I have had it. This is the 3 rd cake disaster when other people deliver their own cakes. I am so discusted right now I hardly contain myself. It has never happened to me, and I have delivered alot of cakes, but the 3 times that I haven't delivered a cake it ends up smashed. I knew this was going to be a tricky one, it had to go 200 miles away, I didn't want to do the cake but they begged saying they would be so careful. I always do cakes for free, and it was a gift for my friends daughter. It was a 10" x 6" tiered cake. I took alot of extra steps to insure a safe delivery, but I didn't really have any faith that they would make it. The father picked it up and he was so cavalier about it, I kept saying how it had to be kept cold, and you have to be careful. His friend said, is it a ice cream cake, ya, i'm sending you 200 miles with a ice cream cake. I think they thought I was being too cautious. He's like, quit worrying, it will be fine. Well it wasn't fine, you never know what goes on with people, I think they just drove too fast, didn't have it sitting level, got to warm, who knows. People don't realize. I boxed up the cake, put a center dowel down the cake, still they said the top tier slid off. My daughter said it looked like alot of trauma happened, so not sure what they did. They were taking a camp trailer, so maybe they put it back there, like I said I don't know what happened. I'm going to find out, I don't know if i'm doing something wrong, or its just that people don't understand how to drive with a cake in the car. It is the first cake in my pictures, didn't really like it anyway, the cake was problems from the beginning, i'm just tired of it, the wasted money and time.

Oh geez...camp trailer, nuff said. Jerking around corners, heavy braking, and that's if it was in the car WITH them! Nevermind in the trailer. I have come to the conclusion that mere cake mortals and/or mortals shouldn't have anything to do with "our" cakes other than eat them.

I meant muggles, cake muggles!

I have delivered a few, had a few picked up. I look on it like when you buy anything from a store ... once you (the customer) leaves with the product, it is YOUR responsibility. If you carry a cake to your car and drive home like a maniac and destroy it, the store is under no obligation to replace it.

If the customer wants to pick it up (or have someone else do so) and deliver it him/herself, then it's out of your hands. I'd take a picture of how it looked before it left you, and also have whomever is picking it up sign a waiver saying that it was in execellent condition when they left with it. Also, provide written care instructions for them - and have them initial or sign on the same contract that they have read and understand your instructions. That way, you can't be held responsible for any damage which occurs once they're gone.

I have delivered a few, had a few picked up. I look on it like when you buy anything from a store ... once you (the customer) leaves with the product, it is YOUR responsibility. If you carry a cake to your car and drive home like a maniac and destroy it, the store is under no obligation to replace it.

If the customer wants to pick it up (or have someone else do so) and deliver it him/herself, then it's out of your hands. I'd take a picture of how it looked before it left you, and also have whomever is picking it up sign a waiver saying that it was in execellent condition when they left with it. Also, provide written care instructions for them - and have them initial or sign on the same contract that they have read and understand your instructions. That way, you can't be held responsible for any damage which occurs once they're gone.

I wouldn't worry about. They don't want to listen, then they can end up with a destroyed cake. To save yourself some frustration you may want to make cakes for people that you can do the deliveries for.

I feel bad for you--it looked like a very pretty cake with a lot of time in it to just have it destroyed like that.

I always deliver and if I can't then I turn the cake order down. I made that decision after putting hours into fancy cupcakes and the customer sent her husband to pick them up. Despite my careful instructions how to handle them he turned the container on it's side (DUH) and they all mushed together

I feel bad for you--it looked like a very pretty cake with a lot of time in it to just have it destroyed like that.

I always deliver and if I can't then I turn the cake order down. I made that decision after putting hours into fancy cupcakes and the customer sent her husband to pick them up. Despite my careful instructions how to handle them he turned the container on it's side (DUH) and they all mushed together

Goodp points cutie pie.

I know how you feel, I had some guy friends p/u a 3 tiered cake that I had secured really well, but they just put it in the trunk of the car ( I live in FL and that was August...) and drove like 30 miles with it and the cake never arrived in 1 piece!! it had fell probably in a sharp turn or had melted! They didn't listen to my recommendation to keep the cake in the A/C and I felt bad anyways for all the attention that I had put in this cake!

I know you're disappointed. However, if you'll use SPS for support, you'll worry a lost less when customers pick up their own cakes. That's what SPS was designed for - bakeries that don't deliver wedding cakes.

The average person has no idea how fragile a cake can be. I'd really be hesitant to let a couple of clueless guys carry off a big cake, especially for a 200 mile trip. Yikes! It's such a shame to have spent hours on a cake, only to have it arrive as a pile of crumbs.

Ugh, I ONLY deliver my cakes myself for this exact reason! I don't make cakes for anyone that lives more than 30 kms from me.

One time I had someone pick up a wedding cake and they went to put it on the back seat of their car!! Not level at all, and sun shining in the back window. Grrr!

Now, I always insist that I deliver all of my cakes (and I do charge a little extra for the ones I need to travel more than 10 minutes to). Most people understand when I tell them it's only because I want the cake to arrive safely!

I had my first disaster cake a few weeks ago with someone that took the cake to the venue as it was out of the range that I deliver. The person picked the cake up and I told them it had to travel on a flat surface and they said ok no problem will do. Half hour after they left they returned with the cake in bits. They had only tried to travel with the cake a (3 tier stacked cake with a waterfall of roses) balanced on the knee of the passenger swaying her legs all over the place and wondered why it collapsed!! I had 1/2 hour to try my best to repair it. No idea if it got there in one piece but I will NEVER do a cake again like that without being the one to deliver it.

Oi! people can be so clueless!!! Here's some of the worst examples from my days as a grocery store decorator:

Cst. came by the bakery to p/u custom-decorated ICE CREAM cake, put cake in cart and proceded to complete her shopping...which took an hour an a half! Got to the check out and the cake was melted. Manager got called to the till. Cst. was IRATE that cake had melted. Guess who got to redo the cake while the cst. stood there roller her eyes, tapping her foot, and harumphing?

Cst. p/u custom decorated cupcake cake, pays for cake. Takes cake to car and puts in back seat. Drives across town to party supply store. Comes out an hour later with rest of party goods. Surprised to find that July + Georgia + sitting in car + icinng = melted mess. Cst. comes back to grocery store and gets manager. How DARE we sell her a cake with icing that melts in the heat! Guess who got to redo the cake while the cst. stood there warning everyone who walked by the bakery that icing melts if you leave a cake in your car?

Cst. p/u custom decorated cake, puts in bottom of car, finishes shopping in which she PILES all the rest of the groceries on the cake. Cst. gets to check out and pulls out squashed cake. Manager gets called to till. Cst. furious that we tried to "pass off" squashed cake as what she had ordered! Guess who got to redo the cake while the cst. stood there complaining that she needs the cake NOW!

There were customers whose kids pushed their fingers/hands all into the cake before the cake made it to check-out...we redid the cake. There were customers who ate part of the cake, left the cut side of the cake exposed to the air, and then returned the cake the next day for a FULL REFUND, because we sold them "stale" cake (at least 1 of these every week!). Customers putting cakes in car trunks, customers carrying cakes carelessly, customers putting cakes on things that cannot support the weight of the cake, customers doing all sorts of things to cakes than you'd think anyone with half a brain would realize you cannot do. It's cake people, not brick and mortar!

People can be such idiots.

prterrell, I am laughing my butt off here!!

New sign for my shop:

For sale: Cake insurance.
Cost: Same as what you are paying for your orig cake.
Covers: replaces damaged cake when customer is too stupid to get a cake from a bakery to their home in one piece.

Whadda ya think?

prterrell: omg some people are just so !!! That's just unbeliveable

Pterrell, that's the wonderful world of retail. People have heard that the customer is always right so many times they start believing it

My next cake is going to travel to Austin in the back of my sister's SUV. My sister who drives with her sunroof open with her middle finger permanently extending out of it. It's a 10 and a 6. I'm tempted to send it as two parts and let them stack it up when they get there, but I think I'm going to be brave and just send it in a moving box, with at least one center dowel, and no-slip drawer liner under the cake inside the box, and another piece under the box. And turn my phone off, so that if she has to slam on her brakes and the cake is a goner, I won't have to try to fix it.

Most of my cakes are customer pick-ups. Most people are just too cheap to pay for delivery, and that is fine with me. They all sign a waiver at time pf p/u.

Texas Rose like your thinking with the phone!! ha ha ha

Oh you poor thing, all that time you spent working on the cake and for nothing. It must be heartbreaking to hear that it didnt make it in one piece and after all the advice you gave them aswell. I dont think people really understand exactly how much energy and thought goes into making these cakes.

You know what? You did a nice cake FOR FREE, if I understand correctly, and they ruined it. There's no reason to worry if you did something wrong or not. Don't follow up, don't worry about it. If they can't make the effort to handle a cake the right way it isn't your fault. Just stand firm the next time someone asks you to do a travelling cake!

I have decided to develop a small yellow sign that says "Cake on Board" Just like the "Baby on Board" signs. That way when you are delivering a cake and you are taking corners slow and driving carefully people are not honking their horns at you and giving you the evil eye.

I've delivered all of my cakes. The last wedding cake I did, I had to put in my lap the entire time we were in the Truck (we took hubby's truck and there was no room to place the cake. WE drove about an hour and the cake made it there safe and sound. I was extra extra easy and vigilant with this cake and had no problems. Dang that cake was heavy. I just agree with most out there, Many people just don't realize just how fragile cakes are and can be. They're used to sheet cakes that don't take alot of worrying about. Who knows. I deliver all of my cakes and have never had a problem with the structure of my cakes or had any real disaster's.

One tier, sheet cakes, cupcakes, those can all be picked up rather than delivered...but add another tier or more and delivery is required. I offer delivery at a fee for those that can be picked up but it's in the price of the multi tiered cakes. And for those that can be picked up I make it clear in writing and verbally that once it leaves me, it's all their responsibility, there will be no refunds for mishaps.

I'm so sorry this happened...awful to spend all that time to have it destroyed.

And I love the phrase Cake Muggles...it does feel that way sometimes!LOL!

Cat

yeah, i'm done too...people are too stupid to pick up their own stacked cakes.

i stopped making stacked cakes a couple weeks ago...what a relief.

when my best friend was working at an in store bakery a couple of years ago, she said a dude came , picked up a 1/4 sheet...tucked it sideways under his arm like a load of books....

i got to thinking how rough most people are, i used to loan them cake stuff for free (duh)...they busted up everything from fountains to cake stands...if they ever brought them back at all....

i've also used stress free supports...they can jack the cakes up with those in it too.

When I started this thread I didn't have all of the facts to why it smashed. I ran into the lady the other day and she finally told me what happened. She said her dad actually had the cake in the back of his truck. It was a super hot day, no air condiitoning, and put it in the bed of his truck. His excuse was that there were too many people in the truck so he had to put it there. It was a 4 hour drive, the cake didn't have a chance, no matter what kind of support it had. I'm not going to give my time and money to do this, unless I can deliver it myself.