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In the news: Lebron James Refuses to pay baker for $3K cake

post #1 of 10
1/4/12 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 
http://cakecentral.com/blog/lebron-james-refuses-pay-baker-3000-cake

My opinion is that both cakes were equally good. I applaud both bakers for making such behemoth cakes on such short notice. Kudos to Alethea Hickman and everyone that worked on the cake at Passion for Pastry... you are now getting the publicity you worked so hard for! It's a fantastic cake, and I hope those orders start pouring in!

The moral for the rest of us is.. be wary of doing "free in exchange for publicity" cakes. In the long run, I would say to anyone that has the opportunity to participate in a celebrity event like that, to jump in, and do your best not to get taken advantage of.

What are your thoughts?

birthday.gif Jackie

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birthday.gif Jackie

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post #2 of 10
1/4/12 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackie

What are your thoughts?



You can view thoughts on the subject that's going on in this thread from earlier:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=737264
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post #3 of 10
1/4/12 at 5:12pm
I think it was a really mean trick to order a cake from two different bakers and pick the one you prefer....it was not a class act at all......especiually if they did not be specific as to what they wanted.
Georgine
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Georgine
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post #4 of 10
1/4/12 at 6:18pm
The 2nd cake was on a different plain than the first cake but that's all beside the point. The dissed baker should have had a contract, even for publicity/tickets, to detail what was expected along with sketches of what she was going to create. Then, when they backed out of using her cake and thus not providing the publicity nor tickets, she would have recourse. ALWAYS use a contract, even if the product is a barter/trade. ALWAYS stipulate what the cake will be in design and cost.

Now $3k for that cake, nope. I would say around $1200 would be about right. It's a beautiful cake and a lot of work went into it but not a $3k cake. The second cake is twice the size and embellishment so $3k would be about right. However, no matter what her price, they said they would pay it and they didn't. If she'd had a contract she could do something about it.

Caking is subjective...what one person thinks is wonderful another could think it's just ok. It's art. But if you have a contract then it's a legal matter, not an artistic one. I hope this caker learned that lesson so that she will never ever be taken to the cleaners by anyone again.

Cat
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post #5 of 10
1/5/12 at 3:01am
Thread Starter 
I just posted an update with additional images.
It looks like the cake was damaged after delivery.
http://cakecentral.com/blog/lebron-james-refuses-pay-baker-3000-cake

birthday.gif Jackie

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birthday.gif Jackie

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post #6 of 10
1/5/12 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackie

http://cakecentral.com/blog/lebron-james-refuses-pay-baker-3000-cake

My opinion is that both cakes were equally good. I applaud both bakers for making such behemoth cakes on such short notice. Kudos to Alethea Hickman and everyone that worked on the cake at Passion for Pastry... you are now getting the publicity you worked so hard for! It's a fantastic cake, and I hope those orders start pouring in!

The moral for the rest of us is.. be wary of doing "free in exchange for publicity" cakes. In the long run, I would say to anyone that has the opportunity to participate in a celebrity event like that, to jump in, and do your best not to get taken advantage of.

What are your thoughts?



I too agree that both bakers/decorators' efforts were very good - especially when you look at the time they had to work on them. I don't think anyone should be casting stones at anothers' abilities unless you're asked for your opinion. I think that this incident taught me that should I ever become good enough to be approached by anyone "Kingly" in nature I will insist on payment icon_wink.gif I will save my free cakes for truly worthy causes, thank you very much!

Come to the Dark Side - we have cupcakes 

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Come to the Dark Side - we have cupcakes 

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post #7 of 10
1/5/12 at 1:06pm
So sad about it getting ruined. =( It looks like someone was carrying it, lost balance and tried to save it by grabbing the top. I hope they still used it for something or handed it out to someone.
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post #8 of 10
1/6/12 at 4:52am
I would think since they gave her tickets they basically did agree to her cake..as that was a condition. What decorator would "trade" tickets just for making a five tiered cake that may or may not be used???? I can't imagine why they would not tell her knowing she was coming to the party that they didn't "use" her cake.. I think this should be a big eye opener for cake decorators.."get"..something in writing.. Wonder how the second decorator would have thought if they would have had a "3rd" decorator on board..and she got dissed. I think this was very "poorly" handled and down right rude.
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post #9 of 10
1/7/12 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by catlharper

The 2nd cake was on a different plain than the first cake but that's all beside the point. The dissed baker should have had a contract, even for publicity/tickets, to detail what was expected along with sketches of what she was going to create. Then, when they backed out of using her cake and thus not providing the publicity nor tickets, she would have recourse. ALWAYS use a contract, even if the product is a barter/trade. ALWAYS stipulate what the cake will be in design and cost.

Now $3k for that cake, nope. I would say around $1200 would be about right. It's a beautiful cake and a lot of work went into it but not a $3k cake. The second cake is twice the size and embellishment so $3k would be about right. However, no matter what her price, they said they would pay it and they didn't. If she'd had a contract she could do something about it.

Caking is subjective...what one person thinks is wonderful another could think it's just ok. It's art. But if you have a contract then it's a legal matter, not an artistic one. I hope this caker learned that lesson so that she will never ever be taken to the cleaners by anyone again.

Cat



She probably heard the "name" and figured she could upcharge a bit. REality is that cake isn't worth $3g's plain and simple. The 2nd cake is worth about that.
shakin, bakin, and cakin...
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shakin, bakin, and cakin...
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post #10 of 10
1/20/12 at 8:24pm
ok so i'm just catching up on all the updates but the articles CLEARLY state that 2 different groups ordered the cakes. Passion for pastry was contacted but reps from the hotel while Divine Delicacies what hired buy the team. so if she really has an issue she should take it up with them. Lebron didn't order the cake so why should he pay for it? it seems to me like there was a communication issue between the team and the hotel. If Divine Delicacies makes all the cakes for the team's events why wouldn't they make this one?
A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece ~Ludwig Erhard
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A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece ~Ludwig Erhard
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