I agree with those that mentioned unless she returns the cake, no refund at all. I don't even know if I would offer a refund unless I had the chance to sample myself.

For me personally I can't eat box mixes. I started doing scratch when I began my classes because I started getting extremely ill whenever I had a box mix cake or altered mixes. I did taste test some altered mixes on here and they were good but I just can't consume too much of it. As a customer I would want to know, but I would also ask first. This woman didn't ask you so I'm amazed that she would have the balls to mention it and expect a refund after the fact. Are you sure she isn't a competitor?

It depends on your market. If this customer runs around telling everyone you use box mixes, be prepared to answer without acting or giving off any vibe that box mixes are wrong. Don't slam scratch bakers in the process, either. Present your product as worth the money.

I'm posting this in case anyone gets the vibe from this thread that somehow box mixes are wrong. If they are right for you, they're right for you. Whoosh away any bad mojo about "Oh, no! She's telling people I use box mixes!" You do what you do, you have reasons for doing it, and don't put a bad vibe out into the world. You want your customers to think your product is worth the price.

I agree with a PP that it could be a competitor trying to find out what bakeries use. It's good to know what your food is made with, for allergy purposes, but it's the consumers responsibilty to get all the info before purchasing.

I grew up on scratch, but when I got back into caking I was using mixes. It quickly ended and I went back to scratch just because I felt guilty when people complimented my baking and in the back of my head I knew it was just a box. To each his/her own, but she shouldn't get a refund just because she wanted a scratch cake. Who's to say she won't still run her mouth after the refund. Giving her the refund is like you being apologetic for using mixes as if you have no problem with it, don't give in.

Another way to look at this is that people are being trained by the grocery store chains. I can't believe how fast you can get all or some of your money back for cake that has been completely consumed!! I have worked for several grocery store bakeries over the years and I'm always shocked at the little picky details people complain about. Then the management automatically starts knocking down the price until the people don't mind all the "mistakes" on the cake.

I have had cake orders that the customer specifically stated a certain color icing, writing, roses etc and then the same customer complained and demanded money back for things they asked for.

Or the people who pick up and pay for the cake, then call in (after it is eaten) to say how horrible it WAS and they want money back. The cake wasn't returned as proof of its "inedibility", but they still need money back.

A refund means that something was wrong. You can't allow people to dictate refunds because THAT is what will get around, and everyone will be hounding you for money back for some silly thing just to get money back!!!!

I am interested to know what the OP ended up doing.

Uh-oh, here we go again...

I will start this by saying there is room in the market for everyone, scratch and box (I like both). But it is equally insulting to imply that putting flour and sugar in a bowl for a scratch cake is no different than a box. Box mixes are designed so that no matter what mistakes are made, the cake has a good chance to come out ok. GREAT scratch baking is an art just as much as a beautifully decorated cake, and I do appreciate the work of those artists. Again, not to start an argument, but please don't minimize the years of study and experimenting that it takes to become a great scratch baker.

holy bageezers!

No one was comparing the two!!!!

She asked a question, we answered.

There was no talk of scratch vs mix anywhere!

Give her a partial refund of $2 then include a bill for $10 for wasting your time.

motherofgrace, if you look back through the posts, yes, it was mentioned, and that was what I was addressing. Not the debate of which is more legitimate, but that it was a put down. Everyone gets in an uproar over people who think anyone can decorate a cake, and this is the same situation.

Thank you Debi. I do not put down box bakers and I would appreciate the same consideration. In my studies, I have made many scratch cakes that I threw out. It is one of my greatest baking accomplishments to have box cake lovers also love my cakes. It isn't an either/or situation. I know people have had great box cakes and many bad scratch cakes. My marketing consists of giving cakes to charity benefits so that people can taste my products and not be afraid to purchase a scratch cake.

I always find these cases interesting. The people like the product, even eat the product, but somehow they call and complain about something and want money back. They don't ever seem to bring the product right back to the source and address the problem. There also is the threat, at least implied, that the news will be spread about the baker. I think the one comment is right- no amount of money returned is going to change the gossip from this person. So- I say let's unite and refuse to be bullied by these types of customers. We can express our acknowledgement that they are unhappy but no refund unless the contract was violated. This just seems to be happening more all the time that people want to see what they can get away with when it comes to businesses. I have a daughter-in-law that works for a national clothing store whose policy is no questions asked about returns and people even bring back clothing they have worn for a year and then want their money back. It isn't a cake problem - it's a people problem.

The customer is saying you bake from a box, which happens to be a fact. She's not slandering you by saying something that isn't true, nor did she say your product wasn't good. But she is stating a fact. You aren't ashamed or embarrassed by that, are you?

Baking from a box should not be a dirty little secret or something you should try to hide from your customers if they ask. There's nothing wrong with it, especially since 95% of the bakers out there do it! Should you advertise it? No, that's not necessary, but you should own it, and tell her yes, I do start with a premade mix and add my own special recipe, just like everyone else (er, unless they advertise differently, says FromScratchSF )

Should you give a refund? NO. Discount? NO. That's like admitting you did something wrong, which you did not! Who cares if she tells others you bake from a box? Is she Paris Hilton with 5M twitter followers? How much damage could she do? I'd be a little bothered if she was saying she didn't like your cake, but even then, you can't please everyone.

People these days - so entitled and think their single opinion is enough to ruin a business, thereby making blackmail A-OK so they can get their money back. Give me a break!

So, my suggestion is to tell her what you do make from scratch, offer her a 10% discount on her next order and leave it at that.

Rock on!
Jen

I agree with FromScratchSF, be honest if asked. And don't worry about it if you are not asked. Industry standard runs both ways. I have a bakery in my town that claims in writing, scratch recipes passed down from her family. I found out she raids Walmart at midnight and buys all of her items... cakes, cookies, pies, the works. That is wrong and I have told people that story. But claiming you have fresh, moist, great tasting cakes is not misleading.

This is just to answer the question of whether you can tell the difference in taste. I personally can. I never use to be able to tell and my sister would carry on about it but I thought it was all in her head. I liked the taste of box mixes - they tasted as good if not better than scratch to me. Then I started experimenting with scratch. Recipes from Planet Cake and Women's Weekly that are pretty foolproof. Now I can absolutely taste a huge difference and I no longer like the taste of box mixes. I made my Mum a gluten-free cake from a box mix this week since it was about 1/5 of the cost. Everyone that ate that cake asked me if it was a box mix - they could tell the difference too. But box mixes were a great way to cut my teeth - without them I never would have tried scratch.

From reading this thread, I can say that I do think that if I had bought an expensive custom cake (that is much more expensive than a bakery or grocery store) and realised that it was a box mix, I would be disappointed. I would assume too that by paying the extra, I was also paying for quality fresh ingredients. Again, this could be a country thing. I do not believe that Planet Cake would experience the success they have here if they used box mixes - but maybe the box mixes here are different to what is in the US as I have never been able to follow one of those doctored recipes despite very much wanting to try it.

But the expectations in general may be different here. If I go to a restaurant that is upmarket, I expect all the food to be freshly prepared - you just wouldn't get away with doing anything else. However, if you go to cheap cafe or a fast food outlet, you expect the mass produced food.

As to the refund, I don't know the right thing to do. In giving a token amount, I think you acknowledge that her expectations weren't met (which seems to be what her disappointment is) and you may create enough goodwill that she actually orders from you again knowing what it is you sell. On the other side, you delivered what you said you would and would have clarified it for her if she had communicated her expectations prior to baking her order. I can understand either decision.

We've always gotten rave reviews on all of our cake flavors, and we do both mix and scratch, depending on the flavor. It's more about what we have found is well liked. If we do a box for one flavor, and people can't stop talking about how amazing it is, BINGO, we've found a winner for that flavor. Likewise, if we do a scratch recipe for another flavor, and people say it's the best cake they've ever had, BINGO, we've found a winner for that flavor! We're not going to switch to a mix for a scratch cake that people love, and we're not going to switch to a scratch for a flavor when people love the doctored mix. Why mess with success?

Person eating cake: "Is this a scratch cake?"

Me: "I bake some from scratch and some are doctored mixes. Do you like this cake?"

Person eating cake: "Yes, it's great!"

Me: "Then that's all you need to know."

Then I smile... and he/she smiles.

end of story.

(deleting dupl post)

I'm also from Canada and I figured the big stores had mixes but I thought all bakeries would be from scratch. On shows like Cake Boss, they show adding all the ingredients so I thought they would all, I thought that's why they cost more. I bake from scratch and feel they taste better than a box although I've never had a doctored one. I do feel the taste has nothing to do with how good it looks. I only bake for friends, family and coworkers so I only ask for the cost of ingredients and if they give me something for the work , great. But believe it or not I have had coworkers not offer any thing for over 8 hours of work. Because they were fairly big cakes, and scratch, the cost was alot and since it was still more than you would pay at a store I guess they thought that was enough, maybe don't realize it really does cost me that much. I also make my own fondant and gumpaste.