more hubby stories..... when he worked in banking, he would get people come in on a Wednesday or Thursday and SWEAR the bank shorted them money when they cashed their check LAST FRIDAY!!! He would ask "how do you know it wasn't any of the many stores you went to?" and OH NO! They KNEW it was the bank that did it!

he'd ask them "Didn't you count the money or watch them count the money?" Yes, and it was short then! Their reason for not saying anytihng right then and there? "Well, I was in a hurry!"

he pretty much kicked them out.

ok so I don't know how to attach photos; this is my first try at this so i hope it works... Im going to attach the picture she sent and the email that she sent me: OK, here it goes....

Hi XXX,



Thank you for making the "Queen of the Jungle" cake. If was beautiful and the mom to be and her guests loved how well it went with the theme.


We had a problem, however, with the actual quality of the cake. In the attached photo you can see that there was a layer that was under-baked. This was very disappointing and embarrassing, to say the least.


Due to the less than acceptable quality of the cake and the embarrassment and inconvenience it caused, I am seeking a full or partial refund. Please respond via email or call me at (XXX)XXX-XXXX to inform me of how you would like to proceed.


I appreciate your work and am sorry that this is an issue, but I think it's only fair that there be some form of restitution and I hope that we can reach a quick and reasonable resolution.


Regards,
XXXX


Sent from my iPhone



THIS WAS MY RESPONSE TO HER!:

Hello Ms. XXXX,

My name is XXXXX and I am the Accounts Supervisor for OUR COMPANY NAME

I would like to start off by saying that I am terribly sorry to hear about the incident with your cake. I regret to inform you that we are unable to give you a refund of any sort. With an issue of this caliber a phone call or an email at the time of the discovery or even the next day would have made a refund or a partial refund feasible. However this cake was delivered on November 6th @ 2 p.m., and we are just hearing of this issue 16 days later.

We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and hope you understand our position. A resolution could have been met had we been made aware at the time of delivery or at best the day after.

Regretfully,

OUR COMPANY NAME
NAME OF ACCT. SUP

Accounts Supervisor

(xxx)xxx-xxxx

our email address

Just so ya'll know my sister is the one who handles the accounting stuff... Im the baker/decorator/artist she handles all the other FUN stuff.

I noticed that I can't attach the picture cus the email was sent from a cell phone and the picture was not an attachment and when i tried to save it it opens it as a bunch of symbols.... I tried right clicking and it says created: 11/24/2010 and created 11/24/2010 thats todays date so either im not looking in the right place or its just not going in my favor: i also want to know when she took that picture....

im going to take a picture of it with my cellphone of the email and save it so that ya'll can see the picture she sent... Hopefully that works... fingers crossed.

So I understand,,,this was your response after their first e-mail right? Then, they sent you another treatning you with their lawer,,,right?.... Anithing after that?

OK ONE MORE TRY BEFORE I GIVE UP!

I'LL ALSO ATTACH A PICTURE OF THE CAKE AT THE VENUE....

there is a bug with CC that you can not post photos to topics/post right now. Can you post it somewhere online and supply a link to it? (in flickr or a google album?) If you post it in your photos here on CC it will be deleted most likely... but you can try.

I don't know how Can you add to your photos?

To attach a photo, you need to use an image hosting site. I use image shack. It's free and simple to use. Upload your photo to it, then copy the [img] code it gives you into your forum post.

I'm gonna sound like a punk, but your reply would have mad me even more mad. It comes off very condescening and like you don't even care about the customer.
Also, is it in your policies that any complaint must be filed immediately? Yes, it may seem like common sense when dealing with food, but if I'm at a party calling the cake person isn't always my first reaction.

I guess I just think you could have handled the reply better.

thats the picture the customer sent me: its in picasa...


http://picasaweb.google.com/delightfulcakesbakery/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCPfO1-n4l_2ehQE#

As a former legal secretary, my attorney would not waste his time pursuing a case that was less then $2000.00, he will tell his client to pursue in small claims court. I can't imagine the cake, embarrassment and dissappointment is going to add up to that much of an award. Not even for a law suit that was a slam dunk (which this isn't).

@Cakediva101 - Mos def. Customer should have definitely called sooner and op should have responded like she cared a little, not so defensively. But that's me.

Did you ever address the issue that it wasn't even your cake???

and this is what i delivered to them: they had asked me to replicate a photo of a cake they brought me.... and they had napkins and invitations that had the same theme.... so I did what they wanted... at first they were hesistant about the given amount $265. for all fondant and then asked that I drop the price down. so we took off the fondant left the fondant decor. and price dropped to $210. anyways tell me what ya'll think? cus I was thinking about contacting my attorny and giving him to let him know what i'm dealing with... (im calling on Friday after the holiday) .


http://picasaweb.google.com/delightfulcakesbakery/QueenOfJungle?authkey=Gv1sRgCPCE1ozVnN30ogE#

THANK EVERYONE!

The lawyers I've ever dealt with would not handle such a small bit of money as this. Just saying.

OP, I think your response was spot on.

The customer is NOT always right (I am, in fact, quite frequently a customer and I am NOT always right).

The customer is bringing up a huge issue long after the transaction, one that in regards to food, would have been extremely troubling, not to mention a health hazard.

Let's face it: time are tough and there are people out there that will try to get whatever they can, whenever they can, and will lie, cheat and steal to get it.

The OP's responses were nothing less than professional. THere is an obvious glare in the customer's complaint, and it should NOT be entertained! OP was not rude, nor did she leave room for this particular customer's unfounded accusation to fester. Some times you really DO have to nip these things in the bud.

I say A+ to the OP.

There's enough plain white on the bottom tier that they could have cut a slice without any fondant decor on it, especially one that thin. They could have taken the leftovers home, cut into it and noticed a gummy area, then stuck it on a black plate and taken a picture. That would explain the different background and the way it looks like the picture was taken next to a computer.

I'm sure you would have noticed if one of your layers was twice as thick as the other, though...and it doesn't explain why it took so long for them to contact you.

I think if I were in your situation, I would have done the same thing.
And if I had ordered a cake that was not cooked, I would have contacted you right away, or at least the next day.. especially since she said how the cake was ruined or whatever it was she said..
can't wait to see what she says to you next
Jodi

I was just curious how you know that it for sure isn't your cake? I mean some people do take the fondant pieces off. Did you tort your pieces that size?

I was also wondering about the difference in layer sizes. That's not a common thing to do. And the way the outer edges are rounded makes it seem like these were two complete cake layers of very different thicknesses, not torted, or the outer edges would have been half rounded.

And, do you leave the outer edges rounded like that before frosting? Your finished cake looks so clean and straight sided. Many folks trim the sides to a straight vertical before frosting. do you leave the sides of your layers rounded?

Surely you know if that's how your cake was put together, no? It's not exactly a common way to do it.

Sorry if I offend, but I need a little clarification.

Are you saying that you bake 1 layer in a 3 inch pan, then torte, fill, and frost to make 1 cake, 3 layers tall? Or do you bake 2 layers in a pair of 3 inch pans, then just level them?

Theresa

Without all those details, I would just let her know that you are aware that it is not your cake. Just a simple reply stating, "I'm sorry, but on closer inspection, I realize that the picture you sent me is not even of a cake that I could have made. My layers are not put together that way. Did you have more than one cake at your event? It seems you have confused the two. I hope you are able to resolve this with whomever it is that baked the cake in that picture."

This lets her know that you can see her scam and see why it is not yours without getting into the dirty details. Of course you can always pull those out if it becomes necessary later.

Yes, I agree it is possible that she kept a piece of the cake that she cut the next day and put onto a black plate for the photo. Very possible. In which case, it means she has a piece of cake she didn't eat and why didn't she bring that piece of cake in to show you what had happened? Heck you'd even know if it was a fresh cake baked at home, your buttcream recipe, if it was old, etc. But my point is that if they had some of the cake left over for the photo they took, they should have brought it to you, 16 days ago.

I think you worded your response very well and very professionally. And yes, if you apoligize too much, it sounds like you are admitting liability.

For me, I'd just forget him and if an attorney contacts you, refer him to your lawyer (if you have one on retainer because why pay for one over something like this), or send him the photos pointing out the obvious.