I feel used..............So I was asked on Monday to do a cake for Saturday for boy's first birthday party. The woman didn't really like my prices, but she has her heart set on fondant sculptures on top, so I tried to work with her budget. So we came to an agreement on a smaller cake, but with all the fondant stuff going on. (Similar to the teddy bear cake in my photos.)She couldn't decide on what 'theme' to go with so asked if I could e-mail her some photos for ideas. I did just that, although the cakes were teired & hers was just a single.....she e-mails me back "the cakes are fabulous, I love them , I really like number 2, and you know what?... I've decided to just do it myself". YES............HERSELF. She's going to get a fondant recipe, make some animals and put them on top of , now after seeing the pictures, a 2-teired cake! What a b@*#^!!! I am SO angry and I feel very used. The pictures I sent her were not mine, but from a collection of photos I have on my computer that I use for inspiration....., but still, I feel cheated. I know this is just one of those 'learning experiences' of starting a new business, but I can't quite figure out what I've learned!.....other than she's a b@*#^. 
I'm sorry you are so frustrated. And you are right, this lady is a... 
!
Look at it this way though. If she had let you do the cake she probably would have been a pain in the tookas the whole time. And when you delivered it, probably would have said, "But it's not like the one in the picture! I wanted more animals and lots of tiers!!!" Even though that was not what you had agreed on.
She sounds like trouble lookin for a place to happen!
Besides, I bet she tries to make fondant animals and either gives up and buys some plastic ones to slap on there at the last minute. Or better yet, calls you back, last minute, in a panic and wants you to do the cake again cause she can't!
In which case you should charge double for her last minute order! 
I absolutely wish I could see the final product!!! Especially when she said she was going to attempt a teired cake......does she know about dowel?!!
Pancake, valuable lesson...
NEVER send your stuff to potential clients. I always tell people to come in, and I learned NEVER to give away my drawings eighter.
a million years ago when I had my first shop and I still did wedding cakes, I came up with a design for a bride, she asked me if she could have it to show her family or mom or hubby to be I forgot..
I reluctantly gave it to her...and she promised to "bring it back"...
I never saw my design again...and her AUNTIE was going to make the cake!
yeah, people have ....balls and I don' t mean the kind you make out of cake!
She will probably end up messing the whole thing up and then having to go to the grocery store at the last minute to pick up one of those yucky cakes! 
I agree with everyone else. She'll try to make the cake and find out it is harder than it looks. Heck, I see cake pictures and attempt to copy them and they don't look anything like the original...she'll find that out the hard way. And I also agree with hockeygirl658, charge her double if she calls you back!
yip! Let her find out on her own if she thinks it's so easy to do. She knows what she did wasn't right by you and she'll (hopefully) regret it and tackling the cake on her own and wished she hired her (she's a cheap skate too!).
Be happy that you don't have her for a client after all. You don't want clients like this in the long run anyway.
WOW! I am sorry you had to deal with such a yucky person. I think you should thank your lucky stars that you don't have to make her cake...I think that it would have been alot more trouble than it was worth.
I wouldn't be surprised if you got a hysterical last minute phone call from her. I don't know what kind of experience she has with cake decorating but I am gonna guess that she has NEVER done anything like what she has planned to do. She has no idea what she is in for. Is the cake for tomorrow or next Saturday? Either way she has a lot to learn in a very short amount of time. She has to learn how to make fondant, cover the cake, model the figures, and how to stack the cake. I spent over 6 months planning my daughter's 1st birthday cake. I even made a couple of practice cakes and I still wasn't totally happy with the end result.
Oh my she will be heading to Walmart the night before, I just know it. A few years ago (before I had ever decorated a cake) I found a pic of a 3 tiered stacked cake and thought how simple and tried it, ahhhh it was a nightmare. I knew nothing about dowels or torting or even levelling lol, it was the ugliest creation lol. I'm so sorry that you feel used, that was very rude of her.
She will get what she pays for-pun intended-nothing for nothing is still a nothing!! It's a shame it may ruin the childs birthday but she will learn it-it's like me making my son's fiance's wedding dress-I sew but not well enough to make that kind of dress-but I'm smart enough to realize it and not attempt it!!
Unbelieveable. What a cow. It's a shame they're not your images or you could threaten to sue her for something just to put the willies up her!
How ridiculous! Some people make a person wish they never had to deal with the public. It is good that the little boy is only one year old because about anything will look good to him, but all the guests will see what a sorry cake she has made. Try to forget it. You are better off not making this one anyway!
That is terrible....what a bee-otch!!!
In the future, you could charge a design fee (I realize you said these weren't your original designs, but you can send someone your version of a design you have saved) . ...or a consulting fee that is re-imbursable upon payment of the cake. I am planning out the logistics of a business and this is definately something I will be implementing in the near future. I spend a lot of time researching and planning my cakes and I'll be da**ed if someone else will infringe on my designs. They are automatically copyrighted, by the way. BTW...you're better off without the business of such a person.
Thanks everyone! I feel much better knowing that I wasn't over reacting....you guys always help me out!! I have learned my lesson though,....never e-mail pictures to ANYONE. From now on, I'll show them through consultations only, which is what I've always done before. But this lapse in judgement proved why it should stay that way!!
Think of it this way.....if she's never decorated a cake before she'll spend 3x's the amount buying everything she needs and get no sleep the night before the party trying to "fix" what she's done. And I agree, she'll end up at Walmart the morning of the party begging for a cake because she'll be too embaressed to call you! Oh, and what about all of the friends she's showed your wonderful picture to....how will she explain to them???? Anyway, I guess I'm in a vengeful mood or something because I feel she's getting exactly what her cheap a$$ deserves!
At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that once she's up to her eyeballs in fondant goo, wishing she'd have just let YOU do it, that you knew better to compromise on price or product. Good for you!
I get so tired of people that think because it looks simple, it is. We all know it isn't. I just did a b-day cake for my son (posted today, the baseball jersey), and went through so many decisions just for that 'simple' cake. Design is part of the process, how DARE she use you like that!
I could go on and on about that, but won't. Just remember that usually when you 'lose' a customer, you're not really losing anything... 
Well she sounds like a real prize. You should be glad that you didn't make a cake for her.. I am sure she would have complained about something. I'd love to see what her cake looked like.. A real mess I bet.. Some people have no idea what works goes into our cakes. I wouldn't do any cakes for her if she calls again. Just say your completely booked.
Liz
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