I posted my story this morning and for those who didn't read here is the link: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-7162111-.html#7162111
This is the story continued: The lady picked up her over 200 mini cupcakes and 6" cake this morning and I showed her a couple boxes of the cupcakes and cake ans she was very pleased and excited. I even gave her a coupon for 2 free dozen cupcakes. She was off and on her way and I was relieved!
Well that is until about an hour later when I was shopping at the grocery store and I got a message on my phone from her about how ugly the cupcakes were in the other boxes that she didn't see. All of the boxes were the same. There may have been a couple that fell over or something, but I did not see that when they left my possession.
She then stated that she would only be able to use the cake for her party and that she could have done a much better job then me and would not be using my bakery again because she was out 200.00 now.
So now what I am wonering is, what do I do? Do I offer her a full refund if she saw about half of them before she left and seemed very pleased with them then or do I offer her a discount? I do have a pic of them on my facebook page if you would like to check them out t give abetter opinion: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sweetie-Sweet-Cakes/146139402101434
I just really do not know what to do because she was happy with them when she left and usually I would have charged her 400.00 for the lot (2.00/cupcake), but because of my previous mistake I only charged her the 200.00 she already paid and threw in the 6" cake for free along with 2 free dozen cupcakes in a coupon. Thanks for any advice and please be kind it's been a really rough week. Thanks.
What's wrong with people? You've already been kind--she already got a 50% discount! (and all of those roses are hand-formed? and you charged zero for them?)
Sorry this is happening to you. Maybe you can tell her the cupcakes are free, but the 6" cake costs $200.00! I don't know what I'd do, but it wouldn't be nice.
I agree your have more than made up for it.. It sounds like she wants something for nothing... U have tried to make her happy but i'm going to bet nobody can do that. If she was really was upset about it she would of called you instead of texting you. Just breath you went above and beyond for her. She won't get another baker to do what you did.
I would tell her that since she was happy with them when she left and you already discounted her order you wish her luck in finding another bakery for her future orders.
Don't give her any more discounts and certainly don't refund any money..Sounds like she is having buyers remorse by looking at the cupcakes and probably thinking....I could have made these myself for cheaper etc...Simply express to her that she checked them before she left and she was fine with them and that she should have expressed concern/displeasure with them at time of pickup.Who cares if she comes back or not..That kind of PIA customer you don't need.
I would ask her for a picture of the cupcakes and explain to her that they were fine when they left the store and whatever happend after they leave your store you are not responsible for. I would also remind her that is exactly what she ordered.
Sound like buyers remorse and she doesn't realize how great of a deal she got!!!!! I hope this day gets better for you!!!!
Wow, what a mess. You have definitely more than taken care of this customer. I can't imagine that the cupcakes in the other boxes were any different from the ones she looked at. Perhaps she thinks, since you've been so accommodating thus far, that you'll be a push over about it and she can get $400.00 worth of baked products for free. Absolutely not. I wouldn't return a cent of her money, I wouldn't offer her any further discount and I wouldn't give her any other coupons.
I, personally, would probably email her back something like...
"Dear XXX,
I'm sorry to hear that you were dissatisfied with some of the cupcakes you purchased, however, all of the cupcakes were made with the same care and attention to detail as the ones you approved on site. I respect your decision to work with another bakery moving forward and wish you well in your future endeavors.
Regards,
Cakeuhlicious"
lol done and done.
Is she asking you for a refund?
If so, ask her to bring the order back to you for inspection. She may have left them in a hot car, causing the poured fondant to melt off.
But before you do anything ask to see the cupcakes in question.
I'd be glad she's finding another baker > : )
No cake for her! Period.
CUT HER LOOSE..... pleeeeeasssseeeee. You have tried so hard for her, for nothing. I can't take it anymore... I can just imagine how you feel.
<hugs>
Kelly, only one little thing caught my attention. You said that maybe a few fell over. There are several ways to keep this from happening, as I think it is our responsibility to provide for safe transport. For large orders: First, you can make sure there is no space left in the box. Second, on the last box, if there is space, I ball up paper towels or wax paper to fill the gap. On small orders, the cupcake holder inserts for boxes will keep them safe. If some had fallen over, she had a right to be unhappy about that, but that would only be a discount of the overturned ones.
I just don't think you were going to have a happy ending no matter what. Oh well, next.
By the way, I read all the posts from the tidewater area. I was born and raised in Newport News. My family has been there so long, we are descendants of the first Jamestown settlers.
Thank you everyone for the great advice and scp1127, that was another mistake of mine, the boxes were so full of cupcakes so I thought they'd be ok, as in they'd hold eachother up, but yes I'm thinking adding a few rolled up papertowels or something would have helped. I'll be doing that in the future for sure, so thank you for the heads up!
I'm with everyone else.. no more discounts or anything.. This sounds like a classic case of her..the customer being pleased but maybe when she got home...or around friends, the friends or whoever wasnt pleased or thought the price was to high...Cant see how she was happy one minute and disappointed the next..Sounds like she's listening to other people.
I'm confused.... 
In the link to your fb photo of the cupcakes, they were boxed with cupcake inserts holding each one up individually.
Did all of the boxes have inserts?
Urrmm IDK about asking for pictures, she might try to purposely damage the cupcakes just to squeeze a full refund from you? Don't you think?
Like cakestyles, I saw the pic on your FB where the cupcakes were sitting nicely in a box with an insert. Half of the order were not packaged that way?
Sorry for waiting so long to update, I had cake deliveries and such, but yes the cupcakes on my facebook page were 1 of the 2 little boxes I had. There were also 3 other big boxes that did not have inserts. I wish they had though. I really like the idea of using clear piping gel. That would have probably saved my butt had I known! : )
She has not responded to my email yet, maybe by Monday.
So I'll assume the boxes you opened for her approval were the one's with inserts. If I were the client I'd be a little upset that most of the cupcakes were not securely packaged. It seems like you didn't put as much care into the packaging which probably resulted in damage to those particular cupcakes. I know you think this woman already got a deal and shouldn't complain but she still paid $200 and it may not seem like a lot for what she got but it is quite a bit of money if she ended up with damaged product due to improper packaging. Sometimes we fail to look at the situation from the client's side.
no I showed her 3 out of the 5 boxes of cupcakes, which was about half of her cupcakes. All of the big boxes looked the same. I agree with the messed up packagaing, but the big boxes I had originally gotten for her petit fours and I thought they'd work for the cupcakes, My mistake. But I had 2 days to make 200 mini cupcakes with 200 handmade roses and had no time to run an hour away (where I get my supplies) to get new boxes. I have no helpers it's just lil' ol me.
When I wrote her an email I stated that since she approved of at least half of the cupcakes on site that I would refund her half of her money. Seems fair to me right? But I still have not heard back from her.
and yes she saw a big box of the cupcakes, and approved it, but all of the big boxes looked the same onsite, if you did not catch that from the above post, but like I said I offered her a refund for the cupcakes she did not approve, as I think that is fair enough. : )
By the way, I don't like the taste of poured fondant on regular cake (ie cupcakes.) Poured fondant works better on dense cakes (ie pound cake or almond cake.)
One of the things that motivated me to learn to make petit fours was a wedding that I catered. The bride wanted either mini cheesecakes or petit fours. A local bakery said they would make the petit fours. What they made were huge pieces of regular white cake with poured fondant on them. They had to be the worst tasting cake that I have ever had (the poured fondant was awful - grainy and tasteless.) Poor bride wasted her money because no one ate them.
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