From  llynn1981, Tales From Retail:

I worked at a lovely bakery while I was in college. We made everything from scratch, the prices were extremely reasonable, and most of our customers were great, and had shopped there all their lives. It was a mom & pop shop.

At one point a competitor had to shut down for an extended period of time. I think they had some flood damage or something, and they had to do some extensive repairs and couldn’t open. We had quite a few of their customers come in to get birthday cakes, cookies, etc., since there were only a few bakeries available outside of a chain grocery store or WM. Most of them were very nice and understood that we didn’t offer the exact items that our competitor did. Some even chose to come back after the competitor reopened.

There was one woman that did NOT understand. A young mom pushing a stroller came in one day inquiring about a birthday cake for the adorable cherub in the stroller. She asked about flavors and fillings . When I asked her how she wanted it decorated, it went sideways real quick.

CL = Crazy lady M = me

CL: I want the cake carved into the shape of a one and covered in fondant with no buttercream.

M: I’m so sorry, we don’t carve cakes, and we don’t use fondant at all. I can ice a number one on the top in a shade of blue to match your decor, or just about anything else.

She was visibly getting red as I was talking. She didn’t say anything for about 10 seconds, then she unleashed...

CL: HOW CAN YOU NOT USE FONDANT? [Competitor] USES FONDANT ALL THE TIME! YOU CAN CARVE CAKES, THERES NO REASON YOU CANT!!!1!

M: We don’t make fondant, and the majority of our customers don’t ask for it. We are kind of known for our scratch-made buttercream. It’s really good.

CL: BUTTERCREAM IS AWFUL! I DON’T WANT MY BABY EATING THAT GARBAGE! *

M: That’s all we use, except chocolate, cream cheese, and German chocolate. And we don’t carve cakes because our cakes are too fragile, you would have a pile of cake crumbs and icing once you got it home.

She continued ranting for a few minutes, and was so loud that our baker in the back came to check what the noise was. She never did ask for a manager, or ask to speak with someone else, she just yelled at me.

To his credit, the kid slept through the entire thing. I’m sure he was used to it.

She finally stopped yelling long enough to stare at me for a second, point in my face and say,

CL: I will NEVER come back here again! You lost a customer today! Worthless!!

I just smiled and told her it was no problem. Have a nice day.

She angrily marched to our door and struggled to get the stroller through, while giving me a death stare. I just smiled and waved goodbye.

(*side note, bakers use buttercream to make fondant stick to the cake, but I didn’t say that then.)

-- llynn1981