guess i learned something here!
had a lady call last sunday to order a 3d mini cooper for this sunday, she apologized for it being late notice. As i was already fully booked for the week and away all day saturday i could only do a sheet cake with a drawing on it for pickup at 3.30 on sunday, so she ordered it, (did not get her to prepay!)
so this morning i do her cake and its ready at 1pm. i called and left a brief message that i had a question about her cake. i was going to see if i could deliver it early as i was going to town and passing her anyway. 30 mins later she calls back, you know how you can tell something is wrong in a persons voice, well turned out it was a surprise party for her daughter and she listened to the message (what teenager answers the phone these days let alone listens to voice mail) told her someone left a voice message!! she her self had not listened to my message, i told her that i could deliver it or she could continue to pick it up at the set time but i wouldn;t be here, just my daughter, she said she'd do that.

WELL not 2 min. later the husband calls me back, said i spoilt a surprise party that took a whole year to plan, that the whole town would know that i was inconsiderate, stupid, an ass, thoughtless and so many other names i cant even remember now. ( i had gone to speaker phone by then as huby was here too) i apologizd, saying i did not know it was a surprise, the lady reckons she told me it was. I told him it was not written on the order form and why wasn't i given a cell phone number instead of the house number, he said i did it on purpose, i didn;t and and all i could do was apologize.
well it went on for a good 5 minutes, i told him normally i ask first time customers to pay up front, which i did not do to his wife. and i was going to deliver it as a curtesy, since i was going out, and it was ready early.
DH cut in and told him that he had no reason to curse at me, that his wife (me)is very professional and has never had any complaints before.
they went back and forth a minute or two too.
in the end i asked him if he still wants the cake, and he said no, that i spoilt the whole thing, and that he hopes i have sleepless nights knowing that i ruined a young girls party (17 yr old getting a new mini cooper, yea i ruined it alright) and he hung up.

so, they didn;t ask for a free cake, i dont have to give a refund, they hadn;t paid, what more could i have done? i dont remember her telling me it was for a surprise party, and i dont feel it was my fault. Im making some note on their order form, cause you never know if they will take me to court over this.

So, my lessons here are, get a cell phone number, have cakes picked up before 10am, so im not having to stay in all day waiting, prepay, although in this case im glad they didn;t. what else?? arm me with ammo please!!

turns out they live in a $1.5m house, 12 acres, 6 bedrooms Hope they ran to walmart and got a cake from there, cause this one is going to be enjoyed by people at work tomorrow!

im sleeping well tonight too!!

. . . if I was to put this in perspective . . . ask yourself . . . who takes a year to plan a surprise party, but only gives a weeks notice for a 3D cake . . . consider the source . . . and don't give it another thought . . . hugs to you for having to deal with these "people" . . .

Wow. I don't think you did anything wrong. I think what you learned are people are ignorant.

The minute the cursing started, the phone call would have ended for me.
Sorry you had to deal with this.

Ick! I think you did all that you could have done in the situation.
I had something similar happen and since then have added "Is the party a surprise?" to the list of questions while obtaining the order. I can't tell you how many times the answer was 'yes' and the recipient was someone in the same household. Most people just assume that you won't need to call them after they've placed their order.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. The guy sounds like he could use a lesson in consideration himself. I agree with pp, at the first curse, the call would have been over. That was immature and not necessary.

No it is not your fault. But a good lesson. Either ask if it is a surprise or be very vague when leaving messages. Something of the lines "this is so and so..please call me back, I have something to discuss with you".

Most people tell you a party is surprise so you and they speak in "code".

Sorry this happened to you, the client is a JERK!

I know you will sleep well tonight.

I don't think you did anything wrong. She should have told you that it was a surprise party. They'll just have to get over it. I too hope they enjoy their Walmart cake-truth be known that is really all they could afford anyway.

First off if it was a surprise party that was being planned for over a year I think they would have had cake plans more than a week in advance...second if you were not to call the house and leave a message they should not have given you a house number...third just remember you can only make some of the people happy some of the time!

I would've hung up as soon as that @sshat started calling blaming me for only doing my job! I swear some people are such jerks...because they meant to tell you it was for a surprise party, and that you shouldn't call the house because the daughter 'might' overhear the message if you have to leave one, then you are totally supposed to know! I mean, sheesh, we're mind-readers after all!

Don't give it another thought. People like that get theirs sooner rather than later...

I remember someone's signature on here(can't remember who's ) said, "I'm sorry... my crystal ball is in the dishwasher."

who cares..... who's next!!

I've learned the hard way that people tend not to stipulate when things are surprises. I think I gave away at least one family bridal shower surprise because it wasn't stated in the invitation that it was a surprise. No one told me that ALL showers in my husband's family are surprises. In my family they aren't surprises unless specifically stated in the invitation.

I do cakes for free for family & friends only, but after the last cake that I did for a surprise bridal shower, I think I'm going to refuse any cakes that are for surprise events. It made my life difficult having to make sure that I arrived with plenty of time to set up, having to make sure the bride-to-be couldn't see my car in the parking lot, etc... It was ridiculous.

Wow - did they cancel the entire party because you inadvertently let out the secret? Too funny. I wonder how these people deal with a real crisis...
Sorry you had to deal with this.

Wow-- all I can say is cut yourself a piece of mini cooper cake, pour a glass of milk and enjoy!! Then go get yourself a goodnights sleep!

Oh, I'm sorry that happened.

Here's a thought-if it took a YEAR to plan, why in the world was the cake (the centerpiece) an after thought? Why did they wait until a few days before to order it?

You can't do anything else for them at this point. You just need to find a way to brush it off. I know how hard that is, because comments like that eat me up.

But it wasn't your fault!!!

Sitting here looking on the outside, I think the woman was angry at herself but she's one of those people that it is always someone else's fault.

And, she lied to her husband saying she told you.

I find it odd that the party was planned a year in advance but you were given one weeks notice? Makes you wonder if she origionally ordered the cake somewhere else and it fell through.

I think everyone here is in agreement, if you are planning surprise party give your cell, work, friend or family's number to call. Dumb on her part.

I know I would be so angry that I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it but you did nothing wrong.

Thank you for this thread. I will make sure I leave a general message in the future.

I'm sure the daughter could have cared less.......besides I'm sure the real suprise was the car anyway.

They're just mad at themselves for not only poor planning but poor communication.

Lucky people at your work....I wouldn't even worry any about it at all. It seems she embarrassed herself by not even thinking within a whole year that she would even need a cake. If I was a teenage girl, getting a MiniCooper, I wouldn't be upset.

for this very reason, when I make a phone call and leave a message with a live person or a machine, I say this is lori with sugarbakerz, I need to speak with you about your order at your convenience... most people who hear it won't think too much about sugarbakerz because I am not leaving a detailed message, so the person it was intended for can read between the lines.... I too am sorry you had to deal with these people, but I think you are a great person to have not returned the favor of cursing and namecalling, good on you! Here is some sprinkles to put on your good on ya sundae Chin up, you are better than they are!

So sorry this happened.

Glad you will be sleeping tonight.

You make beautiful cakes.

It took them 1 year to plan a party. They waited 51 weeks to order the cake. Last time I checked the Gift and the Cake are the one 2 things you really need at a party.
I guess they werent really thinking.

I also agree with the other poster about a cake maybe being ordered from somewhere else and falling through??

My only concern for you is that these people might blame the whole thing on you while they tell the story to people. (Sorry I know I am wearing the black hat tonight! Cant help see so many people doing bad nasty things these days!)

On a bright side, if people say anything you can defend yourself by saying they waited until 1 week before the party to order the cake from you so #1 you were fully booked and could not do the 3D cake they originally wanted and #2 how were you suppose to know it was a surprise....Who orders a cake this late for such a huge party! (See bright yellow hat on now again!)


Good Luck.

Edited to fix typos.

I love the part where he says you did it on purpose. Because surely, we all strive to ruin out customers parties. That's like, the sole reason I want to open my own business. So I can call and ruin surprise parties and bake inedible, leaning cakes in the wrong color. Who cares about the money I'll lose!

Seriously, 17 year old girl was completely unaware that there would be a party for her? "Gosh, no one has said anything about my birthday -- bet my parents completely forgot". Get real - maybe she didn't know the date of the party, but she knew something would be done.

The true answer is- give me the cake AND the car- I will enjoy both more than the lousy parents, and the spoiled teen.

I'm sorry, too, but maybe you should strive to be a better person. Stop kicking puppies, quit spitting on nuns and don't upset sweet, innocent new-car-drivin' little girls! How do you live with yourself??!!

That sounds like the kinda man who spends a year planning a week-long vacation with the boys and forgets to pack underwear. Moron. Wait! Was that my brother? Oh, no, sorry. My niece didn't get a car.

What gets me is... surely she knows it's her birthday. Wouldn't the average person expect a cake at the very least? It's their fault -- but it's so much easier to blame you. Forget those fools. Have a sip 'a somethin' wicked and move on. Albeit a bit wobbly.