Disaster Fixed - Should I Call Or Is No News Good News?

Decorating By Alana7 Updated 6 Jun 2012 , 12:58am by Alana7

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Alana7 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 6:59am
post #1 of 11

Billowing on a wedding cake tier fell from the sheer weight of the fondant. Bad idea to have a seperator under a billowing tier and/or not have the board a little larger for the extra fondant to rest on. icon_rolleyes.gif
I fixed the problem by rearranging the fondant "billows" ( is that even a word?) and switching that tier with a similar sized tier that was stacked. Long story short, the cake looked good after the fix but I was not 100% happy as I consider myself a perfectionist and my clients expect that. I worried that the icing got too soft under fondant and contributed to the disaster and as it sat for a couple of hours under the spot lights my fix would not hold up (after the tearing, the structure of that tier was compromised). I haven't heard from the mother of the bride yet (wedding was 2days ago), but on Facebook pictures that some of the guests had posted at various times during the wedding, the cake seemed to have held up well. The cake was going to be cut 5 hrs after set up.

My question to fellow cakers is, should I call the mother, apologize and tell her what happened or just bid my time and hope no news is good news?

10 replies
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scp1127 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 7:05am
post #2 of 11

Just call and ask her how she liked the cake.

It is better if she tells you about a problem than to tell everyone she knows. Then you can fix it.

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AmyCakes84 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 10:20am
post #3 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by scp1127

Just call and ask her how she liked the cake.

It is better if she tells you about a problem than to tell everyone she knows. Then you can fix it.




I agree - a quick courtesy call is good customer service and lets them know you care about their satisfaction without openly asking if they were disappointed... If they did have a problem, you can try and limit any reputation damage. More than likely though, you can spend 5 minutes getting a big head while they gush about how lovely the cake was!!!

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Alana7 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 12:15pm
post #4 of 11

scp1127, Amycakes - thank you.
Just wondering if I should mention the fondant tearing off and the fix so they dont think the quality of my work is slacking or that I changed the design on them.

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Jenise Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 2:49pm
post #5 of 11

I'm with everyone else. A quick call to make sure everyone was satisfied/happy, no need to mention anything unless they bring it up then a simple explaination that the teirs had to be rearranged because of the weight of the fondant, should be sufficient. They prob didn't even notice since they were all there and nothing was missing.

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AmyCakes84 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 3:13pm
post #6 of 11

Let us know how you get on xx

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Alana7 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 4:21pm
post #7 of 11

OK, I just called the mom and as predicted by Amycakes, I had to listen to her gushing on about how great the cake looked and tasted and how no one else could have come close to what I did with the cake!! (clearly she hasn't seen the ones by the many talented cake artistes on CC icon_smile.gif )
I pointed out to her that I did a little extra with a thicker cake board and added a fancy trim (translate "expensive") to "glam" it up (she was worried she couldn't find a cake stand big enough to accomodate the cake for this upscale event) and she had LOVED that as well. She offered to pay more for the extras too! Of course I wouldn't accept it - I do my best to make my cakes look good even at my expense because ultimately it goes in my portfolio thumbs_up.gif

So my mind is at peace.....somewhat - guilt is still gnawing at me for a full disclosure icon_confused.gif
Thank you ladies for the advice - I didn't feel so alone when talking to her. *hugs*

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carmijok Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 5:11pm
post #8 of 11

Why do you feel guilty? There was a problem and you fixed it.
Everyone was happy.

A cake designer on TV once commented (after she had slapped on some cake spackle to fill in an area that was cut out too much) that cake decorating is nothing but smoke and mirrors. It's true. I hate to think how many times I've had to readjust things that weren't working well...or add cake trimmings to level up a cake that was drooping on one side.

You do what you have to do to provide what the customer wants...and they don't really want to know if there were any problems you had to deal with. It would take away from their enjoyment of what you provided and make them second guess their impression of your cake. How will that make you feel better?
Enjoy the compliments and learn from the experience!

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Alana7 Posted 5 Jun 2012 , 5:27pm
post #9 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by carmijok

Why do you feel guilty? There was a problem and you fixed it.
Everyone was happy.

A cake designer on TV once commented (after she had slapped on some cake spackle to fill in an area that was cut out too much) that cake decorating is nothing but smoke and mirrors. It's true. I hate to think how many times I've had to readjust things that weren't working well...or add cake trimmings to level up a cake that was drooping on one side.

So true - I was telling myself cake decorating is all about fixing problems while the whole time I was shaking and anticipating something else to go wrong !


You do what you have to do to provide what the customer wants...and they don't really want to know if there were any problems you had to deal with. It would take away from their enjoyment of what you provided and make them second guess their impression of your cake. How will that make you feel better?
Enjoy the compliments and learn from the experience!




Thank you - I needed to hear that.

...and Carmijok, I've always loved your signature - a quote I need to put into practice more than I do icon_biggrin.gif

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BakingIrene Posted 6 Jun 2012 , 12:11am
post #10 of 11

It's OK to be a perfectionist because that means that you try your best every time you start to make a cake.

But you are selling real world stuff to real world people. Doctor Irene would like to prescribe three doses of Cake Boss on TV to remind you how customers see cakes. If that doesn't help, then take six more doses...

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Alana7 Posted 6 Jun 2012 , 12:58am
post #11 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene

It's OK to be a perfectionist because that means that you try your best every time you start to make a cake.

But you are selling real world stuff to real world people. Doctor Irene would like to prescribe three doses of on TV to remind you how customers see cakes. If that doesn't help, then take six more doses...




icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif Thank you Dr. Irene!

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