I certainly wouldn't call a personal cake for an 8 year old a "smash" cake. I make a 4" cake for a 1 or 2 year old. That's what a "smash" cake is for. It's a photo op. Most of the cake ends up on the kid and is never eaten anyway. The last one I made was a pile of cake crumbs and icing and ended up being dumped outside for the dogs to eat.

I'd apologize for the wrong filling flavor on the one cake and offer her a small percentage off of her next order, and just apologize for what she felt was too much filling on the other cake. If you used the normal amount of filling that you always use then it's probably just personal preference. Just make a note of it somewhere if she is a regular customer. Not much you can do on that one.

Around our area, smash cakes are used for the first birthday only. I have made them as a complimentary item with the purchase of the serving cake and only made them 4" to 6" inches. Buttercream and limited decoration to avoid a hazard.

I keep all email transactions by order and usually do a run through for each order with the customer a few days before the event to confirm. Of course, I do not do high volume, so I have the time to do that. I am just really starting and pricing seems to be my downfall also.

You do beautiful work and no matter what, you will run into this situation again. Chin up, apologize, give discount and smile to her. The nature of the beast when it comes to working with anyone. I appreciate your sharing, the advise is helping me as well.

By definition, a "smash" cake is one that gets all "smashed" up by baby hands during the trying-to-get-it-from-plate-to-mouth process. I'm pretty sure an 8 year old knows how to do that. Maybe they just called it a "smash" cake because they'd heard that "smash" cakes were free .... and since they were charged for it, they are now (as my hubby would say) " HUNTIN' !" for something to complain about.

Smashbox is a brand of cosmetics. Since there are cosmetics on the cake, I think "smash" in this case is short for Smashbox, rather than the toddler's birthday smash cake most people are accustomed to.

And this is where knowing where a person is from helps us all understand terms and cultural references. lol

ok everyone so she responded, here is what she said, how should i reply?

Regardless of the fact, the cake was and is inedible. My daughter was very disappointed. I will now have to make it up to her by purchasing a cake for her this weekend. Unfortunately all I did was waste my money. 10% off a future order is a slap in the face. Would the cake have been edible if it was an 8inch as opposed to a 10inch?????? I have raved about your cake to all my family and friends and on Saturday I felt stupid, disappointed and hurt. Hurt because I could see the expression on my daughter's face when her friends and their parents started to throw away pieces of the cake. This experience has definitely deterred me from future orders.

This lady needs to be slapped! Why was the cake inedible? Did they eat it? Can she give you the portion that was not eaten so you can see why it was so horrible? She got a heck of a deal to begin with!

why in the world was the cake inedible? It couldn't have had THAT much filling because the cake would have slid all over the place. This lady is nuts. Is she referring to the wrong flavor filling? That wouldn't have made it inedible either unless there was an allergy.

ok now I'm totally confused... I though she was just fussing about the size of the cake and the flavor of the other one.... where does "inedible" come in?

Sooo..........with that said.....this is what I would tell her. I'm so sorry you were not pleased with the cakes, and it was "inedible." I would gladly give you a refund in exchange for the entire cakes. I assume that you only cut a slice out of each, so it shouldn't be a problem to bring the cakes back and I'll give you a refund.

They ate the friggin cake.......I just know it.

so shes going from saying there was too much filling in the cake to the cake being inedible? shes reaching for excuses

btw, i cant think of an 8yr caring if people ate cake or not - they generally too interested in other stuff going around on the day unless adults make a big thing out of it and then make them feel bad

im sorry but her complaint is that there was too much filling in one cake, and instead of the other cake being a strawberry cake it was a white cake so the filling was fine.

I can't see how an EIGHT year old would be "upset" when she saw people throwing away pieces of the cake. In my 32 years as a parent, 8 year olds are not taking inventory of who's eating cake and who's not. It's also been my experience that most people just leave a piece of cake sit ("Oh I"m full!") .... never saw a line of people heading for the trash can to throw away their paper plates.

THe claim of "not enough cake ... too much filling" is so suspect to anyone who has ever even EATEN a cake, let alone made one. If that was REALLY the construction of the cake, you wouldn't have been able to hold the 2 layers together, it would have been too slippery with all of that filling.

Hubby has a theory that holds water everytime. If there is an issue with something, then the complainer sticks to that issue. If the complainer is "makin' it up as they go", then the issue will change with each version of the story. I've watched for this pattern. It's true more often than not.

First it was the filling, then a reference to the size, now it's inedible. She's just huntin' for a reason to try to her money back.

Odds are she didn't know how "small" an 8" cake was and the "inedible" part is probably coming from people who are not familiar with fondant.

You aren't losing a customer ... you're dumping a problem.

Who cares ... who's next?

and that's all that needs to be said about that!!! hooray for debi... it's true... sound like things keep changing... first this was wrong... then... no it was this other thing... oh and this also.... please...

they reached u the 1st time... saw that you expressed concern... and they took advantage and made things seem like that was the worst cake(s).... debi says the truth...if you had THAT much filling.... it wouldn'thold...

Just stand your ground and dispatch her! Good Luck...

PS... she is tying you up... sometimes you have to say... Oh well...

here is her first email to me about the cake, maybe you can find some kind of correlation between the two emails.

Hi Micheala....hope all is well. This is Lisa Green, you made the cupcake and the girly cake for my dauthter's b'day on Saturday. I was a bit disappointed. as know one enjoyed the cake and cupcake.the cupcake was white cake with rasberry lemondade as opposed to strawberry with rasberry lemonade. The guests complained that their was so much cookies and cream filling they could hardly taste/see the cake. I would appreciate it if you could contact me.

Thanks everyone for the help and support, like i said before this is the first time i have ever had a complaint , and i do not know what to make of it. Everyones tremendous support is very encouraging! and it is truly appreciated! thanks cake bakers!

Her tone is so nasty in the second email. Dump the PITA!!

Looks like when she did not get a full refund her being "a bit disappointed" turned into "humiliation". I am assuming she has had your cakes before by the reference in the last email of bragging to everyone about your cakes?

the degree of her disappointment is clearly geared toward financial compensation and probably not a reflection on you. her guests very well could have hated her selection period but i find it hard to believe that friends and guests are so rude at a party to just parade around throwing cake in the trash.

You need to decide how much fussin you want to deal with. How much of a threat can she really be to your business? How was she referred? Everyone will come across a bad review at some point. Everyone else you know so far seems to be very happy with your work?

Usually a grocery store will not give you money back for a product unless you bring the product in and show cause for the complaint. they would not take your word for anything. Why would you take it from anyone else? Make her aware that you have policies and they will be held to.

Just tell her: Buh bye! she's a major PITA.

(towenby1) she was referred by another client (did her 2 year olds cake) i have always received raves about my cakes, even with some really picky clients i have had in the past, and you're right! i would never be that rude at a party to just flat out throw away the cake.

(indydebi)(Mrs-A ) yes i agree about the 8 year old thing. The ones that i know would never go around worrying about if everyone was eating their cake! and debi your advice is gold because as you see in her first email she never said that the cake was inedible and did change her story. sighs

You aren't losing a customer ... you're dumping a problem. i think i might have to go with the motto!

(tarheelgirl)(SpecialtyCakesbyKelli)(towenby1 )
i think i will ask her for the remaining cake/s to see what the problem was, and will offer her a full refund once i receive the cakes.

once again thanks everyone for the support it's sooo sweet of you guys to take time out of your busy cake baking days to help someone out!

(SpecialtyCakesbyKelli) i guess it could get worse! lol funny because i was thinking the same thing as i was reading it! well i guess there are always people out there who "dislike" cookies and cream! especially kids right? haha

I don't have any further advice about dealing with this customer.

I just wanted to say that if the guests were kids, they almost never eat the cake. They are too busy playing. I know this because I just had my daughter's 7th birthday party and the kids' pieces of cake were left mostly untouched (as at most parties I attend). I know it wasn't the cake since I had some as did the other adults. Further, the birthday girl couldn't care less.

The cakes you made were gorgeous and I bet they tasted great.

Hey! How come *I* always got the ones who wanted MORE filling?

Is she serious? Sounds like she is trying to get something for nothing. And I agree with IndyDeb, what 8 year old is standing guard at a trash can to see who is throwing away the cake? It is a birthday party for crying out load!

And if the parents did make a big deal and throw away the cake, shame on them. Even if the cake was inedible (I am sure it wasn't), keep your comments to yourself and discretely throw it away.

You are much better off without her business. You did a great job on both cakes and I think she is trying to use her daughter to make you feel guilty so you would give her a refund. I would ask what exactly made it unedible and what she expects for compensation.

btw, am i the only one that in this day and age that if you have a complaint about something you whip out a phone or camera and take a picture of it? so if there was too little cake and way too much filling i would expect a photo of it being shown as proof in the original email... or that could be just me as us bean counters love documented proof of everything

great point you guys! im going to post what her response is to the refund only, if i receive the cakes back. im sure she wont be happy with my response!