If you’re fortunate enough to have the funds, hiring a professional to create something ‘magical’ can be a great way to show your loved ones you care.

However, ordering anything customised online’s always a bit of a gamble. After all, once you send in the money, there’s no 'going back' in most cases.


That was the unfortunate experience of one Queensland woman named Elly who recently paid a baker to make her boyfriend a special birthday cake—only to receive something completely different than what she expected.


Elly had driven two hours from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast to pick up the $230 cake she'd commissioned, expecting it to look like a protein powder tub made with fondant icing, chocolate mud sponge cake, and buttercream.

But when Elly finally opened the box, she was left feeling angry and confused—and for good reason.

'It was supposed to be a realistic cake, but it’s not only horrific looking, it’s disgusting,' she said.

'I spent $230 on this cake, and it looks like a kid could have rolled up some Play-Doh... It looks like it’s been [moulded] with five-year-old hands. It is unhygienic, it is dirty, it’s got hair, several hairs on it, and I’m angry right now.'

'The more… I sit with it, the more livid I am.'


Elly was looking for a realistic cake-maker, so she posted on a social media group for women in business and said: 'Please recommend a cake maker that specialises in realistic cakes.'

'People tagged this lady, and she actually ended up messaging me saying that she could take on the challenge.'

She also texted the baker days before the scheduled pick-up to check if everything was in order.

'She said that everything was fine. She didn’t mention anything about the cake being dirty with hair all over it. She didn’t mention anything about her not being able to do it,' Elly said.


'What she should have done was message me, even if it was last minute, and say, “Listen, I thought that I could do this cake. Unfortunately, the cake that I’ve come up with is not good. I would like to show you pictures to make sure that you are happy with it. If you’re not happy with it, that’s fine. I can refund you.”'

'I drove two hours, $230 down the drain... I’m not even talking about the money that I spent on fuel and the stress.'

She also added that when she arrived to pick up the cake, the baker's mother handed it off instead—leaving Elly with a bad feeling but no opportunity to inspect it before she was sent off.

'Interestingly enough, the girl didn’t want to be there to hand off this cake,' Elly said.


'I think she knew she was scamming me. What she did was she said that she couldn’t be there for the handoff and that she would get her mum to hand it off.'

'When I drove the hour there, I was outside of the house, her mum comes out while on the phone and she’s like, “I’m really sorry, I can’t talk. I’m on a phone call.” She quickly grabs the cake, hands it to me and sends me off on my way.'

Elly was reportedly unable to do a full inspection on the cake as it was all wrapped up in a box with its 'see-through' lid.

'All I saw was it was not the most realistic-looking cake.'

'It was not great, but I could not see the rest of the cake… I knew it wasn’t going to be 100 per cent realistic, but it’ll be fine even if it’s not… it’ll be funny.

'It’ll be something that we can laugh at, and my partner is a very happy-go-lucky guy. He is very chill... While I am not.'

Elly, horrified with what she saw when she pulled the ‘dirty’ cake out of its box, added: 'It’s got brown stains with black hair all over it... There’s like a liquid coming out of it.'

She tried contacting the baker but to no avail.

'Honestly, I don’t even know what to do,' she expressed. 'Just so stressful. Now we don’t have a cake.'

You can watch Elly’s video about the below:



Many expressed their shock over Elly’s video, with one saying: 'This cake is just unacceptable, and for $230 you’d expect much better quality.'

Another added: 'That’s horrendous.'

While a third validated Elly’s reaction and said: 'I’d be fuming.'

'I would die of embarrassment if that was my business,' a fourth said.

And a fifth expressed: 'As a cake decorator, I’m sorry this has happened. This is truly horrific!'

But what happened afterwards? Well, unwilling to let the occasion go by without a cake, Elly managed to 'save the day' by baking her own chocolate cake topped with macarons for her boyfriend’s birthday.

You can watch Elly save the day with her cake below:


Have you experienced something similar before? Share your experience with us or your thoughts on this story in the comments below!