Guest Threatening To Picket Business - Help!!!
Business By TheNerdyBaker Updated 12 Sep 2013 , 1:10pm by kikiandkyle
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In a civil case they do not have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but rather by a preponderance of evidence.
Good point and I just looked up preponderance and it means the quality or fact of being greater in number, quantity, or importance.
They just need something to tip it one way.
I just said that cause it sounded smart...lol
I completely agree with the setup of contracts etc. Awesome that the owner is now taking that up.
I can see how the OP is so involved - here this type of bakery business requires close knit staff and the OP sounds like the kind of value employee an owner would consult or bounce ideas off etc.
Aside from that...
In SA most bakeries don't do any signed contracts etc for cakes, you pay and you collect. WEdding cakes or large functions cake would of course require contracts etc. But for a single tier cake like this? No. Not saying I agree with that - just sayings this is how things are here. Its implied as common sense to transport your cake properly.
I don't think the bakery should be giving any compensation here. Maybe toward the cake if they do feel like it would keep a customer. But not required at all IMO. The car? No way!
Our local supermarkets have bakeries, if I bought a cake from there and dropped the cake, or bumped it on the way to my car - no way would they be liable to compensate me - and I don't have a signed contract with them?
Lastly, I just do need to add/suggest - please advise clients against all RED (or deep colour) icings like this. If it did that to the hands, imagine the people eating it! I saw one baker who said they did a base white icing and then did a thin layer of the dark colour over if really needed - or go fondant as it can be peeled off.
Good luck to the OP - you sound like you got your head screwed on right!
ABut a supermarket bakery would have put the cake in a box. Also this was a tiered cake when it left the bakery...
I thought he said it was a 5 or 6" single tier
1) When I owned a shop we had a "sign plus in our brochures "we are not responsible for cakes we do not delivered".If they were a good customer I may offer another cake for another occasion of equal value or a discount.Re tell them when the cake is picked up.
2) Make a box using 2 or more boxes and tell customer there is a fee for the extra supplies need for pick packing.We never did but I felt like it because it takes time $ and adds to your costs for supplies.Otherwise we deliver for whatever that charge would be and with no box.
3) Live and learn makes you better.
AI don't understand not boxing a cake. What if it rains during delivery? What if a passerby sneezes? What about dust and stuff?
AI deliver wedding cakes on a full sheet pan, not in a box. Certain cakes are too big to put in a box, and I'd rather have the cake in full view so I can keep an eye on it while driving.
The cake the OP made looks like it was on a board large enough that a box wasn't necessary (20x30?) It's possible to put larger cakes in boxes, but I wouldn't say it's always necessary.
But a supermarket bakery would have put the cake in a box. Also this was a tiered cake when it left the bakery...
I don't see how boxing it would have made things better - if it had been boxed, the cake may have been handled even more carelessly.
In my experience a cake is more likely to be damaged by the customer in a box. And the sneezing thing...one reason I don't do buttercream cakes any more. I do think it's kind of gross for a cake to sit around for hours in a room with people talking and breathing while they decorate. Maybe you don't have to talk, but you have to get close close and you have to breath. But I also don't get eating the fondant. To me, it's just a lovely protective casing. That doesn't mean I don't take the same care with it as I would buttercream.
We don't carry in cake while it's raining. But I do have giant plastic bags to put over them if we're worried about a random rain drop. And I guess there's not much dust or wind here. I can see this could be an issue in another place.
AThey would still have damaged the cake but it wouldn't have been all over the seat. We all know how hard it is to get red food coloring out of things, imagine trying to get it off a car seat. This client is going to be reminded of what happened every single time they get in their car and is going to stay mad about it for a long time.
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"we get a call from an extremely angry great grandmother who is demanding full compensation. Not only for the $200 cake, but she is also asking for a full car detail to get the red icing stains out of the transport vehicle."
"we get a call from an extremely angry great grandmother who is demanding full compensation. Not only for the $200 cake, but she is also asking for a full car detail to get the red icing stains out of the transport vehicle."
Oops, totally forgot about that, good point! The only icing I ever color is packed in plastic cupcake containers. If I sold somebody a cake with red icing all over, I'm pretty sure I'd be afraid to put it in their car without a box, too.
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We don't carry in cake while it's raining. But I do have giant plastic bags to put over them if we're worried about a random rain drop. And I guess there's not much dust or wind here. I can see this could be an issue in another place.
How do you avoid delivering in the rain? You got a hook up with the big guy in the clouds? lol
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How do you avoid delivering in the rain? You got a hook up with the big guy in the clouds? lol
Yes, of course! 
What I meant was the cake doesn't come out of the car until the rain stops. So far the rain has always stopped. If it didn't, I'd cover the cake in the giant plastic bag and also have someone hold the huge umbrella I bring. I almost always deliver at least 2 hours before the event starts.
It can be an issue. Once I had a 3 tier topsy turvy delivery to one of those party places and of course with those, there's no arriving two hours in advance. It was going to start raining any second and the 10 year old that was running the place was saying I couldn't bring the cake in yet. I had to quickly help her see the light. lol It wouldn't have been fun bringing in that cake in during the pouring rain. Of course if i invested in a cake safe...but seriously, we'd have gotten the cake in fine - it just would have been a pita. That's very rare compared with hassling with a huge box every time I deliver a cake.
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Seriously.
Delivering a cake without a box is just NASTY.
That goes for pick-ups, too.
If I felt that way about food ever being exposed to air, I'd have never enjoyed a picnic or BBQ.
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Seriously.
Delivering a cake without a box is just NASTY.
That goes for pick-ups, too.
That's just silly -I guess it should stay in the box during the entire wedding reception then too? And be taken out just before cutting? What on earth do you think is going to happen to the cake? Do you wear a mask while baking, icing and decorating?
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That's just silly -I guess it should stay in the box during the entire wedding reception then too? And be taken out just before cutting? What on earth do you think is going to happen to the cake? Do you wear a mask while baking, icing and decorating?
I was just about to post the same thing. Now, I have a mental image of y'all cooking dinner in biohazard suits.
I will not eat a cake that was in a box with a fox wearing socks.
I will not eat a cake that was in a box with a fox wearing socks.
Even if the box is a CAKESAFE?
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Not forgetting about bird crap either, unless you carry the uncovered cake in one hand and a scarecrow in the other...
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Ha ha ha probably not helpful but very funny to read. P.S it's good luck to be crapped on by a bird so the bride should take it as a good omen if a bird happens to make a deposit on her cake.
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Seriously.
Delivering a cake without a box is just NASTY.
That goes for pick-ups, too.
Not only do I not box mine, but I pre-sneeze my cakes and snuggle the neighbors cat before stacking.
I rarely jump on the 'it's the customer's fault' bandwagon when it comes to collapsing cakes, but the red icing on the tennis rackets, and the way the red globs are placed in the car, makes me think they had it in on a pretty steep angle to fit into the back seat.
What are you protecting it from?
Maybe part of this has to do with the delivery vehicle in question. I can see there might be some issues where a car is used to haul the soccer team, eat happy meals, haul pets, bikes and other sports equipment, luggage, change diapers, drive home drunk and throw up in (just trying to think of unsanitary things, not making a reference to anyone on this thread!). But at the opposite end what about a vehicle dedicated to cake delivery? A cake sitting inside there is not all that different from one sitting inside the bakery.
And I assume no one would just set the cake directly on anything in the car. I always lay down a lovely fresh, clean, white sheet.
ALarge cake that can't go in a box - delivery only.
Any other cake that a customer insists on picking up? Box.
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