on the front steps 15 mins before customer to arrive. t's all in pieces. The bow smashed and the ribbon soiled. I called customer who said they need a cake and they could pick it up in 4 hours. I don't even know if I have enough iingredients. I'm going to clean it up and will check back here for any advise.

Oh no! I'm so sorry! Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

I'm so sorry that happened to you.
I hope it all works out, and you have enough time/ingredients to finish another cake.
Jodi

I'm so sorry that happened to you.
I hope it all works out, and you have enough time/ingredients to finish another cake.
Jodi

Do I charge the customer anything????

Do I need to make the exact same design and fondant cut outs? Sombebody please tell me what to do.

Try to get as close as you can to original design if possible. Is it a wedding cake?

Can you buy some layers to speed things up? Do you have enough fondant to re-do?

This happened to me, I made a dummy cake, and then a couple of kitchen cakes, explained what happened and the client was fine about it.

The cake did look the same though...

I would provide the best you can do in this amount of time. If the cake is damaged, spackle it, to get your shape back and then fondant it. all the best hun.

I'm so sorry, I have nightmares about dropping cakes on the way to site.....I hope it turned out well for you.... ;o)

Thanks for all your support and good wishes. I had to go to the store for more ingredients. The original birthday cake was totally wrecked so I made another one. The cakes weren't even cool and I had to carry on anyways. the customer kept phoning me. I busted my a**, got the cake done but only a few decorations. The customer wanted the cake right away so I couldn't do more. They came and snatched the cake from me and left without a word. they paid the deposit and I forfeited the balance.

I would have still paid for the cake!! Accidents happen and they still got a cake. Has everyone heard of Karma??? For them to just pick up the cake with a attitude and not even say anything is bad karma! So the party might be delayed a little, who cares? It's just a cake and 5 years from now that particular cake/party is NOT BIG DEAL!!
Why don't people ever think about others feelings???
I had a guy hit my car years and years ago. I know the family VERY well and know that they are the type of family that does absolutely anything for others. They take in foster children with dissabilities and all. I told them I wasn't interested in getting it fixed (even though it was my new convertible) because sometimes people need a break. I looked at that dent/scratch everyday and it reminded me that sometimes it's OK to do something nice for someone else.
I will step down now!

Expecting something to be done and on time is totally ok. When you have no understanding towards someone that has an accident is not.
The car wasn't the analogy, the idea that you can actually forgive and move on with something less than hoped for is.
It's not a car, it's just a cake. Someone will eat it and then it's gone.

i had a cake wreck about 2 months ago, there was confusion about the date for the bridal shower, i had it down on sunday and the shower was on saturday (during the consultation, theyy made several references to sunday). Thank God it was for a friend's daughter (her sister was throwing the shower). They called about picking the cake up that day (i was 40 miles from home) and they needed it in 2 hours. they had a Pink Cake Box type 2-tier cake picked out with bows and ribbons, etc... well i drove like a mad woman home, threw the cake together in 45 minutes and delivered it 20 minutes (conveinently held up in a police road block checking id and insurance, none of which i had at the time - on the tableat the house) after the shower started. it wasn't the exact cake, the colors were the same, cutouts the same, but the bows were made of real ribbon and not fondant. was it my best work, no, did it taste fine, yes, but i felt horrible for themix up that i gave back their refund and refused final payment. it really sucks having to realize that we made a mistake

Thank you so much for your kind words. It really helped. I really like the idea of a dummy cake and sheet cakes. Sillymoo84, what was your dummy cake like? About the rest, you get to know who a person really is when they handle themselves in situations such as this. I believe their behavior was disrespectful and rude and no one deserves that.

How awful! I agree, they shouldn't have acted like that. They should be grateful you didn't just return the deposit with a sorry. They had a cake, they enjoyed a cake, and they should have at least said 'looks nice, thanks for throwing this together'. You could have charged them in full with a late cake (then maybe I would be a little pissed off too), but you acted with class, and that is all that matters.