I had a baby shower over the weekend (didn't get a chance to post a pic yet) the cake was a safari themed 3 tiers (6, 8 and 10). Delivered the cake Saturday morning around 8:00pm since i had an out of state event attend the evening. The cake was perfectly fine when hubby took it up the customers stairs, she loved it. About 9:00pm i got a call from the customer stating that the cake was leaning like the tower of Pisa withing 20mins she called back saying the cake fell over in the fridge. she wants her money back and is cursing me out like a drunken sailor....is this my fault? i delivered the cake to her house in one piece and they in turn took it to the venue...i believe that they didn't transport the cake properly.

Well, in your contract it should state that.

It's hard to place blame on an accident.

In my contract I have a clause that includes transportation of the cake - it basically states that once they decide to move or touch it or transport it without my being there, it's their problem. I had a wedding cake once, where the wedding planner decided that the cake (once set up on the table in the ball room) had to be moved to the other side of the room and it fell. Because I had a contract the bride went after the wedding planner for any problems. I also brought in a completely fake cake and someone else got sheet cake from a grocery store (poor bride).

Question: why did they even put it in the fridge?? If it's fondant it should've been fine out, most cakes will be fine in a cool place in a box.

12 hours after delivery, the customer calls to tell you the cake is/has fallen? The cake fell over in the customer's fridge, or the venue's fridge? If it had been transported to another venue by the customer, I would in no way (no matter how much she swears at you) return her money. You can not be responsible for something which you had no control over. Do not let her bully you.

It's hard to really answer you because we don't have a lot of info.
How was the cake put together? Did you have good support system in use?
You state your DH delivered it - did he see any signs of a problem (now be totally honest here)?
For the most part, most of us state that we are not responsible for damage if the cake is moved/transported by anyone other than ourselves/employees. There is a reason for this - your situation. They moved the cake. Do/did they know how to properly trnasport a tiered cake?
You might have to do some 'damage control' by giving a *partial* refund.
Did/will they provide you w/pix of what happened? How are you to know it really fell or how bad it ended up? Were they able to serve any of it?
Soooooo many unanswered ?s

Who really knows how that cake was transported to the venue??? Certainly NOT you.
Who knows who may have done what to it while it was in the walk-in???
Certainly NOT you.

Sorry, no refunds here. Liability was transferred the minute she accepted the cake when your DH delivered.

Rae

If she said it was fine even in the venue's frig, how can she say it was your fault? That means it survived the transport to her house and then her transport to the venue. I'm thinking maybe someone at the venue bumped it in the frig while working and didn't confess to the damage caused. It certainly doesn't sound like a construction issue to me. She is going after you because she is disappointed and can't see anyone else to complain to right now. I totally understand that you feel bad, but stick to your guns on this one. There is a difference between feeling bad and sympathizing with your customer and assuming responsibility for what happened. Sounds like it is in no way your fault!

Sounds to me like someone at the venue damaged it, so I'd try not to worry about it.

.......customer even stated to me that the cake was fine even when she placed it in the venue's fridge almost 12hrs after we delivered it to her house. It was in the fridge for about an hour and someone asked to see the cake so she went to the fridge and saw what happened. ..........


I sooooooo agree w/Rae on this one. It stopped being your responsibility when she accepted it. Further prof is that is was o.k. 12 hrs after it was delivered to her.
This definately does NOT warrent a refund.
And how are you to know for sure it was never served? Any of it? Just does not sound right.

thanks guys....i'm feeling a lot better today....she still can't come up with a picture of the destroyed cake but friends are telling me that she's talking a lot of crap around the area. Guess sooner or later she'll find something else to rant about