I am shocked that she was unhappy!! Your cake is absolutely beautiful! Just realize if this is the first negative comment in 2+ years, IT'S NOT YOU! Sad to say that some people are never happy! You did great and you do not need to rethink what you are doing!!!

I think your cake looks great! I always tell someone when they show me pictures that I can do it close to what they are looking for but it will never be the same. I will use the same elements but will put my own twist on it. They tell me exactly what they like about the cake and then I go from there. No one cake can ever be the same.

You did a great job. I tell folks all the time that we are people not robots, no two people do anything EXACTLY alike. I mean, what more could she have expected?

Don't feel bad, for whatever reason she chose to complain. Let it roll off your shoulders and move on!

She didn't have the nerve to tell you the whole story--and she hoped that by shaming you, you would offer her back some money!

Yep, buyer's remorse and nothing else.

More than likely her mother (who is a Master Decorator Certified by Wally World ) and her DH completely freaked out when she told them $140 for the cake.. She had no backbone to tell them to shut up, so she cobbled together a bunch of lies about color, fondant, moistness, etc. and tried her luck at getting you to cave in.

The cake is adorable. Your interpretation is great and if she wanted an exact replica, she should have found the original decorator. I tell people that I will NEVER make an "exact" copy.

Forget her and move on. When she calls for the free cupcakes, do them at your convenience with NOTHING but a swirl on top--NO decos, nothing. She gets the "take it or leave it" option, only.

Rae

Rae is right!

Hello!!! Walmart is her frame of reference for "custom, designer cakes!" Why didn't Gramma make the cake?

Your cake is awesome. Love it!

Remember, not all customers are sweet, like us.

Do what you love and love what you do! If what we do was so easy, then no one would need us!!!!!!!!

A custom cake is a work of art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What would you have normally charged for the cake?

Seems like she got a steal of a deal for $140!!! Even if it wasn't quite what she expected.

I'm with CindiM...why didn't grandma make the cake? $140.00 isn't too much for that cake and you did a great job on it.

personally i love the cake and may encorporate some of the design elements into a hunter cake for a dear friend of mine! some people are just never happy-no matter what.
were you happy with the cake? if so...nuff said.

OMG!! I really expected to see a mess of a cake too, but your cake is awesome!! That woman is high on something (maybe buyers remorse) to complain about a this cake. I don't think she paid too much, I think $140 is a steal. Blow it off, you are not the problem here. Really, some people have a lot of nerve. It's practically a copy of the pic she sent you. Yeah, let grandma make the next one, that should be a memorable day.

Girl, girl, girl! Your cake is great! Let it roll right off. Rude, rude to call you on Mother's Day!

Gorgeous cake! Insane woman! I'm afraid that there will always be people who have to complain about everything. They do it to get discounts, refunds, feel better about themselves, or just to attain a sense of power. There's no way that the woman had to prove that you actually make cakes. She maybe showed people your website, but I'm certain no one doubted your skill prior to seeing it. What's more likely is that other people didn't like the design that SHE picked out (it looks like she just googled "Tyler cake"!).

I totally agree. You did a wonderful job on that cake. I agree that no cake will be identical as no two people are the same but there are times that I can't even make my own cakes identical to each other.

Thanks again everyone for the comments! I love that we have this community of fellow cakers who can help to boost ones morale!

3 things I am taking away from this experience...

1. Write up contracts for all cakes (not just wedding cakes). Clearly state colors and design.

2. Draw up pictures of cakes.

3. I now know how it feels to have a negative comment. While it is not a moment I ever want to revisit, at least I can say I have it under my belt and will know better than to beat myself up for days about it should it happen again.

I absolutely agree your cake is awesome and worth every penny!! She thought so too, until her mother the x-walmart cake decorator got involved! I wouldn't give this one any more thought, just use it as a learning experience.

the cake is WONDERFUL!! the fondant is FLAWLESS and the camo on the fondant... great work!! wish I could do that!

and since when does walmart do FONDANT? the only thing I have ever gotten there is cool whip frosting the one time I forgot to order from the grocery store and get a decent cake. (before I started doing my own cause I couldnt afford to pay y'alls prices but wanted a cool cake LOL )

Ummmmm....wth? Your cake looked pretty darn awesome to me. She had to show people your website to prove you were good with cake? The cake at her party was proof enough!

comparing the pic she sent to the one you made im thinking she tried to smoke some of those reeds you placed on the cake - its a fab looking cake

cheers

Aww, poor customer with nothing better to do on Mother's Day than write complaint letters.

First of all, I think your cake is great! We also got our very first complaint this past weekend also and it is so devastating especially when you work so hard at something. I hope this little story makes you feel better and lets you know that some people just have nothing better to do than to complain about anything and everything!

We delivered a wedding and grooms cake on Saturday and when we arrived and set up the cakes the mother of the groom started griping that the grooms cake was not suppose to be chocolate, but white because the groom did not like chocolate cake. I attached a picture below for you to see the cake that was sent to us to replicate for the grooms cake. There isn't a thing about this cake that isn't chocolate! The only thing they wanted different was to add strawberries to the top, which we did. This same lady also came into the bakery two weeks before the wedding and told us she thought the wedding cake was just too big and they didnt need it 3 tiers, that we needed to make it 2 and she couldn't see why they wanted to have a cake that big. She actually got upset with us when we told her we could not make a change to the order unless the bride told us to do so. By the way, the bride was paying for the cake.

Anyways, the grooms mother comes in today to return the cake stand and let us know that the chocolate cake was divine, but the white cake we made for the wedding cake was "horridly" dry. UGH! Seriously woman!!!! We assured her that no one has ever complained of our white almond wedding cake and that we were sorry she was unhappy with it. She said it was awful what they had to pay for the cake for it to be so dry. I tried to blow it off, but it really bothered us all day. However, we had a bride call today to let us know that the wedding cake we made for her 9 days ago was absolutely delicious and that everyone loved it. She even said they were still eating on it and it was just as moist as the day of the wedding. That made us feel alot better! Some people just have nothing better to do but whine about something, I swear they thrive on it sometimes. I wouldn't worry about it! How dare her ruin your mothers day!

I swear I think people are crazy! Both of your cakes are great! Don't sweat it.
Same experince with me yesterday (GEEZ SOMETHING'S GOING ON HERE!)
Bride sends me a text message and said that they enjoyed the cake, but that she ordered red velvet, and I made vanilla. Umm, I'm thinking......I know I didn't mess that up. So I go back and look through the emails she sent..and there it is! So I forwarded her the email where SHE asked for VANILLA! She sends me one back and says the cake was great lol......I guess she couldn't say anything else then could she!

Both of your cakes look exactly like they should. You know, really.....it's nice when they send you a pic, then when something like this comes up, you can so "no, here's the pic you sent" and end it.

I just showed my husband the pictures. He can't believe you only charged $130 for your cake! he thought it looked fantastic (and so do I). His cousins are in the cake business in Georgia and he likes hunting so I consider him the unbiased expert here. I think it's interesting she never said Tyler hated the cake or didn't eat it. I'm guessing he loved it too.

Jaime3679 - crazy people that cake looks so good! i would like piece right now! How rude that woman is! Was she just trying to get some money back for her daughter or what? I can't believe she thought she could just change the size of the wedding cake without the bride approving it!

I just posted the cake on my FB page so she can see that I am proud of the cake! I hope I get a lot of likes and comments - that will make her think twice about her complaints!

Your cake was fantastic.
Ok first big flag is "my mom knows cause she works at wal-mart" I'm not downing anyone who works at wal-mart mind you but they are not KNOWN for GREAT CAKE. This also tells me the woman and possibly her guests may be more acclimated to wal-mart's cake pricing. Any client who buys a cake way outside of their "normal" price range is seldom happy and will find fault with it (not ALL mind you, but more often than not). I highly encourage any "I usually get my cakes from the grocery store" people to shop around and get quotes from multiple bakeries of the same caliber as what I offer. And absolutely make up an invoice which details what decor is on their cake/ what flavor etc...etc....

Sorry you got one of "THOSE" customers. We've all had one at some point.

Your cake was fantastic. This woman probably wouldn't be happy no matter what you did. Iagree with everyone else, purely a case of buyers remorse. I'll bet they ate every bit of that cake and loved it.

frankly, you should have charged $200 for that. what a psycho, i hate people like that.

I think your cake is wonderful! Don't let it get you down - you did a great job. Some people will always find something to complain about.

I am so sorry that you guys had to go through that. And I totally understand how you feel. It's one thing to be displeased with the color and stuff, buy when the complaint is about the cake itself that's like getting a stab in the heart. It totally messes with your confidence about your cakes. When I got my first complaint I was so hunted that I wanted to quit. And I'm still very shaky when I get an order.

I'm sorry you had to deal with someone like that on mothers day. However you're cake is absolutely fabulous and would be a big hit in my tiny rural hunting crazed area! As far as the cake being dry and the fact that you've never had any complaints makes me wonder if she wanted the cake in batter form! LOL Please don't let this person get to you, as from what everyone else has already said they've pin pointed her character to a T.

And Walmart uses fondant??? Man I need to get out more...I had no clue!