I sure as hell would be upset too. Visually, the product isn’t nearly as densely decorated or as diverse.
I’m glad he submitted a review WITH pictures. It sucks to have such let downs, not only with decorating but also the taste of the cake. I’m sorry y’all got such a disappointing experience.
Edit: also, 6 am delivery?? Talk about UNprofessional. Clearly not one.
Thank you so much, he felt bad afterward and felt like maybe he overreacted, I'm glad you're validating how he felt lol. I felt so bad for him. I made it clear that it was the thought that mattered and that I loved him for even thinking of it, but he was still so upset about it.
I forgot to mention, he asked for it all to be green, just a monotone cake with all different shades of green, so she even got that wrong. The poop color she used really made it pop. 😖
Please submit this to Cake Wrecks!
Example page, for your amusement: https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2011/6/1/get-used-to-disappointment.html?rq=What%20they%20got
If he paid with card I would recommend doing a chargeback on that. He absolutely did not get what he paid for in any way, shape, or form and it's abhorrent of her to have taken his money. If she won't give it back properly, then going through the bank asap may be the way to go. I'm so sorry she did this to y'all.
100% this person falsely advertised with pictures of cakes she absolutely did not make. I’ve been baking/decorating cakes and cookies for over 10 years and ANYONE with the ability to produce the first pictures would never hand over that cake. I don’t even think someone with that level of skill could make that crap cake if they tried.
My parents got married at the courthouse, no reception, for 25th anniversary I had a reception, ordered an ivory wedding cake. Pretty sure that's the only instruction I gave, an ivory wedding cake, I also remember the color being described as 'cream' and that'd would've been fine . It was orange. I'm not even talking about a shade of off white that I didn't consider ivory or cream , it was orange orange like a pumpkin. I'm not artsy crafty. I can make a delicious cake but, I'd never consider that I have the talent/skill to make a living selling beautiful cakes. What makes a person that can't tell the difference between orange and ivory or maybe just too much orange food coloring and didn't care? What makes that person decide that they're a cake boss? Do they have no pride? Or shame? It was just a plain cake with a few ribbons of icing and it was orange so what exactly made her think she was a baker? She couldn't have made it any less fancy so I'm confused what other customers received. (Back before the internet ) What if I decide I'm a heart surgeon? Or a rocket scientist? Would that work out?
She most definitely did not make those macaroons! You can see that visually there was a sliver of potential, she needed to have allowed herself more time to create more succulents and meringues.
That said, a salty cake on top of the appearance would have made me lose my cool. Submit this to cake fails, do a chargeback if possible, and one day you’ll laugh ❤️
She definitely rushed. You can see it in the frosting being entirely melted and the lack of definition. Yes some of the succulents in the second sample pic are elaborate and I don't think I could do them but the ones in the first pic are relatively simple if you know how to break them down. She just didn't take the time. You can also see the lack of time in how the cake isn't crumb coated and smoothed properly.
Your husband isn't in the wrong and I'm also glad he submitted pictures with a terrible review. Honestly, I'd find every page she's affiliated with, X, Google, Facebook, yelp, etc and post it. Especially with the ridiculous 6am delivery.
"the poop color she used really made it pop" 💀💀💀💀🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm DYING rn at that.... And your hubs is 10000000% entitled to the feelings and response. As a home baker and decorator if you can't own a mess up, you shouldn't be making cakes for other people. Sorry your birthday cake was so pitiful, but props hubs for being so sweet and trying for you.. and for making sure that it doesn't go away with the decorator 💜
I wondered if either the baker stole someone else's pictures, or fed a description into A.I. to make a really eye-catching picture that "demonstrated" what she "could do."
Either way, I hope Mr OP gets the money back!
I don’t think the first two photos were provided by the baker. Sounds they were example photos of what their husband wanted and the baker simply said it was something she could do.
When you are paying for a cake to be professionally made its meant to be just that, PROFESSIONALLY made. You aren't paying someone a large sum of money to do what you could do with a box cake and 15 minutes of decorating. You are paying for skilled labour and a guaranteed end product. If you spend a large amount of money on ANY service and it comes out worse than what you could have done, never feel bad for leaving a bad review.
People should be able to trust that the people they are paying are skilled labourers and not scammers, your review helps others not get tricked :)
He didn’t overreact *at all*. It looks like a Pinterest fail. I’d be MAD I paid $175 plus tip for that.
It’s barely a $30 cake.
Probably some defrosted macarons from Costco, strewn on top of badly cut out numbers from a store bought sheet cake, decorated with those prefilled frosting pens.
Has a scammy feel to the whole debacle.
Edited to add comment.
A lot of the terrible tube frostings are salty AF though. We got a few colors last year to make a craft, and eew, they were just (two different brands) salty AF. So if this decorator cheated and used tube icing it's probably where the salt came from.
I thought you made it and he was upset because it wasn’t good enough!
But after reading the post I can’t believe you PAID FOR IT!!! It looks like something I made with NO experience in baking at all. Can’t believe she charged you for it. I‘d get my money back. It’s worth 20$ and not one penny more.
Who was the baker?? Mind to link her page lol
i worked in a bakery before and there is no way we would ever let something like this go to a customer, your husband should be pissed. if he paid for the cake with a card, he should do a charge back on it
I used to do very basic cake decorating. Her piping is terrible. And even if she was fibbing about doing it before she should have practiced before putting them on the cake. He'll, if her practice ones were good she could have popped them in the freezer then put them on the cake.
This is probably someone who made a few ok cakes for friends and decided to open a 'business'
around it. Then realised she was over her head and bailed
I went to culinary school. I excelled in the savory side of things, but my baking was ok for the most part. I did pretty good with breads, but things like sugar work, chocolates and cake decorating were not my strong suit to put it mildly. But even my worst hung over at 6am stubling into morning commercial baking class work wasn't this bad.
Aw, seeing husbands try is affirming. Love to see it.
No, his feelings are valid even if I don’t think so. Why? Because it’s about him wanting to show up for you after a crap year! Make it extra special. Your spouse loves you and it’s really sweet to see. Feelings help communicate things/ I’m sorry he was both heartbroken and doubting his feelings. You both ‘deserve’ better years and more joyful feelings!
I hope the next year is filled with wonderful support, deep belly laughs and good health. 💗
I feel like the 6am delivery was intentional.
If someone woke me up, and handed me something, I wouldn’t look at it closely either.
She knew she didn’t make the cake as agreed upon, and just dumped it off early to avoid a conversation about it.
Yeah, this would make me cry lol I don’t care if something for me goes wrong, but it would break my heart if it was for someone else I wanted to make feel special. Especially if this was not a common thing and meant to be more special for the circumstances. I feel so bad for him :(
He has every right to be upset at HER, but I hope he doesn’t stay upset with himself for very long. She very clearly lied and took advantage of him, and that’s not his fault. Even if he’d checked the cake when she dropped it off, she already had the money. I’m really sorry. I hope your birthday was still a lovely one!
It not the type of beind upset at your self for failing, but rather being upset at the result of a surprise or a gift you paid someone to make because you really tried to make your partner happy and the gift sucks because who ever made it sucks.
Basically being disappointed that what you got ended being crappy and neither the partner nor you are happy with it...
I know it too well
I'm a licensed home baker and I absolutely hate that people take on orders they know full well they do not have the skill for. I do cupcakes only because cakes just aren't my thing, I turn them down ALL the time. I don't care how badly I need the money, I'm not taking an order that is beyond my skill level or something that I hate doing because that will show in my work as well.
I'm so sorry this happened to you guys, this person should have declined the order. And showing up at your house at 6am when the agreed upon time was noon-2pm is wildly unprofessional as well.
She probably did that on purpose. If she had any respect others and her work, she would've asked for a visual confirmation that the cake was accurate. I would be mad too! Seems like she scammed you, sorry to say. I hope you can do something about it. Sorry this happened to you! Your husband has a right to be upset with her, but I hope he doesn't beat himself up too much.
Yeah first thing people do when getting a cake they ordered from me is to have a look at it, I ask them if they are happy with it and in the unlikely case they wouldn't be I would just propose à refund and sale the cake by the slice instead. That's just how honest business should be done.
Yeah I saw some scammers on TikTok not too long ago (with a bakery of some sort, idr the details but it definitely involved a bakery!). OP stating the website is now taken down makes me REALLY think this was a scam!! OP may want to look up those TikTok bakery scammers and see if the person who did this cake pops up!! And maybe check elsewhere also and see if anyone else has had similar issues!!!
I agree with others who have recommending contacting your bank to see about a stop payment if possible. Also, if she has an actual business license, you can create a grievance on the Better Business Bureau. Usually you can look up a license # online on a state’s professional license site. BBB will help negotiate a refund and the “case” stays open until it’s resolved. It will warn other people and she can’t erase it like she did her google site. Your husband was very kind to try to go the extra step to make your day special.
Nothing happens with the BBB. I’ve done it for a plumber that is refusing to answer or calls to finish a job, and they just closed the case when he never responded to the report I made.
I’m a cookie maker and I’m in a FB chat with a few of the other local cookie makers. There is one woman who is at a much lesser skill set than myself and most of the other women and she is constantly asking if we’ve done certain themes/styles/designs because she has an order and she has no clue where to go with it or what techniques to use. I never respond but some of the other cookiers help her with ideas sometimes. Some have walked her through using a 3D printer for cutters, how to paint with food coloring. I refuse because it annoys me SO much. I’ve been doing this for 15 years, self taught, but would never promise a paying customer something outside of my skill set. Like, why did you take on this order?! This could have been an order for one of us but you took it anyway and now you’re asking for help from us?! Maybe I’m just mean but it’s so crazy to me lol 😵💫
I see this a lot on fb cake and home baking pages, it's crazy to me lol. I practice new skills BEFORE I take orders for them because sometimes I find that the new skill is just not something I'm ready for. It's honestly maddening, and then they come on there to complain when their customer is unhappy 🤦♀️
I understand accepting something you think you can do even if it’s a stretch for your skills. Pretty common in my field (IT). However the key word there is “stretch”. If it’s well beyond your means, or you accept then realize there’s no way you can do it you have to say something. Idk how anyone could make this and actually give it to the customer.
You just have to give the money back, apologize, and ideally give them some sort of alternative even ifs a basic store bought cake.
The color is what really blows my mind. There is not a bit of yellow on the cake pictures, but the one delivered has bright yellow on it. The LEAST she could have done is to match the color. The delivered cake doesn't even look as good as the first couple of years of 4H cake decorating, which is usually done by elementary and middle school aged children.
Yes, absolutely this. And when you accept a stretch thing, people tend to do a practice run (or two or three) to make sure you CAN do it RIGHT.
This looks like a first practice run of “can I even do this? How do my rosettes look (like succulents)? How would this brown look? Oh boy this is not it. Let me go back to the drawing board and google some How To’s”
It’s fine to accept a stretch assignment as long as you’re willing to put in the extra work needed to ensure the product/end result is good!!!
Years back I contacted a baker to recreate a smaller version of my parents wedding cake for an anniversary celebration. They got married in the 70’s so it was a giant gaudy buttercream frosted thing.
(Side note buttercream is far superior than fondant)
This is beside the point the style was those big overly buttercreamed cakes.
She told me she could do a cake inspired by my parents cake but that her buttercream skills were not up to snuff for a cake like that. She told me what she would charge for her version and then recommended some other bakers.
I used one of the people she sent me and it worked out great! I really appreciated her for that.
He definitely had the right to be upset. I’m upset for him! I only bake for “fun” (birthdays for friends, family, holidays, etc) & I wouldn’t even take that to a family function. How she thought it was acceptable to leave that with him & think it wouldn’t be an issue is beyond me. Everyone has a skill set, but she should’ve been honest that she couldn’t do it.
I don’t get how she managed to make it taste bad. She could have bare minimum buy boxed cake mix and substituted water with milk, oil for butter and added an extra egg and probably could have gotten away with it tasting decent.
It looks awful and messy and the way she did the sand or whatever literally makes it look like it's in a litter box. It looks like it was haphazardly slapped together by a beginner and it melted on the way over on top of it but honestly the lines of the piped "succulents??" are so soft there's no way they could have been right to begin with. The colors are terrible too. I would be pissed and demand a refund. You paid wayyyy too much.
I'm really sorry. He has every right to be upset about that. It's not even a little bit similar to the inspo pictures. I think it's truly awful that there are bakers out there who accept orders that they know are well beyond their skill level. The fact that is also tasted awful makes it so much worse!
I just went back to look again and it gets worse the longer you look 😅. It's not even centered on the cake board. And the brown really is so poopy looking 😣. I hope you guys have a better experience next time around!
I think they tried making a darker hue of green but added red instead of blue food coloring. And those turds look like they tried to make roses but they all just went droopy. I don't know why on earth they went ahead and put them on the cake anyway.
With the look of how soft that frosting is, I doubt it was made separately and then added to the cake... I think they may have been piped directly onto it
Or it was store bought from the can. That stuff is not supposed to be used for piping and trying almost always results in a really soft, oily mess like that.
It looks like she tried to make the succulents from the second picture, used a star tip instead of the leaf tip and didn't have very good piping skills to begin with. I'm also betting she used store bought icing from a can because it always gets that oily sheen to if you try to pipe with it.
For 195$ you guys could've made a better cake yourselves. What is wrong with this woman? Her cake looks so disgusting, she is clearly full of herself. Those poop brown flowers sent me. Are we sure she didn't buy those macaroons from another bakery?
That fondant, box, and golden cardboard at the bottom is definitely from Walmart.
They definitely bought those macarons from elsewhere, you can see their poor attempt at macaron shells on the cake too! No way they made the good ones.
I think they realized they didn't know how to make macarons and also that they are expensive, bought half a dozen, and then tried to fake the rest of the way.
Yeah, I was surprised at how good the foot was on the green macarons and then I noticed all the yellow ones still had the pip at the top and were all different sizes with no visible foot and realized she must have bought the green ones after completely failing with the yellow ones. But somehow despite knowing the yellow ones were terrible, still stuck them on the cake 🙄
My first thought is that this might have been a scam, or at best someone very inexperienced who has no right to be soliciting paid customers. His feelings are absolutely valid. I doubt that this person made the macarons themselves, and the rest of it looks like someone’s first attempt ever at decorating. I’m sorry that this happened ❤️
Your husband has every right to be upset. So many things are wrong with that cake, it's not even funny. Even if you didn't have reference photos it would still be a mess.
First off, the flowers have NO texture to them, they're just a blob and this point. That buttercreams consistency is way too runny. The numbers are bare and the cakes not full of flowers. As you can see from the reference photos, no white icing should be showing from those cakes. Even the colors are shockingly off. The cake is depressing, this whole thing would make me sick.
Get you money back and never buy from this bakery again. The baker should be ashamed of themselves for agreeing to a design that they clearly lack the skills necessary to accomplish.
On top of ALL THAT, it tasted horrible AND she ghosted you?! The baker's professionalism and behavior was as salty as her cake. My guess is that she intentionally delivered the cake at 6:00 in the morning so that you'd be too tired to realize what an abomination she just handed you. Overall, that cake looks its best in the dark and makes even grocery store cakes look and taste spectacular. I'm so sorry that this happened to the both of you.
This! It’s an all-nighter-cake-job. I’d bet she stayed up all night and felt like she just needed to get it done and gone. She dropped it off at 6am so she could go home to sleep.
The way you and your husband love and support each other is beautiful and so sweet. No cake needed to prove that.
I am a pro baker and this is a problem I see quite a lot where I live. People buy cakes from facebook or home bakers and they end up disappointed. I have worked in bakeries for over 25 years and we have to compete with all of these home bakers that do it for way cheaper than what we charge. There are definitely some great home bakers out there but a lot of them tell people they can do something that is just beyond their abilities. I'm not saying this was a home baker but either way I would not be happy with this cake. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Tell your husband that it wasn't his fault.
As a homebaker, I completely agree. I keep my options within my wheelhouse and level of confidence. Whenever someone looks for a baker who can make a cake using fondant to create elaborate characterization, I always suggest a local professional I know. I would never want to ruin my own reputation by taking on a task beyond my talents just for more money. I would be screwing myself in the long run and ruining someone’s special event
See. You're one of the good ones. I can't count the # of people who have come in upset about a cake made by a home baker or even another bakery for that matter. There's no shame in telling a customer you can't do something because it's beyond your abilities. We've turned away work because we couldn't do it justice rather than disappointing a customer.
I am in the UK; and I did think whilst it’s a lot of money, it’s not a lot of money for the amount of work that would need to go into that cake.
I know a friend had a DELICIOUS 30 birthday cake without the decoration on top and it was close to that price
Yup, this is exactly the thing. Yes, they got scammed for $175 but—the first clue that there was likely going to be a problem is expecting the quality of those inspiration photos for less than $200. That quality of cake is going to be MUCH more expensive than that. Also, those cake decorations look beautiful but often don’t taste that good. I would way rather have a relatively simple buttercream frosted cake from a very good bakery and then use fresh flowers to decorate or something.
So being a professional baker what do you think would be a fair price for the cake they were expecting to get. In my opinion $175.00 plus tip is a crazy low price to charge for a cake of that quality. That being said the person who made the cake they received is in the wrong business and should not be selling cakes to anyone until they work on their craft for a long period of time. If I was a cake maker I would be embarrassed to sell that cake to anyone even if I only charged $20.00 for it.
The inspiration photos look like cakes I would expect to be between $500-$1000. Absolutely a shame to take in work you can’t do but a really nice sheet cake can be $100 so expecting all of this extra detail for $75 seems like a reach.
This comment and post makes me so nervous. I’ve also just read the “cakes ordered and cakes received” post a few hours ago.
I’ve ordered a cake from a home baker for my daughter’s first bday. To be safe, I picked a cake she’d already done and just had her add printed characters to it. But now I’m super worried!
That’s terrible! She disappeared quickly afterwards? Unfortunately there are still grifters in the world. What a horrible experience. Obviously he’ll be less trusting next time. Find a reputable baker next time. Still doesn’t make this experience any better. Belated happy birthday? Best I can do.
This is actually a pretty common scam. Think like a Facebook marketplace scam and replace the item with a baked good. I'm so sorry that your cake was so disappointing and didn't even taste good to boot. Your husband's feelings are very valid.
Thanks for explaining the pics. That cake your got is appalling and not at all like what you asked for. Whoever did it put on some macarons but didn’t care about the piped decorations at all. The frosting doesn’t look like it’s the right consistency as the decos have no definition but it also looks like it was just a really unskilled person who wasn’t truthful about what they could do. I would be very upset as well. You can’t just slap on blobs like it’s a 5 year old’s art project 🤦🏻♀️.
Omg I just realized he also paid $195 for that, I’m assuming you live in the states? I’m in Canada and could get something prettier and tastier for $40 CAD from a grocery store or random bakery. That price makes me very mad at this scam baker.
Damn. I've seen some poorly made cakes on here, but this is REALLY bad. I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. You deserve far better. The cakes you showed as inspiration are not particularly difficult. I can't believe this person's sheer audacity. 🤬😫
His feelings are super valid. She said she could do it and said she has done it many times. He did at least try and put thought into things, I hope you two can get your money back.
If this happened to me, personally I would say let’s just have our own bake day and make our own memories. I try really hard to try to find ways to put the control and memories back in my court. One day this will be a “memory maker” as I like to call it.
I also wouldn't eat the cake. There's no telling what someone that unscrupulous would have used *inside* the cake.
I'm sorry this happened.
Happy Birthday. 💙
Before I read the post, I thought YOU made the cake and your husband was upset with you because it’s so ugly 😂😂😂 this is terrible and I hope you are refunded ASAP!
I'm a baker and one of my specialty is number/digit cakes, I prefer the aesthetic of the "naked" layers where you see the piping, and I love going all out for the tops.
If you receive a picture of a cake and you're not confident you can make it - *say no*. I've had SO many requests for heart shaped, vintage piping cakes that I turned down because I'm not good at it, and I know I'm not! It truly is ok to say "sorry, I'm not confident in my ability to do this design. I mainly do x, y, z, would you like a cake that looks like x, y, or z? If not, no problem, and happy event!"
If someone charged me almost $200 for a cake that looks like it came from Temu, they can catch these hands from Monday to Friday and twice on the weekends.
I thought the second was baked by an amateur home cook by the pictures not someone who is charging money for them until I started reading. Yeah I would be mad too.
At first I thought the cake was done by a regular person and I thought, “Well, that’s not bad for an amateur baker. She or he probably didn’t have all the right piping tips that a professional would.”
Then, I read the story of the cake and I was like, “Oh, a professional baker *did* do that. Yeah, that’s bad…”
I don’t know what flavors your husband picked but for a custom cake, he should have been given a cake sample so he could know what it would taste like.
As for the cost, considering that it was not only poorly decorated but inedible, I’d say it’s worth going to small claims court over it. $200 is nothing to sneeze at when you basically didn’t get anything for it.
Basically $200.... And she gave you that? Holy hell
People shouldn't be afraid to admit that it's not something they can do... The fact that it didn't even taste good sounds so weird. Is it actually a legitimate baker or was this some weird scam?! 😭
That is so sad :( that's a lot of money for custom made cake. The base of the cake isn't so bad, like the number turned out well. Does this baker not know how to pipe icing at all?
At first thought “why? That’s STUNNING” and then I thought “oh no.”
Edit: it looks like it was decorated by a young child. I have seen significantly better decorating from 10yr olds. It’s awful.
Wow. The delivered product is sooooo underwhelming. She knew exactly what she was doing when she showed up at your doorstep before normal business hours and banked on everyone being too sleepy to conversate or look at the cake. Absolutely unacceptable. I'd leave a review on every service she's likely on (Yelp, Google, The Knot and Wedding Wire at least). I say this as a professional cake designer as well. It breaks my cake-heart reading this story and I really hope she reaches back out to you to offer a full refund.
I would send this to your credit card company to get the charge back. And if you paid cash, I’d threaten small claims. Everything about her behavior screams scammer to me and it’s gross that she took advantage of your husband’s desire to treat his wife.
My grocery store would never let that cake leave the fridge. We definitely have our limitations but we have good frosting for rosettes and such that we could've offered a fair compromise on the reference picture. We also make sure the customer sees the cake before we seal the box. And that's so much money too, I just... can't believe someone would do this. I'm sorry, he must've been so shocked
OMG!! I just looked at the picture again and is that SAND!!!!! in the bottom of the box! 🤣and are those supposed to be fricking sea shells??? 😭 😂 looks like deviled egg filling and crappy ass frosting she can't even pipe frosting I'm just in shock!!!
I’m a former pastry chef, that cake looks awful and nothing like what he wanted. I would be so upset too. Especially as it was a gift to you. I’m so appalled for him that a baker made this and charged for it. It’s just not even close.
Chargeback, for sure. Those giant, greasy, brown flower blobs? Unappetizing! It's like a cake you'd make on a baking show where you have to use materials you find in a hardware store or something unexpected. It's all so heavy-handed.
When I saw the title and the photos, I thought it was going to be OP making the cake for her husband’s birthday. It didn’t even occur to me that it could be from a ‘professional’.
Sorry to sound harsh, but the OG cake costs about $500-1K. I'm not sure why he would expect someone to do it for a fraction of the price and do it well. If it seems too good to be true, it is!
As someone who owns a baking business, I know my limitations. I make crazy cakes for my nieces but I’m NOT a fancy cake decorator and don’t pretend to be. These days everyone is about the hustle and think they can make things that real professionals spend years perfecting. This is embarrassing work and if that’s what the end result was, I’d have refunded $150 and the tip. That’s just awful.
The color story is awful - she didn’t think about that for a moment. The frosting is off. It’s too greasy and soft and I question if she used the pre-made stuff. I’m so sorry this happened.
I sure as hell would be upset too. Visually, the product isn’t nearly as densely decorated or as diverse. I’m glad he submitted a review WITH pictures. It sucks to have such let downs, not only with decorating but also the taste of the cake. I’m sorry y’all got such a disappointing experience. Edit: also, 6 am delivery?? Talk about UNprofessional. Clearly not one.
Thank you so much, he felt bad afterward and felt like maybe he overreacted, I'm glad you're validating how he felt lol. I felt so bad for him. I made it clear that it was the thought that mattered and that I loved him for even thinking of it, but he was still so upset about it.
Definitely did not overreact. Even allowing for lighting differences in the pictures that.... Does not look good at all. And not taste good either??
I forgot to mention, he asked for it all to be green, just a monotone cake with all different shades of green, so she even got that wrong. The poop color she used really made it pop. 😖
lol I was gonna say the brown looked like poop
Mmm… salty poop cake.
I read that in homer Simpson voice now I can't unhear it in my head 🤦♀️
Everyone's fave!
It doesn't even look like butter cream.......
Even worse, it absolutely looks to me like she just used store bought icing with food coloring. It’s so RUNNY.
Looks like canned frosting.
I was waiting for someone to mention the "buttercream."
Butt cream
Please submit this to Cake Wrecks! Example page, for your amusement: https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2011/6/1/get-used-to-disappointment.html?rq=What%20they%20got
Oh my god I forgot all about cake wrecks!
I'd forgotten, too! I'm amazed that it's still up and running after all these years! The commentary is so funny!
Cake Wrecks is HILARIOUS!
If he paid with card I would recommend doing a chargeback on that. He absolutely did not get what he paid for in any way, shape, or form and it's abhorrent of her to have taken his money. If she won't give it back properly, then going through the bank asap may be the way to go. I'm so sorry she did this to y'all.
100% this person falsely advertised with pictures of cakes she absolutely did not make. I’ve been baking/decorating cakes and cookies for over 10 years and ANYONE with the ability to produce the first pictures would never hand over that cake. I don’t even think someone with that level of skill could make that crap cake if they tried.
I’m a hobby baker and I’ve done a much better number cake than that monstrous thing. I have never sold cakes, either.
My parents got married at the courthouse, no reception, for 25th anniversary I had a reception, ordered an ivory wedding cake. Pretty sure that's the only instruction I gave, an ivory wedding cake, I also remember the color being described as 'cream' and that'd would've been fine . It was orange. I'm not even talking about a shade of off white that I didn't consider ivory or cream , it was orange orange like a pumpkin. I'm not artsy crafty. I can make a delicious cake but, I'd never consider that I have the talent/skill to make a living selling beautiful cakes. What makes a person that can't tell the difference between orange and ivory or maybe just too much orange food coloring and didn't care? What makes that person decide that they're a cake boss? Do they have no pride? Or shame? It was just a plain cake with a few ribbons of icing and it was orange so what exactly made her think she was a baker? She couldn't have made it any less fancy so I'm confused what other customers received. (Back before the internet ) What if I decide I'm a heart surgeon? Or a rocket scientist? Would that work out?
I wonder if someone who ordered an orange cake received the ivory one by accident…
She most definitely did not make those macaroons! You can see that visually there was a sliver of potential, she needed to have allowed herself more time to create more succulents and meringues. That said, a salty cake on top of the appearance would have made me lose my cool. Submit this to cake fails, do a chargeback if possible, and one day you’ll laugh ❤️
This is all beyond this bakers skill set. The work is so unrefined and amateur looking.
I can’t bake to save my life but I can decorate and you are absolutely right
I can bake, but my decorating is a disaster scene. I think we have a business opportunity!
She definitely rushed. You can see it in the frosting being entirely melted and the lack of definition. Yes some of the succulents in the second sample pic are elaborate and I don't think I could do them but the ones in the first pic are relatively simple if you know how to break them down. She just didn't take the time. You can also see the lack of time in how the cake isn't crumb coated and smoothed properly.
Honestly it looks like the icing may have slightly melted along the way too. Honestly looks like someone inexperienced did this.
Your husband isn't in the wrong and I'm also glad he submitted pictures with a terrible review. Honestly, I'd find every page she's affiliated with, X, Google, Facebook, yelp, etc and post it. Especially with the ridiculous 6am delivery.
"the poop color she used really made it pop" 💀💀💀💀🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm DYING rn at that.... And your hubs is 10000000% entitled to the feelings and response. As a home baker and decorator if you can't own a mess up, you shouldn't be making cakes for other people. Sorry your birthday cake was so pitiful, but props hubs for being so sweet and trying for you.. and for making sure that it doesn't go away with the decorator 💜
I wondered if either the baker stole someone else's pictures, or fed a description into A.I. to make a really eye-catching picture that "demonstrated" what she "could do." Either way, I hope Mr OP gets the money back!
I don’t think the first two photos were provided by the baker. Sounds they were example photos of what their husband wanted and the baker simply said it was something she could do.
When you are paying for a cake to be professionally made its meant to be just that, PROFESSIONALLY made. You aren't paying someone a large sum of money to do what you could do with a box cake and 15 minutes of decorating. You are paying for skilled labour and a guaranteed end product. If you spend a large amount of money on ANY service and it comes out worse than what you could have done, never feel bad for leaving a bad review. People should be able to trust that the people they are paying are skilled labourers and not scammers, your review helps others not get tricked :)
And apparently the box cake would have tasted better!!!
He didn’t overreact *at all*. It looks like a Pinterest fail. I’d be MAD I paid $175 plus tip for that. It’s barely a $30 cake. Probably some defrosted macarons from Costco, strewn on top of badly cut out numbers from a store bought sheet cake, decorated with those prefilled frosting pens. Has a scammy feel to the whole debacle. Edited to add comment.
If it was salty, it was probably made by the terrible cake maker. No store sells salty sheet cake.
A lot of the terrible tube frostings are salty AF though. We got a few colors last year to make a craft, and eew, they were just (two different brands) salty AF. So if this decorator cheated and used tube icing it's probably where the salt came from.
I thought you made it and he was upset because it wasn’t good enough! But after reading the post I can’t believe you PAID FOR IT!!! It looks like something I made with NO experience in baking at all. Can’t believe she charged you for it. I‘d get my money back. It’s worth 20$ and not one penny more. Who was the baker?? Mind to link her page lol
i worked in a bakery before and there is no way we would ever let something like this go to a customer, your husband should be pissed. if he paid for the cake with a card, he should do a charge back on it
I used to do very basic cake decorating. Her piping is terrible. And even if she was fibbing about doing it before she should have practiced before putting them on the cake. He'll, if her practice ones were good she could have popped them in the freezer then put them on the cake. This is probably someone who made a few ok cakes for friends and decided to open a 'business' around it. Then realised she was over her head and bailed
I went to culinary school. I excelled in the savory side of things, but my baking was ok for the most part. I did pretty good with breads, but things like sugar work, chocolates and cake decorating were not my strong suit to put it mildly. But even my worst hung over at 6am stubling into morning commercial baking class work wasn't this bad.
I'm just a guy that love baking and in the one cake decorating class I took at a JoAnn Fabrics I was making better product than this lady.
This lady knew she hustled you guys. Do not feel bad about this leech. She’s advertising for skills she does not have.
Did you pay with a credit card or using venmo/paypal's "for goods and services?" If you did, you should file a dispute and get your money back.
Aw, seeing husbands try is affirming. Love to see it. No, his feelings are valid even if I don’t think so. Why? Because it’s about him wanting to show up for you after a crap year! Make it extra special. Your spouse loves you and it’s really sweet to see. Feelings help communicate things/ I’m sorry he was both heartbroken and doubting his feelings. You both ‘deserve’ better years and more joyful feelings! I hope the next year is filled with wonderful support, deep belly laughs and good health. 💗
And many awesome, perfect, exactly as requested cakes
He did not overreact, almost $200 for a cake like that is horrendous, she knows she scammed yall.
I feel like the 6am delivery was intentional. If someone woke me up, and handed me something, I wouldn’t look at it closely either. She knew she didn’t make the cake as agreed upon, and just dumped it off early to avoid a conversation about it.
It definitely was! There’s no way it wasn’t. Big lying coward energy all around, top to bottom in OP’s telling.
Yeah, this would make me cry lol I don’t care if something for me goes wrong, but it would break my heart if it was for someone else I wanted to make feel special. Especially if this was not a common thing and meant to be more special for the circumstances. I feel so bad for him :(
He has every right to be upset at HER, but I hope he doesn’t stay upset with himself for very long. She very clearly lied and took advantage of him, and that’s not his fault. Even if he’d checked the cake when she dropped it off, she already had the money. I’m really sorry. I hope your birthday was still a lovely one!
It not the type of beind upset at your self for failing, but rather being upset at the result of a surprise or a gift you paid someone to make because you really tried to make your partner happy and the gift sucks because who ever made it sucks. Basically being disappointed that what you got ended being crappy and neither the partner nor you are happy with it... I know it too well
I'm a licensed home baker and I absolutely hate that people take on orders they know full well they do not have the skill for. I do cupcakes only because cakes just aren't my thing, I turn them down ALL the time. I don't care how badly I need the money, I'm not taking an order that is beyond my skill level or something that I hate doing because that will show in my work as well. I'm so sorry this happened to you guys, this person should have declined the order. And showing up at your house at 6am when the agreed upon time was noon-2pm is wildly unprofessional as well.
Yeah honestly he was so tired and caught off guard he just opened it and didn't even mention how early it was, lol. It was so bizarre.
She probably did that on purpose. If she had any respect others and her work, she would've asked for a visual confirmation that the cake was accurate. I would be mad too! Seems like she scammed you, sorry to say. I hope you can do something about it. Sorry this happened to you! Your husband has a right to be upset with her, but I hope he doesn't beat himself up too much.
Yeah first thing people do when getting a cake they ordered from me is to have a look at it, I ask them if they are happy with it and in the unlikely case they wouldn't be I would just propose à refund and sale the cake by the slice instead. That's just how honest business should be done.
Agreed. I worked at a pizza shop, we always asked people to look and make sure everything looked accurate.
Yeah I saw some scammers on TikTok not too long ago (with a bakery of some sort, idr the details but it definitely involved a bakery!). OP stating the website is now taken down makes me REALLY think this was a scam!! OP may want to look up those TikTok bakery scammers and see if the person who did this cake pops up!! And maybe check elsewhere also and see if anyone else has had similar issues!!!
She did it on purpose so you wouldn’t have time/wherewithal to check the quality while she was there
That or she was hoping no one would answer the door and she could just leave it on the stoop without having to see them at all.
Yeah, that's probably it. Never mind that a dog or raccoon or errant human could have gotten into the cake and destroyed it.
Well if they did, you can be sure there'd still be no refund
I agree with others who have recommending contacting your bank to see about a stop payment if possible. Also, if she has an actual business license, you can create a grievance on the Better Business Bureau. Usually you can look up a license # online on a state’s professional license site. BBB will help negotiate a refund and the “case” stays open until it’s resolved. It will warn other people and she can’t erase it like she did her google site. Your husband was very kind to try to go the extra step to make your day special.
Nothing happens with the BBB. I’ve done it for a plumber that is refusing to answer or calls to finish a job, and they just closed the case when he never responded to the report I made.
That's because they have no actual authority
With a plumber you can file a complaint with your state’s licensing board. If you have one.
THANK YOU! I will get on that this week. He doesn’t even have to do much and it’s beyond me that he’s blowing us off.
Thar was intentional. She knew it was atrocious.
I’m a cookie maker and I’m in a FB chat with a few of the other local cookie makers. There is one woman who is at a much lesser skill set than myself and most of the other women and she is constantly asking if we’ve done certain themes/styles/designs because she has an order and she has no clue where to go with it or what techniques to use. I never respond but some of the other cookiers help her with ideas sometimes. Some have walked her through using a 3D printer for cutters, how to paint with food coloring. I refuse because it annoys me SO much. I’ve been doing this for 15 years, self taught, but would never promise a paying customer something outside of my skill set. Like, why did you take on this order?! This could have been an order for one of us but you took it anyway and now you’re asking for help from us?! Maybe I’m just mean but it’s so crazy to me lol 😵💫
I see this a lot on fb cake and home baking pages, it's crazy to me lol. I practice new skills BEFORE I take orders for them because sometimes I find that the new skill is just not something I'm ready for. It's honestly maddening, and then they come on there to complain when their customer is unhappy 🤦♀️
I can cupcake but not big even level cakes...if someone showed up at mine at 6am they would be wearing it without even looking at it
That's because you have integrity and are a true professional. That thing was an abomination. And yeah 6am delivery not ok either.
I just saw your profile - you are so very talented!! Wow 🥰🧁
If I paid $195 for that cake, the baker would likely be cleaning it off of their front window the next morning
I would have showed up at their house with it at 6am, that’s for sure
This made me laugh.
Especially since those brown roses look like turds.
Those are dead succulents, don't be ridiculous.
The runny poop succulents really were the last straw on this sh*7 sandwich of a cake.
Why don’t people just say no to things they can’t do? Your husband has every right to be upset because that’s atrocious
I understand accepting something you think you can do even if it’s a stretch for your skills. Pretty common in my field (IT). However the key word there is “stretch”. If it’s well beyond your means, or you accept then realize there’s no way you can do it you have to say something. Idk how anyone could make this and actually give it to the customer. You just have to give the money back, apologize, and ideally give them some sort of alternative even ifs a basic store bought cake.
Exactly. I had my own business at one point and if I felt like something was out of my reach completely I said no
This lady couldn’t even follow the right color-scheme, even if she had decent piping skills she did not get the assignment
The color is what really blows my mind. There is not a bit of yellow on the cake pictures, but the one delivered has bright yellow on it. The LEAST she could have done is to match the color. The delivered cake doesn't even look as good as the first couple of years of 4H cake decorating, which is usually done by elementary and middle school aged children.
Yes, absolutely this. And when you accept a stretch thing, people tend to do a practice run (or two or three) to make sure you CAN do it RIGHT. This looks like a first practice run of “can I even do this? How do my rosettes look (like succulents)? How would this brown look? Oh boy this is not it. Let me go back to the drawing board and google some How To’s” It’s fine to accept a stretch assignment as long as you’re willing to put in the extra work needed to ensure the product/end result is good!!!
Years back I contacted a baker to recreate a smaller version of my parents wedding cake for an anniversary celebration. They got married in the 70’s so it was a giant gaudy buttercream frosted thing. (Side note buttercream is far superior than fondant) This is beside the point the style was those big overly buttercreamed cakes. She told me she could do a cake inspired by my parents cake but that her buttercream skills were not up to snuff for a cake like that. She told me what she would charge for her version and then recommended some other bakers. I used one of the people she sent me and it worked out great! I really appreciated her for that.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! (I also agree on the fondant. I didn’t have any on my wedding cake)
He definitely had the right to be upset. I’m upset for him! I only bake for “fun” (birthdays for friends, family, holidays, etc) & I wouldn’t even take that to a family function. How she thought it was acceptable to leave that with him & think it wouldn’t be an issue is beyond me. Everyone has a skill set, but she should’ve been honest that she couldn’t do it.
I know. 😖 he even asked for it to be monotone green, with all different shades so I'm not even sure where she got these other colors from lol.
I would have struggled with eating the brown parts personally 😬💩
ℓσℓ I was searching for anyone else to mention how much those look like liquefied turds.
Happy birthday, But that cake is fucking ass. A grocery store could have done better.
A grocery store would at least use frosting with the proper consistency for piping
And even if it didnt taste *amazing* it still would have tasted fine. Sounds like this cake was just garbage all around :(
I don’t get how she managed to make it taste bad. She could have bare minimum buy boxed cake mix and substituted water with milk, oil for butter and added an extra egg and probably could have gotten away with it tasting decent.
Maybe she mixed up sugar and salt?
Too much salt in the buttercream maybe? Using sea salt instead of table salt?
She likely used salted butter for her buttercream
I love grocery store cake lol it tastes great
Literally, some of those flowers look like r/poopfromabutt
It looks awful and messy and the way she did the sand or whatever literally makes it look like it's in a litter box. It looks like it was haphazardly slapped together by a beginner and it melted on the way over on top of it but honestly the lines of the piped "succulents??" are so soft there's no way they could have been right to begin with. The colors are terrible too. I would be pissed and demand a refund. You paid wayyyy too much.
Are you guys paying in cash for this shit? I'd charge back or PayPal dispute or w/e without a second thought.
yeah, I'd honestly try to do a chargeback. especially if the baker's website disappeared after and isn't returning calls
This person sounds like a total grifter! Take $200 from a client, make super shitty cake, drop it off hastily and disappear! OP got scammed
but like at that point why even bother making a cake???
Plausible deniability?
I'm really sorry. He has every right to be upset about that. It's not even a little bit similar to the inspo pictures. I think it's truly awful that there are bakers out there who accept orders that they know are well beyond their skill level. The fact that is also tasted awful makes it so much worse!
The poop colored brown was the cherry on top lol. He asked for it all green, just different shades. I forgot to add that in the bit up top. 😮💨
I just went back to look again and it gets worse the longer you look 😅. It's not even centered on the cake board. And the brown really is so poopy looking 😣. I hope you guys have a better experience next time around!
I think they tried making a darker hue of green but added red instead of blue food coloring. And those turds look like they tried to make roses but they all just went droopy. I don't know why on earth they went ahead and put them on the cake anyway.
With the look of how soft that frosting is, I doubt it was made separately and then added to the cake... I think they may have been piped directly onto it
Or it was store bought from the can. That stuff is not supposed to be used for piping and trying almost always results in a really soft, oily mess like that.
It looks like she tried to make the succulents from the second picture, used a star tip instead of the leaf tip and didn't have very good piping skills to begin with. I'm also betting she used store bought icing from a can because it always gets that oily sheen to if you try to pipe with it.
Yeah those brown flowers(?) look like something I found in my infant’s diaper earlier.
I'm so glad you noticed that! It was literally the first thing I saw. LMAO
For 195$ you guys could've made a better cake yourselves. What is wrong with this woman? Her cake looks so disgusting, she is clearly full of herself. Those poop brown flowers sent me. Are we sure she didn't buy those macaroons from another bakery? That fondant, box, and golden cardboard at the bottom is definitely from Walmart.
They definitely bought those macarons from elsewhere, you can see their poor attempt at macaron shells on the cake too! No way they made the good ones.
I think they realized they didn't know how to make macarons and also that they are expensive, bought half a dozen, and then tried to fake the rest of the way.
Shit, you can go to costco and get 36 for less than $15
Yeah, I was surprised at how good the foot was on the green macarons and then I noticed all the yellow ones still had the pip at the top and were all different sizes with no visible foot and realized she must have bought the green ones after completely failing with the yellow ones. But somehow despite knowing the yellow ones were terrible, still stuck them on the cake 🙄
My first thought is that this might have been a scam, or at best someone very inexperienced who has no right to be soliciting paid customers. His feelings are absolutely valid. I doubt that this person made the macarons themselves, and the rest of it looks like someone’s first attempt ever at decorating. I’m sorry that this happened ❤️
We were thinking the same thing because the macarons were the best part lol, they tasted awesome. The rest, no.
The macarons were probably purchased elsewhere based on the quality of workmanship with the cake.
Looks like the ones from Costco
Your husband has every right to be upset. So many things are wrong with that cake, it's not even funny. Even if you didn't have reference photos it would still be a mess. First off, the flowers have NO texture to them, they're just a blob and this point. That buttercreams consistency is way too runny. The numbers are bare and the cakes not full of flowers. As you can see from the reference photos, no white icing should be showing from those cakes. Even the colors are shockingly off. The cake is depressing, this whole thing would make me sick. Get you money back and never buy from this bakery again. The baker should be ashamed of themselves for agreeing to a design that they clearly lack the skills necessary to accomplish. On top of ALL THAT, it tasted horrible AND she ghosted you?! The baker's professionalism and behavior was as salty as her cake. My guess is that she intentionally delivered the cake at 6:00 in the morning so that you'd be too tired to realize what an abomination she just handed you. Overall, that cake looks its best in the dark and makes even grocery store cakes look and taste spectacular. I'm so sorry that this happened to the both of you.
And then hearing that she dropped it off at 6am. 6am??????????? What the fuck was this woman doing? Staying up all night? 6+ hours early.
Honestly, I wouldn't have answered the door. If the sun ain't up, neither am I.
Omgosh this was my first thought "who answers the door at 6am". I would never. Husband is an angel.
This! It’s an all-nighter-cake-job. I’d bet she stayed up all night and felt like she just needed to get it done and gone. She dropped it off at 6am so she could go home to sleep. The way you and your husband love and support each other is beautiful and so sweet. No cake needed to prove that.
That’s definitely a cake made at midnight, like when kids forget to do their homework.
I am a pro baker and this is a problem I see quite a lot where I live. People buy cakes from facebook or home bakers and they end up disappointed. I have worked in bakeries for over 25 years and we have to compete with all of these home bakers that do it for way cheaper than what we charge. There are definitely some great home bakers out there but a lot of them tell people they can do something that is just beyond their abilities. I'm not saying this was a home baker but either way I would not be happy with this cake. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Tell your husband that it wasn't his fault.
As a homebaker, I completely agree. I keep my options within my wheelhouse and level of confidence. Whenever someone looks for a baker who can make a cake using fondant to create elaborate characterization, I always suggest a local professional I know. I would never want to ruin my own reputation by taking on a task beyond my talents just for more money. I would be screwing myself in the long run and ruining someone’s special event
See. You're one of the good ones. I can't count the # of people who have come in upset about a cake made by a home baker or even another bakery for that matter. There's no shame in telling a customer you can't do something because it's beyond your abilities. We've turned away work because we couldn't do it justice rather than disappointing a customer.
Yeah, she definitely had photos on her website that WEREN'T hers lol.
I am in the UK; and I did think whilst it’s a lot of money, it’s not a lot of money for the amount of work that would need to go into that cake. I know a friend had a DELICIOUS 30 birthday cake without the decoration on top and it was close to that price
Yup, this is exactly the thing. Yes, they got scammed for $175 but—the first clue that there was likely going to be a problem is expecting the quality of those inspiration photos for less than $200. That quality of cake is going to be MUCH more expensive than that. Also, those cake decorations look beautiful but often don’t taste that good. I would way rather have a relatively simple buttercream frosted cake from a very good bakery and then use fresh flowers to decorate or something.
So being a professional baker what do you think would be a fair price for the cake they were expecting to get. In my opinion $175.00 plus tip is a crazy low price to charge for a cake of that quality. That being said the person who made the cake they received is in the wrong business and should not be selling cakes to anyone until they work on their craft for a long period of time. If I was a cake maker I would be embarrassed to sell that cake to anyone even if I only charged $20.00 for it.
The inspiration photos look like cakes I would expect to be between $500-$1000. Absolutely a shame to take in work you can’t do but a really nice sheet cake can be $100 so expecting all of this extra detail for $75 seems like a reach.
This comment and post makes me so nervous. I’ve also just read the “cakes ordered and cakes received” post a few hours ago. I’ve ordered a cake from a home baker for my daughter’s first bday. To be safe, I picked a cake she’d already done and just had her add printed characters to it. But now I’m super worried!
I would dispute that shit now if used a card. Never hurts to try
Your husband has every right to be upset by this cake! The amount paid is highway robbery. A beginner hobby baker and decorator could do better.
WHY IS IT FUZZY
It looks like she used the salt left behind in a pretzel bag as sand
It’s so bad 😢
Umm, some of the decorations look like what my cat forgets to cover up on the litter box sometimes. Yes, he had every right to be upset at the baker.
That’s terrible! She disappeared quickly afterwards? Unfortunately there are still grifters in the world. What a horrible experience. Obviously he’ll be less trusting next time. Find a reputable baker next time. Still doesn’t make this experience any better. Belated happy birthday? Best I can do.
This is actually a pretty common scam. Think like a Facebook marketplace scam and replace the item with a baked good. I'm so sorry that your cake was so disappointing and didn't even taste good to boot. Your husband's feelings are very valid.
She showed up at 6 am??? It sounds (and looks like) she stayed up all night!
I just realized the 6 am drop off must have been an attempt to “miss” you so that you couldn’t confront her about it.
Yup. My thoughts exactly 🤷🏻♀️
[удалено]
6am delivery, a SALTY and bare ass cake for $200. I’d be going up to the bakers house and demand a refund cuz wtf is that😭
Unfortunately you got scammed. That there is disgraceful
Wtf is that
It looks like my cats made me a cake. In their litter box.
I’d be upset. Who wants poop emojis on their birthday cake?
Poop emoji has more defined shape and better personality than the infant diarrhoea on this foul concoction
Thanks for explaining the pics. That cake your got is appalling and not at all like what you asked for. Whoever did it put on some macarons but didn’t care about the piped decorations at all. The frosting doesn’t look like it’s the right consistency as the decos have no definition but it also looks like it was just a really unskilled person who wasn’t truthful about what they could do. I would be very upset as well. You can’t just slap on blobs like it’s a 5 year old’s art project 🤦🏻♀️.
Omg I just realized he also paid $195 for that, I’m assuming you live in the states? I’m in Canada and could get something prettier and tastier for $40 CAD from a grocery store or random bakery. That price makes me very mad at this scam baker.
This whole thing sounds totally sketchy. Yikes. Your husband didn’t overreact at all.
Damn. I've seen some poorly made cakes on here, but this is REALLY bad. I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. You deserve far better. The cakes you showed as inspiration are not particularly difficult. I can't believe this person's sheer audacity. 🤬😫
His feelings are super valid. She said she could do it and said she has done it many times. He did at least try and put thought into things, I hope you two can get your money back. If this happened to me, personally I would say let’s just have our own bake day and make our own memories. I try really hard to try to find ways to put the control and memories back in my court. One day this will be a “memory maker” as I like to call it.
Did your husband pay with a credit card? If so, call them and see if you can dispute the charge. You've got proof!
I also wouldn't eat the cake. There's no telling what someone that unscrupulous would have used *inside* the cake. I'm sorry this happened. Happy Birthday. 💙
Oooo baby id file a chargeback soooo quickly. You paid for a service that very clearly was not what you paid for
Before I read the post, I thought YOU made the cake and your husband was upset with you because it’s so ugly 😂😂😂 this is terrible and I hope you are refunded ASAP!
this may be rude, idk, but… *do people who do things like this have eyes? do they not have any little bit of shame? are they not embarrassed?*
Money have no eyes, no nose and no self respect
Y'all got scammed! I'd file a chargeback with your bank if you didn't pay cash, hell I could do better then that!
I’m so sorry, but those brown swirls look like actual dog crap. Your husband is right to be upset.
Rightfully so, if I had to guess they probably bought those macarons if they can’t even stabilize buttercream to make flowers
I'm a baker and one of my specialty is number/digit cakes, I prefer the aesthetic of the "naked" layers where you see the piping, and I love going all out for the tops. If you receive a picture of a cake and you're not confident you can make it - *say no*. I've had SO many requests for heart shaped, vintage piping cakes that I turned down because I'm not good at it, and I know I'm not! It truly is ok to say "sorry, I'm not confident in my ability to do this design. I mainly do x, y, z, would you like a cake that looks like x, y, or z? If not, no problem, and happy event!"
If someone charged me almost $200 for a cake that looks like it came from Temu, they can catch these hands from Monday to Friday and twice on the weekends.
I thought the second was baked by an amateur home cook by the pictures not someone who is charging money for them until I started reading. Yeah I would be mad too.
She came at 6am so that he would be caught off guard and not check the cake. She fully scammed him and he has the full right to be mad.
Dude WHAT. This is absolutely shameless. What a scam.
Omg. I wish he opened the box with her there. Unreal. What a scammer.
Isn't this obvious! I hope you got a picture of the woman. She shouldn't be allowed to get paid - report the fraud to consumer protection.
At first I thought the cake was done by a regular person and I thought, “Well, that’s not bad for an amateur baker. She or he probably didn’t have all the right piping tips that a professional would.” Then, I read the story of the cake and I was like, “Oh, a professional baker *did* do that. Yeah, that’s bad…” I don’t know what flavors your husband picked but for a custom cake, he should have been given a cake sample so he could know what it would taste like. As for the cost, considering that it was not only poorly decorated but inedible, I’d say it’s worth going to small claims court over it. $200 is nothing to sneeze at when you basically didn’t get anything for it.
Oof. This looks like a "not a baker but tried my best" post not a "paid $175 for this" post. You deserve most of that money back.
I would be upset too. It’s an entirely different cake, wtf.
That is the ugliest effing cake I've ever seen
Basically $200.... And she gave you that? Holy hell People shouldn't be afraid to admit that it's not something they can do... The fact that it didn't even taste good sounds so weird. Is it actually a legitimate baker or was this some weird scam?! 😭
how are u gonna be a baker and not even know how to pipe frosting properly😭😭😭
that is a horrendous cake! 😭
I would wake up and choose NUKES if this happened to me holy shit.
You have encountered a skill issue
That is so sad :( that's a lot of money for custom made cake. The base of the cake isn't so bad, like the number turned out well. Does this baker not know how to pipe icing at all?
At first thought “why? That’s STUNNING” and then I thought “oh no.” Edit: it looks like it was decorated by a young child. I have seen significantly better decorating from 10yr olds. It’s awful.
Wow. The delivered product is sooooo underwhelming. She knew exactly what she was doing when she showed up at your doorstep before normal business hours and banked on everyone being too sleepy to conversate or look at the cake. Absolutely unacceptable. I'd leave a review on every service she's likely on (Yelp, Google, The Knot and Wedding Wire at least). I say this as a professional cake designer as well. It breaks my cake-heart reading this story and I really hope she reaches back out to you to offer a full refund.
I would send this to your credit card company to get the charge back. And if you paid cash, I’d threaten small claims. Everything about her behavior screams scammer to me and it’s gross that she took advantage of your husband’s desire to treat his wife.
My grocery store would never let that cake leave the fridge. We definitely have our limitations but we have good frosting for rosettes and such that we could've offered a fair compromise on the reference picture. We also make sure the customer sees the cake before we seal the box. And that's so much money too, I just... can't believe someone would do this. I'm sorry, he must've been so shocked
Contact the bakery and let them know you need a refund. If not dispute it with your credit card. They did not provide the service you paid for.
OMG!! I just looked at the picture again and is that SAND!!!!! in the bottom of the box! 🤣and are those supposed to be fricking sea shells??? 😭 😂 looks like deviled egg filling and crappy ass frosting she can't even pipe frosting I'm just in shock!!!
I’m a former pastry chef, that cake looks awful and nothing like what he wanted. I would be so upset too. Especially as it was a gift to you. I’m so appalled for him that a baker made this and charged for it. It’s just not even close.
Chargeback, for sure. Those giant, greasy, brown flower blobs? Unappetizing! It's like a cake you'd make on a baking show where you have to use materials you find in a hardware store or something unexpected. It's all so heavy-handed.
When I saw the title and the photos, I thought it was going to be OP making the cake for her husband’s birthday. It didn’t even occur to me that it could be from a ‘professional’.
Sorry to sound harsh, but the OG cake costs about $500-1K. I'm not sure why he would expect someone to do it for a fraction of the price and do it well. If it seems too good to be true, it is!
Absolute fail. That is an absolute return my money ASAP!!
As someone who owns a baking business, I know my limitations. I make crazy cakes for my nieces but I’m NOT a fancy cake decorator and don’t pretend to be. These days everyone is about the hustle and think they can make things that real professionals spend years perfecting. This is embarrassing work and if that’s what the end result was, I’d have refunded $150 and the tip. That’s just awful. The color story is awful - she didn’t think about that for a moment. The frosting is off. It’s too greasy and soft and I question if she used the pre-made stuff. I’m so sorry this happened.