Hi all,

I am single parent and just started a fondant cakes biz. My problem is recently I came across a very unhappy client. In the beginning she was very nice and wanted an Angry Bird cake. I told her what I was going to do and the price. She said that was not her budget and whether I could do it for less. Since it was for her newborn baby, I said I will make an exception and make the cake for her.

I worked tirelessly through the night and made two extra figurines(no charge) for the toppers. She asked me to snap the photo and send her the pics. I didn't expect her to complain about how my Angry bird figurines was not the same as the original.and she complained about a lot of other things like the color.

I showed most of my other friends and previous clients who have become friends, and they said it was ok. In fact they said it was very cheap for the work I was doing.

I will be returning the lady her deposit.

I was wondering if anyone has a sample disclaimer write-up that I can use for my future blog, to say that I will try my best to make the design and color look the same but there are other factors to consider like it is handmade, colors might vary (since food grade colors and printouts are not the same), humidity, complexity of design, etc. Something along those lines.

Thanks in advance.

Next time somebody says your price is not in their budget, STOP. Do NOT pass GO. Do NOT collect a deposit.

Because you need to earn at least the minimum wage in your area. And when somebody asks you to drop your price, then you say "I will not work for less than minimum wage, goodbye".

And the basic sample disclaimer would be good.

Thanks so much for your prompt reply. I will do that.

Welcome to CC.

Well, as my DH says, "No good deed goes unpunished."

I'm sorry that after you bent over backwards to help this woman, she chose to walk all over you. As posted above, if your work isn't within a client's budget, then they need to go elsewhere.

Many of us would like a Porsche, but the dealer has no obligation to sell us one for the price of a Chevy. Same with cakes.

I refuse to provide "pre-delivery" photos to clients. It seems to open a door to pre-delivery complaints about things that should have been ironed out way prior to that point. If they don't like it at delivery, yes, I can refund the deposit and they can go buy another cake.....somewhere. If they start making changes as I'm trying to complete the cake, they risk not getting a cake that, once they see in person, they may be very happy to serve.

A disclaimer can help, too.

And now, I'll open a can of worms..............selling cakes using copyrighted characters (like Angry Birds--and yes, I know there are lots of them on CC-- can lead to legal problems down the line should the "owners" of the copyright decide to pursue you for money damages (and yes, there are threads on CC that talk about this actually happening in real life). Because images are so easily searched online, photos of such a cake can be easily traced back to you.
You can provide a background cake on which a client places purchased toys or figures.
This may have been a blessing in disguise.

HTH
Rae

duplicate post

Thanks for the great advice.