Bride Is So Angry.. Asking For A Full Refund.. Long Story :(
Decorating By mandice Updated 19 Sep 2009 , 10:56pm by SugarFrosted
So, they would be entitled to a full refund. Heck, in some states, the contracted decorator might also have to pay court costs and "emotional damages" on top of the refund.
Actually, you can't get emotional damages for contract law cases. But the rest is pretty accurate. 
Don't even start with me about Santa, CeeTee, don't wanna hear it.
He's a bad scary robot. Nuff Said! (I watch waaaaay too much Futurama)
The cakes pictured upthread are both brown ribboned, ivory iced tier cakes with blue flowers. Hey maybe they wanted all buttercream.
I totally completely disagree with you on the full refund. No way, Jose.
That's a cake! They can cut and serve it. Is it the smoothest most professional cake ever? No.
Did the bride have any clue as to the level of expertise required to produce a cake of that nature? Why not.
You know, common sense would say that it should be like that, but unfortunately common sense/logic and law have absolutely nothing to do with each other 
it like the reason hammers have to have warning stickers on them...cause if some ding-dong hits himself with it, the company that made the hammer is responsible for it! It's all so maddening sometimes.
(((BTW K8, I hope Im not coming across as attacking you, It's honestly not my intent! I'm more Devil's Advocate than anything. It's all meant in good fun, healthy debate, and my sig pretty much explains the rest))) *waves white flag*
Come on here.
Pink Cake Box versus Our (poor baby nervous breakdown) Op
She's said she's totally freaking out.
I just looked for a cake like op describes at Pink Cake Box, 25+ pages, 28 cakes per page. What's 28 times 25?? A lot.
Our OP??? Like a half dozen single cake pictures here on Cc
In my book with what I know now--Op was taken advantage of.
Make a Pink Cake Box cake for a fraction of the cost and then give that money back. No no nonononono She's so green she tied it up with plastic wrap to hold the decor on. She not a pro (no offense)
Actually, you can't get emotional damages for contract law cases. But the rest is pretty accurate.
You can if your lawyer is good enough! 
(Nah, I did know that, but I would not be surprised if there was a State out there which did allow it)
(((BTW K8, I hope Im not coming across as attacking you, It's honestly not my intent! I'm more Devil's Advocate than anything. It's all meant in good fun, healthy debate, and my sig pretty much explains the rest))) *waves white flag*
No no no no no--yes yes yes yes--me too just debating.
Healthy healthy healthy fun fun fun
But I seriously think op got taken advantage of.
(((BTW K8, I hope Im not coming across as attacking you, It's honestly not my intent! I'm more Devil's Advocate than anything. It's all meant in good fun, healthy debate, and my sig pretty much explains the rest))) *waves white flag*
No no no no no--yes yes yes yes--me too just debating.
Healthy healthy healthy fun fun fun
But I seriously think op got taken advantage of.
She did get taken advantage of if you're looking at it strictly from a pricing perspective, but it sounds like part of the "currency" of this cake deal was the value the OP'd be getting from good word of mouth with her wedding magazine friend. I've done things at a discount under similar situations because it will get me publicity. This just didn't run out to be the kind of publicity she would want, unfortunately, so now it's both dealing with an unhappy bride AND the magazine.
I think we should all leave this alone at this point, she seems to have decided what to do, she'll handle it, and we should all go over to the "what makes you a weirdo" thread in the lounge and add to that since it amuses me
Can we just see a picture? How many times have we seen a post come up saying this is the worst cake I've ever done and its really not that bad. What did the friend say about it, R is it?
anyone here think it is weird there is no pic? we had that one lady a while back make up a whole story only to find out it was a hoax.....maybe i am just being cautious, but i see alot of similarities.....no pic, no pics posted on CC (except after this posting), etc.....lol.....
Can we just see a picture? How many times have we seen a post come up saying this is the worst cake I've ever done and its really not that bad. What did the friend say about it, R is it?
anyone here think it is weird there is no pic? we had that one lady a while back make up a whole story only to find out it was a hoax.....maybe i am just being cautious, but i see alot of similarities.....no pic, no pics posted on CC (except after this posting), etc.....lol.....
Kinda makes me suspicious too. But that thread you're referring to was started by a newbie with no photos and no built up credibility. In this situation I believe the OP has photos and legit posts under her belt.
Hope it's not another hoax or another little bit of my faith in humanity will be chipped away again.
y'know what though this is reminding me of a previous thread
with a big blooper cake something or other and
the caker asked for help in posting pics and she sent me pictures to my email and I got lost in my own minutiae and forgot
and didn't get 'em posted and but one of the pictures looked maybe x rated but I couldn't tell too good what it was exactly and I don't do x-rated myself so I sure ain't doing somebody else's
but it mighta been something else but I didn't know exactly how to ask but they were real small pictures all on one page so I just avoided the whole thing.
it was the baby blocks cake person
i mean if you can figure out how to get several cakes all on one page couldn't you figure out how to post on here--sure you could but maybe somebody did it for her
shoot i don't know--over think much, Kate, why yes I think i will
These are the situations when you wish you can wake up and everything is fine, but there is no way out... ugh... When I first read how she wanted 200 servings for only $250 I was thinking to myself, how dare she ask for a cake and not wanting to pay. On top of that she was so specific with what design she wants. You are doing her a HUGE favor and working hard for free. She should have been much more thankful to you. I agree with K8 and others. Cake is not only decorating. It is also about the inside. If they enjoyed the cake and ate it, then she should at least pay for the cost of ingredients of the cake, and I'm sure there is not much (if any) $ left over after that. You obviously tried your hardest and wanted to do something really nice. And you did not intentionally try to make a bad cake. She should still have thanked you for the hard work and the big favor. I would not give her a refund for the ingredients. Cake is two parts, baking and decorating. If she complained about the decorations, then give her some money back for your work, but let her pay for the cake that they ate! I'm sure it was delicious!
I am so sorry you have been so upset by this cake but it makes me so mad when people come to me with pictures from 'big and EXPENSIVE' cake company's and want me to reproduce them at a fraction of the cost. We all have bad cake days and if they want them to be SO perfect they should have gone to the 'BIG' company's and paid BIG prices from them in the first place.
Big hugs to you and don't stress remember its only a cake 
)
Yes I'm dying to see the cake too - I bet it isn't perfect but not nearly the disaster it's being made out to be. This is why smart decorators charge a lot of $$ for their cakes - to make up for the customers with insanely unreal expectations (gorgeous cake for 200 people for $250 - omg) I guess I'm just bitter because I'm one of the dummies who undercharges or doesn't charge at all for cake - since I'm so new (only 4 months now) I need the practice and the most I've charged is for supplies. I had my very first wedding cake this weekend and it turned out mercifully nice - but it took 15 hours and I'm probably going to get $40 worth of supplies cost as reimbursement (ouch) It's a real learning experience. Just like OP's experience - she will refund the $$ and learn a LOT from the experience - that's the most important thing I guess - there's always a luster dust lining to every cake disaster
iThis is like pulling a band-aid. the idea is worse than reality. Just talk to her, face-to-face, and tell her it was a slow disaster. When she says,"why didn't you call?" Tell her you thought it would work out like it usually does. It didn't. Tell her she got the trainwreck and it is truly the worst of your work.
The one thing I can tell you about people, is that 90% of people melt a little when you throw yourself on the mercy of the court. It sounds like you want to give her the $ back. OK. It will be 100 times better after this little 5 minute conversation. Otherwise, you will forever be the horrible cake person, not the cake person who just had a bad day at her wedding.
I agree with this one and I think you should bring her a free cake to sweeten her up, a 10 inch round beautiful "I'm sorry cake" just to save your reputation
Here's what I think you should do, because it happened to me also. I made a cake for a woman, and as per your cake, nothing went right. I made the cake, took pictures, sent to family and asked what they thought (cause I'm always my own worst critic, especially since I'm new at this). I fussed with it some more and tried to make corrections to it, and it did look better. I decided it wasn't good enough when time came to deliver it. I took it to the client apologized told her what happened and told her if she didn't like the cake I would give her a full refund. She accepted the cake, and as far as I know she ate the cake. That was the best thing I could have done, because after I faced her about it, it was done. No more guilt eating away at the pit of my stomach. Face her and your friend (maybe over coffee) and explain. If they understand great, if they don't they really aren't kind people. Especially when your willing to give a full refund. You can't give more than that.
While I feel bad when any cake becomes a wreck, and I feel bad that the OP had to have a cake disaster...however...
She said herself she didn't want to seem "cocky" she makes good cakes.
But no wedding cake n her profile, no tiered cakes even? I think ego got in the way.
Boo hoo I am a girl and get a period... we would never sympathize with Bridezilla on the rag..so why OP?
Why not step up and say, I committed to a cake I thought I could make, but ended up getting in over my head.
It doesn't matter WHY the cake didn't turn out (weather, aunt flow, oh its Thursday). The fact is it didn't turn out.
Mean? No. Harsh? Maybe. True? Yes.
honestly?? i think like the previous poster maybe the OP took on a bit too much and not making up a batch of RI for glue (which takes like 2 minutes) and relying on glucose was a bad idea and the last thing you need is decorations falling off. i think Indydebi said it - brides spend months, years even planning their perfect wedding, they dont care about humidity, etc if they show us a picture thats what they expect to get and i dont think its right to blame brides for being bridezillas or have that "well you served it so pay for it" attitude. me, if i was buying a wedding cake i showed a pictured off pinkcakebox to a decorator who said they could do it within my budget, then thats what i would expect to get sitting at my reception. you just have to be honest and for example i have turned down 2 three tier topsy turvey wedding cakes because i dont feel like i could make them as good and stable as the pictures i was shown so therefore i didnt take them on.
i would imagine that most brides are reasonable and arent going to demand a refund for a tiny airbubble or slight mark or something that most cake muggles dont notice but we would, but from the OP's description the cake did sound like a wreck and wasnt an adequate representation of what she was shown so in my book a full refund as the OP has suggested is definitly in order. also, having just been running my business for 10 months, its completely our own fault for underpricing ourselves. if you say you can do something for a certain price that your own fault, if its not worth it, just turn it down or compromise on decorations, etc. i underprices myself completely for my first 3 weddings, completely my own fault but i certainly didnt put in less effort because the brides were getting a really cheap cake. if they show you a picture of how they want their cake and you say yeah you'l do it for $5 then you stil need to make it look like that. so in my opinion the OP is completely right, - full refund and id send a very very apologetic email and possibly cupcakes or a little cake. the wedding cake is like Indydebi said the intrinsic part of the reception and this part of the day was marred by the cake so yeah, a refund and grovelling is in order.
to the OP though, im sorry you had such a bad experience, its really frusttrating 
I would like to know the final outcome....maybe see a pic of the cake...
I know the OP won't be doing any discounted cakes in the future....
If you are going to exchange money for a cake....make it worth your while.
NOOOO>....Make it TOTALLY WORTH your while.
Personally I think this thread is dead, as the OP has not posted a single thing on CC since page 2 of this thread on August 26, and here we are almost a month later on page 8. I'd like to see the cake too, but I don't see that happening. I doubt the OP is wanting more advice, and prolly has already handled it and moved on to something else.
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