Please Help!! Wedding Cake "issues"

Decorating By barbaranoel Updated 6 Apr 2006 , 12:53pm by mmdd

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barbaranoel Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 1:51pm
post #1 of 40

This weekend I did a wedding cake for a friend of a friend for a great price of $225. This really only covered my costs. Especially considering I drove over 2 hrs to deliver and set up the cake.

They complained about the cake before we ever set it down, The cake had settlled a little and the frosting had "rippled" in the center of the bottom of the cake - I fixed this (I was going to before they ever said anything) but I had the cake set up and everything was stable and I thought beautiful.

Well, I get an email from the bride today and she said the cake fell over (part of it) while they were cutting it and some frosting fell off. I have not replied to her yet (I'm still too upset to be nice about it) Now, I can say all kinds of negative things about these people and give you my impression of them, but I won't.

How do you think I should handle this?
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Thank you in advance for any advice,
Barb

39 replies
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mmdd Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:05pm
post #2 of 40

OH, I'm so sorry to hear about that....I had a similar situation where the icing sweated off the entire cake and I had to fix it right then & there and the grandmother of the bride watched over me to make sure I was getting it done...anyway........

If she was a really good friend, she'd respect you, your work, your talent, and the great price!

Honestly, I don't see where she could have complained at all! I mean, you drove over 2 hours!!

But...you do need to respond to her email, so show her how mature you are and give her a call. Tell her that you feel her concern and feel for her (being the bride and all). But, you have to be honest with her and tell her that driving that long...sometimes things happen...cakes really aren't supposed to be transported for that length of time. ANd, that you really put effort into helping her day be great.

After all, if that's the only thing that went wrong, which no biggie anyway~it happened when they cut it, people are just gonna eat it anyway~then she should be happy because a lot of worse things could have happened. The whole entire cake could have fell apart just being transported.

I don't know if this helps you out any....I kinda feel like I'm rambling, but hopefully something will.

Good Luck to you!!!

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BakerBea Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:08pm
post #3 of 40

Is the cake in question the one you posted?

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mmdd Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:09pm
post #4 of 40

Umm...I just looked at your pics?

Did the sheet cake fall over?

That's bound to happen sometimes...it looks like it's two layers!

Wow!!! She just needed tobe happy that it made the drive!!!!!!!!!!

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cakesbyallison Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:13pm
post #5 of 40

What an unfortunately situation. I saw your photo in the gallery... looks like it's standing to me! If they tried to cut one of the layers on those tall pillars, I can see how they may have had an accident - I don't see how you could have prevented that. If you made the cake according to her specific directions, delivered and set it up on time, and it tasted great, you fulfilled your part of the agreement. You obviously need to get back to her...
Find out what happened - maybe she's gotten over it by now (maybe it wasn't so bad). I wouldn't apologize for the cake, but maybe for the unfortunate situation - explain you had fulfilled your part of the agreement, but you cannot be held responsible for the cake after it is set up. Ask her what you can do to make it up... she'll most likely say nothing... Best of luck to you!

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barbaranoel Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:14pm
post #6 of 40

Yes, that's the cake I made for her. The bottom is actually 6 - 9x13 cakes
double layered - 3 of them end to end. I couldn't finish it till that morning because I had no where to put it until then.

Yea, 2+ hrs in a car on pot holed city streets - not fun. Needless to say, I won't be doing it again.

Barb

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BakerBea Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:15pm
post #7 of 40

Just looked at your pics also..If she got the cake at the GREAT price , you fixed it on the spot and they say it fell apart when it was cut? After a two hour drive She's lucky that's all that happened.

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vixterfsu Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:15pm
post #8 of 40

I have to say that the cake was more than
$225. Nice work and very pretty. Alot
can happen with a cake in a car ecspecially
after being in for 2 hours.
Tough call on what to say. I wouldn't give back
the money. After all, it was for materials and not
for your time. Please let us know what the
outcome is.
vicki

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okred Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:17pm
post #9 of 40

sometimes!!! don't people under stand that this is CAKE not concrete!!!!

If they want rock solid cakes then maybe we should decorate wooden boxes for these brides. What ever happened to how did the cake taste???

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candyladyhelen Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:20pm
post #10 of 40

I agree with the others. You can tell lher that it only covered materials & gas money for the drive. If the falling over happened when it was getting cut, you can't possibly know how they were cutting it. I had a person cut a doweled cake & actually serve the dowels in the cake, without removing them. I was at the party, so I told the staff, they said they never heard of removing them! So I feel once the cake is delivered, set up, you are done!

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KittisKakes Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:24pm
post #11 of 40

Sorry about the situation!! If she was happy when you walked out the door, then there shouldn't be a problem. Individual slices won't stand up, so I don't know how they expect the part of the cake you are slicing to stand up when you keep taking away from it. You have to hold up one end at some point. Did the persion serving the cake know what they were doing? Definitely call her, but don't refund any money. She got that cake for a steal anyway!! Just chalk this one up to a "learning experience".

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sugartopped Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:26pm
post #12 of 40

I agree, you can't be held responsible for how the cake is cut!!

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traci Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:35pm
post #13 of 40

I think your cake is beautiful! And you should not refund any money to her. I would call her or email her and let her know that it is very difficult to transport a cake for 2 hours. I am sure she got nice photos of the cake and she probably tried to cut into one of the layers that was on the pillars. That may have been why she had the falling issue.

Be nice and let her know that you gave her a really GREAT deal!!! icon_smile.gif

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mmdd Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 2:39pm
post #14 of 40

I think you should call her, not reply to her email. Just simply tell her that you're sorry anything ruined her day, but the cake DID make it for over 2 hours and that's GREAT!! And, definitely explain to her that you did your part~it looked great when you left and if she wants to complain about it falling, then she needs to speak to who cut the cake.

Good Luck!

Let us all know what you say to her and what she says back. We got your back here at cc!!!!

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ge978 Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 3:06pm
post #15 of 40

First of all, I find sometimes that the people we give the best deals to end up being the ones that complain the most!! I would just tell her that your sorry that some of the cake fell over, but the cake was more than fine when you left it & you won't refund any money. Then I would tell her what the actual price of the cake should have been & how much of a discount she recieved.

Seriously, these people got a huge price break on this cake & I can't believe someone would actually complain about some of the cake pieces falling over when cutting it!! You would think there were more important things on her mind!


By the way, you did a beautiful job on this cake & you can tell you put alot of hard work into it.

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twinsline7 Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 3:18pm
post #16 of 40

[quote="ge978"]You would think there were more important things on her mind!quote]



that is what I was thinking.....surely there are other things she could be doing You should tell her....
first the wedding is over...cake has been eaten and even digested by now....you only paid 225 for a wedding cake!!! ...shouldn't you be on your honey moon or living in a blissful honeymoon stage...dont you have a new husband to fuss over or are you having "buyers remorse"???

just kidding...dont tell her that...just think it icon_twisted.gificon_twisted.gif

Some people have nothing better to do than complain!!!

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MikeRowesHunny Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 3:25pm
post #17 of 40

That cake should have cost them many hundreds more $!!!! Some people have no gratitude whatsoever when people bend over backwards for them (which you did to the extreme in my opinion!). It wasn't your fault, and she should be told that and in no way give any money back!!!

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texascupcake09 Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 3:28pm
post #18 of 40

The cake is very beautiful and I agree once you deliver and set it up you are no longer responsible. You did you part and that Bride should be ashamed of herself for complaining afterall she got way more than what she paid for! She shoud be complaing to the person who cut it and that is what you need to tell her!

Your response should be verbal, call her up and say you are a little upset that she is complaining about your work because you feel that your work was great and the problems she experienced came when it was served. An inexperienced server can cause chaos!

Let her know you feel very unappreciated right now and will be very hesitant to help out like you did again. Tell her you know her day was important and your job in providing her with a beautiful cake was done!

Good Luck and keep baking!

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MariaLovesCakes Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 3:40pm
post #19 of 40

This is a very big cake, how many people did it feed?

And like everyone else says, she got a good price for her cake and is complaining!

Please let us know what happens!

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geeyanna Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 4:01pm
post #20 of 40

Even the pros have issues/disasters occur when travelling long distances. I watch the competitions on FoodNetwork and if it were me travelling the long distance my nerves would be a complete wreck. And as the others mentioned she's lucky nothing else happened to it.

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laneysmom Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 4:17pm
post #21 of 40

I can't tell from your post, what was the purpose of her email? Did she actually ask for a refund, or was she just recanting what happened?

In any case, you do need to respond but I would wait until you've taken a deep breath and relaxed. If it were me, I wouldn't apologize for a thing. The cake was beautiful, delivered on time, set up properly, and errors were fixed before the event, and the price she paid was far below market. You have NOTHING to apologize for.

I would explain that that particular design can be tricky and that it's a shame she had problems with it (by the way, did they try cutting it with a chain saw? That would certainly cause it to topple! LOL), and thank her for letting you know that in the future you'll need to warn brides who order such a delicate design.

Then go have a margarita and forget the whole thing! icon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_lol.gif

Just my $.02

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msmeg Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 4:48pm
post #22 of 40

This is why we take pictures to show it was fine when delivered.

I would also say call her and say you are so sorry the person cutting the cake did not know how to do it... There is not way they should had tried to cut it on pillars...

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southernbelle Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:10pm
post #23 of 40

I think your cake was beautiful! And you wayyyyy undercharged! That was a huge cake and she should be very grateful.

I am one to talk tho....doing a cake this weekend and it is my first wedding cake to boot! I am as nervous as a.....well just sufice to say that it is making me crazy. It is not nearly as large or ornate as the one you did and I charged $300.00. Of course they way we pressure ourselves if we charged for our sanity no one would be able to afford us icon_eek.gif

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MsTonyasCakes Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:13pm
post #24 of 40

icon_surprised.gificon_eek.gif OMG!!!! That cake is HUGE and beautiful!! You did a great job! I can't believe you only charged her $225. I'd tell her that normally you would charge around $750 (that's what I'd charge for such a monster!), just for the cake with a LOCAL delivery, but since she was a friend of a friend, she got a great deal. The $225 probably didn't even cover your supplies, and with the way gas prices are going back up, I KNOW it didn't cover that too! Definitely let her know that when you make a wedding cake, you don't guarantee the server's work! The cake was beautiful in the picture, you did a fantastic job! Don't back down from her, stand your ground and don't give up a penny! You're still in the hole for your time and gas and any extra for supplies and ingredients. You might also want to contact your friend that referred the bride to you, let her know too that you're sorry it turned out that way, but you really can't control what happens when the cake is cut. Good luck and let us know what happens! icon_wink.gif

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kimburkett_83 Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:19pm
post #25 of 40

It is not your problem. It looked gorgeous. What did they expect for you to do, stay & serve the cake? For all you know they might have been cutting on the base cake without removing the round cakes on top!

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Muse Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:21pm
post #26 of 40

Holy lord! You only charged $225 for that?! I would imagine the traveling and the setup fee anywhere else would be at least that for how long you drove! You are a fantastic friend and the bride should not have complained.

Cheers,
Darci

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thecakemaker Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:22pm
post #27 of 40

I'm with everyone else here. The cake looks great in the picture and they got a great deal on it. Seeing as you couldn't have made anything labor wise there is nothing to give back! I'd call her and say "i'm sorry but it was fine when i left and you did eat it" I wouldn't offer her anything. She's lucky to have had you make the cake and deliver it for what you charged. Great cake by the way!

Debbie

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VickiC Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:42pm
post #28 of 40

That beautiful cake looks like it serves at least 300. That alone should have cost at least $750. Add on stairs, delivery charge of minimum $90, a general PIA fee and the cost of that cake for anyone else is approaching $1000. She probably let 4'10" Aunt Bessie cut the cake-no wonder the cake "fell over". icon_lol.gif No apologies, the cake arrived and was set up without any problems, your responsibility ended there-no @#$*&! refund. Please let us know how your discussion turns out.

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mmdd Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:45pm
post #29 of 40

I don't know how good of a "friend" this person was, but I'm glad she wasn't your family...because that might be pretty awkward.

Basically, you did NOTHING wrong here at all...you're just gonna have to deal with the fact that now you know what type of person she is. Are you still going to be her friend? You seem like a great friend to travel that distance AND to basically let her steal that cake from you!

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4cardsfanz Posted 4 Apr 2006 , 5:57pm
post #30 of 40

Some people in life are hard to deal with and no matter how hard you try you will not please them. Your cake looks great! Don't know too many people who would drive that far and even set it up!! Were you paid for gas!!!!????? icon_razz.gificon_eek.gif

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