Oh this was awful---  this was the cake that makes me want to quit forever.  A problem from the start.  A 3 tiered cake for a Hallowedding - First I couldn't get the icing smooth- and it actually started melting off the cake-- I'm late for delivery- so 30 min prior to delivery- I"m actually having husband scrape the icing off sides of all tiers and I"m remaking icing in my kitchenaid!  Believe it or not- lots of yelling and rushing and stressing-- we pulled it off - I was an hour late (the party started at 7 - I had planned on setting up at 6... but I got it all done at 7 and was on the road.  Decorations placed, piping done- airbrushed red and black- the cake actually looked good - I was shocked and impressed, and excited!   Somehow- during delivery, we took a tiny turn and the whole thing fell over- nothing salvageable!!  OMG  seriously OMG.  I was in such a hurry- I had never even gotten a picture of the beautiful thing :(

I called the lady- she was beyond pissed- screaming and yelling at me- I understand completely - she had a venue-- then she's like- if you weren't rushing and was on time this wouldn't have happened....  I apologize profusely explain I will refund her deposit...  there's not much I can do -right?  It's now 7:30 on Halloween my poor kids have waited all day to go trick or treating- we get them dressed run out at 8pm to get the last half hour (mom fail- worst halloween ever)  And the lady's daughter starts calling- saying they want the cake anyway. I said okay at first- but my hubby refused- said it would be very unprofessional- I'd probably run into confrontation in delivery and they could take pics and slander me.  So then they start blowing up my phone when I said I wasn't delivering any cake.  It turned into threats - 'I know where you live' - 'I'm telling everyone I know...'  My husband grabbed the phone- in the middle of the street and starts yelling at these people- swearing and everything- threatening them back!  OMG - I am mortified.  I have to meet these people today to refund deposit - and I'm just sick to my stomach.   Now  I'm out $600 too - the 400 for the cake plus the 200 it cost me in ingredients and supplies to make!

Please Please Please share your worst experiences lol - make me feel like I'm not alone- everybody's had to have had something terrible happen like this- right????  

Oh my God, that's so awful...I'm sorry this happened, it sounds like a nightmare. I hope the refunding goes as well as it can.

I won't give you any suggestions for the future because it sounds like that's not what you're looking for and/or need right now! When you're ready I'm sure we can give you some ideas about how to prevent this kind of thing form happening, so let us know.

I have a couple of hideous experiences, but they're not about cakes that fell over, they're all customer-related. My favorite was the one where I got a call from the client after I'd delivered the cake and they were saying the cake was all wrong, ugly, not the right color etc etc. I'd delivered exactly what they ordered, so before I even got into the car to go back to the venue I wrote out a check for the full amount of the cake because I had a feeling they were trying to pull a fast one on me.

Sure enough, I got there and this was the cake where they were all talking in Spanish in front of me about how much they could get back if they complained enough, saying I wouldn't do anything, how much could they get out of me, blah blah.  But they didn't know that I understand Spanish, so I just stood there and listened. When they complained about one thing I would show them the contract where it said they'r wanted that, so they'd change their complaint to something else. I finally got tired of listening to their plotting so I told them they could either keep the cake and get nothing back since it was what they ordered, or I'd refund the entire amount but I was going to take the cake with me. They didn't like that and kept yammering away in Spanish, so I just put an end to it, gave them the check and told the staff to bring the cake to my car, then I took it to the Ronald McDonald house to donate it.

Another one was the mother of the bride who told me in person that  the cake was perfect and beautiful etc etc at the delivery, then fifteen minutes after I left started blowing my phone up telling me it was terrible and all wrong. My phone was turned off so I didn't get her messages, but she called me the next day and tried to rip me a new one. When I told her (after checking the contract) that it was what they ordered) she told me "the contract doesn't matter." She was so abusive I ended up hanging up on her and told the bride that I wouldn't talk to her mother anymore because I had never been spoken to like that before and her mother was banned from talking to me. Luckily the bride was more reasonable and did understand that the contract matters. I think I ended up refunding what amounted to the delivery fee for that one just to shut them up, because the venue people said that they were complaining to every vendor about everything, and the mother tried to reverse the payment on her credit card in the meantime. I told the bride that unless her mother removed that reversal there wouldn't be any refund at all and they removed it, but that was a giant pain in the butt.

And one just for fun: 

http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-year-of-huh-complaint-but-this-one.html

You are not alone!! I have read many horror stories before!! Hang in there and keep your faith!! I hope you never have to go through this again!!  What a frustrating and stressing day that must have been for you. Some days it seems everything that can go wrong does. 

What a day soooo sorry you had to deal with that from start to finish. I've yet to have a disaster or complaint but one day I'm sure I will it happens to everyone. Accidents happen and we learn from them and move on. Maybe next Halloween you can have an all day Halloween bash with the kids(no order rule lol) or maybe have a make up day this week :) 

So Sorry to hear about your experience @Debbye27  hope you feel better soon!

I'm so sorry to hear about this happening to you.  I know it doesn't help now, but you are so not alone in this.  My very first wedding cake was for my cousin.  We had it all planned out, 3 tiers, buttercream with basketweave pattern and roses.  I went out the night before and set it up during the rehearsal dinner, we draped plastic sheeting from ceiling in case anything blew out of the AC vents.  When I went to pick up my Grandmother to take her to the wedding the next day, she asked me if I had heard what happened?  My cousins Grandfather had gone to the church early to make sure everything was ready and when he got there, the whole cake had collapsed and was in the floor.  Luckily he was able to get one from a bakery that morning, but I was mortified and cried thru the whole wedding and reception.  They celebrated their 18th anniversary yesterday and needless to say, I've learned A LOT about dowels and cake support since then.  

i'm sorry that happened -- it would be gut wrenching then to have to listen to them yell -- no bueno -- glad that is behind you though -- i've had plenty of bloopers -- do your best to let it go and don't let it haunt your future efforts --

best to you

oops.  Happened to me too once, not for a wedding though.  I don't do weddings.  I recommend SPS for the next cake, it will make it far less stressful to transport!