Would you be happy with the finding of this cake for £80

[forfoxsakee]

I ordered a graduation cake from a lady who I have used for years and all of the cakes have been beautiful which is why I've returned every time. However I picked up this yesterday and I'm a little disappointed in the size and finish compared to the picture I sent of how I would like it. I've messaged her to tell her I was a little disappointed with it but she hasn't replied so am I being unreasonable? She wasn't in when I picked it up she left it with her teen son to hand over so couldn't really say anything there and then.

If she is a professional it really isn't good enough to just try your best and still charge full price. The cake she made is half the size of the picture and the finish is nothing alike. If she was struggling, which she shouldn't be as it's just a basic, iced cake, she should have called you to say it hasn't turned out right and ask if you still wanted it but for a reduced price. I really can't see how it can take three days to put some buttercream (badly) on a cake. She's definitely having you on, especially as you know it's not up to her usual standard. Her response is very disappointing. If someone else did ice it she's got to admit you weren't receiving her services or that she's not as good as she thinks she is which is, I imagine, a tricky spot to be in. She presumably quoted the price for a larger cake like the one in the photo you sent too.

OP something has gone wrong with this cake.
Compared to the picture you provided, it's lacking in height (is inside as you requested I wonder?).

The sugar raft work on top looks to have been done by somebody completely different to whoever iced it. I'd agree the buttercream looks a very odd choice of colour, almost as if it's not been blended properly. The finish looks pretty ropey, not at all the work if a professional. You can see here the tools used are not professional and on the right hand side it looks as if the icing is perhaps filling a dent in the cake itself?

Numbers and Lettering are very poorly applied... I'd say your friend has either ran out of time and rushed it and being embarrassed left it with her son or somebody else has dropped/botched it.

I'm so sorry this cost you as it did, I'd put in writing a refund request and take it from there.....

I'd say the picture you provided could legitimately cost £80 if done properly

I wouldn't be happy with it for £80, the finish on the sides and the "2020" looks quite rough, as do the white petals. Is the original in royal icing and yours in butter icing? Sometime butter icing looks for "rustic" and the whole trend for "naked cakes" look unfinished to me!

No that is not an £80 cake. It all looks abit rough.

Oh she’s definitely not giving you the full story here. What a stupid woman. So much better to just apologise and look to compensate in some way, rather than risk a poor review and lose a loyal customer. How frustrating for you. I understand the ‘rustic look’ PP are talking about but ‘rustic’ has a specific professional look. And that’s not it. That’s just shit!

Is it possible the son did some damage and has tried to fix it, that the cake delivered is not the one made?

At least it says “Congratulations” and not “Congrats”...

You didn't give her a 'naked cake' order, nor a rough icing picture. She is talking utter rubbish.

Tell her she's lost a long term customer. Leave an honest review and tell anyone who asks how disappointed you are.

It can't be said too often, that finish is rough. The more you look the more you see. Had she got the icing flat you'd not have noticed as much.

The telltale sign is that the edges seem to have been the last part of the cake the spatula/board touched. You finish butter cream by pulling into the centre, under the decorations, leaving the edges crisp. Or you did when I last sold a decorated cake (back in the 80/90s).

All those saying the teenage son has bodged it - have you ever made a cake?!

That’s not what a bodge by an inexperienced kid looks like.

Yes it’s a bit roughy and ready on the corners, but if she doesn’t usually work with buttercream maybe she’s not used to getting a solid finish with it. Fondant can be used to hide a multitude of sins, so if she usually uses fondant to finish, it would explain a lot. The lack of sharp corners and the indented bit where the flower was stuck on just look like a bit of a rush job before she left to go wherever she was when you collected it, but admittedly the lettering is shit. She should have bought a mould or cutters to make lettering of different shapes and styles but if this isn’t her only/main job I can see why she doesn’t want to invest £20 of her fee into buying the cutters/moulds for this particular font and thought she could wing it!

I hate to say it, but sending a pic of someone else’s work and asking for a copy was probably a mistake. She will have her own style and level of ability. Trying to recreate someone else’s design was always going to end badly, with comparisons inevitable.

As others have said, you’d pay a damn sight more than £80 for a proper professionally made cake like that, so she’s clearly a step above a hobby/home baker, but only just.

The photo of the cake submitted is quite delicate. The one you got looks heavy/clumsy.

Doesn't everybody just send a picture of something they would like for inspiration?

There's no way she took three days to ice that. She barely took an hour.

I would be sorely disappointed

She will have her own style and level of ability.
Aside from the stuck on sugerpaste yokes, it looks like a very plain cake to me? There's no individual style apparent there at all.

@forfoxsakee

Doesn't everybody just send a picture of something they would like for inspiration?

Yes, that's a normal thing to do I would think!! Like showing a hairdresser what you hope to have, rather than "a bit off here, this bit longer, shaved up to here" etc and presuming they know what your mind is imagining!!

3 days to ice...yum?

I agree with this “think the cake you got is not that great for £80. At a minimum, the finish should be sharper.

However, I don't think somebody would create the cake you asked for for £80 either.”

I would always send a picture of something I had in mind! I love to bake and decorate cakes for my kids' birthdays. The last one I did was chocolate buttercream and it look a few attempts at making it smooth (previously always used fondant icing) but I persevered...

If you cake was ordered from a professional...I would have expected more.

@forfoxsakee

Doesn't everybody just send a picture of something they would like for inspiration?

Yes, and the times I have I have received a cake with slight variations which is agreed beforehand, but they have always been as nice, if not nicer. The cake you got looks nothing like the example cake, not professional at all. If she couldn't do it, she should have said so beforehand. Don't know how a professional cake maker can send that out without being terribly embarrassed and offering a huge discount.

All those saying the teenage son has bodged it - have you ever made a cake?!

That’s not what a bodge by an inexperienced kid looks like.

I was thinking that maybe she had a lot on and was training her son to help her. Some teenagers can make really amazing cakes.

The OP has said that she was pleased with this bakers previous cakes, so something must have changed recently that this one isn't to her usual standard. If it was the first time the OP had used her, I'd think maybe she was just a bit crap, but the OP has used her several times before with no problem.

, I don't think somebody would create the cake you asked for for £80
either.

I have had two cakes to a similar standard for less than £80. How much do you think it should cost?

The photo of the full cake is on the app.

The letters remind me of alphabetti spaghetti

I think the cake part looks quite nice but don't like the writing or the hat

Sorry I make cakes and that looks shit basically a rush job also over charged and a few layers short on the cake