Bride is so angry.. asking for a full refund.. LONG story :( - Page 6

I am so sorry this happened to you! I am well aware of the weather last weekend and I was happy to only have 2 small orders. You sound like me before I realized it is NEVER too early to start a cake. If I have something I know I'm going to be stressing about I'll start GP decorations as soon as I get the order. (I had a slow week last week so I made several fall leaves for an October wedding cake.) Now I know it's not always possible to start that far in advance but if you can, do it. It'll save you the gut-wrenching feelings and headaches.

Everyone here has given you lots of advice on dealing with the situation and I agree that this is a big PR opportunity for you. Look at it that way, not as a failure. Give her a refund and speak to her either on the phone or in person. I'm sure some people would disagree but if it were me, I would offer to do their 1st anniversary cake (a small one with the decor the wedding cake should have had). Also, I would consider some cake dummy therapy. Pick up some dummies and decorate the heck out of them as gorgeous wedding cakes. It will make you feel better, give you stuff for your portfolio, and give something for your friend R to put in her wedding magazine. That's just how I get revenge on myself.

Good luck and chin up.

To the OP, I also am very sorry about your mishap with this cake. As an owner of 2 businesses I am in total agreement with you about the full refund.




You're doing the right thing. Now, try not to beat yourself up about this any longer.......we're only human and mistakes happen.

Good luck to you!

This

I totally totally get that the focal point part of the wedding was blown. However if I was a judge and I watch a lot of tv so I'm like way qualified

The caek was served so there was some value to the bride. Not at all what anyone expected I grant you but the bride received some value for her money. Where judges routinely draw & quarter babies for fun (ok so just threaten to cut them in half but you get my drift) can you see how a judge might assign some value to the stuff that got served.

They quantify--how bad was it --was it a 100% wash out?
No, she did serve it. Then it ain't 100%.

I think we are quick to offer refunds and cry our eyes out and be upset with ourselves because "it's not perfect" and I think we can sometimes cut ourselves a breakinstead of our own throats.

I don't think that because one part of the cake was messed up the whole thing should be refunded. Especially since she's not a professional. The bride got what she paid for. She expected a designer cake for pennies and she got the penny cake she paid for.

I honestly don't think a judge would require a full refund.

We think that alll the time--why?

Once again, good thing I sell books huh.

Hey, I don't refund those either.

Yeah, but I used to work in a department store that took returns for the full amount, no questions asked. It always chapped me when someone would return the evening gown they'd bought two days before with perfume and sweat stains on it , but they gave the refund anyway. I don't know if getting your fair use (i.e. eating the cake or wearing the dress) out of it is always the deciding factor. (But maybe if someone returned a cake with sweat stains all over it that would negate a refund? )

I still think that the OP should just give the refund, since that seems to be what she thought would be the right thing to do. I also hope that the OP isn't all confused by our philospohical musings! Just do what you think is right in this situation. Other situations will come up and might require a different response, but I really do think that at this point it's more PR than anything, both PR for the bride, but also for your wedding magazine friend. It will show her how you handle bad situations when they arise, and facing up to it is going to reflect best on you for the future.

How you handle a dis-satisfied customer will have a larger impact on your business than your dealings with satisfied customers. Giving refunds hurts in the short term, yes, but in the long-term, it can pay dividends. The aim is to turn an unhappy customer into a happy customer, or at worst a neutral customer.

K8: TV Law is not the same as Real World Law. People actually have to sign away their right to take their case to court and agree that whatever the TV Judge says is final, wether it's in full accord with the laws in their state or not. So a TV Judge can say "I don't think it's worth a full refund", but in a real court the Judge HAS to go by what the word of the law says, it doesn't matter if they agree with it or not.

Thing is, when it comes to Law, whatever is written out on the contract is what is binding in court.

EXAMPLE TIME (with credit to Cake Wrecks for the images):
If Contracted Decorator says (either via oral or written contract) "I will make you a cake that looks like this picture and it will cost $200" then they need to do that. Say this is the picture they are given and the cake they agree to do...


It doesn't matter what the cake in the picture originally cost, or how much it would cost Baker X Shop to do it, Contracted Decorator said it's worth $200, so that IS what it is worth in the eyes of the Law.

So, if contracted decorator shows up with this...

Is the cake edible? Yes. Did they present a cake at the agreed time? Yes. Did it look like the picture? Nope! In fact, it can be fairly said they breached their contract because they did NOT deliver the cake promised. ("Close enough" and "They got what they deserved" is not a valid defense when it comes to Law.) So, they would be entitled to a full refund. Heck, in some states, the contracted decorator might also have to pay court costs and "emotional damages" on top of the refund.


My day job IS Law, (Legal secretary for the state Attorney General. weeeeeeee) and I have a few years of Business/Consumer/Copyright Law under my belt. Really, don't get me started on the ins and out of how Law really works! It's not pretty! There's a reason I've been dragging my feet on going back to finish my Masters and take the Bar!

EDIT: THIS IS NOT THE CAKE THE OP MADE!! I got the images from Cake Wrecks to use as an example of the point I was trying to make. I am in no way, shape, or form implying this was the kind of cake the person in the OP made/got/whatever.

Point well taken, lol

Can we just see a picture? How many times have we seen a post come up saying this is the worst cake I've ever done and its really not that bad. What did the friend say about it, R is it?

I completely agree with you........as business owners we all should remember how important our reputation is.


I just recently had a "sticky" situation at my Salon.

A new stylist that I hired about 2 months ago did a haircut on one of my very good client's daughter last week. I wasn't in the Salon at the time so I didn't know that the haircut was very much "less then perfect".

Fast forward to this week......my client comes in and tells me how very disappointed her daughter is with the haircut, it's uneven, the stylist rushed the job, etc., etc., etc.............

My immediate reaction....."please give me the opportunity to make this right, ask your daughter to come right in."

Long story short......I re-cut and fixed this girl's hair (free of charge obviously), gave her a free reconditioning treatment, a free parafin wax hand dip, AND FULL REFUND for the original haircut.

Did she receive a haircut from the other stylist? Yes.
Was it a "perfect" cut? Hell NO
Could she have walked around with that haircut? Yes
Would she have "bad mouthed" my Salon? Hell YES

Moral of the story........Bend over backwards to protect your business's reputation and to keep your clients happy.

It only takes 1 unhappy client to ruin your good name.

This story did have a happy ending........this girl ended up booking a $150 foil with me next week.....so it was definitely worth my while to rectify a bad situation.

To the OP, your reputation is worth a heck of a lot more then $250, especially if this is a business that you are serious about pursuing in the future. That $250 will come back to you tenfold.

Ooh what a juicy debate you guys have been having while I've been asleep!

OP - please dont feel too bad for this bride who just HAD to have 200 people attend her wedding on a budget (yeah right - I had 40 THAT'S a budget!) She knew full well that getting a Pink Box lookalike cake for that price was the steal of the century. She took a calculated risk. Did she get her neighbour who's made a couple of kids fancy dress costumes to make her dress NAH!! Not saying she expected or deserved a wreck, just saying she gambled! You've agreed to refund and apologise - that's all you can do at this point.

What makes us innately and beautifully female is our ability to agonise over feelings for days and days - it drives most men crazy! It's massive for you because it's all you've thought about for days. To get perspective, presumably she has just had a week full of fun, love and happiness with a massive party (of which the cake is only a part) and a gorgeous husband to finish with! Hands up who's got a pic of their cake on their wall? Not me - I've got me kissing the sexy, gorgeous man I married! Feel better lovely girl - you did not ruin her day! JMO

omg--really???

Don't forget our op does not run a business. This was the friend deal that went awry.

With what I know at this point I'm much more pissed at OP's wedding magazine friend and the bride with the champagne taste on the proverbial beer budget.

I'm actually wondering if magazine friend was one of those most odious creatures with the "Oh you need to open a business" stuff. Because Op has some great cakes in her portfolio. Maybe she has other photos not posted and while they demonstrate lovely lovely work those are not near the same stratosphere of the cake that was ordered, was it pink cake box or something like that?

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Don't even start with me about Santa, CeeTee, don't wanna hear it.

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The cakes pictured upthread are both brown ribboned, ivory iced tier cakes with blue flowers. Hey maybe they wanted all buttercream.

I totally completely disagree with you on the full refund. No way, Jose.
That's a cake! They can cut and serve it. Is it the smoothest most professional cake ever? No.

Did the bride have any clue as to the level of expertise required to produce a cake of that nature? Why not.

Really!! How dare the TV Lie to us!!

You mean Judge Judy is not Judge Judy?