I had a customer come early and I didn't have the cake ready. She thought it looked nice. I finished it up and delivered it (for FREE) When I got there she said that she thought the letters would be in fondant (are you kidding me there were something like 15 words). But overall she seemed fine. She stops by today and demands a full refund. She said she was EMBARASSED to serve the cake. Are you KIDDING me? How dare you take a cake and then say that to me? I was so shocked, this is the first time I've had a customer completely unhappy with a cake. I just wanted her gone, in retrospect I wish I had said that if you took the cake then you owe me the money, but I was just so hurt. If you want to see the horrible cake here it is. By the by, the cake was huge and fed 30 people and I charged her $65.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1359960

If you want ace of cake quality you brat pay ace of cake prices.

I think it looks fine and it must be what she ordered if she she liked it the first time she saw it otherwise she should have mentioned something. Are you saying you gave her a refund???

what a meany, if she ate the cake then no refund.

im so sorry this happened to you

I agree - no refund. Did you actually give her money back?

i live in a town of 15,000 people, this lady would have made it her business to ruin me if I hadn't refunded her she's a little malicious.

What I'm more interested in is do you think she had a right to be upset, is the cake that bad?

The cake isn't bad at all...the design looks like it was difficult to do and you made the best of it.

It's too bad you had to give her money back. Personally I would be too busy to bake for her if she ever asked for another cake.

No, it's not bad! I did a cake for the US Marine detachment here and that was an 13x18, 9x13 & 6.5x9 stacked and I could only just get the wording on along the sides in the small Wilton fondant cutter letters! There was no way you could have done that wording in fondant! The blue fondant looks very professional and well done. For $65 she got a bargain. I'd have charged her at least $120. You were wrong to refund her, she said she liked it when she first saw it, end of story. As for badmouthing you, who's to say that she hasn't already/won't do that ?

What a shame you went through this experience with a nasty customer, after so much work

I think your cake looked fine - smooth and nice blue colour and emblem on top, though I understand you said you felt rushed to finish it for her...I expect you mean the tons of writing on it? It is difficult to do a whole lot of inscriptions when you are under pressure.

What I can't understand is the GALL of people to take the cake, eat it, THEN ask for money back based on how it looked? Come on!! If it tasted awful, and she brought most of it back to show you, then yeah, I'd be giving her the refund. But its ridiculous to take it in the first place if you don't think it looks good enough

im sorry this happened to you - i know my cakes are like children and i would take it so personally if i had a complaint.

at the end of the day, if the customer wanted fondant lettering she should have double checked that was what you did. theres no point guessing and then complaining about it afterwards. i do personally use gumpaste lettering as it does look neater and a lot of people do prefer it but i know if i was ordering a cake i would check those details before ordering.

dont let it get you down, it did look like a difficult design and you did your best. the customer shouldnt have taken (and eaten) the cake if she wasnt happy and she definityly should have checked the details with you before ordering. pity about the refund, just keep your chin up

I think you did a great job. Give her a piping bag and tell her to write everything. Then she'll see how hard it is! I know when I do a cake I always think it looks great until I add the writing cause I'm horrible at it. And I practice! I know it's hard, but try not to let it get to you. It sounds like she just wanted something for free. There are people like that.

She was out of line. I am so sorry that happened to you!

It's always about learning, so in the future, confirm how customers want their letters.

The cake is nothing to be "embarassed" about. She's the type, as my husband describes, as someone HUNTIN' for somthing to complain about!

I dont' think a refund was merited, but I understand being on the spot and feeling that you had to. Small towns are horrible about that kind of stuff. Start practicing your speech, though, because you dont' want people to learn "oh just tell her there's SOMETHING wrong with it and she'll give it to you free, no problem!"

While I would agree that "confirming all details" is a good idea, most cake civilians have no idea what we're talking about.

Me: Do you want the letters piped or cut out of gumpaste or out of fondant?
Customer: Huh? Oh....I dont' care ... whatever works best
(after cake is delivered....)
Customer: Well I had no idea it would look like THAT!!!!

I like the cake to, and from what i've heard about the color blue that it's hard hard to work with without fading, i would not have given her money back, she saw the cake. you have no reason to feel bad

Some people just try and see what they can get for nothing..there is nothing wrong with your cake. I would have given a partial if the customer was not happy, but not all the $ back, they ate it right?

Jen

I like your cakes on your profile. And she obviously knew of you to come to you for her cake. As everyone else in your town probably knows your quality of work, and of her maliciousness. Your customers wont leave you because she is talking smack about you. She sounds like someone who knows how to go about getting freebies to me. Look at your cakes, you do a great job, so you need to remind yourself of that and tell them sorry, sale is final.

Are you stationed at Yokota AFB?

I can come over there and beat her up for you.

Your cake is stunning! I'm sorry this lady did this to you. I agree with what you did on the refund, even if their wrong the customer is always right. My only suggestion would be that if she comes back for another cake, you tell her sorry "I'm busy that day!"

I'm not sure I understand what she found so embarrassing about it. She saw the finished cake (which looked great,BTW) before she took it--was she complaining about the texture or flavor? Did you have a contract with her? I'm so sorry she treated you so badly--I think I would've been furious with her!

i think the cake is done well. with that being said, yes, the writing is not perfect but piping letters are not easy, you did a better job then i would have done.

then again, i would have done them in fondant because for me, i would rather spend the extra time cutting out letter then pulling out my hair trying to pipe evenly, lol!

She's an idiot. The cake looks wonderful!

Gail

KawaiiCakeCook, it never ceases to amaze me how rude some people can actually be -
Hmmmm, i am thinking that maybe SHE did something to it when preparing it to show her guests - - perhaps she dented it - smudged the writting - did something and then has accussed you to her guests.

Sorry about the whole situation, but just console yourself with the fact that SHE needed you to make the cake in the first place because she didn't know how too.

Did you actually ask her *what was so embarressing* about it - because i can't see what she was all bent out of shape over.
For every *one of those customers* there are hundreds who just love all we do............. for them.

Bluehue.

en-passant .....I can come over there and beat her up for you.
Thats priceless .....

ive had a customer threaten me too, with im going to tell everyone about you. At first it worried me, but I still get orders from our small town folks, so i guess he didn;t tell as many people as he said he would. She's all mouth. dont worry about it. the cake looks good, writing on the side is extremely hard. i dont think you would have been able to get all those words on if you had done them in fondant. since she only told you the design she wanted and not how to do it, you did it they way you thought best. i dont think it warrants a refund. She needs to return the cake or uneaten portion before any refund is considered. so sorry she upset you. you'll be stronger for it though.

You certainly shouldn't have refunded her all her money, especially if the cake was served/eaten, which I'm sure it was!

And like the others said, be sure to confirm what she wanted.

I know that piping IS NOT my forte at all. I hate it with a passion. If you foresee future order that may require a lot of written detail, I would recommend Tappits letter cutters. They're smaller than the Wilton and look great. They've saved my butt plenty of times!

Chin up!

You always get that 1 horrible customer no matter what you do. Don't let her get you down. I thought it looked great

Kim

I agree with bonjovibabe...giving this cust a refund won't guarantee that she won't badmouth you...sounds like she's vindictive enough to do it anyway! Sorry about this...some ppl are not going to be pleased no matter what you do. I've learned recently to fill out a complete duplicate receipt when I take a person's order. I write down EVERYTHING! Colors, what's BC, what's fondant/gumpaste, names, wording, shape, # of svgs...everything. That way, it's written down in duplicate when the job is done and there's no room for misunderstanding. Nothing is foolproof but I figure I can cover my rear as much as possible. Unfortunately, there's lots more where this lady came from. Chin up, dear!

I understand that you felt you had to give her a refund. I would have done the same thing. I can't believe someone would actually say that. That is sooo rude! I think you did a great job. Your fondant looks flawless - I always have cracks on mine! And your penmanship is good -keep on doing great cakes and I agree with the others--next time she wants something-say you are unavailable

I understand that you felt you had to give her a refund. I would have done the same thing. I can't believe someone would actually say that. That is sooo rude! I think you did a great job. Your fondant looks flawless - I always have cracks on mine! And your penmanship is good -keep on doing great cakes and I agree with the others--next time she wants something-say you are unavailable

I HATE it when I have to write on a cake. I have actually started using candy melts and writing on a piece of parchment then transfering the set up letters to the cake. I also use the impression letters when that will not work. I know I will never be able to write on a cake and have it look good enough for me let alone a customer who is paying good money. The impression sets really help line things up and ensure you are in a straight line. As for small town life, I live in a town of 6500 and I know all to well what you are dealing with. You could have the most professionaly done cake and only charge $5 for it and you will have someone who will bad mouth you. You just have to remember that you will never be able to please everyone and let this one roll off your back.