How to deal with bad/negative feedback?

Crystal, I am super sorry you had a bad day; I hope you know that everyone has days like that

Some other things to take away from your experience:

Make sure you know the date/time/place before you ever accept an order. If they don’t have the details, you can’t take the order.

I know you didn’t know the exact time of the delivery, but if the cake was still unfinished at noon on the delivery day, then there’s some time management issues going on. I’m sure every decorator is different, but I don’t go to bed on Friday until all my Saturday cakes are done. Sometimes that’s 4am.

Don’t get discouraged, but people ARE counting on you, whether that’s a birthday cake, a wedding cake, or a dessert table for a businesses’ photo shoot. There’s no real reason to be mad at them; they may have spent a lot of money to arrange the photo shoot and it sounds like by your own admission that you let them down.

I realize that I have rambled and not exactly answered your question about taking negative feedback. First, evaluate whether or not it’s deserved. If the shoe fits, do what you need to do to make it right, if there’s anything you can do. You will make people mad, and you will lose customers, but that’s no reason to hang up your apron.

I know sometimes people just want a hug and an “it’s OK” so I hope my candor doesn’t upset you, but I hope you learn from your experience.

You pick up, and you move on. Words can hurt but they can also help us grow as artists. Now you know how much you can handle in one weekend and you will be more careful when taking your orders. Even though it was a rough experience you learned from it, and when you look back on the situation remember THAT not any rude or negative comments.

I recently got a negative review on my Etsy page from a lady who was displeased with the size of the cookies she ordered from me. She wanted a $10 refund (over half of the total cost of the cookies, which would have left me with $8 for my supplies, time, and effort). I refused, knowing full well that she got a full quality product from me that was fresh, on time, and in perfect condition (she sent me pictures). But her nasty review and negative rating/comments twords me still burn into my very soul. But every time I start thinking about it I tell myself that even though I have had one displeased customer I have many more that were very pleased (with the very same product to boot!). And now when I make those cookies I am sure to make them just a tiny bit bigger just to keep those high expectations satisfied.

In a business where you are creating custom items for people and dealing with customers there are ALWAYS going to be rude people and negative people who will think its okay to be rude or trash your work. Its your job to tough it out, grow a thick skin, and hold on to those learning experiences where ever you can.

Ok, that makes sense. Timing is something I’ve been struggling with…I thought I should do all cakes ON the day they where due for freshness sake. It didn’t even occur to me to have them done the day before. I do most of the prep-work but have been assembling on the day of the event. The wedding cake was due in the evening and the last time I had talked with the person hosting the photo shoot, she was putting it right before…that’s why I was surprised when she called me at noon asking me to be there in 30 minutes. I HAD to give priority to the wedding cake since it was ordered first, I was collecting $ for it, and it was for a wedding. I think I still would’ve pulled it off had my fondant not gotten all wonky on me, but I have taken your advice to heart and I think I’ve learned from that mistake.

I take full responsibility for my failure (altho I def think the business owner could’ve been a little nicer about it), but now I’m wondering how I could fix it? Obviously, the shoot is over…but, should I make something for the people involved as an apology or just let it go and do better if I ever get the opportunity again?

Thanks for your advice Jennifer & Nikki, I will definitely try to have my cakes done earlier from now on & carry a lighter load…right after this weekend (grad weekend, lol). :)

Once you cover those cakes in buttercream and especially fondant, they will definitely stay fresh. How to fix it? You will get some (bad) customers that are all about getting as much money back as possible, but I know that’s not the case here. In this case, I would call the client and offer a heartfelt apology and tell them WHY this won’t happen again. Maybe something along these line:

I just wanted to apologize about the photo shoot event on xx/xx/xx. In this case, I over extended myself and had some time management issues, and the result was that you didn’t get my best work. I know you were disappointed; I was disappointed with myself. I am still new to this business and I have revamped my scheduling and prep schedules so that this type of situation won’t ever happen again. I understand if you are hesitant to trust me with your business again, but I would love another chance to earn your business.

It is very hard for a fledgling cake business to learn all these things on the fly while still making a good name for yourself. Keep you chin up. learn from your mistakes, and keep making cakes!

PS – One thing I did think of later… if this was for a photo shoot, did you ever consider doing a dummy cake? You could have worked on it weeks in advance and then kept it to showcase your work afterwards.

Thank you again, Jennifer. I appreciate your candor and your advice. The cake was actually being used for a birthday party after the photo shoot, so I wasn’t able to do a dummy cake (altho, that’s a great idea for future reference). I am going to send them all an apology now. Thanks again.