Hello everyone,

Ok so, I am new to cake decorating. I am in my first Wilton Class. Before I got started in this, just a few weeks ago, I placed an order with a bakery that I have used several times. This was for my daughter's birthday. It was a two tier 8" and 4" cake. They had 2 cakes sitting on the counter as examples. One was of Dora the explorer and the other was just different colors or icing with polkadots and stripes and stuff like that. I told them which one I wanted and that I wanted a flower on top from the invitation and the colors of the invitation (it was a tropical luau party). When i went to get the cake the day of the party it was the Dora cake minus Dora. It had a volcano and waterfall. No flower as requested but beach balls on the side. It was white frosting with some piping gell decorations and that is it. I was in such a hurry, because i still had to get ready for the party that i just took it and left. I paid $50 for the cake. At this point, do you think as a business owner, you would want to hear back from me and my disappointment with the cake?

Did you mention anything about the missing flower at the time you picked it up?
How did it taste?
Unless it did not taste good, I would not go back and complain, because they might have been able to fix any problems that you had with the cake at the time you were picking it up.
jmho~

No it tasted fine. It just was not the cake I ordered. It was the Dora the Explorer cake and not the other one that I told them I wanted. They were two completely different looking cakes. The wife is who i placed the order with and she was not there when i picked it up. I told the husband it was not what i ordered and he didnt really say anything but ok thank you and have a good day.

yes, as a store owner I would want to know if there was a problem (preferable at the time of pick-up so I could attempt to fix it) but even after the fact I would still want to know. And I have had this happen, it was actually that I had forgotten to put a filling into a cake and she called me the next day and let me know. I was very embarrased and told her I am so sorry and the next cake she orders from me will have a discount applied. hth

If you didn't get what you ordered then yes, you should let them know. You have a right to get what you ordered. I would have tried to make things right at the time of pick up, but I understand the circumstances and I think you should definatly contact them.

Was it the decorator that took your order, or was it a customer service clerk? I personally would like to quietly hear from you, maybe the order form needs to be more detailed, or training on taking a cake order needs to be done. Either way, they missed some major details of your cake and I would have gone back and politely spoken to either the decorator or the manager. I would hate to be the decorator that missed a major detail on an Anniversary cake or such, because it wasn't detailed on the order form. It wouldn't happen with a wedding cake, I speak with the bride directly, sketch out her needs and have her initial the sketch - or I won't decorate it, to important and heart breaking if it's all wrong. - like a bad haircut. If it was just a small detail I wouldn't bother (especially this late in the game), but they missed the theme of your cake - if I was the decorator, I would want to be aware of that so I could rectify the problem and avoid any future oops.

I agree, I would let them know. I think you could probably do it in writing if you aren't wanting to go back face to face.... good luck, I hope it all gets worked out!

I would also like to know......but if you dont want to go back you could email them (provided they have a website and email) or call them and often if you tell them in the nicest way people will tend to go out of their way to make you happy the next time.

i had a very similar situation happen with my wedding cake. (way before i started decorating myself). i gave the bakery a photo of what i wanted my cake to look like and when i got to the reception, it looking nothing (i mean nothing) like my photo. i also asked for a small birthday cake as two of my cousins were celebrating their birthdays within a few days of my wedding. it never came.

as disappointed as i was, i don't think i told them (besides i went on my honeymoon right after the wedding reception and returned 2 weeks later). they are a small bakery (the decorator and one employee) and just couldn't be the one to complain and demand my money back. i had a wedding cake that looked nice and tasted good. i felt, a cake is a cake.

You told the husband and all he said was have a nice day???
I would call the owner are let them know....

To be completely honest with you I dont think he quite understood me or spoke very good english. When I asked to speak with the wife he looked very puzzeled and didnt understand what I was saying. When he did say to have a nice day it was in broken english. I had an hour drive back home as well as other stops to make so decided I didnt have time to push it very far. I deffinately wish I would have made more of an issue given that I was a repeat customer. It was the first time my daughter had ever requested a sepecific cake. Usually she doesnt really care. That was probably the most of my disapointment. Now that I am decorating, I do feel more strongly about it since that day. I know she put very hard work into the cake and I dont deny that, but it simply wasnt what I asked for.

I would prob. let them know. That way they can be more careful about orders.

My wedding cake was NOTHING like what I wanted. Down to the wrong size columns! The only thing that was right was the flavors...but he even got the flavors done in the wrong sizes!! I never said anything, and to this day I look at the wedding pictures and get upset!

I wonder if there were TWO cakes, and someone else got YOURS.

If something like that happened in my [hypothetical] shop, I'd certainly want to know about it. How could I ever make sure it didn't happen again if I didn't know that something went wrong??