Horrible Email From Customer... :(
Business By lotsofsprinkles Updated 21 Nov 2009 , 5:45pm by KateLS
I delivered the cake personally and she said 'oh wow' when she saw it so I don't know if she was just being polite to my face?!
Here is what she wrote:
I just wanted to send you an email in relationto the cake you did for my sons christening. Im sorry to say how disappointed i was with the cake. At first glance, i noticed that it was not a 3d cake
Have to say if she had been disapointed I'm sure she would have said something much sooner than a few days later 
The cake looks like the invite and the sketch.
Makes me wonder what she did with it between you delivering it and the time of the christening, as an 'amatuer decorator' she might have tried to adjust things herself, though no idea why. Some people just love to fiddle with things though
I'd definantely NOT refund her
Keep up the good work 
it's a great cake 
I definitely think she has buyers remorse! It's a beautiful cake and looks just like your sketch.
Yes, it's 3D!
The colours are adorable for a baby!
I went on-line and converted $320 Australian dollars to pounds sterling and US dollars. It's around £175 / $290US
There's a lot of cake there!! It's for 75 people. I don't think it's excessive.
She really doesn't deserve a refund of any amount.
Please, don't give up cake making!!!
Suzanne x
That cake is beautiful ( I love the soft colors too) and it's most definitely 3-dimensional....I tell people the difference is that a 2-D cake is simply a flat carved sheet cake where when you look at it from above it's the shape of the object...3-D looks like the actual object on all sides. YOUR cake was definitely 3-D...........do you have a side view of the cake?? I would love to see how high the body was. What size was your board? I really think it seems like buyer's remorse and she's trying to recoup some of the money spent on her little one's party. I highly doubt that any of her guests EVER commented about the cake being done poorly! We're all trained "professionals" here and we don't think it's horrible so to cake muggles it would have been amazing!!
Please don't tell me you refund some money! She is crazy!!! Ditto to all the comments out here.
Let it go and move on...keep on doing your beautiful cakes!
One thing...if she is an "amateur" (key word here) cake decorator...why didn't she make the cake herself??
Oh come on! I totally see the chick's point. Don't try & tell me you ain't heard of the fat-body low-belly winged propellor seal. Don't even try & tell me that~~in pretty pastel too.
Please don't tell me you refund some money! She is crazy!!! Ditto to all the comments out here.
Let it go and move on...keep on doing your beautiful cakes!
One thing...if she is an "amateur" (key word here) cake decorator...why didn't she make the cake herself??
I was thinking the same thing! That is definitely 3D, and I think the cake looks even better than the sketch. If this is what she agreed on, then don't give her any money back. You didn't break any part of your agreement, so I don't think you have any reason to refund her just because she missed the day in kindergarten when they explained the difference between 2D and 3D. If you start refunding people just because THEY are idiots, you are going to lose a lot of money. Be proud of that cake!!
Don't refund her any money. Like everyone has said, the cake is what she ordered and the only thing I saw is that the tail is a little crooked but, otherwise it is absolutely adorable. Who wouldn't love a cake like that for their baby's christening? That is why she is an amateur and will likely stay one for a LONG time. :O) Keep making your cakes and be too busy if she ever calls for a cake again.
evelyn
I think that somebody trashed talked the cake at the event. Doesn't it sound like something a brother would do? Whassat? a seal?
And not that the trash talk was deserved at all.
And maybe the chick was overwhelmed with the event and her discomfort was transferred to the cake instead of her guests where it possibly began.
The cake could not be more adorable.
I definitely think she has buyers remorse! It's a beautiful cake and looks just like your sketch.
Yes, it's 3D!
The colours are adorable for a baby!
I went on-line and converted $320 Australian dollars to pounds sterling and US dollars. It's around �175 / $290US
There's a lot of cake there!! It's for 75 people. I don't think it's excessive.
She really doesn't deserve a refund of any amount.
Please, don't give up cake making!!!
Suzanne x
It is really cute, but the OP did state these were coffee portions (half of a standard US wedding portion), so it wasn't that big really. However saying that, I charge a minimum of 5 euros per serving for a 3D cake, which if you convert it (using 40 US wedding servings as a guide), is pretty much the same I would have charged, so the OP was bang on in the money dept. I love this cake - I would not have refunded a penny. However, this is my 4th year in the biz, and I have grown a backbone and become much 'harder' about these things. You Have to if you are going to survive!
I would not give her one single dime back!. That cake is fantastic. It looks like the invite, it looks like your sketch.
Being in the mood I am in today I have a few choice words for that customer that are not printable!
Keep on doing what you are doing-The cake was beautiful. I hope one day that my cakes will look that great!
Ok - it seems like she needs a lesson in 2D vs. 3D.
Maybe she thought that the wings were going to go through the cake and not lay on the cake board? And the same thing with the propellers?
That's the only thing that I can think of because the cake is super cute and clearly 3D (except for the wings and propellers).
And really, she was surprised that the letters might fall down? They were just standing there (I'm sure they were tucked with something). But if they were moving the cake or touching it or not setting it down very gently, I'm sure those letters would fall down.
I can't say anything everyone else hasn't already said, but I want you to know that you did a great gob! It is a shame that this woman is being so evil to you as you don't deserve that. Some people can't be pleased. Keep up your great work!
Plus, if you get bullied into refunding when there is no reason for it, what do you gain? you either are not true to yourself (you'll regret it). Plus the customer is going to do one of two things: either never come back anyways....and you lost your money, or come back and be a pita customer that you'll always have issues with....so either way is better to let it go!
OK I have to say... OM Gosh! That cake is super! So the dots became clouds and the color switched a little and you added the name... it's really adorable!!!
What's not to like? That is 3D! It is rounded and has an actual propeller and wings! 2D would have been a flat slab cut into the shape of a plane and iced to look like it.
Lets see...
NOPE!
I didn't know seals had propellers.
No refund here.
Theresa 
I think it is a lovely cake. It looks just like plane on the invitation, as well as your sketch. I really don't think you owe her a refund at all. Based on the information you provided to us, it appears as though you executed everything correctly and that she indeed got what she ordered. I'm sorry this happened to you. But don't knock yourself. (It's impossible to please everyone.) You do lovely work, and are very much a professional.
Gotta say... I'm liking the cake. Cute, and a great, unmistakable link to the invite.
I'm surprised that as an "amateur cake decorator" she didn't realize that the white chocolate ganache would have a slightly creamier consistency due to the weather. It is summer time down there, right?
As one poster suggested, she might have expected the wings and tail to be elevated. If so there was a miscommunication... and we know that those take two. So, a small ($10-20) credit on future purchase may be in order to foster good will. (Of course, maybe you don't want her as a customer again... them nothing!)
Here's a question though--how tall was the cake--how rounded was it? The aerial shot is spot on but how did it look from the side?
Ok I only made it through the 1st page but I had to chime in here, your cake is adorable and the lady is a loon. Bottom line.
That is a 3-D cake, she does'nt know ganache from her own foot (was she expecting regular chocolate ganache and not white?), and molded wings are not going to be the exact same size, even nature does'nt make 2 identical leaves, she's a cake decorator herself?? then why did'nt she do it herself...um because she can't and she's jealous and she is going to take it out on you.
Either that or she wants to get her nails done and is trying to come up with the money.
Apologize, tell her the cake was made to her specifications and send her on her way, even block her email address if you want so she can't bother you anymore.
Now if the cake was a wreck then it would be a different story but it's not, it met all her requirements, she has buyers remorse or a head injury, either way you don't owe her a dime.
Here's a question though--how tall was the cake--how rounded was it? The aerial shot is spot on but how did it look from the side?
I was thinking the same thing. Why are we only seeing an aerial shot of this cake?
The cake looks great. You should be proud of your work. It looks exactly like what the customer agreed to and is definitely 3-D as versus a flat cut- out 2-D. She certainly does not deserve a refund.
At least you didn't do a stupid thing I recently did: I slashed a price in half for a 3-D Halloween spider cake because I thought it looked like an insect instead of a spider. It was a lot of work and the customer didn't notice the difference.It was my stupid pride that got in the way of the profit! The support given me by CC really helped. This site is the greatest.
Do not consider quitting, or even letting it bother you. It was well executed and you should move on.
Absolutely do NOT give any money back AT ALL!!! You did NOTHING wrong and your client knows it. There is no way that people who got the invitation in advance and saw the plane on their invitation thought this was anything but the same plane as their invite.
To me, I would translate your reply email from your client as "Everyone was impressed with the cake and one of my guests shared a trick they had learned from buying cakes from professionals before. If you reply and complain about your cake you can get your money back, at least a refund so I am now going to make up a lot of junk lies about you cake so that I can get the fancy cake but not pay the fancy price!"
Oh, and also, if she has experience in cake making she knows that the best filling for carved cakes are butter cream!
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