The whole pain and suffering thing really makes me mad. If anyone is interested. I can't get the photo to load, but I will put it in my gallery in just a minute!
She kept emailing me, so I did a quick add up of my cost, and my profit was $13! After Satin Ice gumpaste, etc. Haha. I should give her that! I hope it will help with her embarrassment.

Here it is. It's not the best cake ever, but still, it's not the worst either!

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1154074

Maybe, if you still want to persue it, tell her what your profit was and offer to refund that. You shouldn't be out for the cost of supplies, if they did eat the cake.

I wold send her a copy of all the e-mails that you two exchanged along with a chart. And I would let her know this is the chart that I go by, if you served differntly than that is her problem. I would also let her know that she still owes you, why you might ask. Because you "gave" her a cake. One tier was supposed to be a dummy and you gave it to her in cake, therefore she owes you for the cake that you gave her. See if she likes them apples. I am sure that she will call/e-mail you in a heartbeat. When she contacts you let her know that you actually gave her a cake and that she had approved the order, so she is not intitled to get any money back. Also ask her, well if the cake was so bad how much of it is leftover. You will see that she will tell you that all of it got served and there is no cake left. THan more of a reason to not give her her money they ATE IT!!!!! If for some reason I think that I might have been wrong ( I make a contract for-EVERY cake I make, so that hasn't happened) I would offer a (10" basic birthday style) free cake for a different occasion, but no money. See you already made the cake and it was delivered and people ate it so why should she get her money back. I hope that helps you some. And for next time, I would add a copy of the sizes and servings along with the finaly price and in a last e-mail. I send a formal invoice with my last e-mails and if again for some reason I am wrong I still have time to fix it. I will try to put an invoice up from the last cake I made, it is alot of help and less room for confussion.

Look at it this way-
We learn and always remember the mistakes we make in our lives, yet we forget all that we did right.


Vicky

I'm curious about something
You stated in your original post that the bottom tier served 20 people at $2.25 per serving that came to $45.00 and then you gave her a 20% discount on that and your price for the bottom tier came to($27.00-$5.40=$21.60) but a 20% discount on $45.00 is $9.00 so that would make the bottom tier be $36.00.
I'm confused

jibbies

I'm curious about something
You stated in your original post that the bottom tier served 20 people at $2.25 per serving that came to $45.00 and then you gave her a 20% discount on that and your price for the bottom tier came to($27.00-$5.40=$21.60) but a 20% discount on $45.00 is $9.00 so that would make the bottom tier be $36.00.
I'm confused

jibbies

the cake is fine, she shouldn't complain at all about it.... looks like it took plenty of time and hard work and would have fed enough people. Don't go back on your guns, stick to them. I would just state that you made what she agreed to and then some. She ate the cake, so it's gone, over and done with, nothing now. If she calls again, don't answer it, don't reply to anymore emails and start keeping a log... eventually this becomes harassment..... this is exactly a replay of what happened to me a couple months back and I feel every ounce pain you are going through because the woman literally drove me batty for 2 weeks... so hang in there... eventually she will just get over it. The cake is great and I think you were fair in your actions, stick to it!

Yes that does help, thanks.
Sorry for the double post the site seems really slow tonight and I hit submit twice.

jibbies

Your cakes are gorgeous, and I wouldn't let this one lady get to you. I know how it feels, I was just insulted by a repeat customer who was so happy with her first cake, she sent me an e-mail and asked me to put it on my website as a testiment to her appreciation. The second cake she ordered from me was MUCH more elaborate, and thus, my price was much higher. She basically told me it wasn't worth it. I have now resolved to move onto the next customer, and the next time she calls, I'll be booked.
I think that is what you should do in this situation! Your cake is great, she agreed to the price, and it was eaten. 'Nuff said.

oops, I'm so sorry. I posted before reading every other post. My bad.

a) your cake is gorgeous - would you make me one??

2) You should definitely send her an e-mail back quoting her previous request for a 15-20 serving cake, her acceptance of your agreed price, a copy of a standard cutting guide, and a request for her to return the uneaten portion of the cake. You will refund her the monetary equivalent of the difference between what you delivered and what was consumed. So if there are no leftovers, there is no refund.

And if there ARE leftovers, well than what's she b*tchin about anyway??

Seriously - would you make me one???

I forgot to tell you that she sent me photos of the half eaten cake with dollar bills next to it to show to size. What a psycho. I decided to just give her my profit, in a certified letter with a cashiers check. It is about $18 or so dollars. I bet it won't shut her up, but at this point, she is just wanting something for nothing, and for her pain and suffering. Who gets humilated by CAKE? Who orders a cake and sits at home for 2 days, going through emotional turmoil?
One thing she told me in an email early on was that she was on really strong pain meds. I guess that could be part of it....

Look, I dont want to disrespcet you. and i dont want to be the enemy on CC, but i think being completly honest is what CC is all about. Its the only way to learn. I know that Im not that great of a decorator (since i just started this a few months ago) but I want ppl to be constructive when commenting to me (even if it means being a little destructive). To tell u the truth, my 12 year old sister walked in the room while i was looking at the picture and said "ew that cake looks like it was just thrown together really fast". I went and looked at the other pictures you have of cakes and they are so cute. i was not impressed with this one at all (nor were other ppl in my house). if i were her i would probably complain too since you have made such beautiful cakes. im sorry, i really dont want to hurt ur feelings but at the same time, i dont want you to ruin ur business either.

It probably looked a lot better before the customer put those ugly figures on it

It sounds like you've resolved the situation, but just wanted to say that you're right...if she's been haunted by this cake for the past couple of days...she's got some major issues. Be glad that you're through with her!

I can understand humiliation over a cake. If I bragged about how I was going to get an awesome, never before seen cake, and how I paid a pretty high price for it. Then, when it arrived, it didn't meet my ballooned expectations of it. When guests arrived, some having heard me brag and go on and on, said something like "Is THAT the "cake"???" Yeah, I'd be humiliated.....even if it were self inflicted for the most part.

And I am in no way saying that that is what happened in your case. I was only stating that a cake can be the cause of humiliation.

Like I said, Im not trying to hurt your feelings. I just thought u would want opinions from everyone. especially a kid like my sister, concidering thats what the customer was. besides, u also have to understand that not EVERYONE is going to be happy with EVERYTHING. just be happy that u have made alot of really great cakes. no one can be perfect all the time. i wish i could say that for every 20 or so great cakes i only made just one not so great one. i think the woman was pretty dramatic about the whole thing, but the customer is always right (even if they are a little loopy)

I am not wanting to be ugly, but I remember several of your old posts and lenghty threads about something that went wrong either with the cake or the customer. Perhaps this issue is a result of not communicating thoroughly with your customers. I seem to always see things a little differenty, and I so don't want to be the enemy, but I too would be dissapointed. The email exchange is very confusing and it is your job to make absolutley sure that you (and your customers) are clear & on the same page as to what they will be receiving.

I always tell the customer exactley what size the servings will be. (wedding, party, or family)

I know a lot of decorators here always end the problem with a statement of : We - (the decorators) are always right & if they ate it, its there problem. I dont think that should always be the case.

[quote="shivs"]
I always tell the customer exactley what size the servings will be. (wedding, party, or family)

Hi shivs,
I really like the idea of "family" servings, how do you go about that

jibbies

jibbies - (Wedding 1x2x4) (Party 1.5x2x4) (Family 2x2x4)

I have to say one thing. Do you actually know what type of pain meds. this woman was on? If they were narcotics then yes, maybe she is ACTING a little strange...but if it's just like a synthetic narcotic pain med.(there are a LOT out there) then she would be fine. Either way I don't think this reason would cause her to not like her cake!

I am not sure if princessdepastel read all the posts...the cake itself was the original posters but the woman threw on the action figures...this was not the cake decorators decision! And I do think that the action figures made the cake look tacky! Again, NOT the cake decorators fault!

I think the woman realized that she didn't ORDER enough cake! And I kind of think she knew what she was doing to you...unfortunately....you have already given her some money back so, you have admitted fault.
Please do not work with this customer again! Be booked or something!

if you give her any refund, also suggest she perhaps contact another baker in the future that can accomodate her the way she feels she needs to be. she would just be crazy enough to call you in 6 months wanting another cake as if nothing happened!

First I want to say that I am very sorry you are going through this. You are so right if this woman is sitting around obsessing about a cake she needs professional help and better meds. I think the cake is really cute.
That being said I have to agree with some of the other posts, your e-mails are a little confusing and you might want to think about doing up a formal invoice on word that you can copy and paste onto your e-mails to your clients so there is no confusion. On these invoices you may also want to put the demensions of the serving sizes. This covers your self if anyone comes back with a "my cake was too small" comment again you can say "the invoice I sent you clearly states the serving sizes and based on those sizes your cake was more than adequate"
I try to view my customers almost as small children, you really need to spell things out as they do not understand cake like we do and they don't get that a serving size peice of cake does not need to be the size of a small cinderblock.
Again I am really sorry your having this issue, sometimes people really are a challenge.

Thanks everyone for your posts. The only thing I can say is that she approved the design, and the size. I did what she asked for, so even if it isn't MY favorite cake...I still did what she wanted. As far as invoicing goes, I did send her an official itemized one through Paypal, with everything spelled out, so there shouldn't have been any confusion, except she didn't read through enough to realize what she was getting. I sent 3 emails, and she approved all of them. For the too small thing, she keeps changing her story, because yesterday on the phone she said she needed cake for 30 and it wasn't enough, but in the emails and when we spoke before she only needed 15-20 servings.
So, for those of you who think the cake is terrible-I didn't like it either, but it is what she asked me for. I don't really know what else to say about it. If she had ordered fondant, or a different design, it would have been better. But she wanted buttercream with a cartoony looking city scape. I think that's what I did. And what else can I do if when I drop it off and ASK if she likes it she says "Yes. I do."
I decided to just give her my profit and then to ignore her from here on out.