I mean the lady says, "the cake that you left here' Like the op balanced the cake on the sagging pumpkin sitting on the porch, rang the bell and ran or something. She delivered the cake, for free I might add.

Tons of people don't box thier cakes--Duff for example.

I use boxes--boxes are my friend--but a sculpted cake for forty bucks?
Op said she could do similar--she did a star cake. Not the same star but a star nonetheless.

Yeah--good call-- I think the kids 'played' with it huh.

Update - The original email was sent at 9:30 last night, I emailed her to ask for pictures at about 6:00 this morning. It is now after 10:00 here, and she still has not emailed me back. If she doesn't email me back by tomorrow, I'm going to assume that either there was nothing wrong with the cake, or that her husband or kid admitted that they accidently messed up the cake, and she's too ashamed to tell me.

I also wanted to add, that I stopped at Sam's club on the way home today, and the lady in the bakery said that they do not sell cake boxes. I guess it depends on the individual locations.

Always take a picture!!!!! Sorry this happened to you...

I alos could not get boxes at Sam's (Arkansas) and was puzzeled by this as well. I asked, I had a ton of box emergencies, lol.

Ok, normally I don't jump in on things like this. I know how it is to get someone unhappy and how it can make you feel. For that I have to tell you I am so sorry this has happened to you.

But I have to point out a couple of things. I am coming from a mother standpoint instead of a cake decorator stand point. I think sometimes we share our thoughts from out professional side and forget there is another side to us.

Anyway,
1. If you used a cake board, especially wilton, you have cracks. Sorry guys but they are horrible. They will bend in the middle, I lost cakes to my kitchen floor because of those things. The cake itself may not have been cracked but your buttercream could have cracked (the elephant skin effect...oh I hate it)

2. Never deliver without a box. I prefer bakery boxes myself. I agree that sometimes they are not tall enough but I cut and fit two together for a nice deliver box of the right height.

3. Never and I repeat never sell a cake that uses a specialty pan to someone unless you have or can get the pan. If you cannot get it you should talk to them and explain that you will be carving the cake rather than using the pan. I carve rather than use the pans myself but if someone shows me a pan cake and that is what they want then that pan price is added in to the price of the cake. I will may never use it again but if not that pan will be paid for and not out of my profits.

4. Serving chart. Explain or leave a chart for the cutting guide or sizes. Many have pointed out that family servings are what we are use to as consumers, so remember they will not know that the pieces for a cake should be smaller than what they normally see at home. They are not cake professionals, they are not expected to know.

5. $40.....don't do that again....I saw your cakes, do not shortchange yourself. You do good work. Don't give up and don't stop selling. It is just a lesson learned. I think we all get so excited over that first order when we are a hobbiest that we get over zealous and end up making mistakes and then disgusted. I would guess that most everyone of us has had that happen. Just say ok, I will do it differently next time....this was a learning experience.

BUT DON"T GIVE UP!

Thanks patticakes! Those are all things that I have learned from this. Thank you for summing them up! It really means a lot to me, for some one at your level to say that I do good work.

Guys, hot glue your boards together if they are not strong enough. Slide bamboo skewers into the them and hot glue cross wise so nothing's gonna budge. Slide them into the corrugations.

If this picture posts--you can see the skewers sticking out each end--poor lighting and worse photography. I'm consistent.

But it works!

OMG!!! She emailed me back:

I have been advised to have no further contact. However, as you requested the picture of cake you provided in an email, prior to my placing the cake order, and pictures of the cake actually delivered, will be delivered to you in the near future.


What does that mean?!?!?! "I have been advised to have no further contact" ... by who? Legal counsel? Is she going to sue me over $40? Never, ever, ever again!

She comes off sounding eerie.

I think the ghosts she talks to told her... I mean, creepy!

she comes off like a dingbat
I'm sorry you are going through this.

Make sure you keep all of the emails and pictures between the two of you, just in case.

It could also be that she knows she was found out, or that she found it was her kid who messed up the cake and since she's too embarassed to admit it, she's trying the tough guy approach all while running in the other direction from you. If she had a picture, she could very easily have sent it over to you and asked for a refund, but she didn't. At this point, just try to laugh at her nonsense and keep us posted of any new developments. She could be the best thing for a first customer. You can't get anyone much worse than her, so you have your demon customer already out of the way.

I seriously doubt that she will sue you..... or if she does, I am pretty certain that nothing will come of it. Try not to worry about that. Some people throw those types of wording or phrasing around as a mean to scare you. If she was being advised by "legal counsel" not to have contact with you, then she would not send the pictures IMO.

Anyways, I am so sorry that you have to go through this. Just keep it moving and chalk it up to experience.

Thank you all for making me laugh! I was on the verge of tears! I still am!

Don't cry, Munchkin.

Well on second thought go 'head and get it out you'll feel better.
Cry for you though not for nutjob.

I'm sorry it's painful.

Her family most likely came clean on doing something accidently to the cake and her husband probably told her to back off and leave you alone. With the way she has come off with this whole thing, she doesn't want to just "drop it" so she is trying to get the last word in to scare you. Total psycho here from the way I see it.

My advice would be to let it roll off your back, laugh at it, take the lessons you have learned and keep caking!

It sounds like she is the type of person that no matter what she is never happy. Any cake that would have been handed to her that day and made by any person she would have found fault in. I would just let things come to a rest with her and take it as a lesson learned. You haven't done anything wrong and she knows that. She is just an evil person that likes to make people feel bad.

I would save all emails on a hard copy as proof of any communication between the two of you. That way she cannot say anything that was not truly said.

I hope I helped.

She is just mad. Don't worry, it would cost more for her to to into a civil suit then the $40.

As far as the boards. I get mine locally from my cake shop. I don't know what type she sells but they are sturdier than the wilton and also her cake boxes are nicer, not flimsy and deeper than the wilton.

Also snocilla, that was sweet, but I am not a high level decorator. I am self taught and only really been doing cakes regularly for about a year. I actually envy some of the work you have done. But thank you so much and I am glad you didn't take my post at mean or snotty. I was so afraid I was going to come off wrong. I just know from experience about it. I have made plenty of mistakes!

Here, this will make you feel better
(jsut a heads up there is an S*#$ bomb in there)

This woman just needs to move on. And for those of us who love Seinfeld:
"Serenity Now!"

It sounds like she's trying to get under your skin with the whole advisement part, wanting to try and get the cake for free. If she does try and get a lawyer then her fees will greatly out weigh the $40 she gave to you.

Don't let her rattle your cage