In future ... I will state the obvious : keep cake upright! Putting a high cake (5'/12cm) on your lap, sitting dead still and chatting with your friend/the driver that you've not seen in years is still not level!! Herewith a cake that was meant for a christening of an 8year old girl, yesterday. Client picked it up late on Saturday evening with her friend and 8year old daughter, sleeping on the backseat. But ... 10 minutes later (close to her home, 15km away) she called me and said they are returning, the cake is sliding ....
The cake was not in the centre of the cake board ... This I mentioned to the "holder" that she must be careful ... "it's "lobsided". I do not think she understood, and I think she put the heavy side also away from her ... I wish I had look what she did when she took the cake. As I opened the door, she showed me how she sat ... legs not level. Why, oh why do people not HOLD the cake with their hands ... why did she not take the non-slip mat I gave her and put it level on the floor ....? Oh why ...??
It's a colleague of my husband and I felt so bad that I gave her back all her money ... even the money for the 30 cupcakes with run-out little crosses on toothpicks ...
What makes me mad (and terribly sad) is that she will never realise that it was her friend that cost her having a christening cake ... of the little more than 200 cakes I've baked, this is a first for me ... From the start this cake gave me no trouble, no buldging sides (it's buttercream), no nothing ... I think of the valuable family time (kids are on holiday) I gave up ... for nothing ...
I'm soooooo sad ...
I walk out to the vehicle, put down a non-slip mat, walk back in get the cake and place the cake in the vehicle. I once had to rearrange the tools that were in the back of the van so that they wouldn't have a chance to roll around and into the cake. Non-slip mats are priceless and I don't mind figuring in their slight cost as part of the price of the cake.
I have also used them inside the cake box if there was just a little too much room for the cake to slide around!
Everything everyone else said plus...
I have a label titled 'Travelling with your custom cake' that goes on every cake box. I insist that they read it in my presence, and then we head to the car. I've even refused to hand off a cake when the person picking up showed up in a tiny sports car after insuring me they would be in an SUV. No way the full sheet size, multi tiered cake was going to fit! They ended up paying for delivery, which was offered in the beginning, and I charged more for the last minute inconvenience.
Which brings up the question: why did you return the money? Unless I misunderstood, it seems that you gave handling instruction. These are adults and try as we may, we can't force people to do as we suggest. On the bottom of my order form is a signature line signed by the pick up person. Above it, in bold red letters is this statement, 'We are not responsible for damage that occurs to your order after it leaves our possession.' I have a similar statement on my wedding cake contract. We try to think of everything, but the reality is that legally once it's in their possession, they're responsible. Think about it this way, if you drop the dozen eggs just purchased in the parking lot while loading your car, it is very unlikely that the store is going to return your money or replace them for free.
Just saying....
LOL every cake I have ever delivered has been on my lap. That's because I drive a tiny car and there is no room for it anywhere but my lap! I do hold my legs level though! I can only do two tiers max and then stack the third one on top when it reaches its destination.
Which brings up the question: why did you return the money? Unless I misunderstood, it seems that you gave handling instruction. These are adults and try as we may, we can't force people to do as we suggest. On the bottom of my order form is a signature line signed by the pick up person. Above it, in bold red letters is this statement, 'We are not responsible for damage that occurs to your order after it leaves our possession.' I have a similar statement on my wedding cake contract. We try to think of everything, but the reality is that legally once it's in their possession, they're responsible. Think about it this way, if you drop the dozen eggs just purchased in the parking lot while loading your car, it is very unlikely that the store is going to return your money or replace them for free.
Just saying....
My thoughts exactly.
If you returned all of that money thinking that she'll be a return customer, it was a waste of YOUR money.
And, really, would you want such a marginal customer, anyway?
You return money when it's YOUR fault, not when it's the customer's fault. You return only the portion of the money reflected by the damage that was YOUR fault.
You can't expect a customer who walks off with undeserved FREE merchandise to respect you and your product in the future. She'll still be telling people how YOU made a cake that slid off of the cake board.............
Your cake was gorgeous. Sorry it was treated so shabbily.
Rae
I was also thinking the same thing about the refund, it's like you're admitting blame for something you didn't do. I had similar incident once with cupcakes when I was first starting out. I knew it was her fault but as a gesture of good will I gave her a discount off her next order.
I do like to see my cakes loaded into the car correctly, but just lately people give me a look as if I'm angling for a tip for doing it lol
As for the tools being in the back of the car you're expected to put a cake in, it doesn't surprise me. I've had pushchairs, furniture, even a dog basket when people come to pick up cakes. It just amazes me that they expect to put a cake in there & nothing happen it. I do agree with the once it's left it's your responsibility, especially in circumstances like that.
Thanx for all the replies .... WILL remember ALL of them in future ... AND stand my ground when I KNOW the cake was perfect when it left ...
On the subject of returning her money : I felt SO bad ... here she is, no christening cake and that hours before the event ... like I said, she's a colleague of my DH and I know her fairly well. Her husband's flight was 3 times cancelled before he eventually arrived hours before she fetched the cake .... yes, I felt sorry for her .... and in HER mind something is/was still "wrong" with the cake .... as she put it "it started to slide" and her last sentence "I'm not angry with you" ...
My post started out, feeling sorry for myself, but in fact I'm to blame here ... for NOT standing my ground and for not insisting she takes the non slip mat and for not putting it in her car, even if she did fly her friend up to attend the christening/ "hold" the cake ...
Thanx girls ...!! xx
Your cake is beautiful!!! sorry it wasn,t taken care of . We all learn a valuable lesson in everything we do. You did nothing wrong. But you feel good what you did about giving the money back for whatever reason.That is ok. You know that you make the cake that she wanted and it was in perfect shape when she left with it. I cringe sometimes at how they travel away from me with a cake i have worked so hard on. We have to shake some things off. The pics that we take of our cakes prove that they were perfect when they pick them up. right?
It's too bad she didn't feel that badly for you because you were out the time and money. I never would've returned money for something I didn't do wrong.
You put money in her pocket that you took out of your own.
cannot agree more.
It's too bad she didn't feel that badly for you because you were out the time and money. I never would've returned money for something I didn't do wrong.
You put money in her pocket that you took out of your own.
cannot agree more.
That cake was flawless! You should not have returned the money, it was totally the clients fault. 
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