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Topsy Turvy Cake FELL!!!! - Page 4

post #46 of 58
9/25/12 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilmissbakesalot

I don't jump on the "they got what they ordered/the cake was fine when you left so you don't owe then anything bandwagon. Yes you made the cake they ordered, yes it was fine when you left, and yes you fixed the problem, but they did not get what they ordered and they do have a right to some compensation. (not aimed at the OP at all, just my general feelings on the whole thing) I hate seeing the posts where people are so up in arms because the customer is looking for compensation for a job that, while it started out well done, wasn't what they wanted in the end. If they didn't like the flavor they chose that's one thing, but to have a different cake than what was paid for... that is completely different ball of wax.



One more thing... AMEN to this statement, whether the cake costs 100.00 or $1,750.00.
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post #47 of 58
9/25/12 at 8:13pm
Diane706, I m not attacking you, please relax. The problem with writing is that tones are misinterpreted very easily. Words need to be used more carefully. My tone was by all means peaceful and u misunderstood me completely. But anyway, I don t want to turn this into something it s not meant to be. Life is too precious to waste it arguing. Have a good night everyone._ thumbs_up.gif
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post #48 of 58
9/26/12 at 6:48am
Well, I have mixed feeling about this, probably because I just got married last year and had a horrible experience from my lighting company, but on the other hand I have a cake business too so I know how people can lie and all the effort it goes into making a perfect wedding cake stable.

So here is my opinion, if someone purchased a cake over 1000$ I would stay at the venue untill the wedding started, take pictures and then be on my way. This assures that its stable for at least an hour and you have pictures to prove it. That cake is very expensive and for it to fall, is devastating to the bride who probably feels that was the most important part of her wedding if she paid that much for the cake. So I understand both sides, and I think this is a learning experience for all of us bakers on wedding delivery day.

Do you have pictures of the cake before and then pictures of the cake as how you fixed it? If it was still just as beautiful after, then I am on your side and you owe no refund. I also would be contacting the venue director/florist/dj and getting opinions on who was there when it fell.
Yes I am legal. Now move on and bake..
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Yes I am legal. Now move on and bake..
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post #49 of 58
9/26/12 at 8:28pm
Staying at a venue for an hour, or more in most cases (we deliver 2 hours before an event), is not a realistic possibility for any business. You are tying up your delivery vehicle and paying someone to sit and do nothing for a good chunk of time.

Many of us deal with cakes in the $1,000.00 range on a regular basis, so I think that price has nothing to do with it. Be it $2,000 or $200 the cake should be what was ordered and be able to stand up until served. (again... not a dig at the OP as I think she feels the same way that I do... this is just a general rule) No matter what the size or price tag, every cake is precious to the one who ordered it. They put their trust in a baker and had faith in them to provide a beautiful and structurally sound dessert, and in most cases this is what happens. In the case of disaster you do what you can to remedy it and/or offer some compensation if warranted. Just because cakes can fall doesn't mean they will everytime and it doesn't warrant being obsessive about it. I'd think you'd get some pretty strange stares from the venue staff. It would make you look less than confident in your work and would more than likely lose you some business.
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post #50 of 58
9/27/12 at 5:07am
I respectfully disagree, a 6 tier topsy turvy has way more possibility of falling or something going wrong than your basic 3- 4 tier stacked wedding cake. I delivered a 7 tier stanley cup cake to a venue this summer, stayed 30 minutes extra to make sure everything was good to go and to assess the situation of what was going on around the cake before i left.

No one looked at me like i was crazy, they looked at me like wow! you did that masterpiece! You may call it being over picky however after i spent numerous hours on a super tall cake, you can bet ill take the extra 30 minutes to make sure everything is ok and that there are no babies running over the cake table before I leave and take pictures. After I leave I understand is out of my control, but you can get a pretty good idea of the type of wedding it is by watching and assessing your surroundings before you leave.

Just my 2 cents, and if you do a gazillion wedding cakes in a day then I can see how you may disagree with me, but I have never had an accident to date and no one has ever wanted a refund from me. I know that day is coming but you can bet all my eggs will be in a row on my behalf. Accidents can happen to any of us, the OP handled this wonderfully, I am just adding that a quick stop, look n listen to the surrounding of the cake table for a bit has helped me alot.
Yes I am legal. Now move on and bake..
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Yes I am legal. Now move on and bake..
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post #51 of 58
9/27/12 at 9:01am
I agree that when delivering a cake you should take your time and make sure everything is set up correctly, but after you take pictures there's really no reason to hang around. Usually you will be out of there before the guests arrive anyway.

If there is a problem, your contact at the venue or the planner (or the bride) can just call you, as they did in this situation.
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The Bakery Business Perspective
An experimental blog with new content every Tuesday!

Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
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post #52 of 58
9/27/12 at 12:48pm
What I see some on here forgetting is that the cake was supposed to be set up hours before the reception but was changed at the last minute to the reception start time, by the bride or venue, not the baker. She tried to pre-assemble what she could to keep the interruption to the festivities to a minimum.

Would the cake have fallen if it was set up earlier like it was supposed to be? Who knows. But I bet had she had adequate time to assemble like she would have preferred and it still fell she wouldn't be questioning at all what she should do.
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post #53 of 58
9/27/12 at 1:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KalisCakes

Saturday we had a wedding... 6 tier topsy turvy with cascading chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered strawberries in between the spaces on the tiers (does that make sense?)



Well maybe there's another lesson for all of us to learn here.

There are two ways to make a "topsy-turvy" cake: with tiers that are flat on top and bottom, leaving triangular spaces on tops of cakes, like this:http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2408819/fit-for-a-princess

The other way is tiers that are carved on their tops so the next tier up sits on flat cake. This style can be doweled normally. It's discussed by Margaret Braun in her book "Cakewalk".

Me, I would never build an angled cake with open spaces between more than 2 tiers (one space). Yeah I know people stick fruit or tiaras or stuff in there, but...To me, six tiers and a large party with booze mean using the most reliable engineering possible. A site at 80-90F will warn the cake up faster, and that has to be part of why this cake fell sooner rather than later.
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post #54 of 58
9/27/12 at 3:37pm
I'm not suggesting that you drive by and let the cake roll out when you are going 20 MPH... just saying that the luxury of time to just hang out at a venue isn't something we all have (and I'd venture to guess that most of us don't). If I were to hang at a venue for 2 hours... they would look at me like I was insane.

You definitely should make sure the table is sound ( and so many times they are NOT) and that your cake is sound, but hanging around isn't necessary. If you build your cake properly you shouldn't have to stress about it falling to the point that you have to wait around to see if it falls. Speaking from the stand point of someone who has a shop and does about 10 cakes on average... hanging back at a venue just isn't something we could do, or need to do since we have confidence in our cakes. You can agree or disagree, but that is my opinion.
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post #55 of 58
2/13/13 at 11:11am

So what was the final outcome???

 

thanks,

Barb

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post #56 of 58
2/13/13 at 5:29pm

Did you take a couple of pictures when you first saw the damaged cake? I would've at least taken a photo of the cake in general and the handprint on it, before touching the cake to fix it.

regards from Shanghai, China
Ursula
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghai-schroeder/
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regards from Shanghai, China
Ursula
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghai-schroeder/
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post #57 of 58
2/13/13 at 11:24pm

seriously, what happened???

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post #58 of 58
2/14/13 at 6:57am

What a cliffhanger, I would love to know what happened in the end.

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