Cake Cancellation (Long Rant Sorry)
Decorating By jennjd Updated 28 Sep 2006 , 5:07am by KatieTaylor77
So I had an order from a woman for a bridal shower cake today. Last time I did an order for her she convientaly forgot to pay me upon delivery. She did eventually pay me. So this time when she called to order a cake I told her that I would have to be paid upon delivery or I would turn around and walk out with the cake. Well I didn't get the information for how she wanted it decorated until Friday at noon. The cake was for today at 6. Well by the time, I got home last night it was 830 and I felt awful. I was coming down with some kind of stomach bug. I figured that I would go to bed early and get some rest. Wake up in the morning and do the cake. Well needless to say o got worse. I was throwing up and running a fever the whole nine yards. Well I called her at like 745 this morning and she didn't answer. I left her a message saying that I was very sorry but I was unable to do her cake today. I told her that I was very ill referred her to several other bakers in town. I explained that it would not be safe for me to make a cake while I was so ill. Well after I tossed my cookies again I went back to bed. I woke up a couple of hours later to this nasty message. She was saying how she had heard I was so responsible and I am obviously very irresponsible. She can't believe that I left her in this position. Well at this point I was thinking about the position she left me in with not knowing what she wanted until the day before the party and a history of not paying on time. At any rate she ranted and raved about how I couldn't possibly be sick when I was fine the day before. After I spent the rest of the day with my head in the toilet I sent her an email again apologizing and explaining that it would be unsafe to make a cake while I was this sick. I apologized for the inconvenience I caused.
So my question is did I do the wrong thing? I mean she was livid!! Should I have made the cake. I think I did the right thing by not infected half of her party with whatever I had.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
I think you did the right thing, the last thing you wnat to do is handle food when you are that sick. You were probably too nice in letting her tell you the day before the event how she wanted it decorated. You did all you could.
Hope you are feeling better 
Absolutely you did the right thing! Don't feel bad because she is rude, demanding and insensitive. It's HER fault the cakse wasn't done. Had you had the info earlier in the week you could've made it Thursday or Friday before you got sick. Her loss...not yours.. Don't worry about it and I'm not sure I would take any orders from her in the future unless you are paid at time of order or at least got 50% deposit. HTH
You absolutely did the right thing!!! Though, the party people may not know, they should be thanking you! What you have sounds very similar to what hit my friends and family a couple of weeks ago. VERY contagious and VERY sudden. Get some rest and forget about her! 
Well, I think you did the right thing!! And with her past, late payment and late getting the details to you, you're probably better off and not have her as a customer anymore!! Some people are clueless!!
Hope you're feeling better!
If your sick your sick. You don't know the day or two before your going to be sick. She didn't get with you to tell you what she wanted. You were totally right not to do the cake. If she was that mean to you then you don't need here as a customer. She would only cause you more grief.
You did the right thing. And if she would have calmed down and thought about it for a minute she would have realized that turning down the cake only costs you money in the form of profit. And why would you want to do that?
I'm sorry this happened to you. She doesn't sound like a very nice person. Hope you are feeling better.
Things happen, my mother passed away the day before I had a wedding cake due. My wonderful SIL called the bride and told her the situation and told her a friend of mine who is a very reputable baker took over the cake for me. The bride was thankfully fine, she was actually more worried about me than her cake.
You did the right thing. She seems to be the type that can't be pleased no matter what is done. Her ranting shows she doesn't have any class. Don't sweat it. You were totally in the right on this one.
i have to agree on that too !
Hope you are feeling better ???
thanks to you all. I appreciate your understanding. I don't think i will need to worry about taking an order from her again as she made it very clear she would not be ordering from me again and she was going to let everyone know how unproffesional i was. The problem with this is she works in a department down the hall from me. So I am hoping i odn't lose to much buisness over this.
Thanks again for your encouragment.
I had to cancel a cake due to a bug like you had, and the customer was actually greatful. I gave her the choice of me making the cake and possibly making everyone sick, or finding someone else.
The fact that she works down the hall from you may actually be a good thing.... you will have the opportunity to get the word out as to WHY you had to cancel the cake and it will make her look like an idiot for ranting and raving about it... who wants a cake baked and decorated by someone who has a stomach virus! Seriously! This woman is a looney. Be thankful you don't have to worry about any more cake orders from her...
I, too, have had to cancel an order last minute before because of coming down with a virus. The customer was a little bit stressed (with good reason) but she certainly understood.
Too bad you didn't have the opportunity to breathe on the woman while you were sick.... 
...sorry, couldn't resist!
Im just wondering, all those of you that make wedding cakes, say that you get sick, really really sick two or three days before the cake is due, so maybe all you've done is some sugar flowers, do you have a contingency plan? 
You can't just ring the customer and say "Look im sick, sorry, but you dont want your 300 guests to get sick do you? 
" and you certainly can't just bake the cake sick and risk the 300 people getting sick, or maybe you're not even able to get out of bed to make the cake even if you wanted to, what do you do??
I have a couple of plans, one is, to buy a cake, after all, i'd rather lose money than get sued heheehehe, there is a cake place nearby that has wedding cakes there, ready take home, and even though they may not be exactly what the bride wanted at least she'll have a cake, the other is to get one of my trusty friends in to help me out and finish the cake for me, and give them the money instead.
My first choice would be of course to get my friends to do it, as i know they will get the cake if not exactly the same as i would make it, it will be pretty darn close, if this was the case, the customer would know nothing of it, no need to upset them needlessly if they are going to get the same cake anyway, right??? If i had to go with the wedding cake place, i would probably call the customer and tell them im almost dead and that is what i plan to do because i dont want them without a cake.
I really really really hope, i or anyone of you have to ever go down that path.
What would you do with a wedding cake order if this happened???
I have two good friends that we back each other up if something happens and we all trust each other with finishing up a project. My mother died the day before I had a wedding cake due and my friend took care of everything and I just sent her the payment. Same thing when I got really sick, and I have done the same for them!
don't feel bad! You would have been irresponsible to make the cake and risk getting people sick. You did the right thing.
Furthermore, if she tells anyone about it, they'll probally already know her personality and will take it with a grain of salt....especially if they work with her day in and day out....poor souls!
thanks to you all. I appreciate your understanding. I don't think i will need to worry about taking an order from her again as she made it very clear she would not be ordering from me again and she was going to let everyone know how unproffesional i was. The problem with this is she works in a department down the hall from me. So I am hoping i odn't lose to much buisness over this.
Thanks again for your encouragment.
So sorry that this happened to you! It's always a good idea to have a "back-up" decorator!! You never know when you may need to have someone 'step-in" for you when things like this happen!!!
When I had my shop I had several local, home bakers that I could count on, the only thing is with what I do now...I don't think anyone can do as I do..(not bragging on myself, but, what I do is hard and I already have a certain "style"..lol)
If this is the first time that this has happened to you and you have not flaked out on any one else in your place of business, I don't think you have too much to worry about. Eventually this woman will run out of steam. Just make sure that the next couple of orders you get are right on the money as actions speak louder than words.
If you wanted to make nice with this woman, and I don't think you should...you can always bring her a couple of cookies, cupcakes or cake balls to smooth the waters.
Include a note along these lines..:
"I'm so sorry that I was too ill to fulfill your order, but as the kind person that I know you are I'm sure that you were worried about me, so here is a little token of my appreciation."
hahaha, she won' t know WHAT to say...it's a very nice note, but only YOU will know it's sarcastic...tee hee!!
I think you did the right thing by not risking any conatamination to the cake, I do however think you should have called someone else or another bakery to fulfill the order.
Try putting yourself in the place of this woman, I mean, If you ordered a cake for a certain time and found out that it wasn't ready, You would be a bit livid too, right? especially if it was for a special occassion.
In this business, word of mouth goes a long way, that's the same for good and bad press. But the best thing though, I'm sure you and all the baker's who've read this thread are a little wiser now. I personally will start looking for some place or someone whom I can pass on orders to in case this thing happens cos it so CAN happen!
I agree that you should send the lady something to mend bridges, I'm sure once she sees how apologetic you are she'll come around and realize that you would never have wanted the situation to turn out the way that it did.
Anyway, Hope you're better!
I feel for you, but I also can understand why the woman was so mad. And her not getting the design information to you until the last minute is tought, but you accepted it and didn't tell her it was a problem.
You cna only do what you can do - if you are sick, then you are sick. But I can see the other side too. Tough call.
Thank you all for your support. I am finally feeling better. Turns out I had a horrible viral infection that was very contagious. And i ruptured my ear drum(which is very frequent for me, I'm deaf).
So I hadn't heard back from this woman about the cake and I haven't been at work all week.
Well I got a call from my boss the other day saying that he was very worried. Evidently she went and told me boss that i flaked out on her and that i obviously went out drinking the night before and just didn't feel like doing the cake. Well my boss explained that this couldn't be true and that if i didn't do it there must be a very good reason. So that made me feel a little better. I plan on making her a batch of cookies and taking them in on Monday when i go back to work. I am going to attach a note thanking her for her understanding in this situation.
Thanks again for all the help!!!
What a snotty b***h!!! She actually had the nerve to comment to your boss like that??? Insted of the cookies for her . . . I would bring in a beautiful tray for your department/office . . . and make sure that everyone knows you were really sick and once you felt better you were baking up a storm. Make sure she tastes what she missed out on! Then I would simply send an email letting her know that you heard from your boss how concerned she was about your health . . . and that you appreciate that since the laws state you cannot bake when you are ill, she was kind enough to let you bow out of your committment . . . and you appreciate her concern. End of story . . . its nice enough, but I wouldn't do anything for her again and I wouldn't give her anything . . . she sounds like she doesn't deserve it.
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