OH HE** NO SHE DIDN'T?!?!?! I would've had to put the smack down. I am SO not kidding. I would never give anyone all their money back anyway, but in that situation she'd have flaming dog poo on her front porch. Or... something else really bad... that I won't say here because I don't want to get yelled at.

wow Royalty!! I'm so sorry you went through that!! I haven't started selling to anyone ouside my family yet so I haven't had that problem yet. I hope I can grow a backbone before then. I hate confrontation. I get super nervous, but maybe if I start typing out contracts now before I start a buisness it would help out a lot. I think if you write something out where the people have to sign that the cake was to their satisfaction before they leave then you could avoid that problem from happening again.

Oh man, oh man, oh man! I am so feeling how all of you who have been burned are feeling and I TOO have learned a lesson or two and have actually started growing a set of testicles since going through a similar experience. Here in my experience before I learned the hard way to NEVER offer to fully refund the price of a cake again!!!!
I had a former NFL football player for the Buffalo Bills order a custom birthday cake for his fiance. It was a large cake carved out of a double layered 1/2 sheet cake, vanilla/choc marble pound cake with chocolate ganache filling. The cake was carved into the shape of a Mardi Gras mask and was covered in fondant and then intricately handpainted with food colors and metallic dusts. It was an awesome cake and I spent at least three days working on the cake from start to finish having to handpaint and form some of the ornamentation ahead of time. I charged a grand total of $200 - but in hindsight I think I should have charged more. When the cake was picked up they "oouuuued and ahhhhed" over it and said it was gorgeous. Two days later the football player calls and says he was extremely disappointed in the cake because it was not fit to eat. He said he was embarrassed because people were taking one bite and setting it down and not eating it. He said it was so dry. He said he had "talked me up" to so many of his friends and send them to my website, but now he wished he hadn't. He said he was going to spread the word my cakes were not good. I was MORTIFIED!!!!!!!!!!! I did not bake the cake, my assistant did. I decorated it, but I did not taste it so I had no idea if it was as bad as he was saying. I apologized and told him it was entirely possible the cake was overbaked and I was so, so, sorry. Orignally I was so upset I told him I would just refund his money - I didn't want ill will out there. But then I started thinking about how much time I put into it and I called him back and said I had been thinking about it and that it would be fair to return half - since I put so much into the presentation of the cake and they had been happy with that. He said "No, I want a full refund like we talked about before and if you aren't willing to do that I will call my attorney and sue you for the money back and let people know your cakes aren't fit to eat. He even put his fiance on the phone to tell me how her birthday was ruined because the cake was so bad. She went on to tell me she was a wedding planner and a professional and that I was not acting like a professional person to not return all the money. I told her I was simply trying to appeal to their "human" nature and thought it would be fair to return half - hoping they would see it that way. She just went off on me too and said her finance wanted ALL HIS MONEY BACK! I was SO stupid and definitely learned my lesson on that one. From now on, I will NOT be threatened or bullied. I will INSIST they return the cake first and then we will determine how I can make it up to them, if indeed the cake was not fit to eat. But never, never will I be blindsided like I was on this cake!

VickiChicki I'm dying to know which Bill it was... can you PM me? I've heard so many stories (and encountered it myself when I used to waitress) about how generous they are! I am appalled and so sorry that someone did that to you!

WOW!! That cake is sooo beautiful!!!! I cannot believe they actually wanted ALL their money back. I've been to parties where the cakes were disgustingly sweet and people just ate a little and secretly threw it away...or at least I did, and no one ever complained or made a big deal because it was a party and the cakes were pretty. I don't believe for one minute the party was "ruined". Freakin a wholes. So if he loses a game should his employer get ALL his money back because the game was ruined?

haha scox!!! that's a good one-the team owners should get their money back if they loose the game!! lol wouldn't that be great-if only they could see it from that perspective. anyway, i love melvira's advice and look forward to it (and i did browse the poisioned thread and can't believe it but wow you restrained yourself...good we have a quick peek at what you might have said? *evil grin* *evil laugh*) just kidding!!lol you guys are great!!

Thanks scox - wish I woulda thought of that one and suggested that to him! hehe! Well, I learned a hard lesson through it though!

Oh no, if you are talking about what I'd have said in the poisoned thread, nope. Not going there.

At the baker I used to work at, we once had a MOB call and ask for a FULL refund of the wedding cake price. Reason: The cake was moldy. Uh, come to find out, I'd be moldy, too, after sitting out at room temperature for 5+ days with perishable mousse filling!!
I think that buyer's remorse accounts for a lot of it. People have parties they can't afford, then after the fact, they're sorry about the expenditure and try to get money back. That, or they are evil. ;o)