I hit my breaking point this week and I finally told them NO......t felt good!!!

Last friday I was asked to do a bridal shower cake to feed 40 people for Wed. I said no problem, they just wanted something simple w/a fall theme. I gave the price and said to let me know something by Monday at the lastest. Well of course they balked at the price, but said they would let me know.

So on Monday I had another coworker ask me to do 2 bday cakes to feed 25 each, one due on Wed. and one on Thurs. I said sure....gave him the price and told him to let me know by the end of the day.

Hadn't heard anything from either of them by the time I left work on Mon. So I get to work on Tues and both of them approach me and say...well we talked it over and we think the price a little high, but go ahead and make the cakes!!! I was like WHAT!!! I explained there was not enough time for me to do the cakes now and pointed out that I had asked to know the night before. They were like...'oh you were serious, but you never reminded us!!' AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I told them I gave them each a print out w/cake pictures....prices...and the deadline highlighted on the bottom of the page!!!

I couldn't believe the looks on their faces. But I'm glad I told them No. I'm just glad they weren't upset w/me and said from now on they will give more notice. I told them to let me know AS SOON AS you start planning a party. Its hard to get them out the WALMART-SAM'S CLUB way of buying of cakes. Some are starting to understand I'm not like walmart and can't just pop a cake out of the freezer and write on it!! I ACTUALLY MAKE MY CAKES!!!

Good for you! That took a lot to tell them no. People are so sold on buying a cheap, thrown together cake. Well, if that's what they want then go to the grocery store bakeries. What we do takes time and short notice doesn't cut it. When will they appreciate what we do? I have the same mentality that if they think a freshly made, delicious, well decorated cake is "just a cake" then keep going.

Good for you.. you deserve the respect... i just think they dont realize that this is an art... now they understand!!

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! You have to get tough with people who want to just use you like that. I knew you would finally get to where you could say NO!! Yeah!!!! Just keep it up!!

Good for you. I know there are pleanty of times that we just want to say no Im not going to do it for a lower price. Or no I need more time. Good for you I glad you stood up and said no. MC

GOOD FOR YOU!!! Stick to your guns!!! You are being the reasonable one in the deal. If they want cheap-big-box-store-crap-cake that looks like slop and tastes like thawed-out frozen cardboard then they can go to the big-box-store and get a crap-cake. If they want a fresh, delicious, home baked cake professionally decorated with love, then they can come and see you for one and pay for and enjoy the difference!!!!!

Kudos Pinkbunny!!!
I had someone call me tonite at 9:00 and asked if it was too late to get cookies for Saturday. I told her yes and explained that I would have had make the dough and bake before 9:00 tonite and decorate on Friday so they would have time to dry. Yet, some people don't realize that besides cake--we do have a life.

I don't know...if you ask me business is business and my thing is the customer is always right and we should be doing whatever to make them happy...Now i know it's short notice, but if you have this problem, maybe you should say something like "If i don't get XX amount of notice, there will be a $xx service charge"
That way, you still make a sale, and they get a better quality cake and will more likely come to you again. Now-a-days you can go to a good quality bakery and they can have a cake made for u in a day or 2. I think if we are going to compete, we shouldn't say no to ANY customers.

I'm not saying that you did the wrong thing, just that i've been in the customer service industry in a long time and the way i was taught is we need to be ready for the client, not the other way around.

You have point there cakefairy... I don't know how many of us have to compete with other bakers or bakeries but in my case, I don't compete with anyone. I do this every now and then and people may pay me for one occasinally and still there is no great profit there..

Pinkbunny has a full time job during the day, if I am not mistaken, so she has to tell her customers no for now...

But I guess if she does this for a living, then your method would work better to keep the customers....No customer wants to pay extra money for not notifying on time or making arrangements on time..

Good for you! I get that so much; people waiting to the last possible moment to rder a cake and thinking that "oh, she can do it" .. it's just not fair to us and it really pressures me into trying to get it done fast... I love to plan out my cakes and have time to think about different ways/designs that I want to do ... so good for you for standing your ground!! I need to take some lessons from you

ok, so maybe the "late fee" is a little out of line...but the point i'm trying to make is that incident could end up backfiring...there is such a thing as bad word of mouth too...if all 3 were too much for u, maybe you could have take one order for the one with the latest date..in order to somewhat satisfy...that way, when they tell ppl what happeend they can say, "well, i didnt give her much time so she couldnt do all the cakes i wanted but she did go out of her way to help me by making one of them"

i think it's just more positive that way...

Most of my customers understand that I require 2 days notice for cakes and especially cookies. I tell them upfront when they call for my services and so far, everyone has returned as a customer. Very rarely do I say no; however, I do have a full-time day job and a husband that likes to get out some evenings.

There is one lady that usually waits until 7:00 at night to request a cake (unique, at that) for the next AM. And I have told her I could do it but there is a $25.00 last minute fee in addition to the cost of the cake. Naturally she doesn't order the cake. But she's learning.

Good for you for setting deadlines and sticking to them. Once you let someone take advantage of your generosity, they'll continue to do it.

I have a full time job where I work about 50 hours a week and a houseful of kids, so decorating is my hobby. When people don't give me a week's notice I turn them down.

If I did this professionally, it might be different where I would charge a service fee for a late order but still do the cake. In my situation, I just can't do it.

cakefairy.....it was hard to say no b/c I really wanted to do the cakes. ...and I didn't want my coworkers to spread the word I was being 'mean'/rude about ordering cakes. but my coworkers have known for 6 months that i do cakes and for 6 months they have been coming to me to day before or maybe two days before they need cake to ask me to do it. AND they hassle me about the price EVERYTIME. And I've done the cakes everytime. It would stress me out and I'd be up til 1-3 in the morning trying to finish the cake before the next day. But I already had two other cake orders for Wed. and trying to fit in another three w/less than 24 hrs notice would have just been too much. If they had told me on Mon and not Tues. I would have been fine and could have done them....but telling me on Tues when they need them for Wed.!!!! Esp. when I asked they tell me by Mond.


But luckily I work w/mostly understanding people. And luckily the two I told no said they understood and said they should have told me sooner. They'd been planning the wedding shower party for a month....and the guy knew about the birthdays for over a week. I just explained that at least 48 hrs notice is what I would need from now on.....if they could give me more it would be even better.

I like the service fee idea, but I don't think I could get away w/charging it right now. They already don't like my prices b/c they are more than Sam's Club. Hopefully, they'll spread the word and I won't get so many late notice cakes now.

Thanks everyone for the support!!
Christine

You go girl ...proud that you stood your ground.

Some people actually think that we can magically pull a decorated cake out of a hat.

As for the bakeries being able to do a cake on short notice, they have help and that makes a big difference.

I'm not sure if I could say no to a customer at this point, unless I absolutely have another commitment.

I definitely see both sides to this. If you work full time, have kids, and do cakes, that may be hard to pull off last minute. However, I probably would have been up til 1am working on the cakes because I'd do anything for the business right now.

You know, you could always make enough buttercream/fondant icing to have on hand in the fridge for last minute emergency orders. If someone wants a last minute order, if you don't have other plans, then tell them that you can do a simple cake or a simple sheetcake last minute. You would still have a customer. Just make sure that you tell them, "Simple cake with simple decorations". If they wanted a sculptured cake or a specialty cake, then you need a week. But for a sheet cake or a round, it would be manageable.

I know from experience by working with teenagers the biggest offenders of them all) that people procrastinate and wait til the last minute. Sometimes, if you can, accomodation is not always a bad thing.
Just a thought.

PS---well, now that you had other committments, the "no" was very understandable. I don't blame you......you had other orders....fair enough.

We're so proud of you!!! It's really hard for me to say no to a job, but I also know that I teach people how to treat me and if they learn that I'll do the job at the last minute for little money, that's how they'll order their cakes from then on. Congratulations!!!

Maybe next time they'll treat you like a business.
People are funny sometimes. I've had many people suggest I charge too much, but they don't realize how much money and time it takes to make what they ask for... I can't just give my cakes away. I'd rather not have any business at all than not get paid for the supplies and my time. If they can find someone to do the same for less, then I tell them to do so... politely of course. We can't compete with Sam's or Costco, but I'm sure all of us make better tasting and better looking cakes anyway. They are about production, I'm about quality... I'm sure you ladies are the same. : )

I agree with goodcakefairy. If you start out doing last minute cakes everytime it will never end. It's not fair that people can expect you to drop everything you are doing and BAM a cake. No, that is not how it works.

I bet next time they will give you 2 weeks notice.

Good for you.

I believe that it is important to inform customers about any deadlines or special concerns at the outset. People who are the closest to us are oftentimes the first ones to test the waters of pricing and short notice orders. I think your setting boundaries was a good thing. Although the customer is right to expect the get what they paid for, your time is valuable. I always like to factor in time to cover the unforseen as well. I never want to feel so pushed and exhausted that I may not deliver a good product. Customers may balk at first, but in the long run they will appreciate your professionalism.

i'm with you on this pink bunny!!!!! you go girl!! i cant believe the way some people are. if they wanted a walmart cake they should have gone to walmart!! obviously they know that your cakes are better and they wanted something nicer than what everyone else in the world(it seems ) can get..thus they should also realize that this takes more time!! especially if they are co-workers!! are you supposed to call in to work to get their cake done!! i dont think so!!
and then if you had done it on so short a notice then it may not have been as perfect as some of the others you have done( and they have seen)so they may have balked at the price for that reason never at all considering the fact that you just did them a huge favor!!!
can you tell that almost the exact same thing happened to me at work!!haha
as far as "the customer always being right" ,,i work in a restraunt and to an extint that is true but someon e could not come in to our place an dorder somethin that we had on special say last week with out at least realizing that it may not be possible!! i know that my managers are great and really try to make everyone happy but not to the point of putting that customer above all others and running to get what ever it is from the store and cooking it and then serving it,then everyone would expect it also! our restraunt would be gone!! we wouldnt have MENUS!! ther is a reason for regulations on things!!
ok i'll stop now!! CONGRATS ON THE NO!!!!!!!