I really need some advice/support.
A week or so ago, and man ordered the sushi cake from Confetti Cakes, plus a 3 tiered gerber daisy topsy-turvy cake. I had never done a topsy turvy cake, but read the article I found here about assembling it at the bakery and then taking it all together to the site.
I worked SOOOO hard on this cake, and when it turned out, it was totally adorable! The only problem was that I was having a hard time with one of my daisies staying attached to the cake.
So yesterday afternoon, I loaded up the car with the sushi cake, and ther gerber daisy cake. I had 5 pieces of PVC in each of the bottom 2 tiers, plus a dowel going through the entire thing, and even a couple of more dowels in the bottom layer. I get in the car towards the restaurant (which was 30 min away), but realized I had forgotten my camera. I turned around (CAREFULLY!) and heard a little thump.
"Oh crap" I think. I think the daisy had finally fallen off. So I pull up front to the house, tell my husband I forgot the camera, and he runs in to get it. I decide to peak through the window of the car, and yep, it has completely fallen over!!!!!!!! All three tiers, all over the back of the car!!!! Thank God the sushi cake was OK.
I have 1 hour before the suprise party starts, and it is 30 miles away! So, I run to Kroger like an insane woman, beg the bakery for some 6, 8 and 10 inch rounds. They refuse and say I have to preorder. I start sobbing, lookk insane, and end up buying GROCERY STORE cake, and scraping off bright blue icing to cover the darned thing in fondant.
I end up stacking the tiers, getting them covered, and salvaging what gumpaste flowers I could. Crying the whole time.
When I showed up at the restaurant, I could have died. Everyone thought the cakes were cute, but, here is my question:
How much money do I give him back? All? Some? Please help!!!!!!!!

Heres the photo the night before, it wasn't quite finished yet, though.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1068953&done=1

Seriously??? No one???

I don't know how much to say but hope this helps get some more people to read your thread and maybe they can help

So sorry to hear of your disaster How much did the second cake look like the one they ordered? If it was pretty different, plus the insides were from a grocery store... I'm sorry but I would have to say refund the whole thing (but not the sushi cake of course). If it were me, I would probably also send them a small gift certificate to encourage to them to come back and try me again.

so sorry to hear this!! Disasters Suck!!!

I'd also like to see the second cake. Did it look at all like what they ordered? If the design was accurate, I'd give them a good chunk back, but not all.

Pat yourself on the back for getting that second cake done though! I think I would have just cried!

I almost threw up reading this!!!

I'm sorry but I would have to give a complete refund and maybe the person will offer to give you something. I think it would show your honesty, integrity and how much pride that you take in your cakes.

Wonder why it fell?

I don't have a photo because I was too frazzled to take one.
It was 2 tiers instead of 3. And obviously it wasn't topsy turvy either. I got gerber daisies on it, though.
I am torn, because he didn't get what he ordered, but I still got it together enough and spent more $$$ to get something there. I think some people would have just apologized and not given anything extra. I also can't really afford it. It will be a bit of a hardship for us to pay him back. ($150. I also spent an extra $30 yesterday, plus about $90 on supplies for the first cake). But...I don't know what is morally right. I want to do the right thing!

Maybe take a cue off their reaction. If you think they were ok with what they got, then maybe offer half back. If they were unhappy, even if they were polite about it, I would give it all back to save my rep.

and a side question... the supplies for the first cake were $90??? Does that include all new pans?

*post deleted (i accidently replied here instead of another post some how. sorry for the mix up)

Personally I think you should refund a good chunk of it. I understand that it might make you work at a loss for this one but that is a part of being in business. The reason I think you should refund it is that 1. you gave him less cake than you were supposed to (two tiers instead of three) 2. the design was different than what he ordered and 3. it was store bought cake, not homemade. While you had to put more out to partially fix the problem it still was not what he ordered.

If it were me, I probably would give at least 1/2 of the charge price for this cake back, maybe even more, and a discount on his next cake.

I would charge them FULL price ........you put it together, paid for supplies, etc........ Did they complain ? If they ate it...they bought it..... how about give them a gift certificate for a future cake.....

I wouldn't give it all back either cause you put all that time and effort..I would give them like a next time free sheet cake or something not too fancy. but I think the cake is beautiful especially the cercumstances you were under. but you do what you feel you know what type of work you do.. if you don't feel like it was your best work than you give back the money.

I have a few comments, I hope you will find helpful.

The first is, you will want to contact this customer right away. Acknowledge the "accident" without going into details. If he is gracious, he won't pry. Offer him a refund of whatever HE thinks is fair. Be prepared to refund the whole amount of the cake, although I would be willing to bet he won't ask for a full refund.

The other comment is, (and I have to preface this by saying I have never done a topsy-turvy cake before but have read the instructions many times) I think the cake was doomed to fall over. From what I can see in your "before" photo, the center of gravity is not centered, which makes it top heavy. You could cram the bottom full of dowels, and even with a center dowel, it was going to fall over. I'm sorry to have to tell you that...physics was not on your side with this cake.

I'll leave it up to the experts here to give suggestions as to what to do differently next time.

But first things first - call the customer.

Good luck!

Sommernoelle, I have a very strict no refund policy. But, if I make an error or if I have an issue during delivery that cant be corrected 100% I refund the money. That said, try calling the client and asking him what you can do to make it up to him. He might say everyting is fine. He may only ask for half. I dont think he would ask for the entire amount since you did provide a cake. And if he does then explain its going to take a couple of weeks.

i just started decorating so i dont really know much about being on the decorator's side of the fence. but i've bought a few cakes in my past and if this had happened to a cake i ordered i would expect the whole amount returned (not for the sushi cake, of course). i'll give it to u straight... please dont take this offensively. if i ordered a cake from a decorator who was supposed to deliver it to me, i would expect them to know how to do it correctly. if not, then it wouldnt be my problem. same with anything u order. if i were to order, lets say, some clothes. if they were not EXACTLY the way i asked them to be, i would expect a full refund. ya know? im so sorry this happened, but im sure it happens to everyone a few times. hey, i even see things happen on ace of cakes! lol. im sure it's gonna happen to me someday.... i cant wait u should be excited, this was a big learning experience! yay!

I agree call him back don't go into the details but I would offer 1/2 back since you were able to come up with something. However it was not what he ordered. I fell you money is tight for us to but you may have to chalk this up to a live & learn experience. Maybe you will luck out & he won't acept but at least he will see you as an honest decorator. Let us know what happens.

That's the same tutorial I used! A couple of people said the center of gravity is off...but how do I fix that? I carved the cakes, just like it said, and placed them within the other cakes.
Anyway, I had spoken to the man yesterday when it happened, to let him know there was a problem. He was shockingly sweet. He said something like "No worries, just do what you can and then we'll see." Or something like that. Not angry, or anything.
I think I will going to ask him what he thinks is fair.
I think I am going to throw up again!

First off - I'm sorry this happened to you.

If it were me, I would probably give them a full refund for the gerbera daisy cake only.

This man did not get what he ordered. The cake was supposed to be 3 tier, topsy-turvy. He got a regular 2 tier cake. None of this was his fault. You did your best to make sure he had a cake, which is commendable - but the customer should not be made to pay for what you spent to fix it. Let's say you were able to redo the original cake before the party but had to redo everything... would you have then charged him double?

I think the way you handle this now could make or break your relationship with this customer. Be honest about what happened. Offer a full refund (for that cake only). And then see what happens. He may have been ok with the cake you provided and not take the refund. Great customer service is the best thing you can do now.

The only thing about the 3 layers instead of 2 is that he was fine with the bottom tier being a dummy, because he didn't want that much cake. But I couldn't get a whimsical cake dummy that quickly. Should that make a difference?

First of all...great job pulling yourself together and getting another tiered cake to the party! I would have just continued crying and probably only showed up with the one cake!

I agree that a call to the customer is in order. I'm not sure a full refund is due but he didn't get what he ordered.

And...I work in a Kroger bakery (not going to be the extent of my cake decorating career but hey, at least I get to work on my BC technique) and, forgive me if I get defensive, but we don't keep 6" or 10" rounds at the store. We only order them when we get a special order such as a wedding cake. Just wanted you to know they weren't being difficult...they really couldn't help you.

Again, I can't believe what you pulled off. That's amazing.

It does solve the problem of him having less cake in the end, but that is just a fraction of the issue. I would still offer the refund.

As far as the fixing the center of gravity, imagine that you were to take an xray of the cake that showed the dowels and boards. this should look just like a normal cake in that each is centered above the board below. If you look at the placement of the top tier in relation to the base, you can see that it is to the right. I'd bet that is the direction it fell.

So, if I followed the tutorial here on CC, do you think I just carved the center of each cake too much to the right?

I would give a full refund on the daisy cake. If the customer had wanted grocery store cake, he could have ordered it from the grocery store. I know it's a hard lesson to learn, especially when you have to spend extra money from your own pocket to replace the cake, but it isn't the customers fault, even if he didn't care if the bottom was a dummy. I've never done a topsy turvy cake, so I can't give any advice except to say htat the center of gravity does look off, but I have no idea why. Good luck in whatever you decide!

I am so sorry you had such a difficult time!

I have to say though, I'd give a full refund in this case. If I put myself in the customer's place and I had ordered a cake and didn't get what I ordered, I'd demand a full refund.

It's great that you pulled it together and got a cake to them, but I don't think that changes the fact that they didn't get what they ordered. I honestly think the only professional thing to do is refund the price. I sure wouldn't leave it up to the customer to have to tell me that.

Chalk it up to experience, hard as it may be. I would never do a technically difficult cake I had never done before for a paying customer. I love doing topsy turvy cakes, but I did a slew of them for practice before I ever took an order for one.

I suggest giving him 1/2 his payment back for the destroyed cake and a rain check for another cake. Personally, if i'm not happy with a finished cake, I give a refund or a rain check for another cake. This seems to keep my clients happy. We all have "those days" when nothing seems to go right. I don't think its fair for my clients to have to pay for my bad karma days.

I think you have to be prepared to give him a full refund on the daisy cake. Even though you did your best to replace what you could, it wasnt what he ordered. Maybe he will decline a full refund, but I think you need to offer it.

Hey ya,

As a customer and I had received my cakes and not complained and it may not have been complete with a topsy turvey I don't think I would expect a full refund. There is cost involved and I would understand that. Maybe a discount on a future cake or $20 back.IMO You did a great job to get 2 cakes to the party. I would have freaked but then I am much more of a consumer of cakes than a seller.