So this is my first ever post. I am a huge fan of this site and have been using it for quite some time now. I have been making wedding cakes for years and just got a call from a bride today to say that her cake was dry and crumbly. I pride myself on how delicious and moist my cakes are. At the bridal shows, people rave about them NOT being dry. When we met, she chose the samples she would like to have made for her. So she knew exactly what she was getting. She paid with a credit card--now I am worried she is going to stop payment. All along I had this "feeling" about her. She seemed to really want it all--but with a VERY small price tag. So my question is this--how do I handle this situation. This is a first. The reception was held at the same church she was married at. I tried to call the church to find out if they know who the caterer was to see if they had any issues with her. Please help me--I feel like she just wants money. Do i just give it to her to be done with her or stand my ground and hope she doesn't cancel her paymnt.?

If the cake was so dry that it warrants a refund, there should have been some left over since no one would want dry cake. She should return the uneaten portion to you for you to examine. Of course, if the event was a few days ago, it would probably be dry by now anyway if not stored properly. Tough one to call really...
Did it seem normal to you when you leveled it or torted it? You may not do either though so it will be hard if you never actually saw the crumb of the cake.
Once I read on here how someone took a "plug" from the center of each cake with an apple corer or something and labelled and froze it, in case of complaints. Good idea really!

I don't know if your cake was dry because I was not there to taste it. Im no help there. I think you should try and get in touch with the caterer again to get their opinion. As far as the cake being crumbly what kind of knife was the cake cut with. It makes a difference if it was searated or not.

When you say she chose the samples she wanted made for her was what she choose a new recipe or something? I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly.

I would see if you can poll the guests. Or talk to who ever cleaned up, cake on plates or no cake on plates? How much was left over, did she freeze the top tier for the one year anniversary? Sad to say but if she does stop payment I would file a claim, she would have to prove it was inedible.

Anyone can claim a chargeback on their credit card, but the grounds have to be fraud or that they didn't receive the item in question. Do you have a contract? Do you have delivery proof? That's all you'll need to dispute the chargeback request if she chooses to make one.

But as a customer service issue, it does not matter what your other cakes tasted like, or how moist they normally are. It doesn't matter what the caterer says. Pooling the guests is not going to happen, and what would you say? "Hey, the bride hated my cake, did you?"

Bottom line is you have an unhappy customer that could possibly trash you and your bakery's name forever. Negative word of mouth costs a heck of a lot more then what you just made off that cake. So how much is that worth to you? What type of impact could that unhappy customer make? I'd suck up my pride, contact the bride and ask "How can I make this right?". It might be an apology. It might be a complimentary anniversary tier. It might be a little refund or a gift certificate to Target. But it should be a question you ask her.

Good luck,

Jen