I'm not sure what to do about this. I made a 3 tier cake for a co-worker for her parents 50th Anniversary. I delivered the cake fully assembled to my office for her to pick it up. I included extra bc and mmf daisies to use in case any of them broke. I told her how to transport the cake...she choose to put it in a cardboard box anyway. Needless to say the cake slid in the box, destroying the bottom layer and damaging the middle layer. She calls frantically while I'm at dinner with my DH. I offered to help her but she said she could fix it. She calls back asking what size pan I used for the bottom layer...my recipe for lemon filling...the recipe for mmf! At 11:00 p.m. she has air bubble in the mmf...and wants to know if they did something wrong!!! I only charger her $90.00. Should I refund part of her money??

NO.....is she asking you to? you delivered cake, told her what to do. She didn't listen. The blame is on her not you.

Did she request a partial refund? I wouldn't give her any of her money back. If you told her how to transport it and she didn't listen then I would say that is her own fault (unfortunately). If she had listened then she wouldn't be having these problems. Your offer to help was enough.

Umm, no? You held up your end of the bargain, and she opted to ignore your transporting instructions. On top if that, you provided her with recipes and instruction (trade secrets) so she could make repairs herself instead of taking you up on your offer to come fix it. I think you went above and beyond and all disasters here have been a direct result of HER poor decisions.

Hope you feel better!

No, I would offer her any kind of refund.

You told her how to transport the cake and she didn't listen. I think she knows that it's her fault and that's why she's trying to fix it herself. You offered to help and you gave her all the info. such as pan size and recipes. I think you already have gone above and beyond what you should have to do.

I wouldn't. You made the cake and did everything you could to get her the cake in one piece. BAsically, it wasn't your fault that she didn't listen to you and didn't follow your directions.

I would not offer her anything. Even if she asks. You delivered her a perfect intact cake and she destroyed it. That's on her not you. You offered to help. That's the end of it.

I would not refund her any money. You delivered it and after that it's in her hands. Tell her to display the portion that was saved and cut & plate the remaining sections so they are ready to serve.

Oh my goodness! This is one of my biggest fears! This is why I try to convince customers to allow me to deliver all cakes that are stacked. I am assuming there was some reason she didn't have you deliver it.

On the other hand, I agree with everyone else that you did ALL that you were suppsed to, but boy I feel for you that you have to work with this person on a daily basis and it could make life tough!!! I guess I am a sucker and I would try to talk to her and find out how it went in the end and feel her out to see if she is going to talk negatively about me in the office. I am convinced that word of mouth is the best advertisment and I wouldn't risk her speaking ill of me and jeoardize future business.

Good luck!
-Michelle

Thanks to everyone who replied. I did ask her how everything went, her reply was that it was stressful but they pulled it off. She hasn't brought it up since. Even though I know I did everything I could, I hate that the bottom layer of that cake wasn't mine, I can only hope she followed my instrucitons and that it tasted as good as the rest of the cake.

Thanks again for the suport...CC is awesome.

Oh my. What nerve to ask for your recipes! I'm sorry but I am not sure I would have given them out. It's not like mine are top secret or anything but come on.


I wonder what on earth it looked like. And who she gave credit too for it looking the way it did. You did the right thing NOT offering/giving her money back.

I have to agree with everyone else on this one. I wouldn't refund anything even if she asks. It's not your place to since she is the one that didn't listen. If she had gotten the cake some place else, they wouldn't have given her the recipes to fix it and they wouldn't refund. Sometimes people just don't understand that they are told something for a reason, but I bet she'll listen to you next time.