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Very First Unhappy Customer (long discription...) - Page 2

post #16 of 69
6/17/08 at 10:56am
Was the bride consulted at the reception hall when you went back? If that had have been me, I would have located the bride and talked to HER, not the aunt to find out for sure if she was unhappy with it instead of beating myself up over something that she may not have even said. Did you tell the aunt that the bride told you that she was happy with it when she paid the remainder of the money?

If I was the bride and I didn't like my wedding cake that I paid for, I would be the one to make the call. #1 the aunt had no business calling someone to complain about a cake that was not hers.

Until you hear from the bride herself, I wouldn't worry any about it.
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post #17 of 69
6/17/08 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
Well, thanks to all of you! I appreciate your thoughts. Like I said before, this was my FIRST unhappy customer so I really didn't know what to do! You must have missed the part where I said that I already gave the check back =(. As it seems...I should not have done this. The thought in my head at the time was, if she is going to cancel it anyway...then I'll just give it back.

So, that is my delima now.

The more I read, the more confident I am that I did nothing wrong. She did have me second guessing myself (after we talked, not before when I was done with the cake). I left that place feeling like I had made a lovely cake that needed to be finished with flowers.

That lady made me think I had created a beast of a cake. I'm still working on my confidence level. I have had no problems up until now and I always ask and make sure that they like the cake. Now I'll probably second guess every time! The aunt said that the bride didn't want to hurt my feelings. I can take it and move on. I might not have huge confidence (because I know I am still learning) but I can take a hit and get back up, damn it.

Live and Learn...huh? Boy have I!

Thanks again!
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post #18 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:00pm
Cash the check. You did the work, you need to be paid in full. Besides, in some states it is illegal to stop payment on a check. If the BRIDE calls you after the honeymoon, deal with her and no one else.
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post #19 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:12pm
Talk to the bride, and GET THAT MONEY BACK !!! She OWES you that money.... IF you have to take her to small claims court, then so be it..... I hope you are legal........
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post #20 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:22pm
A cake without the flowers looks SO MUCH DIFFERENT than a cake with the flowers. I set up a cake on Sunday .... hadn't put the flowers on it yet. MOB said it looked great! I said, "Oh you haven't seen anything yet! The flowers ALWAYS make the cake!"

More than one cake I've finished and thought it was really plain and ugly ... until I put the flowers on it and then it became the most beautiful cake in the world!

So if Aunty and the bride were looking at your plain, un-flowered cake, it MAY have looked very plain ..... then. What was the reaction AFTER the flowers were added?

And yes, I would have talked to the bride, not to the aunt.
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post #21 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:26pm
Another issue I see is that you waited to get the remainder of your payment on the day of the event. I require that I'm paid in full three weeks before the event. If you book within a month of your wedding, then I'm paid in full at that time.

Basically, the bride paid 1/2 price or less for her cake....that I bet they ate.

Unless I know the customer very well, and have had no payment problems, EVERYONE pays in advance. It gives me operating capital and peace of mind. And it commits your customer to your services.

If you buy a computer from Dell you have to pay for it before they even start to build it. Why should we require less??

I agree with the others. Send her an invoice, with a timeline, for the balance due. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong.

Several have asked about pictures....did you take a picture at the site?
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post #22 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:32pm
OMG I didn't realize you had given the check back. Have you quit kicking yourself yet? icon_sad.gif Good luck with dealing with the bride.

Diane
Lord, If you can't make me thin, please make my friends fat.
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Lord, If you can't make me thin, please make my friends fat.
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post #23 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:33pm
If they wanted to put a stop on the check,, then fine, take the cake back with you, that is what I would have done if it was me.


I am afraid this is how I feel too. Some people are always looking for something free. I once had a mother pick up a doll cake and complain it didn't have enough color to it. I offered to take it in the back and add more color or flowers (all the while the birthday girl was saying "but mommy I really like it). She wouldn't let me add to the cake but didn't want to pay for it either. I stuck to my guns and told her either I could add more color to the cake or she didn't have to take it. She said "but then my little girl won't have a cake." I would not offer a discount because there was nothing wrong with the cake. I guess she wanted it gaudied up. Anyway she took the cake and paid full price. When she left other customers told me how beautiful the cake was and that she was only trying to get over on me.

Sometimes a wedding cake will look bare before the flowers are on it and when they are it comes to life. I'm sure when the florist did arrive it was more of what she had expected. I bet when you do talk to the bride, everything will be alright. Sounds like her aunt was bulling you.
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Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.
Pete Seeger
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post #24 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

A cake without the flowers looks SO MUCH DIFFERENT than a cake with the flowers. I set up a cake on Sunday .... hadn't put the flowers on it yet. MOB said it looked great! I said, "Oh you haven't seen anything yet! The flowers ALWAYS make the cake!"

More than one cake I've finished and thought it was really plain and ugly ... until I put the flowers on it and then it became the most beautiful cake in the world!

So if Aunty and the bride were looking at your plain, un-flowered cake, it MAY have looked very plain ..... then. What was the reaction AFTER the flowers were added?

And yes, I would have talked to the bride, not to the aunt.



that was my thought too.
~Normal people worry me~
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~Normal people worry me~
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post #25 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:48pm
Giving the check back was definitely a mistake. The bride said she was happy with the cake. I bet if you had threatened to take the cake back, the story would have changed.

Your challenge is to get the remainder of the payment back, which is owed you. Good luck with that.

Yep, I'm with the others. Never deliver a cake that is not 100% paid for.

And if the bride says she's happy with it, well, as far as I'm concerned, end of story.
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post #26 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lionladydi

OMG I didn't realize you had given the check back. Have you quit kicking yourself yet? icon_sad.gif Good luck with dealing with the bride.

Diane



I didn't realize this either. Oops! There is a guy I listen to on the radio who talks about "stupid tax", and I think you might be paying that this time. The good thing about stupid tax is that you won't make the mistake again.

At this point, the money is gone, so I think there is nothing left to do. You can try to call her, but I think you won't ever see a dime of it. I'm sorry!
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post #27 of 69
6/17/08 at 3:54pm
Awww damn...you gave the check back?!
O.K. 1st off you hit it on the nail yourself with the confidence thing. You definitely have to resolve this within yourself and quick if you're doing this calilber of orders. But let's say that you WERE confident and still didn't like the cake (after all, we are our own worst critics as it has been said before)...the bride said she did, so end of story.
So what should you have done?...let that crazy aunt know "I'm sorry, I don't know where you are getting your information, but the bride herself gave me approval AND payment for the cake and I am in no way authorized to speak to you with whom I have no contract with. But you can let the bride know that if in fact there really is a problem, she will need to call me direct...she has all my info. Enjoy the rest of the reception". (ole heffa) icon_twisted.gif
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post #28 of 69
6/17/08 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by heatherLhorton

She threatened that the bride was going to go to the bank right then and cancel the check she had just given me.



I didn't catch this the first time thru, but this could have been a red flag. No bride that I've ever encountered, while dressed in her wedding gown, on her wedding day, an hour or two away from the start of her wedding, is going to hop in a cab and get to the bank "right then and there" to stop payment on a check that just walked out the door a few minutes ago.

It sounds more and more like you were dealing with an Aunt-Zilla.

(And I LUV Jennifer7777's reply!)
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post #29 of 69
6/17/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennifer7777

Awww damn... Enjoy the rest of the reception". (ole heffa) icon_twisted.gif




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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"Be the change you want to see in the world."- Mahatma Gandhi

miniature cake tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/user/MyNewSneakers?feature=mhsn
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post #30 of 69
6/17/08 at 4:10pm
I have to agree with what the others have written.....you should have dealt with the bride, not the aunt. I really do think that part of the problem was the lack of flowers, and they may have been looking to complain in order to save themselves some money. Since you gave the check back ~ then you had every right to take the cake back. Why should they get a cake for half price just because Auntie So-and-so says the bride didn't really like the cake??? And promise us that you will NEVER AGAIN deliver a wedding cake without having been paid in advance please!
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Chocolate is my drug of choice....
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