally feel that after changing the venue of the party, she didn't need so much cake and had lots left over and was pissed about it. But is it my fault that she ordered so much cake?! Definitely not!
I should have known she was trouble from the beginning being that she ordered the cake initially in January and changed it about 5 times before we actually go to the date. The only reason I'm being remotely nice to her is the fact that I have to be in a wedding with her in December. So she's a friend of a friend. I'm also doing the cake for that wedding so who knows what she'll try to say to the bride at this point.
I do know someone who was there, actually the people who paid for it. She didn't even pay for it! She is the daughter in law of my grandmother's pastor. Which is another thing that's crazy because they paid for it and had there been a real issue, my granny would've been the first one to hear about it at church on Sunday!
She is a nut job, she's given me trouble with the wedding stuff as well. So I think she just wanted a reason to get on my nerves. And she's had my cake before, twice, as her mother in law always orders from me.
Whew, sorry to be so long winded again but she's really pissed me off! I don't even know if I could trust any pictures she might send me!
She didn't even pay for it!
I'm sorry .... why are you even talking to her about this? She is not the paying client. She has no standing.
This happened to me. I was not aware it was a stepfamily situation. I'm getting emails and phone calls from "mom", complaining about just about everything. NINE DAYS LATER, I get an email from the PAYING mom, apologizing for this other mom's behavior, assuring me the bride "....would be devistated if she knew you were being talked to like that!" and how they were very happy with what I provided for them at the reception. At this point of realization .... when I realized the complaining mom hadn't given me one dime toward this reception, my thought was "why the hell am I even talking to you?" This complaining mom was looking for money "back" and SHE HAD NOT PAID A DIME TOWARD THE WEDDING RECEPTION!!!!
Takes all kinds, I guess!
Good lord.. tell her that you can only discuss refund matters with the one who paid for the cake. Who signed the contract? I would talk to people who were at the party and see what the deal is. My guess is that it is "buyer's" remorse. She didn't even pay for it.. and she's asking for money?
WOW...i just thought i'd heard it all.
why on earth not even cut the cake?...that's crazy...if the cupcakes were so awful....wouldn't ya try the cake to see if that was edible?
and she didn't pay for it?
geeze....ya never know, she might be trying to get the $$$ back, and not even tell the other family members.
this stinks ....just forget about her.
And that's another thing I need to stop. I haven't been doing contracts for smaller cakes, only wedding and tiered cakes. I need to cut that out I guess. Someone else mentioned putting a clause in there about refunds and stuff saying they have 24 hours to call if there was an issue. But isn't that welcoming the idea that you'll give a refund? I'm afraid to do that also.
By the way, I told her to send pictures yesterday around 4PM, nothing in my inbox yet...
WIERD situation! Have you checked w/ the paying client to make sure everything was ok? It'd be very interesting to hear their point of view. Personally, I'd check for my own peace of mind and then let it GO!
Take care,
Melanie Mc.
NO REFUND!!
If she contacts you again, simply say that any refund goes to the person who pays for the cake. Once she realizes she isn't going to get any money, she'll go away.
Who in their right mind is going to say "This cake sucks! I think I'll take it home instead of disposing of it." So they take it home so they can, what, use it as a conversation piece with company? "See those cupcakes? They are HORRIBLE. I know they look fine on the outside, but they are so BURNED. It's like someone iced lumps of COAL. No, no, you don't need to check and see."
I ask you.
Darci
OMG!! This is truly RIDICULOUS!! The only plausible explanation is that they didn't have as many people show up as they thought they would (hmmm, I wonder why people don't want to be around them?) and they didn't even get to the cake. My aunt is that same kind of person. When I was a kid, I swear, I went to Chi-Chi's with her and she complained to the manager and wanted her meal for free because the FREE chips were broken! No one wants to be around these negative "I deserve everything for free" people. I'm sorry that you had to deal with her.
I would still call the person who actually paid and casually ask if everything was ok at the party.
Definitely stop all communication with her. She has no business contacting you about anything since she didn't pay for the cake.
I would contact those that did and just say you're doing a satisfaction follow-up. DO NOT say anything at all about the other woman. If they say it's fine, then drop it. No more contact with anyone.
If the cc's were no good, then noone had any dessert. wouldn't someone want to taste the cake? and i would not bother taking home a big pc of garbage???? makes you wonder about some ppl.
And that's another thing I need to stop. I haven't been doing contracts for smaller cakes, only wedding and tiered cakes. I need to cut that out I guess. Someone else mentioned putting a clause in there about refunds and stuff saying they have 24 hours to call if there was an issue. But isn't that welcoming the idea that you'll give a refund? I'm afraid to do that also.
By the way, I told her to send pictures yesterday around 4PM, nothing in my inbox yet...
I initially thought the same thing about adding the refund paragraph - but you could bury it in the deposit/payment section and where you outline refunds of any deposit monies.
I can't believe that they could RESIST cutting into the cake to see how it was... I know I couldn't.
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