Costco Flat-Out Hands Woman Blank Cake, Supposedly Refusing To Color It As Per Her Order Due To Copyright, Expects Her To Just Accept It
Imagine that you are about to host a birthday party for your child. What troubles can await you along the way? Well, for example, you can invite several dozen people, and when you arrive at the venue, you find that nobody showed up. Or, for example, you can encounter some birthday cake fail.
Many parents prefer not to bake their own cakes, but order a custom cake from a local bakery or from one of the stores of a large chain – for example, Costco. Usually retail giants don’t let you down – but sometimes funny troubles happen, like what happened to this mom, whose video ended up with almost a million views on TikTok.
More info: TikTok
The author of the video was arranging her 2 Y.O. kid’s birthday party and wanted a special cake for sure
Image credits: Jon Tyson (not the actual photo)
The mom ordered a cake at Costco but received a blank white cake the evening before the day of the party
Image credits: @katelanterman
“Tonight I went to pick up my son’s second birthday cake from Costco”
“And I got a blank cake instead. Of course, no decorators work in the evening, which was when I came to pick this up. So no one there knows why it was blank. The best I can assume is that because it’s a Sesame Street-themed birthday party, and I know they can’t do licensed things.”
Image credits: @katelanterman
Image credits: @katelanterman
“So all I asked for was a little street sign”
“This is a recreation of my order that I gave them. You know, ‘Happy Birthday.’ I asked for some 1,2,3s. ABCs on it, a top border and a bottom border. But I guess maybe because of the sign they wouldn’t do any of it. The person there gave me a couple of colors to take home. And the manager offered $5 off for this inconvenience, which I didn’t even bother finding him when we checked out.”
Image credits: @katelanterman
Image credits: @katelanterman
“I took it home. I don’t like my handwriting. I’ve done cake stuff in the past before this”
“So this was the best I could do. But I guess because of the sign they wouldn’t do it? That’s my assumption. What confuses me the most is why they wouldn’t do the bare minimum of at least ‘Happy Birthday Teddy.’ And the border colors like they just left it blank white instead.”
@katelanterman #Costcofail Without explanation, Costco didnt decorate my son’s birthday cake so I had to do it at 9pm the night before his party. #nailedit BUT SERIOUSLY, you thought leaving it blank was a good idea??? Do the best you can offer and thats my problem after, but them leaving it blank was a horribly petty plan. I normally LOVE Costco, we still spent bought all of our party food there tonight because that was my plan and I didnt need the added stress of changing plans over this. I’ll still shop there, but i will NEVER order a custom cake again #cakefail ♬ original sound – Katelynn Ross
The woman made the design on her own using the icing Costco workers had attached, but was surely upset with the whole situation
The Original Poster (OP) is Katelynn Ross (@katelanterman). She was arranging a party for her 2 year-old kid, and what’s a party without a birthday cake? Mom had been working around ten years in bakeries, according to herself, but this time she decided to order a custom cake from Costco. The manager said that they could fulfill such an order, so the woman asked for a fairly typical design with a congratulatory inscription.
What came to Katelynn’s surprise was when, on the eve of her toddler’s birthday, Costco delivered a cake – as blank as a paper sheet! But that was not all – as an addition to the cake, she received several tubes of icing. Such a DIY kit … And all this, just to remind you, took place late in the evening on the eve of the party!
It’s good that Katelynn had a lot of experience working in bakeries, so although the woman complained about her handwriting not being the most calligraphic, in the end, the cake came out well, and the congratulatory inscription turned out really beautiful. But it took the OP a lot of time and nerves. The manager, when the author of the video contacted them, offered a $5 discount in return as some kind of compensation for the fact that the store could not fully fulfill the order. Well, in this case, who can compensate Katelynn for the spent nerve cells?
According to information provided by the CostcoMenu website, “Costco is an excellent option if you’re looking for an affordable and delicious birthday cake. They offer a wide selection of cakes, and you can choose from several different flavors and designs.” However, no matter how we searched, we could not find an ordinary blank sheet among the available cake designs…
By the way, in the comments to the video, Katelynn also admitted that she had several missed calls while she was working that day, and it is likely that this was a Costco manager who wanted to warn the customer about design problems. However, what surprised some folks in the comments is that the cake arrived on time at all. On the other hand, some decorators who came to the comments said that if there is no way to get in touch with the customer, then it is probably better to deliver a blank cake than not to bake it at all.
What all the commenters are unanimous about is that Katelynn did a great design job herself, and actually saved her kid’s birthday party! Now, if you, too, have ever faced some strange situations while arranging any birthday celebration, please let us know about them in the comments.
However, people in the comments massively praised the mom for doing a great job of saving her toddler’s birthday party
TLDR; Costco only allows pre-approved designs in their book (with limited modifications). Woman wants custom job, which Costco does not offer. Costco tried to contact her prior to fulfilling order, but she didn't pick up. Manager makes safe call of having cake ready with the ability for her to make the custom design. Woman is upset at Costco.
*And people seem to be on her side
Yes, because they should have told her no when she was physically in front of them placing the order. You have to place your order in person at the bakery and someone who works in the bakery has to write down your order by hand. The least they could have done was left a callback notice in the voicemail.
we only have her word that they did not inform her at the time, they might have and she wasnt paying attention. Or, did you know Costco allows you to place orders without actually talking to a person at some locations. This is on her
They actually don't. All of our local Costcos just have a box with a bunch of forms, you fill out the form and put it in the box. No talking up anyone until you pick up.
You can order stuff like that online. You're not required to sit down with someone and get interviewed in every supermarket. Also they did try to call her. So, she didn't check if her own design would be ok and she didn't check the missed call, still got a full cake and all the colours needed.
No they don't. Costco has a form you fill out then you put it in a drop box. You are very misinformed
I have to disagree with you that people have to go to a store in person to make a cake order. Walmart for the last several years now has online cake ordering where you can order cakes and any kind of special custom designs that you want that's well within the range that they can do. I think you need to do your research a little bit further on that.
Hello, fellow grocery shopper.
I mean.. she did an alright job at decorating it herself, too. it doesn't have to be "good enough" for a 2 year old. THEY ARE LITERALLY 2. They're unlikely to even remember this in the future, I'm sure tasty cake is all they will care about in the long run, and I'm sure if the kid does remember, they'll be happy for the effort. plenty of kids out there don't get a cake at all.
Isn't the issue that someone at Costco agreed to her custom design? They could have said no from the beginning.
She said she submitted it to them, she never said anyone agreed to, she assumed they would
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You're assuming no one agreed to her request. We don't know how she submitted her order. Could have been submitted in person. Other commenters mentioned Costco doesn't accept online cake orders. So not sure how else she could have submitted it.
ONE comment claims it's only in person ant that's what you go with? Even though multiple people (now it's one more) tell you that this is false. It's a form in a Dropbox and there's no custom option. So either OP mistook what shop she was at, or didn't realise that it's not gonna be customised, or told bs for internet clout.
Costco only accepts cake orders one way. A form you get at the store that is returned using a drop box. It also gives you choices, no custom
Methinks someone doesn't understand the burden of proof.
An attempt to contact doesn't really count if they don't leave a message. Nobody answers strange numbers. Leave a message and they can know it's not a spammer and call back. It sounds like a miscommunication all around, since her location didn't make it clear there were no custom orders, and apparently had a space to request them on the form. Why would the store even allow a custom order to be placed if there are no custom orders? Also, the woman's post didn't even sound mad, she just seemed to think it was odd, which was reasonable given the information she had.
I'm actually curious to see the form in question. Plenty of people use any blank space for requests: Comments, Allergies, PLEASE DON'T WRITE HERE "OKAY"...
Yes. Sounds like miscommunication and misunderstanding, somewhat on both sides and since she seemingly didn't make too much of a fuzz who cares.
Seems entitled. It's how the story is presented to you and in which perspective.
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Because it is not her job to guess, and employee accepted this order as it is, plus the manager doesn't bother to live voicemail. Bad service.
Voicemail was probably full. Happens to me all the time at my job. Customers complain you didn't leave a message when it is literally impossible.
I'm legit getting to the point where I want to slap ANYONE who insists I leave a voice-mail with THE MAILBOX YOU HAVE CONTACTED IS FULL AND CANNOT ACCEPT NEW MESSAGES GOODBYE!
I once asked Dairy Queen to do a Five Nights at Freddy's cake for my daughter. They told me on the same call they wouldn't be able to because they don't have the license for that brand. Makes sense. Just not something I thought was a thing since I heard other cake companies can do custom orders. However, copyright laws I'm aware of and respect. Wasn't a big deal. Chose a blank cake and did the decorating myself. Looked ... pretty bad but not the absolute worst. I think the Thomas The Tank Engine cake I made for her 1st birthday from scratch was way worse. This mom is overreacting, making mountains out of hills. Her child will appreciate and remember her decorating fondly more than a stranger's. And she did a fine job. Her son isn't going to care about calligraphy and perfect edges. At the end of it all, it's cake that goes down the same.
Companies (and freelancers) aren't legally allowed to make anything with copyrighted images on it without permission of the copyright holder. Buuuut lots of people either don't know that or don't care and do it anyway. I'd imagine that most never get caught by the really big corporations just because of sheer numbers, but if they do get caught, they can get sued big time for it. There are some loopholes to copyright laws, but they often don't apply to the average person selling stuff.
The loophole would be if they made an approximate variation of it, change some details and call it by a generic name, such as Scary Animatronic Bear. Just like how Dollar Store versions of popular titles do it for kid's toys.
Sons 2!! Definitely not gonna care about the decoration, just the taste 😋
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I get copy right but if the owner of that copy right doesn't make cakes with their brand on it I don't see the harm in putting it on a medium that will be destroyed with in the week. Not like you can copy and paste a cake and if the cake shop is not advertising that as one of their designs but simply filling a one off customer order I don't think it could harm their brand in anyway.
They really could get sued for it from the company holding the copyright. Especially a big chain like Costco--they know they have deep pockets. And if everyone knows that Costco will do a one-off for you because "it's not a big deal..." then you've got thousands and thousands of one-offs.
It's not "the brand" saying no or that it will harm them, it's the company, Costco , saying no. The brand owner, while they do protect their own intellectual rights, may simply require something from Costco in order for them to use the design(s). If Costco is unwilling to do those things (such as buy a license) then it's 100% on Costco, not the brand. Plenty of places can and do get licensing for things like this. But Costco just doesn't want to go through the hassle of doing it for every single brand. It's why many bakeries (and even box stores with them) have specific designs you can choose from. If any of those are licensed, they've paid for the right to use them in some fashion. Many places like that don't really do custom designs for this very reason
It can easily turn into "Well, I know you did that popular theme cake for so and so, you can do the same for me." It would take just one person to post a photo of it on social media tagged with the theme owner. Boom. That cake maker is deep legal trouble.
I had a friend who was a cake decorator. Their department would tell customers that colors like black, purple, and blue make really bad flavored frosting and should only be used in small amounts. But no, they want these colors for the whole cake. Guess who comes back to the store to complain about bad tasting cake/frosting? Yeah, you were told it would be nasty, that’s on you.
I've been a professional baker and a hobby baker. If those colours are tasting bad that's not normal and they should buy different colours. I use black purple and blue all the time, I made a Star Wars themed birthday cake for my husband where the cake base was completely black for background and it tasted absolutely normal. I'd report them to the health department if the cake tasted bad just because it's black, blue and purple
All frosting (should) tastes the same!
I agree. That sounds like they are using out of date products
Most grocery store cakes are made with cheap food coloring and certain colors do taste terrible even if the ingredients are fresh and in date. It won't make anyone sick, it's just gross.
Given that certain colours trap heat better, could that cause e.g. creme or buttermilk frosting to turn sooner?
I love blue and purple frosting.
I think Ray Arani’s reply is the most probable answer. The bakeries I was talking about were grocery store bakeries in less affluent areas, so it may explain the difference in the quality of the food coloring making the icing taste off.
I've never had a cake where frosting flavor was different due to its color. I've done all-black cakes, with blue, with purpole, with green, whatever, and y'know, it all tastes the same.
TLDR; Costco only allows pre-approved designs in their book (with limited modifications). Woman wants custom job, which Costco does not offer. Costco tried to contact her prior to fulfilling order, but she didn't pick up. Manager makes safe call of having cake ready with the ability for her to make the custom design. Woman is upset at Costco.
*And people seem to be on her side
Yes, because they should have told her no when she was physically in front of them placing the order. You have to place your order in person at the bakery and someone who works in the bakery has to write down your order by hand. The least they could have done was left a callback notice in the voicemail.
we only have her word that they did not inform her at the time, they might have and she wasnt paying attention. Or, did you know Costco allows you to place orders without actually talking to a person at some locations. This is on her
They actually don't. All of our local Costcos just have a box with a bunch of forms, you fill out the form and put it in the box. No talking up anyone until you pick up.
You can order stuff like that online. You're not required to sit down with someone and get interviewed in every supermarket. Also they did try to call her. So, she didn't check if her own design would be ok and she didn't check the missed call, still got a full cake and all the colours needed.
No they don't. Costco has a form you fill out then you put it in a drop box. You are very misinformed
I have to disagree with you that people have to go to a store in person to make a cake order. Walmart for the last several years now has online cake ordering where you can order cakes and any kind of special custom designs that you want that's well within the range that they can do. I think you need to do your research a little bit further on that.
Hello, fellow grocery shopper.
I mean.. she did an alright job at decorating it herself, too. it doesn't have to be "good enough" for a 2 year old. THEY ARE LITERALLY 2. They're unlikely to even remember this in the future, I'm sure tasty cake is all they will care about in the long run, and I'm sure if the kid does remember, they'll be happy for the effort. plenty of kids out there don't get a cake at all.
Isn't the issue that someone at Costco agreed to her custom design? They could have said no from the beginning.
She said she submitted it to them, she never said anyone agreed to, she assumed they would
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You're assuming no one agreed to her request. We don't know how she submitted her order. Could have been submitted in person. Other commenters mentioned Costco doesn't accept online cake orders. So not sure how else she could have submitted it.
ONE comment claims it's only in person ant that's what you go with? Even though multiple people (now it's one more) tell you that this is false. It's a form in a Dropbox and there's no custom option. So either OP mistook what shop she was at, or didn't realise that it's not gonna be customised, or told bs for internet clout.
Costco only accepts cake orders one way. A form you get at the store that is returned using a drop box. It also gives you choices, no custom
Methinks someone doesn't understand the burden of proof.
An attempt to contact doesn't really count if they don't leave a message. Nobody answers strange numbers. Leave a message and they can know it's not a spammer and call back. It sounds like a miscommunication all around, since her location didn't make it clear there were no custom orders, and apparently had a space to request them on the form. Why would the store even allow a custom order to be placed if there are no custom orders? Also, the woman's post didn't even sound mad, she just seemed to think it was odd, which was reasonable given the information she had.
I'm actually curious to see the form in question. Plenty of people use any blank space for requests: Comments, Allergies, PLEASE DON'T WRITE HERE "OKAY"...
Yes. Sounds like miscommunication and misunderstanding, somewhat on both sides and since she seemingly didn't make too much of a fuzz who cares.
Seems entitled. It's how the story is presented to you and in which perspective.
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Because it is not her job to guess, and employee accepted this order as it is, plus the manager doesn't bother to live voicemail. Bad service.
Voicemail was probably full. Happens to me all the time at my job. Customers complain you didn't leave a message when it is literally impossible.
I'm legit getting to the point where I want to slap ANYONE who insists I leave a voice-mail with THE MAILBOX YOU HAVE CONTACTED IS FULL AND CANNOT ACCEPT NEW MESSAGES GOODBYE!
I once asked Dairy Queen to do a Five Nights at Freddy's cake for my daughter. They told me on the same call they wouldn't be able to because they don't have the license for that brand. Makes sense. Just not something I thought was a thing since I heard other cake companies can do custom orders. However, copyright laws I'm aware of and respect. Wasn't a big deal. Chose a blank cake and did the decorating myself. Looked ... pretty bad but not the absolute worst. I think the Thomas The Tank Engine cake I made for her 1st birthday from scratch was way worse. This mom is overreacting, making mountains out of hills. Her child will appreciate and remember her decorating fondly more than a stranger's. And she did a fine job. Her son isn't going to care about calligraphy and perfect edges. At the end of it all, it's cake that goes down the same.
Companies (and freelancers) aren't legally allowed to make anything with copyrighted images on it without permission of the copyright holder. Buuuut lots of people either don't know that or don't care and do it anyway. I'd imagine that most never get caught by the really big corporations just because of sheer numbers, but if they do get caught, they can get sued big time for it. There are some loopholes to copyright laws, but they often don't apply to the average person selling stuff.
The loophole would be if they made an approximate variation of it, change some details and call it by a generic name, such as Scary Animatronic Bear. Just like how Dollar Store versions of popular titles do it for kid's toys.
Sons 2!! Definitely not gonna care about the decoration, just the taste 😋
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I get copy right but if the owner of that copy right doesn't make cakes with their brand on it I don't see the harm in putting it on a medium that will be destroyed with in the week. Not like you can copy and paste a cake and if the cake shop is not advertising that as one of their designs but simply filling a one off customer order I don't think it could harm their brand in anyway.
They really could get sued for it from the company holding the copyright. Especially a big chain like Costco--they know they have deep pockets. And if everyone knows that Costco will do a one-off for you because "it's not a big deal..." then you've got thousands and thousands of one-offs.
It's not "the brand" saying no or that it will harm them, it's the company, Costco , saying no. The brand owner, while they do protect their own intellectual rights, may simply require something from Costco in order for them to use the design(s). If Costco is unwilling to do those things (such as buy a license) then it's 100% on Costco, not the brand. Plenty of places can and do get licensing for things like this. But Costco just doesn't want to go through the hassle of doing it for every single brand. It's why many bakeries (and even box stores with them) have specific designs you can choose from. If any of those are licensed, they've paid for the right to use them in some fashion. Many places like that don't really do custom designs for this very reason
It can easily turn into "Well, I know you did that popular theme cake for so and so, you can do the same for me." It would take just one person to post a photo of it on social media tagged with the theme owner. Boom. That cake maker is deep legal trouble.
I had a friend who was a cake decorator. Their department would tell customers that colors like black, purple, and blue make really bad flavored frosting and should only be used in small amounts. But no, they want these colors for the whole cake. Guess who comes back to the store to complain about bad tasting cake/frosting? Yeah, you were told it would be nasty, that’s on you.
I've been a professional baker and a hobby baker. If those colours are tasting bad that's not normal and they should buy different colours. I use black purple and blue all the time, I made a Star Wars themed birthday cake for my husband where the cake base was completely black for background and it tasted absolutely normal. I'd report them to the health department if the cake tasted bad just because it's black, blue and purple
All frosting (should) tastes the same!
I agree. That sounds like they are using out of date products
Most grocery store cakes are made with cheap food coloring and certain colors do taste terrible even if the ingredients are fresh and in date. It won't make anyone sick, it's just gross.
Given that certain colours trap heat better, could that cause e.g. creme or buttermilk frosting to turn sooner?
I love blue and purple frosting.
I think Ray Arani’s reply is the most probable answer. The bakeries I was talking about were grocery store bakeries in less affluent areas, so it may explain the difference in the quality of the food coloring making the icing taste off.
I've never had a cake where frosting flavor was different due to its color. I've done all-black cakes, with blue, with purpole, with green, whatever, and y'know, it all tastes the same.