Im baking since more than 5 years now and had my first bad review. They didn't like the design, understandable, their sample image was created from chatGPT and I'm just a human. She said, "we tried you because you came from a recommendation but your cake was bad, we were 18 people and everyone thought the same. No one touched it and it's lying in our fridge". I've refunded 50% I asked if I can have a few photos of the cut cake and if I can myself pick some of it so that I know where I went wrong and how can I improve to which she said, "oh you want a sample is it, it should be enough for you to know that your customer hated it". I apologized and offered 30% refund to which she said if you don't pay us back half, I got a big name in market and I'll defame you and no one ever would buy your cakes. I'm feeling so heartbroken upset and honestly bullied. 😭
by bunnyshooots
29 Comments
They ate it and loved it. They just want to “save money.”
This is disgusting behaviour on their part. If they leave a negative review, you can respond with exactly what you’ve told us here.
Is the pic your finished cake? It’s gorgeous.
It’s definitely time to put in a couple more clauses in your contracts.
One that states that you guarantee the quality of your cakes **at the time of delivery or pickup**. Once the cake has been accepted by the customer, you are unable to offer refunds or replacements for issues that may arise afterward.
I.e No refunds or replacements will be issued after acceptance and a signature upon delivery confirming the cake was received in good condition on the contract slip if you have them.
Also, throwing in a “all custom cake designs is based on our existing portfolio. We do not guarantee exact replication of external inspiration images due to artistic interpretation” would be good.
I’m really sorry this happened to you. It sounds like they either mishandled the cake or aren’t being honest about what went wrong. Either way, you don’t deserve to be treated this way. Best of luck.
Lesson learned. I would make a tougher refund policy from this day forward. These people are scamming you. Btw, i love your cake design.
If she knows a big name that cat defame another business why didnt she hire them 😅 she is lying
Please please don’t let folks bully you! Your cake looks lovely!
I wouldn’t recommend sampling a cake to see what went wrong after it has been in customer’s hands. You don’t know how they stored it, how long it has been outside the fridge ecc. You don’t want to get sick from it.
Ummmm… this cake is BEAUTIFUL. Also, did you refund 50% or 30%? because she should have gotten 0000000% refund.
18 people tried it and hated it but it’s sitting in her fridge? Girl, bye. LOL you’re nicer than me.
So they won’t show you the cake? Ya..they ate it. They just want money back.
I would be so genuinely happy to have that cake though. What are the flavors? I love the way it looks c:
Damn, I’m so sorry! How horrible! Your cake looks incredible. She sounds like an awful lady. Shake it off and keep spreading delight and deliciousness!!!
“We don’t offer refunds for consumed goods”
You are being scammed. The cake is beautiful!
When they say, “I got a big name,” does that possibly mean that they’re some kind of social media influencer? If so, I would *name & shame* if it were me. Some of these influencers are unbelievably outrageous with their constant manipulation to get things for free.
Like this for example:
Them — “Do you know who I am?!? You’d better do ~xyz~ or I’ll ruin you!”
Answer — “What are your social media handles?” Then let the world know what kind of person they really are.
And, as someone else said, respond to any negative reviews they post with exactly what you wrote here.
That cake is GORGEOUS, by the way!!
man this looks very professional work. no way she can find 18 people who think this is bad work. this looks very time consuming the level of details you put forth. no way you should give any money back. if they didnt like the design then they shouldn’t have accepted it an took it home with them.
The cake is beautiful! Don’t let her bully you into giving her the money back! You still used up ingredients and spent hours on this. Let her keep texting herself.
Hell no. Are they some top tier pastry chef or some A rank celeb? CEO or SO of an important person? Then brush it off. Using chat GPT for copy of a cake is nonsense. Refund nothing and then if they want to spend the money, small claims court.
It’s beautiful. They’re trying to save money after the fact and are being assholes about it.
Yea, idk if this helps but they definitely cleaned the plate and are just taking you for a ride for free shit. Agree with he top commenter – you need contract clauses.
But just to say – don’t get down on yourself. I bet anything there’s no picture of the cut cake and no cake they can give you because it was so delicious they and their friends housed the whole thing. They’re just horrid people.
She texted you all of this?? Perfect for a defamation case…
I wouldn’t have given them a dime back just based on their sketchy behavior. The cake is lovely by the way!
This is absolute bullshit. You can offer samples, tell your customers the best use by date, make the cake the damn day of for freshness, follow their every instruction and some people will still find a way to scam you. This is a beautiful cake and based on your story I doubt it tasted like shit. Make it clear in future sales that there are no refunds, take down payments or make sure you get payment on order, and next time you get a customer like this kindly refer to the no refunds on their receipt or in their email, and if they give you more issues repeat the point and never take an order from them again. People will always go lower than you’d think for freebies
It’s quite probable they are lying to get a discount. I would be open to criticism, but not take it too deeply to heart if I were you.
And if they say they didn’t touch the cake because it was so awful, tell them you will give them a full refund if they return it untouched. I think they already ate the cake and are being dramatic. They will make up an excuse about how it was already thrown out. Then you can say that, without proof that it was so disliked it was not eaten, you are unable to provide a refund.
They’re lying. Anyone who actually knows enough about baking that they’re selling cakes won’t be making a cake that 18 people hate. I can’t imagine a cake that wouldn’t be at least good, unless it’s packed full of raisins or something lol
That means they ate the entire thing, and can’t give you anything in return.
I think that cake is beautiful
She’s lying and trying to get some money back. If she still had the cake and it was terrible, why wouldn’t sh just give it to you — but she won’t even let you sample the so-called terrible cake? I call BS. Don’t give her anything back.
Pastry chef with 40 years in the business. I cannot begin to tell you the number of mothers-of-the-brides who’ve come in the Monday after their kid’s wedding, demanding a full refund because the colors were wrong, the flowers were wrong, or cake tasted like ass. But no evidence of this was ever brought back, because it was all eaten. My standard contract for disputes is zero refund UNLESS they can physically bring me the defective part(s). I go over this with every client, and they have to sign off on it. It’s in triplicate. For wedding cakes, there are extra added pages for cake boards, pillars (yeah I know, but some people really like them), final cost/payment/payments/payment due date, refusal of delivery service, color of icing/decorations, topper placement or not… it’s a lot of ridiculous stuff, but I’ve seen too many people scam my employers out of thousands of dollars.
Like others said, it sounds like they were trying to play you for a whole refund but they ate the cake. Protective clauses would be good going forward.
I think the design idea is great, but like another commenter mentioned, the piping needs more practice for consistency. The beads on top and the coloration are great.
In the future, if a design is too complex or your don’t feel comfortable with it, turn it down or let them know that you can try to do something similar or it may be different. Just work on piping and I think you’ll be solid <3