This Lady Makes Me Want To Pull My Hair Out!
Decorating By seven Updated 10 Oct 2007 , 10:10pm by Dement1a
I think i already know the answer to my issue but I have to rant about it for 2 minutes!
I have a lady who orders cookies from me quite frequently.....problem.....she is ALWAYS late picking them up. For example, she ordered duck cookies (in my photos) for Monday well its Friday and they are still on my counter. She said she forgot about them on Monday, said she would come Tuesday and still has not come to get them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She always does this! (although not this late, usually she is about 2 hours late coming to get them) I don't want to give her the cookies b/c they are not fresh and my name is all over them! Now I have not heard from her since Weds. What do I say to her? Do I stop taking orders from her altogether? Grr! It makes me so mad that someone does not respect my time and money! Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks!
Has she paid for them? Always require HER to pay in advance.
If you wanted to to continue to take her orders, at the end of the first day, put the cookies in the freezer. And don't stay home just because she is late. If you have to go out, go. It is her problem.
Otherwise, it may not be worth the hassle.
Maybe a dumb question, but are you making sure she pays in advance, at least 50%, before you do any work? If you're not, there's your solution!
Has she paid for them? If not, in the future I would get paid in advance or no cookies would be made. I'd also have a contract stating any cookies not picked within 48 hours (or whatever amount of time you decide) will be donated to what ever charity you see fit and have her sign it.
Has she paid for them? If not, in the future I would get paid in advance or no cookies would be made. I'd also have a contract stating any cookies not picked within 48 hours (or whatever amount of time you decide) will be donated to what ever charity you see fit and have her sign it.
I totally agree with everyone about getting paid in advance. And what a gerat idea tiggy has, to donate to charity if she's too late to pick them up.
Either collect payment up front, or don't do business with her...
she did not pay in advance (my fault)....clearly this is what I need to do from now on!
Am I in the wrong for wanting to say something to her? I have no idea what to say about the order that has been sitting on my counter for a week! Can I still ask her to pay even though the cookies are stale? I did put my time and money into them.....or just chalk it up to lesson learned?
Are you wrapping the cookies? If they are wrapped/sealed they will keep for quite a while. Not a solution for your lady but the freshness of the cookies is one less thing for you to stress over. & I agree with those above, have her pay in full up front. That way if she never shows you still got paid. I hope it all works out, who forgets to get cookies? Yum! 
Wonder if she would do this to a (clears throat) "real" bakery?
Thursday conversation: "Oh? You still want those? Well when you didn't pick them up on Monday, like you said you would, I figured you changed your mind and I sold them to someone else. I mean, you don't REALLY expect me to keep cookies sitting around for a WEEK, do you?"
, I'll pay for them 
Not sure what recipe you used for the cookies and the icing but I made NFSC and icied with Antonia74's recipe and they were fine up to 10 days after.
As for charging her, I still would as she order and you have filled that order. So, stale or not I still think you should get paid.
As for next time, I think 50% payment at least a week in advance and if that does not happen then 'sorry, no cookies for you' will be a good answer.
I'd call her once to "remind" her of the order she placed, but I would have done that the day she was due to pick them up.
Give her a call to remind her, then chalk it up to experience. Of course I wouldn't touch another order from her without full payment up front and payment on this order as well, whether she ever picks them up or not!
A couple years ago I had a similar situation -- grandma calls me for a birthday cake for her granddaughter. We agree on a Saturday delivery. Thursday rolls around and I call to confirm drop off time -- can't get ahold of her. For three days I call and call, nothing. Saturday at noon (our agreed time), I drive over there with a cake. Nobody home. I leave a note in the door and go home with my cake. All day I call, nothing. Saturday night I drive over there again (she's not too far from me, but far enough to tick me off!), and again, nobody home. I leave a second note on the door and again drive home with my cake.
Sunday night (at 11 p.m. mind you!) she FINALLY calls -- she left her phone off the hook accidentally and went out of town for the weekend. She now wants the cake NEXT Thursday -- a week away! I told her we agreed on this Saturday delivery and I held to my end of the bargain, blah blah blah... Well she insists so I tell her fine, but there is an additional charge for storage of an already completed cake (I refused to bake a new one) and an additional delivery charge.
Thursday rolls around and the cake gets delivered, I tell her that will be $$ (new total) and she gives me the ORIGINAL amount! Says she can't afford all the extra $$. 
Guess what -- the next year I was too busy to do her cake! 
Seriously, what is wrong with these people? I mean, I am a forgetful person, I'll admit, but c'mon...
so please tell us.... what happened???
(and sorry this happened to you! Disrespectful people make me so mad!)
.... but there is an additional charge for storage of an already completed cake (I refused to bake a new one) and an additional delivery charge.
Thursday rolls around and the cake gets delivered, I tell her that will be $$ (new total) and she gives me the ORIGINAL amount! Says she can't afford all the extra $$.
I want to see her pull this kind of tactic with, for instance, a car repair place. I know many of them, if you don't pick up your car when it's ready and/or within a certain time period, they will charge you a storage fee. No way on god's green earth would they release her car to her until she paid those storage charges!
Hubby used to be with the sheriff's dept and they had a phrase for dumba$$es like this: DWHUA - "Driving With Head Up A$$"!
I totally agree with your point indydebbi. I don't understand what it is about cakes that people don't pay on time. You wouldn't order a pizza and tell the guy oh I'll send you the check next week, or can you bring me back a new one in 4 days, I forgot I ordered it. I always get 50% up front now even from "friends" because I've gotten stiffed too many times.
I had the same thing happen with a box of truffles - calling all night on agreed delivery day, two weeks later and several phone calls before I got paid!!!! I was so upset, it wasn't a lot of money but the principal of the thing you know? Some people are so self absorbed and ridiculious! I'm going to stop now because this is making me angry all over again!
Sue
This site, and this forum in particular, has been a huge help of info and experiences. It's stories like this which make me glad that when I do an occasional order for sale I ask for all money up front. Granted, I've never sold anything that costs more than $20 at this time, but I'm getting into that habit now for if later on I decide to go more 'pro', people expect that from me.
My default mode is to not take any payment at all, but as someone else said earlier, it seems that too many people think its ok to not pay or undercut a baker. It's really sad that people don't show respect to a baker/decorator like they would any other service provider. 
My default mode is to not take any payment at all, but as someone else said earlier, it seems that too many people think its ok to not pay or undercut a baker. It's really sad that people don't show respect to a baker/decorator like they would any other service provider.
Unfortunately most people have gotten used to the "Wal-mart World" - everything should be cheap, it should be on their time, and they shouldn't have to go through any trouble at all to get it. True artisanship in any field has really become underappreciated, whether it be baking, sewing, painting, home repair, etc. Everyone wants to go with the lowest bidder and has a blatant disregard for the cost of quality.
I just hope that quality doesn't eventually die out entirely from people like us who get tired of not getting what we deserve for our work and give up.
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