Hiya,I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but can someone give me advice on this cake please.
A few weeks ago my daughter ordered a birthday cake for my granddaughters birthday, The baker had a Facebook page which had pictures of beautiful cakes on it, and also has a shop about 20 miles away.
It was a 2 tier cake with a gymnast on top,It cost £85 - $107 which she paid on ordering.
on the day of the birthday my son in law went to pick up the cake,and this is what he brought home .
my first reaction was, why has she got 3 legs lol,the cake later collapsed.
my daughter phoned her and said she wasn’t happy and got the reply, “there was nothing wrong with it,I was very happy with how it turned out “,
Well I wouldn’t like to see 1 of her disasters then lol,
She more or less implied that my daughter was just being a fussy ,difficult customer.
So do you think she had a right to complain,and at least deserves a partial refund.
I don'tknow what to say..........If it was something given to me in that condition I would not be happy either:( That reply shows the person is not all that professional. She should have offered a discount or some kind of discount for a future order (Oh, I'm very sorry you are not pleased, please give us another chance you cn use this discount for a future order)
The kindest thing I can say about this cake is that I am a hobby baker and I would not give this (for free) to my next door neighbor. No, she definitely does not sound very professional.
I am a hobby baker too but there is no way I would give that to a family member or friend. It looks like the topper broke and was patched back together.
If the cake maker had lots of good pictures then it seems it was a rush job or someone else made/helped with the cake? £85 seems quite cheap for a cake that size from a professional though.
first off I love your screen name, pepsiandjac— i’m thinking it’s a take off on rum and coke but i’m only guessing —
i had a whole reply written yesterday but I din post it — and while we don’t get a look at the inspiration photo it is still a cute cake — a two tier cake with a forward facing gymnast — the back view is not well done — lots of cakes have a “front and a back” —
and the way you angled some of the pictures makes it look way off when it’s offset on purpose in order to have room for the name tag —
the cake person by your description has a big gap between her gallery photos and her actual work and that’s not right but her prices are in line with her ability — so the old saying, you don’t pay much you don’t get much applied here too —
as far as it falling apart — was that after it was cut into? you don’t mention any details — because despite the angle of some of the pictures it seems like a well built cake that survived the delivery intact but yeah I think you got what you paid for —
the fifth picture is the cute one — what happened to the top of the bar the gymnast was hanging from? It’s missing from the photos before the fifth one —
so how did the cake get damaged? and again the only problem I see in the fifth photo is the hand the gymnast has up holding the bar has some paint in the wrong place like there’s two cuffs on the jersey but that’s the only oopsie —
like I said I din see the inspiration photo — but I changed my mind I think your daughter got a very good deal on that cake — the first four photos are wonky but it’s real cute in the fifth photo —
i think the caker needs to be more careful with her figurines so they don’t crack in the back — but she needs to up her prices — I think she did 98% solid on that —
and the more I look at this the more questions I have — the gymnast’s legs are fine in the fifth photo — how did they get crunched by the time the first posted pictures were taken?
did the gymnast melt after delivery? you didn’t mention that — idk
oh wow — if you look at the back of the gymnast’s hair on a phone so you can blow up the pictures and compare you can easily see this figurine was Damaged On Purpose— compare the back of her hair in the fourth and sixth photos —
i’m calling bs on this ginned up “complaint”
humph
omg
if you blow it up on your phone and check out her facial features from photo to photo they were altered too —
wth
I actually looked her up and I have to say a lot of her cake are pretty good. I don't know if she was having an off day (we all have them) and it looks like the cake suffered a bit on it's journey but I would never send a cake out that I wasn't 100% happy with and that I wouldn't be happy with, If the customer wasn't happy it would be an instant refund if the complaint was justified and yours was. Very bad customer service on her part. £85 is a little on the cheap side but not that far off for the area. I do Neath, Port Talbot, Swansea area. Next time you want a cake look me up, Fabricake South Wales (bit of shameless touting there!!)
I think that the nice cake photo, #5 from the top is one that the person who made the cake took and posted online -- I think that for both the figurine and the cake to melt -- the son-in-law stopped somewhere long enough for it to melt in the heat -- even if it wasn't super hot outside, the inside of a car heats up much more -- could have been in the sun as well --
so fabricake -- be sure to give a firm and careful lesson on transporting a cake to these folks --
and the caker needs to up her prices!
K8memphis- I always tell people how to transport their cake!! Keep the cake level, footwell or boot is best. Take it straight home or to the venue, heating off in the car, weather isn't really an issue here in very cold and rainy Wales at this time of year! and I even supply anti-slip mat. Only once have I had a cake damaged in delivery, eventually they admitted that they did brake really hard but still the cake it self wasn't damaged, it just moved on it's base board.
If it is the lady that's booked with me for next year we did discuses at length how the cake was put together and in my opinion it was basic not what I would have done. The sinking of the cake could have been down to bad transportation, the cake getting too hot or bad structure. There really isn't any way of telling for sure with out seeing the cake and that's what I would have done, asked to see the cake. I don't believe the figure has melted. It is a large figure which looks like it has no support below it. As the figure would be heavy it has sunk in to the cake and caused the "elephantiasis" legs and pulled it away from the top bar and probably caused some of the damage on the back of the figure. The cracks in the back of the figure may have been caused by the sinking but the back of the figure is poorly finished, cuff on the sleeves don't go all the way around, no line up the back of the legs to make two legs rather than one giant leg, hairs not finished and the gold bits are painted badly so it's hard to tell how much damaged was made by it sinking.
I think this cake may have been made in a bit of a rush. I know I've had times when I've only just finished a cake minutes before it goes out of the door and worried if it will be ok. Looking at their Facebook page even the photo she's posted of this cake defiantly isn't their normal standard. She actually got some really good cakes on her page.
To me, looking at this as a cake maker, mistakes have been made in the making of this cake and if a customer of mine sent me the photos of how the cake ended up I would defiantly come to some compromise about a refund. Word of mouth is so important and it's not worth loosing a good reputation for the sake of a few pounds refund.
As for putting the price up £85 for a two tier cake is pretty standard, it's not a wealthy area. Cake makers in this area are 10 a penny, there are loads of us! In fact there are 4 in a 2 street radius of me.
It appears like maybe slamming on brakes while driving may have caused it to slide like that? I don't know. The floor of the car is always best for transporting tiered cakes. If it was on a seat, it could have been leaning back on the drive and gravity pulled it back like that. The cake itself was cute, by that gymnast, um, I don't want to be rude, but maybe the caker should not be making figurines until they have it down. I can't even look at that face without cringing, and what is up with those incredibly short legs in contrast to her torso? I would never let that figure go to a customer, ever. And that's speaking from her original picture she posted. As far as a partial refund, yes, the cake was still eaten and edible, but you were not satisfied, and I can definitely see why. If no refund is offered, you can always leave feedback on her facebook page (with your picture), or google review, or whatever else you can do.
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