+1 to gatorcake.

There seems to be significant bombardment of large projectiles aimed at the OP originating from dubiously constructed transparent dwellings. Didn't someone say something about that once?

There seem to have been reasons for each of the complaints plus the OP has admitted in several areas she was wrong. The OP has also made some immediate corrections in areas lacking and stated that she plans to re-visit all the other areas. Judging from the OP's statements, she is very busy, averaging at least one Wedding per weekend plus various other cakes. It is entirely possible/probable that the OPs business has overgrown her way of doing things and because adjustments were not made in time to avoid the non-delivery issue causing the non-delivery couple to step up to the evening news, I think she has and will continue to pay the price.

In every business there are problems, accidents, bad communication, emergencies, bad clients, bad workers, and inefficiencies. Until someone else goes to the news and gives us something else to judge this is just a he said, she said type situation and only the baker and her clients know all of the factors that led up to the situations stated. Everything has been discussed multiple times and this thread needs to be sewn up.

FYI the face denotes a tongue-in-cheek post, no need to take things so seriously.

So it's ok to be rude so long as we put a little smiley emoticon at the end?!? Good to know!

Oh crap! I forgot to put my winking smiley in too! Darn it. Just pretend.

Yeesh, I was trying to inject a little levity into the thread...I've never seen so much venom directed at people who hold differing opinions about a relatively minor issue.

Kettle: "Hello pot!"

But I just said I forgot my smiley! I guess that proves it. Lack of an actual smiley means it's venomous and cruel.

I'm not sure why people can't see the difference between a post addressing the general tone of the thread and personal attacks on individuals. The latter is unacceptable and in violation of this forum's rules, smiley or not.

Ok, I'm going to post this and then click the "stop watching" button. I don't have the time to keep reading and posting in it - but I wanted to point out WHY I am so offended by this whole situation.

Not only do I find the OP's "explanations" and contradictions offensive to the collective intelligence of the board (although, some are happy being buried under all that snow) - but her "bad business sense" is detrimental to the rest of us!

Does anyone here think that what the OP has done won't spread? After all, she made the freakin' NEWS! Then there's word of mouth. And don't think the fallout will only be in El Paso.

Bride-to-be in Vermont (calling a friend/relative in Texas): I am thinking of ordering a cake from this quaint little home bakery - I'm getting such a deal and the baker is SOOOO nice and talented!

Friend/relative: OH GIRL!!! Don't you do it!!! I just saw on the news about a this lady who was taking orders for cakes and taking their money and never made the cake! She just stole money from people and their wedding was RUINED!!! You need to get your cake from a reputable, bricks & mortar bakery. Don't let that happen to you!

*ahem*

Anyway, what I'm saying is that these bad business practices and "mistakes" (OOPSIE!) don't just affect the OP, they affect ALL OF US. And if we don't stand up for the ethics of our own profession, then we have no right to complain when people tell us they aren't comfortable leaving a deposit, or paying in full two weeks before the event. Am I right, or am I right?!?

And now, I'm outta here...

To the OP, I am glad you have learned from your mistakes. You will be a better business owner after all of this has settled. Please don't listen to the cruelty and negative babble that has been displayed by some less than kind posters. They have nothing better to do than sit behind a computer screen and lecture you. I am sure we all know someone like that in our own lives, nasty, negative, needs to make sure everyone knows their opinion. This must have been an extremely stressful time for you, please know that most of us are rooting for you and praying for your child.

Best Wishes

The baker learned some valuable lessons, her supporters cheered...and they all baked happily ever after.

Come on guys, you are not at all utilizing the smilies as suggested. Maybe your post would have more meaning if you used these. How can anyone misunderstand your intention with this? Or more appropriate for this thread ! Or even !

As long as you use this one it means that everything's happy and nice

So you can say, for example, "Someone go kill all the kitties!" and it just means that it should be taken as ironic.

I can't believe that I'm doing this...........

I watched the full 20 minutes of raw feed from the "No-Show-Cake Bride and Groom". They mentioned several times about how they had ready-and-willing people to go pick up the cake, where ever it was but the OP never contacted them past the "I'll be late" notice.

If the cake was done and in a cooler they could have done just that. If the cakes are truly done at a different location (owned by a friend) then someone else has a key to let these desperate people in to get their own cake!!

At NO time in that 20 minutes did they EVER mention being contacted to pick up their paid for cake on Monday or it was being donated, they kept saying the only contact was brides father to cake makers husband. I think they would have mentioned it even to say to the world, "big deal, she offered our cake on Monday, not Saturday." It really makes you think.

Sorry, but the system she has of no phone calls, no visits, only contact through the website and emails I personally think is weird. I don't take a cake order until I have spoken personally to a person, I just can't get a good feel without a phone call or a face to face. I'll even go out there and wonder if these cakes were EVER done or even if these cakes are truly done at a separate location. It was many pages ago, but she skirted that question in her raw footage video AND directly skirted it here (many, many pages ago) when someone asked her about her rented kitchen.

I did have that emergency myself. 5am I was due at work, I was the primary bread maker/cake maker. I opened the door for all the other employees everyday. No me, no bread, no cake, locked doors. Well, 5am I was in the ER, with two 6mm kidney stones. If you have given birth, then you know the kidney stone pain. Wow, I could hardly breath through the pain. BUT...I was giving my husband the list of names and phone numbers to call so that everyone was aware of what was happening so no one was shocked at work and someone else could start the breads when they arrived at 8am.

There are a LOT of people in the hospital and it is VERY easy to get someone to take your phone with a pre-typed out text to walk outside of the ER to send a text for you. If you have THAT much riding on your business then you kiss the baby and take 3 minutes to deal with something, then back to the baby. I've had my babies for 18+ years and I can get it together enough to handle something else for a few minutes and back to the babies.

Tami

Or...this thread in emotes would be:

You forgot this one:

Ive been an open heart ICU nurse for 28 years. I can crack a chest in a code, act quickly and never freak out, but when something happens to one of my kids, I totally lose it. And pretty much dont get good reception in the middle of an ED. But I always have friends who show up, what can I do to help, etc and if there were things needed tending too, they would do it.
As far as the TV interview, my roommate back in the early 80's was a broadcast major and wanted me to be her interview subject for her class project. So I go in, she starts out nice, and by the end of the interview she had me looking like a drug abusing, drug stealing RN lol. She apologized but was going for an A lol!
Im a hobby baker but have been for about 25 years. I just hope OP has learned but am afraid her business will take a hit. Though I find it funny you have cakes on these websites and you never look at them, show them to people, or even see if its to your liking thus noticing the cakes that were not yours. (I think we all like to look at our own stuff once in a while)
I have been laid up with an achilles tendon repair so this thread killed 2 hours for me!