To make a long story short, I made a pirate ship cake for a client, and when I got up this morning, it had fallen apart at the front and at the back. I emailed her right away explaining what happened,apologized profusely, and offered a discount on her next cake if she ever ordered one again. She did not pay for this cake in advance and I did not get her to sign a contract.

  However, she asked if I could make just a normal buttercream cake and add the fondant decorations on it, and I agreed. However, do I still charge her for this second cake, seeings how I wasn't able to present her with the first cake? She is coming to pick up the cake in a couple of hours...

Unfortunately, you cannot charge for the second cake. You agreed to sell/deliver one complete cake. So if it took several trial, mistakes, accidents, whatever you want to call it...you have to deliver a perfect cake.

That said, you discounting the next will go along way in mending fences. Both you and her will walk away proud. Her for picking the right decorator who will follow thru and deliver! You, for having the clients that will keep returning and bring many more clients! Sorry that it may cost you time and material, but it really is worth it. We have all learned the hard way at times ...wish you the best!

I would still charge something.  You didn't offer to do another cake for free, they asked you to make another cake.  Otherwise, had they not asked, I would have tried to fix the pirate ship cake best I could and given them that for free!  I did that once on a 3 tier topsy turvy cake ~ all buttercream, center support broke, cake slid off in the box smashing the sides.  I fixed as best I could, and they picked it up for no charge.  What else was as I gonna do but trash it?  Bt to have to make another cake, start to finish, yes I'd recoup my cost on that one.  They would still have to fork over some $ even if they went to the grocery store and picked up another cake.

yes of course charge her for it

and i would try & salvage what's left of the the pirate ship to put together the next cake for her

carve out the 'cake' inside the ship--ice it & toss on the decor

and charge her yes you should imo

why would you charge her for the second cake? I wouldnt accept a fallen apart cake. Your mistakes not hers.

No way should you charge for the second cake.  It not her fault that you did not deliver what was promised.  It's not what she wanted originally. 

maybe--i mean what fell apart--fondant fell off or cake disintegrated & cracked all over??

when you called and told her it's all over--y'all were even at that point--both of you are disappointed and she's not out money but you're out for the lot of it

done

she orders another cake--game on--

work even more for free if you want but i firmly would not

if you can't charge her then why do it

in my opinion--charge her for a cake not a sculpture

looks like a hot topic

A

If I was the customer and was told that I would have to pay for the second cake when I arrived, I would probably leave without paying and pick up a cake at Costco instead anyway.

It is not her fault that the OP did not make her sign a contract. If she is in it for business (or whatever) a client ordered something and it is NOT being delivered. The OP should have offered a simple cake from the start. The client is out of a cake, at this point it doesnt matter what the OP is out, esspecially if she doesnt make it right.

Just trying to understand in case I find myself in a similar situation.  Since the customer never paid for the first cake which fell apart, they will get the second cake for free.  So there is no charge for either cake or will the customer pay a discounted price of the first cake?  I'm not sure I understand why the customer should get a cake for no charge at all.  I would think discounting the cake since it was not what was ordered would be good, at least enough to cover the ingredients of the second cake.
 

she is getting it free becasue it is no where near what she originally ordered. In this case as a customer, I am not going to pay for something I didnt want in the first place. And YES I would just go down the street to walmart at that point, becasue the service would be about that same IMO, if I was charged.

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AThere's also the fact that you agreed to make the second cake over the phone without discussing price. The time to ask about a price was when you were talking to the customer and negotiating a solution, not when the customer shows up to pick up the cake (when she is presumably on the way to the party and would have to scramble at the last minute to find a replacement).

Thanks Motherofgrace, that seems reasonable when explained!
 

no problem :) I am just trying to look at it from both sides

OP/ Any baker- Made a mistake, and should make it right

Customer- Is only looking for a solution and wants what they ordered

:)

Wow, what a debate! Lol. I honestly think my client is going to insist on paying for it anyways, as she's just that kind of person. I understand both sides of the coin, its just hard deciding what is right for the both of us, as I wouldn't want something like this to affect future orders. I have to say I am still on the fence, as everyone here makes a lot of valid points! 

A

I like jason's idea :) let HER offer :)

that's a good idea but it tends to put client on the spot to come up with an amount

as a customer she might think--omg--do i pay for the ship that sank too or what?

i mean of course she doesn't but unless you spell it out that might cross her mind y'know

everybody feels bad about the storm at sea thar she blows ;)

i would have an invoice ready for what the new cake might cost in a perfect world

and then in her presence write 'discounted' on the invoice

that way she has fair market value to work with  

and you have an easy out to kiss it goodbye as much or as little as you want/feel the traffic can bear

keeps you both from hemming and hawing--more professional i think

to me if it was a storefront bakery it would be completely different

since you have a relationship with her--you can feel it out this way maybe

When I offer a client something, and find that I am not able to deliver, I don't feel that the customer should have to pay for my shortcomings. OP, you're lucky you're not dealing with a diva, because this situation could be worse. I would charge her the price of the simple cake, and hand her both. So she is in essence getting a discount on the cake she really wanted, and the second cake as my goodwill. 

I'm never one for handing out free stuff when they are not warranted but in this case I would bend over backwards to make this right. She had her mind set on something she's no longer getting, I'd do everything to ensure she's GLAD the first cake flopped. LOL.

As much as putting the customer on the spot for deciding what to pay sounds like a good idea, I'm against it in this situation. You're the professional, you're the one who screwed up. Own it.

A part of me feels like this "let her decide what to pay" as an option is on the table because OP knows the customer is a nice person. If you had a diva coming to pick up that cake, you would be scrambling for damage control. Don't take advantage of her kindness.

-- signed, VGCEA

President, Divas Anonymous.

AI agree with vgcea. The customer is not responsible for coming up with a fair price. That would really make me feel uncomfortable having to name a price. I'd pay oo much and resent it later and probably avoid calling you in the future because if it. I would give her both cakes, charge her for the second simple one, and offer a discount on a future cake to try to preserve a future relationship.

So glad that everything is over! My client did email me before pickup and asked how much the cake was,so I figured because she asked, she had every intention of paying for the cake. I quoted her a discounted price for the second cake and she was fine with it. So fine with it that she loved the second cake and even gave me a generous tip! She was nothing but understanding , and I couldn't ask for a better client, and I was sure to let her know that i appreciate her being so fabulous about it. 

    Yes, there are many divas out there, and I'm lucky she wasn't one of them. I'm extremely relieved that it worked out in the end! 

I didn't say that she was taking advantage, I said she would be if she put the client on the spot. Owning it includes making the pricing decision rather than tossing it up and hoping the client catches it one way. Not accusing the OP of any wrong-doing.

A

To me, allowing the customer to offer what they think is fair is owning it. The customer already knows the value of the cake she ordered, and the only one who can accurately quantify the cost of not having the cake she wanted is the customer.

In this case it worked out since OP overestimated the difference in value between the two cakes (hence the tip), but if OP had set the price of the second cake too high the customer would either pay it and be resentful, or leave, buy another cake, and be resentful.

If this happens to make the customer uncomfortable it should be easy enough to read that and quickly provide a starting point (such as the cost of ingredients).