Have you ever put in work and done everything right, only to be left hanging? Whether it’s planning a big event or finishing a project, you give it your all, and then… nothing.

That’s exactly what happened when this baker, abiscaswell, who posted a video with 7.4M views, was tasked with making a custom cake for a last-minute order. The customer was in, made a few changes, and everything seemed fine—until it wasn’t.

More info: TikTok 

A baker put in a lot of work preparing a last-minute custom cake order, only to have it canceled on the day it should have been picked up

Image credits: Ivana Cajina / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

The customer made a late cake order and was made aware of the extra cost it would attract, but on the day it was being baked, she called to say she no longer wanted the cake

It started like any other last-minute order. The customer reached out asking to have a cake made on the fly. It was a late order and the bakery made it clear—it would come with an extra cost. Still, the customer was on board. She paid the deposit and everything seemed good to go.

On the day the cake was being made, the lady called the bakery and said she wasn’t willing to pay the full price anymore. She probably had an epiphany about the cake’s cost and didn’t want to follow through.

The bakery explained that they’d already baked the cake, and they weren’t about to throw it away. They would keep the $25 deposit since they had already baked the cake but told her she could go her merry way. However, here’s where things get really interesting—the customer insisted that the bakery finish the cake anyway. Yup. You read that right.

Image credits: abicaswell

So, the baker suggested ways to cut costs. The lady, however, stuck to her guns, saying, “Let’s just change it from four colors to two colors.” That saved $5. Big money saver, right?

Despite the cost-reduction efforts, something felt off. You know that gut feeling you get when something doesn’t feel quite right? Well, the baker had it in spades. The entire time she was making this cake, a nagging feeling told her that the lady wasn’t going to show up.

Image credits: abicaswell

Image credits: moonmovie / Freepik (not the actual photo)

On the day of pick-up, the customer called to confirm that everything was ready—but then never showed up

Fast forward to the day of pickup. The customer called, asked if the cake was ready, and verified that it was fully decorated. The bakery confirmed everything was set. And then… nothing. Not a word. No cake pick-up. No payment. She ghosted them. Completely.

Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)

So the bakery tried to reach out. They called and left voicemails with no luck. Every single call ended with a hang-up. And not just one hang-up—a series of them.

When the bakery tried calling again, the customer’s husband answered the phone. The bakery said, “Hey, this is Batter,” but he immediately hung up. So the bakery, undeterred, tried again the next day. Same story—more hang-ups. They did everything they could to get in touch with the customer. But nope. Radio silence.

You can watch the original video here

@abicaswell just some bakery owner woes for you 😩😩 pls dont ever be this person!!! it’s just simply not demure and not mindful!!!! #fyp #smallbusiness #bakeryowner #foryou #baking #cakedecorating #cakegate #workwithme #customerservice ♬ original sound – Abi Caswell

To find out how to deal with difficult customers, Bored Panda reached out to Olaitan Olasupo, baker and founder of Olly’s Doughnuts, who has dealt with a few difficult customers of her own. We asked Olaitan how she deals with indecisive and challenging customers. She explained that she tries her best to keep it professional, however, if she foresees it could be problematic, she rejects their order from the onset to avoid backlash.

We also asked if she had ever been in a situation where she started preparing an order for a customer who later backtracked, to which she responded, “I’m rarely in such situations because I make sure to confirm full payment before I process orders.”

When asked if she had any advice for entrepreneurs on setting boundaries and protecting their business while dealing with customers, she emphasized never agreeing to process orders without first receiving payment. “Be very strict with your policies. It’s as simple as that”, she said. She further added that it’s important to know when a customer is crossing professional boundaries.

Some netizens believe that the customer simply did something called “deposit revenge,” a way of costing the bakery more since they wanted to keep the deposit.

Other users provided equally petty solutions. One suggested that the bakery keep calling her to remind her that her cake is ready for a year, while another user said, “Invoice her and submit it on her credit report.”

What would you do if you were in the baker’s position?

Netizens stated that the customer was a time-waster and deliberately being mean for making the baker go through all of that

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