For those who remember a few threads ago when I made a castle cake too big and the wrong color pink, etc...yep the customer was very displeased! She noticed that the colors were wrong, the details were wrong, and the writing was wrong.

Sooooo since I know its "my bad" do I offer partial refund? Total refund? (She got twice as much cake as she ordered, another problem...).

I'm sooo upset, this is my first official "complaint" since I've been doing cakes for six years now! But the worst part is that I KNOW I "dropped the ball" here, it was a rough weekend, I overbooked my cakes and got too busy and had to hurry, and I failed the customer.

She paid $70 and got the oversized castle cake as well as about a 3 serving matching little castle for her daughter, made special for allergy to milk and eggs.

Did they still eat the cake?? Then I would charge her for the ingredients and apologize for this mistake.

I'd charge like Tami suggested - for the ingredients and your time you put into it. Don't beat yourself up about it, we all have rougher days than others.

Awwww =o( I'm SOOOOO sorry you had a rough weekend and a displeased customer. It happens to the best of us on occasion. Was $70 your original quote on the cake or is that less than originally quoted? If it was the original price, I think , if it were me, I'd refund half the price back along with a letter of appology and hopes for continued business in the future. There's something about receiving a sincere appology that makes people feel ok about everything and no hard feelings are held. Was the mini cake for her little girl an extra throw in or was that planned also?

I still say the cake was amazing regardless of what the customer though but of course it's always important to do the best we can for our clients. We here at CC KNOW you felt bad about it all along! It's NOT like you were saying "oh well, if she doesn't like it...too bad."!!! I think if you do your best to apologise and offer some refund, that everything will work out for the best.

Mark it up as a great learning experience! After all, this IS the first complaint in six years!!! That's an amazing feat in itself!!!!

We still love you!!!!!!!
Blessings to you Kitagrl!!
elly

I would at least give her a partial refund and put a little apology with the money, just as a confirmation that you are truly sorry.
I know when I worked at Burger King, we were told to repeat back to the customer what was wrong and then offer a solution back to them right away.
So you could put in the note: "I am truly sorry that the cake was too large and that the color was off, and due to that fact here is a ____ refund to help offset that mistake. My sincerest apologies on this matter and I hope we can provide our services to you in the future..."
Just an idea

Well I wrote her back and said I was sorry she was disappointed and apologized that indeed, she did not receive my best work.

I gave her the choice of a full refund of the large cake ($60) or a half refund ($30) plus 50% off her next cake order with free delivery.

We'll see what she says.

If she's been courteous about this as well as you, I'm sure she will come back.
Your track record is excellent...I remember at Burger King we were lucky if we could go a whole week without an unhappy customer

I would have done the same. SHe'll appreciate that you didn't "blow off" her complaint. She's more likely to come back knowing you admitted your mistake and tried to make amends for it! Your cakes really do look good, so don't let this one get you down!!!

You did the right thing - kudos to you for making it right for the customer.

Good job! I think you did the right thing too.

If the castle cake we're talking about is the one in the gallery, it's a beautiful cake! Even if you made some errors with color and writing, I'm sure she still had a lot of people ewing and awing over the cake. Don't feel too terrible. You do awesome work. Just remember you're only human and like you said, you were very busy that weekend. It think all in all you will come out on top in this one. You're making your best effort to please your customer and your cakes are incredible... mistake or no mistake!

Hang in there!!

No the one in the gallery is the one she wanted....the one I made does not look like that one. I posted the one I made in an earlier thread in this forum.

Oh she just wrote back and shortly requested the full refund. Oh well.

Oh I forgot, this is the second complaint....my first one was because they carried a huge cake on a back seat and it slid.

Well, once someone takes the cake it's thier baby! So, if they don't transport it correctly I think it's rather unfair to call and complain to you. So sorry you're dealing with all of this!

Still, for 6 years having only 2 complaints is a great achievement. How many businesses do you suppose can live up to that? Believe me not many, not in any industry, so hold your chin up and just keep on making those beautiful cakes!

Ok I looked at your castle and well I would say you were way to generous... It's beautiful... The handwritng looks good and the pink well if it was the wrong color Umm ok... Being a customer service manager for so many years you learn some people know how to get things free in the world... Not to be rude but little details like that shouldn't be made into such a huge deal like this. Especially for a 4 yr old birthday party. Ok I'm probably over stepping here but 1. It is a beautiful cake 2. It probablly didnt matter to the 4 yr old girl she probablly thought it was the best cake ever. 3. The customer probablly ate the cake herself and loved it but just didnt want to pay 70.00 bucks for a cake and had to make a complaint about something to try to get a refund somewhere..
When dealing with customers yes they are always right but sometimes you have to look into just how wrong they are as well. I think she wasn't due a full refund maybe 20% back but you handled it well. Just next time take your talent in consideration so you had a bad weekend but girl that was a beautiful cake even tho there were a few small flaws.. I'd like to see the lady make a cake like that.. Remember people talk and some people will tell friends," hey if you order a cake from her and you don't like the writing or color she'll give you a full refund or offer percentage back and 50% off next order." You wouldn'tthink people do but sadly it happens all the time. Don't short change your talent and skill just to make a over indulged WAY to picky person happy. I mean like I said the 4 yr old probablly thought it was the most beautiful cake in the world...


Ok Im done..lol sorry if I made anyone mad but hey you work as a customer service manager for a car rental you be surprised the things you hear and you have to be objective not only for the customer but for your comapny as well...

Let me start off by saying, your cakes are awesome!!! And I just wanna get this straight, did she have to pay for anything? Or, did she get everything for free?

Oh she just wrote back and shortly requested the full refund. Oh well.

I'm sorry she was short about it. I'm willing to bet she's one of those people that can't be pleased no matter what and when an opportunity to get something for free arises, they jump at the chance!

If that's the case, you don't need her kind of business anyway! Chances are if she's like that, and decided to do business with you again, she'd be unhappy with the next one too. She can take her "unhappy business" elsewhere I say.

She could have at least thanked you for returning her money and forgiving your mistakes but instead, she still sounded ungrateful. She's not going to have a very happy life if she can't learn to accept mistakes and forgive people for things.....apology or no apology! I will pray for her.

In the mean time, go about your great business and wonderful and talented creativity! You can hold your head up high because you, my dear, did the right thing!!!
elly

Ok I have to say this.. I love your cakes! I have at Least 5 of them saved as favorites.. Dont let this get you down! Sometimes you just cant do anything to please some people..

Kitagrl,

Found the cake you made under the other thread. It doesn't look just like the one in your portfolio, but it's still a very cute cake. I'm sure the little girl loved it! You've made good with the mom, probably more than fairly, so hope you're able to forget this unhappy time!

Yeah she didn't seem very thankful about the refund but oh well. I prefer to just give it to her and not deal with her again.

I myself was very disappointed with my cake, so I feel she deserves the refund. She has been planning this cake for months and she did want it identical to the website. I SHOULD have made it identical to the website, but instead I was careless and made way too many mistakes on this cake. She wanted the writing on the board, like the picture, and I put it on the top of the cake. She wanted pastel, I made it bright. She wanted pretty detailed flowers, I made them bigger and bolder. Plus I made the cake huge, and the turrets too short. Yeah she needed a refund!

Live and learn...from now on I'll try to make sure I am extra careful to spend the time I need to on my cakes.

ok. i looked at the cake and it was nice, then i looked at the one on your website and i must say, it is very different from the one you made for this customer. while they are both nice i can see why she would say it was not right.. that is the hard thing when someone chooses thier cake from a picture it opens you up to trouble if it is not exact since they can look side by side to see the differences if they are looking for excuses for refunds. i do think the refund offer you gave was good thou.

Oh and the smaller castle I made (the tiny one) was an allergic recipe...I am SO glad at least that one worked out... those allergic kids make me wayyyyy nervous. I have the moms sign papers and everything for it but it still doesn't help me feel much better about it.

I think this lady, with an allergic child to boot, will be one to stay away from again. Not that she'll ever write back. I did say I hoped we could work together again but... I don't think Philly people are always very forgiving haha.

Live and learn. My own fault for overbooking my cakes and having to rush through them.

Gotta agree with ya on the philly people there Kitagrl LOL!!!!!!! Took me a long time to get used to the attitude.......( I came here from Ohio)...people are a LOT more laid back about EVERYTHING in the midwest...here its rush rush rush...attitude attitude lol

Kitagrl,

I looked at the cake also and although it isn't as nice as the one on your website...I wouldn't give her a full refund.The cake wasn't ugly and they did consume it..but ya know you have to make the customer happy so it wouldn't be worth the hassle.Chalk it up to a bad weekend and move on!!!

There is one thing I can relate with as far as this unhappy customer goes and that's kids and food allergies. My son has food allergies to peanuts and dairy products. Not to get off the subject but that's why I've used the classic yellow delux
ellyDuncan Hines mix so much for all the cakes I've done that he'll be eating. It's dairy free. Well, it WAS dairy free. They added dairy to it now. I was VERY upset that they did that!! But, thankfully there are some other flavors of the same brand that are still dairy free so whew!!! The Wilton ready made decorator icing is also dairy free thank goodness!! My son loves it!!!

I'm glad you have the parents sign something who have allergic kids! Do you also have a form that states you are not responsible for cakes once they leave your business....like the cake that slid on the back seat....which common sense should tell someone to keep the cake level!!!!!!

You did all you can do...everyone makes mistakes.

Try to just forget it and move on, because ALL your cakes are absolutely amazing!

If she doesn't come back, it is simply her loss!!!

I think you handled the situation very professionally, Kitagirl There's really nothing more you could have done. I did think of something that might help you with this type of thing, should it ever happen again in the future.....Maybe write up a little disclaimer for your web site stating that each cake you produce is a one of a kind creation...that while you are happy to recreate any cake seen on your site, that it's not possible to have an exact replica. Each cake is custom made to suit the customers specs, etc. That you are a one woman show, type of thing, and not an assembly line production, etc. so no two cakes will ever be exactly alike.

I haven't viewed your site in a while, so forgive me if you already have something like that in place. Just thought it may be something that could be of help....Not that you'll keep making the same boo boo's with every cake like you did this one... ...but we are only human! Some customers seem to forget that, though. Glad this lady seems to be ok with everything in the end...nice save, girl!

Your cakes are awesome! You probably did the right thing, but pink color and it was too big! Doesn't sound like a really bad thing to me. Sorry you had to deal w/that! I think she will have a hard time finding someone who can do it better for her! She shouldn't burn her bridges. I would probably hestitate before I did another one for her at this point! We all have bad days,weeks, ....... Just know that your cakes are AWESOME and I would be honored to order one from you!

I too love your cakes. Want to say that off the bat. I looked at the "mess up" and while you didn't give the customer what she asked for; it was a nice cake; and obviously took a bit of time to do.

I can't help but think it would have been more fair for the customer to have suggested a partial refund considering the time and ingredients you put into the cake. Oh well. I don't think I'd want her for a customer again anyway.

She's really not bad, and really she did not come out and ask for a refund, she just laid out the problem and left it at that.

However I knew very well I did a rotten job on her cake and so I just figured a refund was the right thing to do.

I know that the cake looks "ok" but if she wanted a cake like the one on my website, that is what she paid for. Since she didn't get it, it wouldn't be fair for me to just say "oh well" or give a partial refund. I try to project an image of VERY cool cakes on my site (not that I think my cakes are all that but on my website I try to make it look that way of course so people want one haha) and so this lady, who had been planning this cake for months, had a right to be disappointed IMO.

I just had a bad weekend, short on time, did not have the photo in front of me like I ALWAYS do....I was honestly just too grumpy and hurried to do it this time and this is what I get. So really, its a valuable lesson to me that I cannot ever just get careless when I am doing something professional. Lesson learned.