Hi Everyone,
I delivered a double stacked 11x15 chocolate cake with buttercream frosting to a customer last Saturday. A couple days later she called to tell me the cake was extremely dry and not edible. I have made this cake several times in the past and never had any complaints. In fact, after I made this cake I leveled the top as I usually do and put the cake pieces in a tupperware bowl tightly covered and ate at them for a couple of days. They were good and moist. I am trying to figure out what went wrong so I can prevent it from happening again.
The cake had some tall ornaments on top so I could not close the cover of the box. I left the cover open and taped it to the bottom of the box at an angle. The box was just one of those flimsy cake boxes you buy on line or at Walmart or Michaels.
After talking with the lady she told me she left it out on the counter all night, in the box, loosely covered with saran wrap. I dropped the cake off to her at 11a.m. on Saturday and it sat on the counter until Sunday afternoon. It was in the basement, room temp about 50.
Could this have dried the cake out or do you think I may have done something wrong with the cake itself?
How should I tell customers to store their cakes in the future. I realize if it has perishable fillings it needs to be refrigerated.
I appreciate your input. Thanks.
bricker
I delivered a double stacked 11x15 chocolate cake with buttercream frosting to a customer last Saturday. A couple days later she called to tell me the cake was extremely dry and not edible.
I have made this cake several times in the past and never had any complaints. In fact, after I made this cake I leveled the top as I usually do and put the cake pieces in a tupperware bowl tightly covered and ate at them for a couple of days. They were good and moist.
I'm sorry to say this, but I think you're dealing with a customer who's suffering from buyer's remorse. And the only excuse she could come up with in order to get a full/partial refund offer was to say the cake was dry and inedible. Was this a new customer?
Putting the cake scraps in tupperware sealed them, as did the b/c frosting on the cakes you delivered - so both would have been equally edible/inedible. If yours were edible so were hers!
Don't know if you have a refund policy, but if your refund policy doesn't include returning the uneaten cake - it should. This way the customer can't have their cake and eat it too!
I would be very hesitant to offer a full refund based on the info provided. If I were the customer and it were my cake, I would have called immediately (just to leave a message) saying I just cut the cake and I can't serve it because it's too dry.
B/C or fondant covered cakes without perishable frostings don't require hermetic sealing. In fact, airtight containers can cause the frosting/fondant to melt which is definitely NOT a good thing. A box is only necessary to keep cake/s dust free and provide limited cover (to keep away poking fingers).
If you feel you need to do something... You can offer a 50% off coupon for a regular customer or 25% off coupon for a new customer (limited to a certain dollar amount) for use on a future cake order.
HTH
Sounds like someone is trying to pull a fast one. Maybe got a tip on how to get their cake for half price.
I'd ask for the remainder of the cake to be returned to you so you can see what might have gone wrong (and to sample it). If it was completely tossed... no refund.
If you ordered a part from an auto store that turns out to be defective... first would you throw it all away? No. Second, if you threw the part away do you think they would give you partial or full refund? Not a chance. So no cake, no discount.
I'm going with prterrell and JanH here.... especially on the buyers remorse part.
Good luck Bricker... let us know how it turns out. 
Thanks to all of you for your responses. This was my very first customer since I opened my home business two weeks ago. You can imagine how bad I felt when she told me it wasn't edible and she tossed it in the trash! She even had her co-worker vouch for her. I already gave her a complete refund for the cake before I talked with you guys. I really like your suggestions about refunds. I will definitely be adding these refund policies to my cakes. She may have been my first customer but I have made many cakes for family and friends and they can't get enough of them. So, I will not let this stop me!
Thanks everyone for your support and your valuable suggestions!
Bricker
Oh you'll knowif the cake was good or not.... either she will call you for another cake or someone that knows her will. Start asking clients if they were referred by anyone. Seriously if the cake was that bad, she nor anyone else that knows her should be hitting you up for another cake, right?
I'd try it just to see.... cause it sounds fishy to me.
I'm sorry to hear that you gave her a full refund also. Consider this leason learned and move on smiling 
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