AAnd why can't I see the cake? I am only seeing 4 photos when I click on the profile picture and see the albums, none of which is a unicorn. I would love to see it.

To answer one more question, yes, she told me if it couldn't be shipped cheaply to throw it away. I obviously couldn't do that, which is why it was donated.

CakeCentral doesn't list my email does it? I have never received a client who found me on here before. But it is possible.

Again, as a consumer, it would be SOLEY my responsibility (I think) if I were to order a custom product, PAY FOR IT BY INVOICE where the BUSINESS DETAILS are clearly at the top of the invoice. I guess I liken it to my buying off Amazon (or even Ebay) I make sure the place ships to my country, or can ship to me (like certain chocolate places won't ship to me in FL in the summer months)... as a consumer, I don't just hand over money to any business before checking it out.

I have asked 2 times where she got my info, and she hasn't responded to that - leads me to believe someone gave her my email who had either ordered or knew of me in KS.

 My husband is a pastor, so my income is needed, not extra $.Not that it matters, but the cost of my money into the cake was $70. I made a profit of only $30. No, that's not her fault- however, ordering from a place and not paying attention where she was ordering from (and paying!) is... IMHO . I had other orders I couldn't take this week as this week as I only take limited orders so I can give each cake the attention it deserves.

Thank you again, whether you agree or disagree with how I have handled this :) That's why CC is so great! I love hearing other points of views on things I haven't even thought of before.

Ya'll have been very helpful!

Honestly it was a mistake (that could have EASILY been avoided if one of you were paying more attention) on the both of your behalfs. I would have refunded her at least half since you also should have checked location and it is half your fault. Or I would i wrapped and packed it the best I could charged her for overnight shipping and shipped it. 

hum, not sure why only my older cakes are showing.....

Here is the link:

http://cakecentral.com/g/i/3049661/a/3373845/3d-unicorn/

A

Can you explain how she broke the rules? By agreeing to an in-person pickup it was reasonable for OP to assume that the customer lived in FL, so the transaction would have been covered by the CFL. In fact, if the customer drove to FL to pick up the cake it would still be legal under the CFL since the transaction would have taken place within FL.

Shipping out of state probably would not be covered under the CFL.

A

Can you explain how she broke the rules? By agreeing to an in-person pickup it was reasonable for OP to assume that the customer lived in FL, so the transaction would have been covered by the CFL. In fact, if the customer drove to FL to pick up the cake it would still be legal under the CFL since the transaction would have taken place within FL.

Shipping out of state probably would not be covered under the CFL.[/quote]

I take the face to face to mean that you can't take Internet or phone orders, you must be face to face. If so, then the rules were broken.

A

That is stinking adorable! How much cake was used (for a serving estimate?) I love it! I would've had to charge at least $300.

I looked at your website, and I have to say that the wonky cake you have lised doesn't make an accurate representation of the work you do, and vote you remove it from the gallery.( It isn't nearly as nice as the others ).you do really nice work!

A

Considering the FL law says that "a cottage food operation may not sell or offer for sale cottage food products over the Internet" it's fair to say that this particular clause is not being enforced, otherwise web sites and Facebook business pages for cottage food businesses would not be allowed. The intent of this clause is usually to disallow shipping products.

If FL's intent was to make it illegal for cottage food businesses to take orders online and fill them face to face (as the OP was planning) there would be very few compliant businesses in the state.

I never accept a deposit without giving the customer the pick up address as I live in a large metropolitan area and wouldn't want the customer to find out after he/she ordered that it was an hour drive to get here. And I do have a number of people try to pay without that info. If you don't want this to happen again, you might want to reconsider about the onus being entirely upon the customer.

AMaybe in the future you can include you address in the signature of your email? If you don't already

If she said you should throw it away then you were completely within your rights to donate it since she obviously didn't want it anymore.

If she is not answering your question of where she got your info I suspect she either got your name from someone you did a cake for at least 3!! years ago and just assumed you still lived in the area,or Googled you or something, or frankly just didn't pay attention to the invoice with your address on it.  I'd bet she realizes it was HER mistake in not checking where you live until the last minute when she was supposed to pick up the cake.

At this point I don't think she is entitled to any kind of refund.  And while I completely understand that this is income that you need and rely on, if you are selling cakes and underprice it doesn't matter in the slightest.  Take this as lessons learned - don't underprice and confirm clients know you live in FL
 

AAww thank you for the nice comment! It's a 10" cake ( for me it feeds 30)with white chocolate clay legs, neck and RK head. Just fondant and chocolate cost is nearly $50 for me. I only undercharged as I had never done a horse - just in gumpaste, and it was hard.... I'd much rather undercharge to make sure I do something right, rather than overcharge and have a horse cake come out looking like a pig (snort, snort) :-D

But yes, I need to give myself a little more credit on first " try" orders... Or charge enough to do a practice run!

Even if she DID think you were in Kansas, wouldn't she want to know WHERE in Kansas?  It's a big state.  :)

A

Presumably the customer lives near OP's old location in KS.

ABeautiful cake underpriced for sure

you did a great job on that cake! And for sure, you undercharged. I understand about not wanting to overcharge especially when it's your first horse cake but what about charging correctly? Not under or over? Was your $30 'profit' minus your hourly rate and overhead? 

Also- this client (who didn't bother to ask where you were located) mentioned coming to FL from KS to pick up a $100 cake???? That's on a whole different level of something....wow. 

The whole thing sounds a bit fishy to me. I'd be concerned about some kind of scam, is it possibly coincidence that they are in KS and you used to live there? 

I know I'm late....real late...on this post, but have a need to chime in.

First, IMO the simplest solution to this issue was to ask, "WWJD" and move on to your next order/cake project.  Given the situation, ask how you would have wanted to be treated as the customer who had paid for a product that you will never get.

Second, my husband mentioned this to me just last week when making an X Box cake and charging less than what I knew I should have charged since it was my first time making it.  He suggested to charge what the cake is worth and if it doesn't turn out how you want it to, then give the discounted price acknowledging the less than expected results.  I agree with him that most customers are WOW'd by some of my worst products.  We as cake crafters are our worst critics.

What was the end result?  Did PayPal refund or did she simply count her loss.  I've been in similar situations where I've paid for items and/or scammed out of money for an expected product that I never received and those thoughts stayed with me for a very long time.