I've been doing cakes for a while, and had my first unsatisfied customer today. The customer asked for a cake with less than 24 hours notice, and b/c I hate to say no...I said "Sure!" BIG MISTAKE
If I could take it back....I WOULD!!! There was a huge communication delay on his part...I send messages in email requesting more info for the cake order, and they had a delay in getting an email notification. NOT MY PROBLEM!!!! Sorry, had to say that.
Then after all that blows over, I deliver the cake to a smiling customer who says, "Sorry for the mix up" I thought things were fine.
After sending a follow up email, I am told the cake was sub-par, basically and I charged too much. Now, this customer ordered this particular cake, this flavor, and was given this pirce BEFORE the cake was delivered. If there was a problem with the price, they should have said so BEFORE they ok'd the order. Right?
Now, I'm all down in the dumps, b/c out of tons of cakes, this one is a pain in my rump!!! All b/c I wanted to be nice and do the cake. I know this probably won't be my first "unsatisfied" customer, but it sure does feel terrible. I even sent them 1/2 of their money back.
How do the rest of you handle customers like this???
I guess this was a learning curve.... 
Tat
You should not feel bad and you shouldn't have sent them half of the money back!!! AHHHH!! Oh well, but really, like you said--they ordered the cake and they knew what the cost would be ahead of time. They should have been thanking you for making their cake last minute despite their poor planning!! A lot of places probably wouldn't have--and a lot of people charge extra for last minute cakes!! Don't waste another minute worrying about them.
I may be wrong here, but it sounds like they just didn't want to pay, and your cake really wasn't the problem. The price was even agreed upon in advance!
What specifically was the problem?
It was very nice of you to refund them half the money, but I wouldn't make any cakes for him again.
Angie
You know, I'm still confused as to what the problem really was. We agreed on the cake, the price, the flavor, the delivery time and address. The next thing I know, I'm getting an email saying "you must be ignoring me b/c you didn't do my cake" WHAT???? The cake was finished and I was waiting to rec'v his personal email address so that I could send a photo of the finished cake. That's when I find out that he had a delay in getting a email notification from yahoo saying that I had sent an email. So when he finally did send a reply, I was in the process of doing another cake. I finished the second cake, took pics of both, and emailed them to each customer. Apparently, it wasn't in his "time". There was a communication problem, but not on my end. He has been a previous customer and raved about the cake I did for him. THIS time, it was a whole other story...that's why I'm so confused.
The same sort of thing happened to me this week-end. My husband cousin called me on Wed. to make a sweet 16 cake for her daughter for Sat. I agreed because her husband always helps us out and does stuff for us (they own a paving co.). She basically told me to do what I want. When I delivered the cake I wasn't sure if she liked it. Also, I told her that there was no charge because they always help us out. She didn't seem overly grateful, like she expected it. Which ticked me off, and then to find out from a few of the party guests (my husbands Aunt and other cousin ) that it was too sweet. They are Italian and they never eat buttercream cakes, it's always cakes with whipped cream icing and lemon filling. Due to the short notice and lack of input on their part I did what I thought was best. I didn't know how long it was going to sit out for so I didn't want to put a filling in that had to be refridgerated. Anyway the party was 2 days ago and I haven't received a phone call to say if the birthday girl liked her cake or it was nice but too sweet, thank goodness it was free, nothing, so I'm a little pissed. That's the last cake i'll do for them. I'm sure they won't ask again anyway. I would probably feel worse but I made one for fri. and those people said it was the best cake they ever had. So there!
Sorry this was your post, and I totally vented my story. Well I just wanted you to know that you are not alone and I wouldn't worry about it, there will always be those kind of people. Hopefully not too many though.
hmmm, that is quite a service of emailing a pic of the completed cake before pickup! Certainly not one a customer would expect.
I would be afraid the customer would take a look and go, Nah, ain't gonna pick that up, I haven't paid, so I'll just stop by Hen House and grab a couple Tippins pies and put candles in that! 
I would have told the customer I was sorry that he felt that way and he might want to lower expectations when someone out of the goodness of their heart makes a custom cake at the last instant. Then I would tell him I make cakes of a superior quality and take care in decorating it and had many many happy reports.
If he wanted to return the uneaten portion of the cake, I would see IF and what amount of refund I could offer.
I don't think you should feel bad. Did he explain what he meant by subpar. I don't think people realize how much time an effort go into making a quality decorated cake, if they did, they wouldn't complain. Just because Wal-Mart charges 19.95 (i am exaggerating here), doesn't mean an at home baker or a specialty shop can. We don't have all the commercial the tools Wal-mart has. People can be so rude. I mean what did he expect with such short notice, in fact you should have charged extra for "rush" delivery.
ARGHHHH People get on my nerves.
You poor dear! I am increasingly disappointed with people that don't do any more than grunt at your cakes, but expect you to do a custom cake at a Wal-mart price!!!! More time and skill goes into a cake that has class!!! Keep up the good work, and don't get too discouraged!!
It's great to hear you guys express my own feelings about this. He only said that the first cake I made him was "THE BEST" cake he'd ever had, and this one fell short. He was expecting the same great cake. But his cake was different. Two completely differently cakes, that's why they tasted differently. His mistake...not mine. He ordered a regular chocolate cake, and it was covered in bc and mmf....extra charges!!
Don't stress over it, you obviously did your best and under a very tight turn around time to boot! Most places require 48 hour minimum notice on made to order cakes so shake it off, try not to take it personally because his 'taste' and yours weren't the same - the important thing is that you gave it your best.
Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement. When we put so much into a cake, and then have a somewhat so so comment on it, it's hard not to take it personally. But, I have just been reminded that I'll never be able to make everyone happy. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try, though. Thanks for the support. It's exactly what I needed!!!
Tat
Well you should just tell him next time not to order that flavor! why would he switch flavors anyway if the last cake was "the best he had had"? Why do something totally different? I hope you're feeling better about all of this!
I know I always am waiting for people to gush over a cake and most of the time I just hear "it was very pretty" or "it tastes good" - but not exclamations of WOW THIS IS THE BEST and OH MY GOSH HOW DID YOU DO THAT???? - Which is what I'd like to hear. The thing I do love though is when I know that people ate all of the cake even if other desserts were around... then I know that it was really good tasting at least! I hate seeing a bunch of cake left over like when I give it to my mom for their Bible study...... but she always provides other desserts too so people can have a choice and sometimes I think there are just too many choices.
Okay I'm done! Your cake looked really awesome! I bet his son loved it anyway!
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