So gals, have my very own first issue with a customer. I made a Where the Wild Things Are cake and cupcakes this last weekend. Something struck me as strange right from the start in that it was not really that costly of a cake, but the customer wanted to pay for only half up front and then the rest at delivery. Also she wanted to buy a stand from me and even though I had mentioned that it was not white like the others she had in mind, but silver (basically cake drums with a fanci-foil covered styro glued together) that she could buy it from me if she wanted to, well she apparently was desperate, so she did. Well when I arrived to drop off the cake and stand on Saturday at 8:45am (a good 4 hours before their party) the lady I had been dealing with never even came to the door. Her husband and son answered and the husband akwardly took the cake like he had no idea what to do with it, and then asked me if they owed me any money. I told him yes and what the total was and he gave me money in $20's and it ended up being more than the total by $12. I was just thinking, nice tip, right. Well, come to think of it, he DID look at me funny, but I do not carry change with me and so didn't offer to give any back, etc. because I couldn't. So as I am walking away, I can hear they are visually pleased with the cake, etc and I am thinking great! They are happy, as they should be really, because it was a CUTE cake! Anyway, fast-forward to today, TWO entire days later! The lady emails me and says "FYI: The Max cake had a brown hair on the bottom of it, so we had to toss it." Nothing else. If you were her and this had happened would you have not contacted me right away?? Furthermore, the REALLY strange thing is that I do not have brown hair, I have RED hair and I am the ONLY one who works with or comes in contact with my cakes. Come to think of it, her husband had brown hair! lol Not to mention that it was on the bottom of the cake? Have you EVER heard on anyone inspecting the underside of a cake before? How would she even do that anyway?? I don't know gals, do you all think that maybe this gal was just a victim of buyer's remorse and really didn't have the money to spend on the cake in the first place, and THEN to find out that the stand wasn't what she maybe had pictured (even though I TOLD her that!) and with the fact that her husband paid me $12 more even, maybe she was trying to recoup something?? She has not asked for anything yet, but I have not decided how to respond. What would you do?? Mention that my hair is RED?? What??

I just don't know. But I would let her know that you have red hair and are the only one who comes into the cakes, so you don't know how that would be possible. Just might be buyer's remorse.

I too would want to write her back on the hair thing. She didn't say anything in the email about a refund, but that hair thing could snowball when she talks to others. The problem is that if you do email her back about it, it could open up a refund question, and she could say, "well, maybe it was red, I don't remember."
Hmmm.... hard to judge what you do!

Right. That is what I was thinking, but I want to handle this gently too...hmmm...what about doing the whole "customer is always right" and just refunding her for the actual cake?? not the decor or all my gumpaste work, or anything, maybe just the actual cake because she said it was inedible?? I would give her then $24 back....but I don't know,I konw I didn't do anything wrong...sigh.

Do you have a picture? How much did it cost? This would really help to know.

I do have a pic. let me see...here it is. I ended up charging her something like $100 with tax. Delivery was free because she was in my area and then I charged her $15 to buy my stand and then her husband gave me the extra $12. So the total they put out then was something like $130. But like I said, she only wanted to pay 1/2 upfront and even to get that was like pulling teeth, I had to remind her that she needed to pay to book with me. It took her all week to pay that!! so...hmmm

Okay,FIRST, delivery is NEVER free for you, even if you choose to give the service away. You have to pay for gas and there is some wear & tear on you car even if it's a 5 minute drive. Second she's full of crap and just wants her money back. She figures the cupcakes are probably the cheapest part of the order, so she more then likely will ask for the cost of the cake. Next time you have a hard time getting a deposit in a timely manner, take that as a warning sign, they don't have the money to pay. Not always the case, but more them likely. I love the cake by the way. I plan on doing the same theme for my son's 1st birthday.

thank you so much for your words of wisdom and your encouragement. So what would YOU do then?? Just not even email back? Or...hmmm..

I would probably tell her,"Good thing my hair is red, so we both know it's not mine. I noticed your husband's hair is brown & he excepted the cake. How unfortunate you through the cake away as it was your husband's hair". Yup, play nice & sweet & dumb...since that's what she thinks you are. Trust me, she's gonna write you again. She's just waiting for you to say,"I'm so sorry. Let me give you a refund".

ok. that sounds good! We shall see what comes! lol Thanks again, and thanks for your sweet comments about my cake too! It was really fun to make, good childhood memories too! I loved that book!

How's this for a reply??


Oh gosh! That is terrible! Well it is a good thing I have red hair and, so we both know the hair on the cake could not have been mine! WHEW!! I am the only one who ever comes in contact with my cakes too, so it couldnt have been from anyone else on my end either. Perhaps it was your husbands? I did notice that he had brown hair, if I am not mistaken. So sad you felt you had to toss the cake! What a bummer, and a lot of work too to go to waste. Well hopefully you at least got some joy from the look of it, because I think it turned out really cute and your little guy who answered the door with your husband sure seemed to just LOVE it! If its any condolence, I would like to extend an offer for 10% off your next order, so you will hopefully get to actually taste my delicious cake sometime in the future.

Blessings!

Maybe once she saw the cake she did have buyers remorse . Maybe she was expecting alittle more than what she got and wanted a way out of a waisted 130 $ In our area Ihave seen alot more cake for that price ??? I don't know . But if she saw photos of your work , well then she just has to eat the 130 . And go to walmart next time . { ps I dont sell cakes so not sure I just make them for fun .

I have a $150 price minimum...with a delivery fee. I think she got a good price. There is another decorator on here who sells a lot of 6" cakes for $75. THAT'S her minimum. If you can't afford something or you think you are not getting your monies worth (6" and cupcakes, which by the way average $3.00 WITHOUT the monster faces) for $130, then just don't order. Don't order it & then come up with ways to get you money back.

Maybe I'm crazy but if I spend $100 or more on cake (I don't...I make them...haha...but IF...) I would NOT throw it out on account of a hair! Or an eggshell (which grosses me out worse than hair)...or anything else. I"d throw the one piece away and keep the rest!

That's crazy, even if it WAS your hair...and it wasn't!

(BTW customers finding hair always freaks me out that they will find MINE one day...)

The only way she could have found a hair on the 'bottom', besides turning it upside down, was if she had cut it and when she removed the slice it came out with it. And if that was how she 'found' it, it could have been attached to the knife or lifter she was using as well.

Some people mistake brown for a shade of red - my brother is 'close tone color blind' - he knows red from green from yellow, but he sees medium (auburn) red as medium brown.

I'm not trying to defend the customer, just pointing out that what she calls brown (at a quick glance - I doubt she examined it closely) could have been red. And, I'm not accusing the OP of it being her hair, either.
But, like others have said, considering it was a few days later, it was probably buyer's remorse.

Does anyone have a clause in their contracts that says cakes must be returned if any problems/complaints? You can't complain if it was all eaten, can you? Any store needs proof before offering any kind of refund/credit.

Please let us know her response, if any.

I'd freak out only if it was a short 'n' curly....ack!

What if she is saying a hair was on the bottom as in on the bottom boarder.
Hair happens. The only way to keep it from happening is to wear your hair back and covered. And inspect the cake and box before packing it into the cake box.

all4cake....the bad thing is with me, I have perfectly normal brunette hair but on the back of my neck, its short and curly!!! My family always jokes about it. Anyway I live in fear that I'll lose one in the wrong place and at the wrong time. haha.

I wear my hair back but I also try to lint roller my clothes before baking because I tend to shed on my clothes while brushing my hair or whatever and eventually the hair finds its way into something. I have had a few close calls. Ugh.

I pull my hair back in a ponytail & I cover it with a scarf. I am very paranoid about hair fallin...actual I'm paranoid about all kinds of sanitation when it comes to making a cake. I wash my hands every time I touch & do anything. So of course I have the nice dry hands of a 70 year old!

WOW! You guys who said that the price was a lot must have to work so hard for so little! The charge itself was not $130, it ended up being something like $93 ($3.88 per serving!) and then, it was the stand plus tax and the large 'tip' the husband gave me made it end up at around $130, so it wasn't the cake that cost that much, really though looking back, I think I actually undercharged on this one because there were a lot of details and hand painting, etc. The customer was aware of the size AND how many it would serve from the get-go. But you know, when we say 6" cake, I think maybe people just don't really realize that is little! The other thing is that she actually needed MORE cake! She said she needed another dozen cupcakes but didn't want to spend the money so she would just buy them from the grocery store...it is totally probable that she thought since she had spent 'soo much' already that she would just cut slices really small and get enough for everyone out of the cake...what she didn't get is that the serving size is already small! This is just fishy to me! That doesn't even go into the fact that she waited to email for a couple days. I haven't emailed her my response yet, but I really wanted to know what you thought on what I wrote, or if anything else needs to be included. What would YOU say??

Oh, that is the other thing, I have very short hair and I NEVER touch it or brush it or anything like that...and really, it is just the kind of hair that doesn't fall out unless I am scrubbing it in the shower or something...

Quite frankly, I would not tell her the color of my hair unless she puts in writing first her complaint about brown hair. Then you have a paper trail case. She could say "Oh, I meant red" when everything is verbal. Then she could say it ruined my party, my time etc, etc, etc and that could run into $$$ being asked for from her. People are more litigious today than ever. Cover your bum!

it is in writing, it is an email. I have it saved in my box.

i think if they find a hair, they need to keep the cake and show you the offending hair....people can say anything.....it could have been anyones hair.

sorry this happened to you.

it sounds like they are trying to recoup some money

Good for you. I hope it goes nowhere.