How Do You Deal With Unhappy Customers?

Decorating By MissCuteCupcakes Updated 26 Sep 2014 , 1:49pm by aprildaisy

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Jeff_Arnett Posted 24 Sep 2014 , 12:47pm
post #31 of 37

The only way I will ever refund on a cake is if the customer returns the whole, uneaten cake.....otherwise you have people just trying to get a free cake out of the deal!!!

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 24 Sep 2014 , 5:30pm
post #32 of 37

I'm reminded of a situation that occurred many years ago, working a video crew at a skating competition.

 

Now it's fairly common knowledge among anybody experienced with video, that subtle shades of blue and purple that are easily distinguishable to the naked eye can be a problem with video, because of various combinations of the NTSC color space, the lighting, and the color sensitivity of various camera pick-up devices.

 

I'll also say that my best friend's cameras are just about the best field cameras money can buy, especially for situations where the lighting is less-than-ideal. Better than anybody else shooting video at skating competitions uses. Including the networks. It's perfectly normal for the skater, and the arena, to look far better on the screen than they do in real life.

 

This one mother came to us, absolutely livid, because the two-tone blue-and-purple dress she'd designed and made for her daughter came out all-blue (and a vivid royal blue, at that) on the videotape. After listening to her rant about it, I finally (since we had a timebase corrector in the rack) redid her tape from the master, cranking the color phase ("tint" on most consumer TVs) to as green as I could go without the kid looking more than slightly jaundiced, which was just enough that you could tell that the dress had two colors.

 

Just to shut her up.

 

And with the understanding that this was the first and last time we would do anything like that, so if she wants her kid's dresses to look good on TV, she should avoid subtle shades of blue and purple.

 

I don't think she ever realized how much of a fool she was making of herself.

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ellavanilla Posted 24 Sep 2014 , 5:59pm
post #33 of 37

think of it this way,  you've saved yourself from having to learn this lesson over and over. you won't forget the 50% the cake cost you and you will change your approach when dealing with expectations. 

 

at least you've gotten something out of the experience. 

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DeniseNH Posted 25 Sep 2014 , 1:27am
post #34 of 37

I agree, the cake was just what she ordered, given the size of the roses she gave you............and ...........ahhhhhhem, anyone wanting a gold cake should know not to put fake roses on it if you want a classy look.  Sheesh.  The gold was a bit duller but it was gold.  The only thing I would ask her to explain was her definition of SMALL.  To some small means a 6 - 8 - 10 cake.  Looks like you gave her a 6 and an 8 (that was less wide than the 6).  She was looking for a larger cake or would have provided smaller roses.  You just never know what's in a person's mind until you pummel them with questions.  I would have done what you did, gave her a discount but her name would forever be printed on my NEVER AGAIN wall. 

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catlvr976 Posted 25 Sep 2014 , 2:44pm
post #35 of 37

I have nothing to add except I like the cake you made way better.  :)

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-K8memphis Posted 25 Sep 2014 , 2:55pm
post #36 of 37

just an aside here -- and catlvr you were the last one (so far)  but tons of us said this throughout the thread so i'm not singling out you per se -- i'm just saying in general --  i think we should stop comparing the two cakes -- the original cake was not produced to be judged by us here and i think it's unfair -- i also think it's done in a good spirit to encourage the op but i hope we discontinue doing that because it's not a competition and both cakes are gorgeous -- i know we give kudos to both cakers for their beautiful work --

 

and even though this went on a long time in this thread it will help us think about it for going forward --

 

best to all us all 

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aprildaisy Posted 26 Sep 2014 , 1:49pm
post #37 of 37

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl 
 

I'm reminded of a situation that occurred many years ago, working a video crew at a skating competition.

 

Now it's fairly common knowledge among anybody experienced with video, that subtle shades of blue and purple that are easily distinguishable to the naked eye can be a problem with video, because of various combinations of the NTSC color space, the lighting, and the color sensitivity of various camera pick-up devices.

 

I'll also say that my best friend's cameras are just about the best field cameras money can buy, especially for situations where the lighting is less-than-ideal. Better than anybody else shooting video at skating competitions uses. Including the networks. It's perfectly normal for the skater, and the arena, to look far better on the screen than they do in real life.

 

This one mother came to us, absolutely livid, because the two-tone blue-and-purple dress she'd designed and made for her daughter came out all-blue (and a vivid royal blue, at that) on the videotape. After listening to her rant about it, I finally (since we had a timebase corrector in the rack) redid her tape from the master, cranking the color phase ("tint" on most consumer TVs) to as green as I could go without the kid looking more than slightly jaundiced, which was just enough that you could tell that the dress had two colors.

 

Just to shut her up.

 

And with the understanding that this was the first and last time we would do anything like that, so if she wants her kid's dresses to look good on TV, she should avoid subtle shades of blue and purple.

 

I don't think she ever realized how much of a fool she was making of herself.

Not to get off topic, but since this was posted here...you're telling me that blue and purple do not show up well on camera as individual colors? So, if I ever find myself on camera, pick something different? Thank you! ((I love, love, love colors...more knowledge of them to me is a good thing.))

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