How Do I Tactfully State My Displeasure
Decorating By kisha311 Updated 10 Apr 2006 , 9:26pm by Misdawn
I ordered a cake form a "Professional" Cake Decorator about a month ago for a 50th Birthday Party this past weekend. At the time I ordered the cake, I had just started course 1 of the decorating classes and was not ready to make a cake of this proportion.
I learned of this individual through the Food Network, the Today Show, and various other people who said that her work was very good. I paid a very professional price for a cake that fed 100 people.
The problem is, the cake decoration was awful! The fondant was not laid smoothly so that the corners were sticking out, the cake appeared to be leaning when it was stacked. The fondant cut-outs on the side of the cake were sloppy so there were pink marks on the white fondant where the pieces were removed and adjusted again. Also, the cut outs were cut out by hand, probably with a pair of scissors, but they were extremely sloppy and you could not always tell what the shape was supposed to be.
I ended up running to the store at the last minute and buying some frosting, a tip, and a bag so that I could put a border around the cake layers and try to cover up the messy fondant. I also tried to turn the worst part of the cake towards the wall so that the guests could not see it.
How do I let this person know how extremely dissatisfied I am with the work? To make it worse, they asked that I take a picture and send it to them before the cake was cut! I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of that thing! I was so very embarassed after I had been raving about this person for the past few weeks.
Sorry for rambling. 
Are you saying you didn't take a picture before "fixing" it yourself? That was the first thing you should have done to show them (the decorator) the problems with the cake. I'm not sure if you have a leg to stand on if you didn't take a picture of the disaster before you touched it. I would most definetly write a letter complaining. Did you take a picture of it after you "fixed" it? You could send a copy of that picture with the letter showing what you did to correct it.
You should have taken a picture of it to show her how sloppy it was. I would politely send a message saying that you paid for a professional cake and found that the quality of the decorations were very sloppy and you were dissatisfied with it. You could mention that you turned the cake so guests could not see the shabby work that was done. I would let her know, how else will the person know that her work is not up to satisfaction.
I would tell her, too.
Have you seen any of her other work?
You could say that you were so excited that she was going to be decorating the cake because of her good reputation, but that frankly you were disappointed with the results. That you definitely didn't feel that the cake was up to par with what she has done in the past and that it was a bit embarrasing for you to display it after you had been raving about her work. In fact, you had to turn it to hide some mistakes with the fondant. Tell her that you are sorry, but you will not be recommending her to any of your friends or family.
Good luck.
I would absolutly say something to her. After all you paid good money. Sounds like they did a rush job on your cake. I know if I charge a lot of money for a cake, I spend my time on it. I want people to know that I care about what I do and want the cake to be special for them. That is what you are paying for talent and time. If you just wanted a rush job on a cake then you would of went to a supermarket for a cake. Reputation is everything.
Good luck, I hope all goes well! 
To be fair, I would think maybe you could call or send a letter & see how she responds. I would think that's what we would want people do to if they bought a cake from us & weren't satisfied. Maybe one of her staff made the cake or someone with less experience? I'm sure if you let her know what happened she will try to accomodate you.
Just out of curiousity....did you pick this cake up from a bakery and leave with it without saying anything? Was it delivered and still nothing was said?
With all due respect (no hostility meant in this comment!!) I don't know how much I would consider reimbursing a client that took the goods, said nothing, ate it and then thought to register a complaint. 
I am sorry, I have to agree with Antonia74.
I do not leave anywhere with my items that I have purchased unless I am completly satisfied.
I also will not pay for anything that I am not satified with.
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