Seriously? You Just Don't Know What People Are Out There Doing.

Business By howsweet Updated 9 Oct 2013 , 10:29pm by Daisyblue002

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howsweet Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 4:29am
post #1 of 47

I was looking on my Facebook page and thought I'd see who I'd blocked. I found this baker who didn't ring a bell so I went to her page and found photos of my cakes  she'd been asked to remove. I assume she left them on because she stole so many photos she couldn't figure out which ones were mine. Surely it wasn't blatant disregard for my request.

 

Anyway, I found this promotion she was running last year using my red graduation cap cupcake tower design and she had photoshopped it in a couple of different colors. I have to say, it looks good in those other shades!

 

Would it have killed her to make a dummy version first? Here version of my design was ok, but she left the cupcake stand naked. It wasn't what she advertised (using my pics)

 

I didn't post the photos because I was afraid someone would recognize her and I know from experience that raising the ire of someone unreasonable enough to think doing this is ok will cause me more trouble than i want. I'm dealing with it. I'd just like to vent.

 

On a fun note, she has quite a business and even includes a 2013 Wedding Wire Brides Choice emblem on her site and I will be happy to let them know what kind of person they're doing business with. I can easily prove she stole my pics.

46 replies
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Evoir Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 10:47am
post #2 of 47

I hate cake thieves. There's a FB page called "Stop the Cake Thief" so you're not alone in your plight.

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Snowflakebunny23 Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 2:04pm
post #3 of 47

Maybe you could watermark your pictures in the future?  I have never had a problem but keep reading about it on CC so started doing it and making it just go over the cake.  It's not perfect but I believe you need to have pretty mad photoshop skills to remove a watermark from an image! :-)

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TheItalianBaker Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 2:09pm
post #4 of 47

This person should be ASHEMED! 

If the store was close enough, I would stop by for a "nice" chat!

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howsweet Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 2:23pm
post #5 of 47

Thanks y'all. I can't bring myself to watermark the pics. I've watermarked along the bottom like Pink Box Cakes and they just cut it off. I don't usually get steamed up about it any more, but this lady created a promotional ad and photoshopped the cakes in various colors and then refused to remove them after she was caught.

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vgcea Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 3:04pm
post #6 of 47

AI dislike putting my business name right across my images but photo thieves make that almost impossible. I've seen watermarks on the edges cropped out. Shoot, even text across the cake blurred. It's just sad. Really how hard is it to make a dummy version? If anything the practice ensures you do know how to execute the design. I don't understand how people rationalize this.

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howsweet Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 3:48pm
post #7 of 47

Not hard at all - it was a super simple design.

 

One of the things I'm going to do is let the wedding wire people know she "forges" cakes because she got a 2013 award. Does anyone know what wedding wire is exactly- do vendors pay to get their "award" or is it truly a real award? 

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LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 4:29pm
post #8 of 47

Wedding Wire Bride's Choice is not something you pay for, it's based on how many reviews you have gotten in the past year and the star rating of those reviews. But it doesn't always make sense, a lot of people take issue with it because it doesn't seem to have rhyme or reason to how they are chosen- some people that have gotten lots of good reviews don't get it, and some that have hardly any reviews do get it. 

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howsweet Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 4:59pm
post #9 of 47

Thanks.This lady is very aggressive and if reviews have anything to do with it I'd guess she had plenty of fake ones.

 

It just goes to show - these people never think they've done anything wrong. This was her response - unbelievably condescending for a picture thief. This, after several self righteous denials.

 

Actually I hadn’t remembered because that was over 18 months ago and I have been damn busy over the last year and a half.
I don’t have time to go back through my Timeline photos and hadn’t realized one was in there. It is gone if that one picture in the timeline photos from 18 months ago is what you are talking about.
I design my own website, make all the cakes, deliver them, do the accounting for me and my husband’s other business, do inventory, market my daughter’s photography business, have 3 children, so I apologize that I didn’t even know that picture was still up there.
If that was the only one... then I believe we have concluded our business.
Thank you for your wonderful cooperation in helping me do right by you.
Sincerely
 
How should I respond to that? Thanks so much? Maybe she should have removed 18 mo. ago when originally requested.
 
 
This is what she posted on her facebook page using my original red cupcake tower. Since she made it clear the whole thing is practically irrelevant and basically old news as it's from 18 whole months ago, I'm sure no one will associate this photo with her. Especially since none of the cake are hers

The lovely topsy turvy cake is by Rebecca Suttersby. Don't know about the other two.

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jennicake Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 8:14pm
post #10 of 47

I wouldn't bother responding.  It's not going to do much for you.  Lol I love how she took the time to explain just how busy she was.  Not to busy to steal pictures apparently!  If you make that many cakes, take your own damn pics... sheesh.

 

I also notice that she apologizes not for using your pics, but for "not realizing it was still up there".  What a piece of work.  I know you dont want to watermark, but you really should.  I've seen some people do it in very classy ways, along the edges of a tier.  

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by howsweet 
 

Thanks.This lady is very aggressive and if reviews have anything to do with it I'd guess she had plenty of fake ones.

 

It just goes to show - these people never think they've done anything wrong. This was her response - unbelievably condescending for a picture thief. This, after several self righteous denials.

 

Actually I hadn’t remembered because that was over 18 months ago and I have been damn busy over the last year and a half.
I don’t have time to go back through my Timeline photos and hadn’t realized one was in there. It is gone if that one picture in the timeline photos from 18 months ago is what you are talking about.
I design my own website, make all the cakes, deliver them, do the accounting for me and my husband’s other business, do inventory, market my daughter’s photography business, have 3 children, so I apologize that I didn’t even know that picture was still up there.
If that was the only one... then I believe we have concluded our business.
Thank you for your wonderful cooperation in helping me do right by you.
Sincerely
 
How should I respond to that? Thanks so much? Maybe she should have removed 18 mo. ago when originally requested.
 
 
This is what she posted on her facebook page using my original red cupcake tower. Since she made it clear the whole thing is practically irrelevant and basically old news as it's from 18 whole months ago, I'm sure no one will associate this photo with her. Especially since none of the cake are hers

The lovely topsy turvy cake is by Rebecca Suttersby. Don't know about the other two.

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AZCouture Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 8:32pm
post #11 of 47

Tell her to act like a responsible decorator who cares what others in the profession think of her, to STOP making excuses, and remove any and all content that isn't hers immediately. People and their excuses just crack me up.

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howsweet Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 9:07pm
post #12 of 47

Oh my gosh!! I just went back through my screenshoot files and she had taken tons, I mean TONs, of my pictures and created a website and pages with nothing but my cakes.  I tore into her like a pit bull on raw meat back when that happened. That explains why she shot me 6 frantic emails in a row talking about some deleted website. Holy cow. I didn't recognize her website without my pics!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennicake  wouldn't bother responding.  It's not going to do much for you.  Lol I love how she took the time to explain just how busy she was.  Not to busy to steal pictures apparently!  If you make that many cakes, take your own damn pics... sheesh.

 

I also notice that she apologizes not for using your pics, but for "not realizing it was still up there".  What a piece of work.  I know you dont want to watermark, but you really should.  I've seen some people do it in very classy ways, along the edges of a tier.  

In my experience people who do this are always a piece of work. And in the email just before that one she said

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by AZCouture 
 

Tell her to act like a responsible decorator who cares what others in the profession think of her, to STOP making excuses, and remove any and all content that isn't hers immediately. People and their excuses just crack me up.

Her email makes so much more sense now, once I realized who she was.  I thought all that talk about how she's so busy was an attempt to sound important, but it really was excuses. I did tell her the onus wasn't on me to tell her which pics weren't hers.

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Norasmom Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 9:14pm
post #13 of 47

That's really, really tacky.  I'd rather put my own work, which might not be quite as good, on a Facebook page than someone else's!

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morganchampagne Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 9:15pm
post #14 of 47

AI have never understood the logic behind stealing cake picture! If you like the design. Ok..do a version of it on a dummy...or something! But to just take a picture and say "look what I did" it's ridiculous!

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scrumdiddlycakes Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 10:22pm
post #15 of 47

I love it when people get indignant about getting caught stealing.

 

How dare you catch her being a dishonest thieving cow, don't you know she is BUSY!?

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Sparklekat6 Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 10:39pm
post #16 of 47

Honestly I feel like I should apologize too because I don't ever bother to track down/confront anyone who has posted photos of my cakes as their own.  Someone was sweet enough to let me know that my princess dress cakes where advertised on someone else's website and I told her I'd let them sort that out with Disney because I'm just a hobby baker and couldn't care less who copies my cakes.  But it probably allows people like that to think what they are doing is okay because not every who they steal a picture from actually says something about it.  

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morganchampagne Posted 1 Oct 2013 , 11:36pm
post #17 of 47

^^ lmao

 

sorry sparkle, that wasnt for you. At the time the thread above mine was about the thieving cow being busy lol

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Elcee Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 1:02am
post #18 of 47

Wow, just wow. About all of it...but most especially her response!

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Daisyblue002 Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 1:53am
post #19 of 47

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I don't know that you can reason with people like this and I wouldn't worry about sending a reply. Is she stealing pictures from other bakers because her own cakes are sh*t? If people order from her, then who know's what they'll be getting. It's definitely false advertising and I'd be pretty pee'd off if I was her customer.

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Stitches Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 2:17am
post #20 of 47

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZCouture 
 

Tell her to act like a responsible decorator who cares what others in the profession think of her, to STOP making excuses, and remove any and all content that isn't hers immediately. People and their excuses just crack me up.

I would have ignored her myself for fear of starting something with a wacko. But AZ's post really made me rethink things. She's absolutely correct (AZ).

 

Your wacko is just that. People like her always have all kinds of excuses. Her intent is to make you feel bad for poor ole her. If she's that busy than she can afford to hire an assistant, etc... She's a manipulator and liar and nothing she says will be true, so don't waste your time trying to fix her or correct her because she won't ever listen or change.

 

BUT you should live up to your own standards and be yourself, if that means confronting or walking away from her.

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AZCouture Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 3:29am
post #21 of 47

ATruthfully, it's best left alone I suppose. So aggravating though, to think that people get away with receiving applause and comments for someone else's work, and worse yet make sales because of that work. Good thing is, they don't generally last long if they keep it up. And you rarely see any kind of positive feedback from the customers they do manage to get.

About watermarking, I know it can detract.from the photo in some cases, and when it's positioned in an area where it's easy to remove it's basically pointless, but if you make the mark slightly see thru, it can take away less from the cake. I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence, but there are super easy to use programs that let you type in text, position it where you want, and adjust.the opacity to where it's nearly invisible, all the way to bright and bold. Can be done with a logo too. So you can indeed put it right smack in the middle of your photo and it won't be horribly distracting. Or, just put part of it over an area of the cake with not much going on, but people would know that it hadbeen altered if your mark was removed.

www.ribbet.com is a great free site that does that.

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Stitches Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 3:47am
post #22 of 47

There are people that post other peoples photos, watermark and all. Ask batterupcakes, she did it.

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vgcea Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 4:35am
post #23 of 47

A

Original message sent by Stitches

There are people that post other peoples photos, watermark and all. Ask batterupcakes, she did it.

:shock:

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lorillc Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 10:39am
post #24 of 47

It's funny that I'm reading this.  Yesterday, I decided to look at someone's page.  When I first started looking I thought oh wow, fantastic work,  then I really started to look at a few of the cakes and thought to myself, I've seen these exact cake picture.  I started a search on the cakes and ALL the cakes that I searched were the exact pictures from the internet.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

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BatterUpCake Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 11:52am
post #25 of 47

Quote:

Originally Posted by vgcea 


icon_eek.gif

 

Yes And I said this is not my work....I had just started and thought it was ok to give people ideas. I was corrected on here and took them down. Obviously someone is wanting to stir up trouble and I have no idea why....

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knlcox Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 12:00pm
post #26 of 47

When I first started out I thought it was ok to find cake photos online and show people what I could do if they wanted that particular design.   I never removed watermarks because back then nobody used them much.  I thought it was ok  since I didn't have any business and no way to show my creativity.  I didn't do that for long but I realized it was wrong and stopped it.  I always mentioned that the cake WAS NOT mine.  I DON'T do that now, and haven't in years! If I happen to copy a design I always give credit to the person who created that design.  I do find quite a bit of new decorators do not realize it's wrong to use photos other than their own to advertise.  

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BatterUpCake Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 12:03pm
post #27 of 47

Making mistakes is part of the learning curve. You learn from it and move on. Then try to pass the lessons on to others, remembering that you once made mistakes too.

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Stitches Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 2:24pm
post #28 of 47

Quote:

Originally Posted by BatterUpCake 
 

Making mistakes is part of the learning curve. You learn from it and move on. Then try to pass the lessons on to others, remembering that you once made mistakes too.

 

Exactly!

 

 

That's why you should contact the person and inform them that it's not professional to post other peoples photos as if they are your own.............educate first. Than you know you've done the right thing trying to help them.

 

But when you run into a repeat offender, down right jerk like the OP did......I don't know the answer...........other than follow your heart as to what you need to do.....remembering there are people who might try to harm you in return.

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BatterUpCake Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 2:45pm
post #29 of 47

Just wasn't sure why you felt the need to call me out over something that was resolved back in June or July..

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Stitches Posted 2 Oct 2013 , 3:19pm
post #30 of 47

To learn from someone who's done that. If we understand why someone does this, than we're better able to communicate and convince others why they shouldn't.

 

Batterupcakes, what would you write to the OP's offender given what she's written to the OP already?

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