My mom runs a home bakery, and a client chose to pick up a birthday cake for a party. Unfortunately, when the cake arrived at the party, which was at the bottom of a mountain and involved driving on some winding roads, it was in poor shape. The client's sister, who placed the order, texted my mom, clearly upset and blaming her for the cake's condition. They also complained that the cake was heavy.
They went on and on saying “I couldn’t bring out the cake and sing to my daughter” “It was supposed to be a centerpiece and people couldn’t look at that.”
What would you do if you were in my mom's position? She feels terrible about the situation, but the cake was secure and in perfect condition when it left her hands.
by listentolana
46 Comments
Ugh. A tough place. But she is only responsible for the cake for as long as it’s in her possession. The rest is on them.
Make sure you’re upfront about policies about when it stops being part of the maker’s responsibility. You don’t go to a wine shop to replace glasses you dropped AT home right?
Were there supports in the cake? I just need a bit more info before giving advice.
I do not run a cake business, but I do deal with unhappy clients. If this were me, I would apologize and state that it was in perfect condition when it left but to soften the blow, I would refund 25%. I would also put them on a special list to never make them a cake again. 😊
Edited to add: customers were dumbasses who took a tiered cake up a mountain without taking extra precautions.
Sounds like it is the customer’s problem. Your Mom baked the cake and the customer took possession of it. Feels like the same sort of thing when someone buys a car and they get into an accident a mile down the road.
Once it leaves my hands, it’s no longer my responsibility. You have no idea how they handled the cake, if they didn’t secure it well for travel, if they were driving like lunatics, if it fell over in their vehicle, etc. This is laid our very clearly in my cake contracts for a reason- there’s absolutely no way to tell what happened.
Of COURSE it’s heavy, look at the size of it. Clients sound like they’re unwilling to accept responsibility and are just taking it out on your mom. I would blacklist them and not take orders again.
If it had straws or dowels to hold it up and they were told it needed to stay cold and on a flat surface during transport it isn’t her responsibility. If she didn’t have proper support and boards in it then it might be her problem. If she explained the risks and they chose to do what they wanted anyway it isn’t her problem. She hopefully made that all clear prior to pick up and can forward them the info from her site, emails, or previous contact she had with them.
Personally, I would react better to a client who sent me that picture and said “the cake collapsed perhsps because it was too heavy but we made the best of it and enjoyed it anyway” than to someone who declares their two year-old’s life ruined because of the cake.
If you took a pizza home, thrashed it about, and cried about the cheese on the ceiling, the pizza place would make you pay for another.
As an amateur baker who only makes cakes for friends and family, transporting it is my biggest anxiety causer.
Anything with more than one tier had a board between and more-than-is-reasonable dowels in it.
I’m looking at this picture and seeing no evidence of dowels. If the cake was supported by cake alone, and I’d paid a pretty penny for it, I’d be frustrated too.
If, however, this was a properly structured and supported cake and I’d overcooked a hairpin bend at twice the recommended speed, I’d eat the thing and acknowledge how much it tasted like humble pie.
TL/DR as a previous poster said, more info needed. Doweled = driver’s issue. Unsupported might mean a reasonable right to recompense.
If the cake had dowels between layers and one down the center and customer was told keep it on a flat surface then I’d feel like I’d done my part for travel
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I wouldn’t recommend traveling with a stacked cake. Bring it to the location unstacked, and stack it on location. Tricky, but preferable to it collapsing/leaning
I don’t see any supports in that cake. That bottom layer collapsed under all the weight. I’d also suggest giving them quite chilled. It looks like it was a great cake.
I’m going out on a limb and say that possibly the cake didn’t collapse during travel, but when they tried to take it out. The background implies a kitchen. Maybe they opened the box, tried to take it out but not carefully enough. Likely ir not, it’s possible, and they try to blame the baker? Bottom line, there is no proof it happened on the road.
The cake does not look like it has dowels or a cake board to support its weight. Is it the case that it does and we just don’t see it or…?
I don’t mean to criticize your mom, as the cake is very pretty and technically nice (and I’m sure tasty too) but I’m not sure I can really criticize the customer if the cake had no supports. If they didn’t want dowels, there could have still been a cake board and it could be transported in two pieces and assembled onsite. Or you could use boba tea straws— less chance of injury while offering light support (though I would not recommend for a fondant cake).
…Though I am criticizing the way they put in their complaint— they really could have still brought out the cake (top layer is intact) and I felt that *they* did most of the ruining.
Edit: Idk about anyone else here but I am always ready with a spoon for the smushed cake bit lol. And I see that she has since mentioned dowels. She hasn’t said anything about a cake board so advice still stands. For a cake like this I’d say four slightly spaced out dowels and a cake board would be a good idea.
Need more information for sure. How was the cake supported internally? Was the cake sitting on a cake drum or a board?
Why aren’t you responding to people asking about supports in the cake? 🤨
I would probably have sent it in 2 pieces so the top wouldn’t weigh down the bottom. Or, if the customer didn’t like that idea, tell them your concern for the well-being of the cake and suggest delivery. It’s all very well to say that it’s their problem once it leaves your mom, but think about how you’d feel if this spoiled the happy day you had planned. How she handles it from here is going to be the difference between losing more than one customer and gaining more. I always offer something to an unhappy customer. In this case, I’d probably offer a partial refund, only charging for the cost of materials and overhead, and count the experience as valuable learning for all involved. After all, I’m sure they ate the cake, but that refund would possibly help soothe the feelings of everyone involved.
Honestly shouldn’t give clients the option to pick up, drop off ONLY. So you know cake got delivered no issues and then when it leaves its out of your hands
😂 “sorry you ruined it during transport” probably isn’t a good answer
Curious about if there was any type of supports in that cake.
This looks like when my husband puts his leftovers on the backseat unsecured and then whips around corners and wonders why his leftover end up on the floor.
So, judging by what I have seen asked repeatedly and not answered, I’m going to assume there was no cake support in the middle. Tell your mom for future cakes to build up more structure between the cakes. I have seen it as simple as Boba straws and a center dowel and have made it as complicated myself as using pillars with snap in cake plates between tiers. For a big old honker of a cake like this, she really should consider at least some thick straws in the bottom with a cardboard cake circle between the tiers to rest on them. Fondant gets hella heavy, and a normal cake just can’t stand up to that sugar’s weight. It will also prevent things like sagging or bulging at the sides if she ever has those issues, too. I did big cakes like this for 2 years off and on, and it makes such a huge difference Iin whether the cake cracks or collapses. Tell her that her work is beautiful and she should be incredibly proud!! That cake is definitely worth whatever she charged for it.
TLDR: Her work is beautiful. The only improvements she needs to make from what I can see are cake supports and contracts!
I know of a professional baker who take pics of their cakes before it leaves their possession. A pretty freshly decorated pic for the portfolio and social media, and a pic of it packaged and ready for the client. Might help going forward 🤷♀️
“involved driving on winding roads” which means whoever picked it up wasnt carefully driving with the cake in mind.
if a person being driven (like me for example) down winding roads fast, i would get dizzy and barf all over in the middle or after the drive. how much would a soft cake handle? its not made of cement.
anyway, seeing that they didnt think of this and would insist on blaming your mom, there is no way to salvage it. just consider them a lost customer.
Unless, I could weather bad reviews, as a small business owner in the internet day & age:
“I am sorry you’re so sorry, this happened. I have never had any of my cakes collapse on a delivery before. Here is a refund of your purchase.”
And then, I would change my policy, and 1) cakes of the magnitude will have to be delivered OR 2) explicitly tell the story, of a customer who thought she could drive quickly with not securing the cake safely and her event was ruined, so to prevent this in the future, and now you have customers sign a release, acknowledging that large cakes can become damaged in transit…
Hey quick question: is that a chicken wearing a Fez?
Hmm looks like the cake was in the car a lot longer than it should have been if the entire thing got soft enough for dowels to shift. Do you have a cake info card that has a maximum room temp time limit recommendation?
once it leaves your possession it’s not your responsibility or problem.
Update: Yes, my mom used supporting pillars for this cake. Yes, the client approved of the cake before purchasing. She did however find out that the client picked up the cake, drove back to her house, put it on the counter for hours, then drove to the party.
Once it left Mom’s hands it was their responsibility. Legally. Make sure she keeps detailed printed documentation of all correspondence via text or email.
Depending on the buyer’s treatment of your Mom, as goodwill, maybe offer 1/3 back? If they get nasty, tell them what I said at the beginning and she’s really sorry.
Hopefully they’ll stay off of social media, but if they don’t it’s easy enough to share her side and those pics
Definitely not her fault. I would maybe offer a discount on their next order as a good will offer, but that’s about it. She did everything right.
“Sorry, I cannot guarantee the condition of my cake once it leaves my possession.”
I picked up my daughter’s wedding cake on Friday and had to sign something stating that I inspected the cake and that it was completed as expected and undamaged when I received it and understood that they were not responsible for any damage to the cake once in my possession.
Not her problem if they fucked the cake up after leaving. Cakes are made of baked goods not steel. As far as your mom is concerned her responsibilty ends when the customer accepts the product.
Once that cake left the vendor’s hands it is no longer the bakery’s responsibility. What if they had dropped it on the floor right after they paid for it? Would they blame your mom? It’s the same thing. Once the customer takes charge of the product the sale is over.
These people are trying to get a refund because they ruined their cake. Do not give them any money back.
Your mom did her job. She did what they paid her to do – make a cake.
Are you kidding me? How are they gonna blame your mom if it got messed up in their possession? I mean that is truly asinine. It sucks. But it breaks my brain to think how they could blame your mom.
Once it leaves your hands. You have no responsibility. Who knows how crazy they were driving
I once slaved over a massive 3 tier, crazy detailed themed wedding cake, the client was late to pick it up at our generous half way meet up spot, and it was quite warm that day. After pick up they were driving another 2 hours to the location. I told them to be EXTRA careful. They put it in the back seat im pretty sure.
I saw pictures of how it looked the day of, they actually presented it, and I was mortified and heart broken. I put a lot of effort into it and it was destroyed. While they never reached out about it, if they did i would’ve laid it out clearly and told them that it’s 100% their fault.
In your case, and mine, it’s not our problem after the client picks it up should we have followed proper structure code with the cake. 🤷🤷
I give you a balloon, then leave, then you pop it, then your sister comes to me like its somehow my fault. Lol. Tell them to kick rocks.
This sounds unnecessary, but make stickers and put them on cake boxes that warn customers that the cakes should be handled with care, and verbally inform them if this when an order is placed and when they arrive to pick up said order. When they pick up the orders, have them verify that the contents are as they should be. That way, when they try to blame you for their mistakes, you have proof that you earned them and that the cake was in good condition when it left the store. They’re only going to make themselves look bad.
The car already left the lot, basically. Or think of a marketplace listing. If it was working/fine before they left, it isn’t your mom’s fault.
They should’ve been more careful in transit.
So we don’t care about how little fella feels on top? HE WAS SLIDING AROUND IN A CAR ON A COUCH. HE IS STILL LEANING TO THE SIDE. HELP HIM PLEASE!!!
/s
But in all seriousness OP. Not mom’s fault. This sounds like a money scam. I would still eat that cake. I mean it’s cake. Goes through the mouth and out the ass. So it will be in a crappy situation one way or the other!
When the customer receives the product, it was in perfect condition. Anything that happened after that is completely on the customer.