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My first unhappy customer......

post #1 of 18
10/9/08 at 11:05pm
Thread Starter 
A lady i use to work with asked my to do a 3-d pirate ship for her sons 3rd birthday to serve 30-35 ppl. she called the night before to tell me what time she would be picking ti up and asked if she could just put it in the back of the car or should she bring someone. i suggested she bring someone with to hold it. i was up all night working on this cake because i ske is a "Little Miss Perfect" so i really wanted to do my best well she was to pick it up at 10am i finished before 9am by 10:30 i layed down. finally at 1pm her friend came for the cake. the lad had her son with to hold the cake. my husband said he looked about 14-15 and after banging the cake bord off of the window panel 3 times he decided to put his seat back and then they had to pick up the pizza yet..... anyway later that night when i listened to my messages i had one from the lady who ordered the cake screaming and cursing that because the cake wasnt packaged it fell apart on the way there and now she has no cake for the party and she she was coming over for her money back. it was already going on 9pm so i figured she wasnt gonna show. i thought she would be over sunday but didnt show or call. she called yesterday nice and calm and left another message saying she wants her money back and to sell a cake for 50.00 the way i did and blah, blah, blah..... I have not called her back yet but i do pan on telling her the cake was fine when it left here and i am not responsible for what happened to it on the way there. and i dont package any of my 3-d cakes but i really dont know how that would have helped it from fallling apart. she didnt mention exactly what it looked like just that she wasnt going to have a cake for the party. am i wrong to think im not responsible for it after it was picked up? Im up loading the pic in my gallery because i cant get it to load here.
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post #2 of 18
10/9/08 at 11:26pm
don't blame yourself! it wansn't your fault!
My_edible_art (The Cake Shop)
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My_edible_art (The Cake Shop)
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post #3 of 18
10/9/08 at 11:29pm
You are NOT responsible for what happened after her friend picked up the cake. If she has an issue, tell her to take it up with her friend, as the cake was intact and beautiful when you gave it to the friend. I wouldn't refund anything if I were you.
Anna (105 lbs lost since June 1, 2009)
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Anna (105 lbs lost since June 1, 2009)
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post #4 of 18
10/9/08 at 11:37pm
I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I can't speak for what happened to the cake or if you should have any responsibility but I surely hope that she either brings you the cake, or photographs of the cake if she thinks she's even going to suggest that you were at fault. It sounds like you are trying to describe that they did not appear to take good care of the cake once it was in the car? Yes, theoretically you are not responsible for it once it leaves your possession but it would help if you can prove that the cake was properly constructed/supported; that will be the only way you can answer her accusations. As the customer she is definitely going to automatically assume (well, she already did) that the cake was not stable enough to transport...so start thinking about how you can prove her wrong thumbs_up.gif
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post #5 of 18
10/10/08 at 12:13am
Thread Starter 
Well this is what I did, and maybe i was wrong to do it like this but when i stacked the 3 cakes it just didnt seem stable enough for me. I was just going to put a think layer of icing between each layer, but i changed my mind because it just didnt seem right. so i iced the bottom layer not to thin and not to thick and them i place straws for support and then also in the straws i put skewers, because i didnt want to take the chance of the straws caving. then i did the next layer the same and then placed the small front and back pieces on. i even shook it a bit when i was all finished because i always doubt myself with everything i do, i just like to be sure its just right. ???
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post #6 of 18
10/10/08 at 8:38am
that sure sounds nice and sturdy to me.
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Cake Cutting Guide: http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20comb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55969028@N00/
www.cateritsimple.blogspot.com
http://debiswritingcollection.blogspot.com/
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post #7 of 18
10/10/08 at 2:52pm
Really, who knows what happened to the cake. Maybe the kid dropped it. Maybe she slammed on her brakes and the kid fell in it. Her comment about the lack of packaging makes me think that the problem wasn't with the cake itself.

Tell her to smush it up and make cake balls (just kidding!).
...will there be cake?
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...will there be cake?
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post #8 of 18
10/10/08 at 3:14pm
if she wants her money back she needs to bring the cake back and have pics of what it looked like at the time of the alleged disaster occurance.

i hold the same philosophy- once its in the customer's hands- i no longer have control over it and is no longer my responsibility. the last cake i did was with the assistance of the brides mom- my neighbor- and i stressed to her when we set the cake up "pick your spot.." then once the table was in place- i stressed "do Not move this cake"

i find out later she did (rolls eyes)
i've gone crazy~ but it keeps me from going insane! heheheh
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i've gone crazy~ but it keeps me from going insane! heheheh
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post #9 of 18
10/10/08 at 3:16pm
Awww I'm sorry that happened!

I refrigerate all my cakes, makes them very firm and sturdy for transport. So far, most of my "scary transports" have happened with room temp cakes.

I also get the Domino sugar boxes at Sam's (nice heavy duty open topped box) and I put most of my 3D cakes, uncovered, in one of those. I buffer the sides with a wad of foil so the board can't slide around. The box is always clean because it just holds bags of powdered sugar...kinda goes along with the "cake" theme...and its nice and heavy duty and holds most cakes with bases 14" and smaller with ease.

Anyway...yeah I try not to give a customer an unboxed cake unless the base is just too wide, and then I warn them ahead of time that the base is wide and MUST have a flat place to transport.

Next time though, she should come get her own cake! And your price was VERY low as well....she got a deal!
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post #10 of 18
10/10/08 at 5:15pm
Sorry this happened to your cake. I agree though with kitagirl......you should never let an unboxed cake leave your kitchen, it's not sanitary for one, and chances of it getting damaged are so much greater if it's not in a box. There are also some good plastic storage boxes for cakes that work great for 3D cakes. The kid shouldn't have been holding the cake it should have been placed on a flat surface in the car.

If the lady is that upset, she should have picked up the cake herself, but too late now. Tough call on the refund, I'd want her to bring the cake back with her, maybe it could be fixed......I'd at least want to see the condition of it.
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post #11 of 18
10/10/08 at 6:22pm
i had an incident like this a couple of years ago.

it was a whimsey cake....she wrote me a letter saying how disappointed they were because it collapsed ......

i knew the owner of the bed and breakfast where they had the party, so i called her to see what happened....

my friend (the owner of the bed and breakfast) told me the cake had in fact collapsed ...BUT....the people who picked it up were so delighted with how it looked they stopped and took the cake out of the car and in to THREE different people houses to show it off!...THREE!!!!...no telling how many bumps it took with all that traveling ....but the ladie failed to tell me that.

my point is, no telling what they did to that cake after they left....someone could have pulled out in front of them and they had to slam on the brakes or something.

that setup sounds plenty strong to me....i'm sure they ate the cake...they ate it....no refunds.

she won't be happy about it, but look at it this way, we don't want the hard to please pain in the butt customers anyway.

some people cost a business money to service...HECK WITH THAT!
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post #12 of 18
10/10/08 at 7:28pm
Amsy, did you have any dowels going all the way through the cake, from top to bottom, or just within each tier?
One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
- AA Milne -
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One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
- AA Milne -
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post #13 of 18
10/11/08 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
no dowels through the whole cake except for the skewers from the sail they when through the top two layers
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post #14 of 18
10/11/08 at 3:25pm
At this point I would just tell her that when the cake left your house it was in one piece. Unfortunately you have no control over a cake that you don't deliver.
I would offer a small discount on a future cake.
Tact is telling someone where to go so nicely they can't wait to take the trip!
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Tact is telling someone where to go so nicely they can't wait to take the trip!
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post #15 of 18
10/11/08 at 3:50pm
It's the most adorable ship cake ever. I love it. The detail is awesome. $50 is a very lowball price for a sculpture to feed 35 people.

I am reading that you have dowel through the cake--the cake seems taller than 4 or 5 inches correct? You did have some cardboards in there between the layers? The end pieces seem like they could get a little wonky being taller than the middle.

You're right a box would not have kept it together, but they are a good idea. I only deliver chilled cake. I would have a nervous breakdown otherwise.
 
 

 

 

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