it is a lovely cake. she probably went over budget and is trying to get her money back whereever she thinks she can.

Oh, Lady, lemme tell me you a story...

In February, I get a phone call from a woman who gives me this LOOONG sob story about her daughter who is turning 16, died on the operating table twice, may not make it through Christmas, never had a cake that was special 'cause they're country folk (her words, not mine).

I give her a price for 3-tier topsy turvy. Then she tells me that she was quoted $600 somewhere else and $240 is a great deal!

She schedules consultation after consultation but never shows up or cancels. Finally, I make the damned cake in HOT HUMID weather because my a/c broke. Had to use Satin ice because my MMF won't withstand the weather AT ALL. It turns out decent, not my best work.

The night before she calls me and asks me to deliver it (1 hr 45 min away) I quote her $100 for delivery. She asks if I can take it to 10 miles past the county line. Ok, sure, $10 fee.

I drive it UP THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, 45 minutes from my house, all uphill, it does not move because I secured it with dowels and everything. She takes one look at it and starts fcomplaining up a storm. "The bow is too small, the purse is in the wrong place, the colors are wrong, the cake is too big, etc. etc. etc."

I stand there in awe because I KNOW the trouble I went through with this cake and she dares to belittle it in front of me? I'm livid. So mad, I don't know how to respond to it.

Just to get away from the situation, I offer to waive the delivery fee. Was she happy? Nooooo...she continued her yelling until I took off another $50 and told her to take it or leave it.

Not 20 minutes later, I get a message that says "Call me back immediately; the cake had a crack and it collapsed"

Did I call her back? Heck NO! I drove it 45 MINUTES UP THE MOUNTAIN and it did not even move an inch! She was either lying (my guess) or she was driving bat-s***t crazy laughing at how she conned me out of $60.

After talking with my husband and friends, we've deduced that this "country folk" KNEW from the beginning she was going lower my price down, doing whatever she could to get ANY amount taken off.

My point is...some people will do ANYTHING to make a fuss about whatever it is, because that's their nature. They were born to never be satisfied with anything.

So, to answer your question, tell her you are sorry she isn't satisfied, but you held up your end of the deal, delivered and executed a cake that was to her APPROVED sketch and design based on the invitation/announcement.

I agree with everyone else, she's complaining about nothing.

Don't let one person ruin you for decorating. We all tend to remember the one client who complains, while for every one of that kind there are fifty who thank us. Just remember that you won't please everyone, but it isn't always your fault!

So sorry for your heart ache, I know how much this has hurt. The cake is adorable, some people aren't happy unless they have destroyed someone else. NO REFUND!!! That would be paying her to insult your lovely work.

Adorable!!!

The only thing I can think of is...did you get a photo from the side? The view from the top is not the view people would see coming into the room....and the wings would not be easily seen until you get up close either...maybe she decided she didn't like the side view?

OP , can I ask how big the actual cake is please ? It's hard to tell from the photo. What kind of cake is it ? a mud cake ?
It's a cute design & you've done a great job


I totally prefer ganache to buttercream - it is also an excellent filling for carved cakes !

This seems quite interesting, if she did not like the cake don't you think she should have said that when YOU delivered the cake Personally. Quite interesting. And by the way how many days later did she email you.

Sorry for the delayed reply everyone! I just woke up this morning and saw all your replies, I'm so touched that everyone is so supportive. I can understand that design is subjective and she may not like the cake but there are better ways of communicating that than how she did it! I think that was what upset me the most.

To the people who asked for a side view of the cake, I've uploaded it now... the front may be a bit rough, but nothing noticable until you went up and stared at the cake really closely. The cake is on a 16" x 20" board so it was quite big. The cake was a white chocolate mud cake.

Of course she ate all the cake (i think i gave her more than needed too, because i always over estimate just in case). I know i should not offer her a refund and even if i did she would never come back to me or recommend me, so there is no point. But I just felt so crap having her money that I wanted to give some back. She didnt reply to my email offer so I am assuming a refund was not what she was after?

Like one of the other poster said, i need to get used to being firm... my backbone is growing, but it's still little I know it's not personal but I'm still learning to not take it personally.

Thank you again everyone for all your support.

I think the cake is adorable but I do see how some people could come in and see the side view and not be sure what it was. However the lady should have thought of that before she ordered the cake.

Did she expect it to be fully rounded out?

OH please, this is a case where people's imagination goes crazy and they expect something that is not.
If you look at the invitation AND the sketch she draw, the cake looks EXACTLY like those. She didn't draw an airplane in the air supported by a pipe or anything like that....plus, if it looks weird (not to me) from some angles, is the client's fault for choosing that design for the invitation! I mean that plane is not anatomically correct at all! If she chose a plane that looks like a seal with a propelled stuck in her butt is her problem! (the customers i mean)

Well I think it is great & wish I could do something that looked like that. She's nuts.

Those are mighty thick whiskers and strange feet for a 2-dimensional seal! And what had it eaten to make it so green and blue. And clearly you didn't even finish the cake, where the heck are it's eyes and nostrils?

The woman is an amateur English speaker, not decorator. What exactly does she think is 3-dimensional????

Adorable cake. Great job. Just curious, why does the invitation say "Alex" and the cake say "Oliver"?

I can only assume she wanted the whole plane to be lifted off the board??

The invite said Alex because it was a sample off the website...

First- the cake is absolutely adorable and looks just like the sketch. However, I would consider it a cross between a 2D and a 3-D cake. What's throwing it off for me are the wings. They're 1-dimensional in proportion to the rest of the plane- the body, tail, propeller are all 3-D, but the wings are flat on the board, so it throws the view off a little. I still think you did a great job in duplicating the invitation and it's a really cute cake!

I completely agree with snowboarder, I'd call this a 2 1/2 D cake

To me it's an airplane that's been cut in half and the top half was put on the cake board. I think had the wings been 3D as was the propeller it would have made a huge difference.


It's a very cute cake and the client should have voiced her honest opinion of it when you dropped it off.

I don't think a refund is required.

I didn't read all the responses, but I think the cake was great. It also looked just like the sketch, so I'm not sure what her problem was.

My guess was that she wanted a full replica of the plane-not the plane cut in half. But still, it looked like the sketch, it was clean and well done.

If she didn't want it, she should have told you that when she picked it up. What a jerk!

I think the cake is adorable there's nothing wrong with it, to me it looks just like the sketch. She just wanted to see if you would give her a refund or part of the money back it seems to me.

Oh damn it - I was not planning on reading the whole 6 pages but that above quote from k8 has me curious now - sounds like a good convo has been going on!

Head has been turned in every direction and I cant see no seal!! Morons!

Maybe the party guests were smoking something that made them see a seal

Do not give her any refund, or any credit! The cake looks exactly like the one on the invitation and the drawing that she approved. People...AGH!

Now that was funny dkelly & No Refund, it looks just like the invite/sketch next to it!

My theory, is that she took/cut the propeller and tail off first and left the middle with the wings. In this way, MAYBE someone could see a seal. I still think, considering the clouds (and logically...why would it be a seal???) and what was on the invites, they should have known it was an adorable plane. The lady's worrying too much about herself.