Cake Central › Cake Forums › Cake Talk › Cake Decorating › HELP! I dont want to be known as the cheap cake lady!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

HELP! I dont want to be known as the cheap cake lady! - Page 3

post #31 of 66
8/13/12 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
Ahh ok raspberry filling it is. Just got off the phone with my husband and he just cant believe the nerve of this lady, when i spoke with her today i actually complained how far the drive is way out in the country and that it was gonna cost alot in gas, her reponse was oh i know we have to pull our camper out there and its going to cost a mint too and oh thanks again for doing the cake im so excited about it. Yep SUCKER wrote on my forehead.
tapedshut.gif
Reply
Reply
post #32 of 66
8/13/12 at 5:59pm
I think I would have call this woman back and say sorry but you cannot make this cake . A)You would be losing money making this cake B) They do not have a fridge to keepit in and it would be a mess. C) You Dont deliver for free and you are already losing money on this cake . You did not know it was to.be delivered 30miles away .
D) any extras such as raspberry fillibg are EXTRA $.
This is already stressing you out and I think you need to lift that stress.You will be glad you did..Let her get a cake at walmart .
Next have a talk with your neighbor telk her you did her a favor .She is Not doing you one by telling everyone you make cheap cakes. You cannot afford to give everyone the discounted price you gave her.
Reply
Reply
post #33 of 66
8/13/12 at 6:27pm
After reading ll this. That lady is taking advantage of you and she knows it. The fake tears, ect all this to get a cheap price ofr a two tiered cake plus cupcakes? Maybe you need to call her back and let her know that you are already loosing profit on doing a cake that cheap, and driving back and forth for 60 complete miles are costing you more. If she wants it soo bad, let her pick it up and have her sign a agreement that you are not responsible for any mishaps on the way to the campsite. She might blackball your name,but you can explain your situation too. And please next time name your price and stick to your guns. Don't take down for anything. The cost of the ingredients, your time and travel costs. i get to the point, that i quote the price. if they are interested, fine, if not, thats their problem.
Reply
Reply
post #34 of 66
8/13/12 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kazita

Yep SUCKER wrote on my forehead.
tapedshut.gif



At least you know it. No one can take advantage of you unless you let them. No good deed goes unpunished. Things will only get worse. Hopefully the worst thing to come out of it will be a lesson learned.

The lady who is taking advantage of you is trash. You are trying to hint that she should offer to pay you more for gas, and any decent person would offer, but instead she agrees and just says that she knows and it's an awful ride.

Please keep us posted about the outcome. At least you have a great story that you can tell all the members here.

If I were to guess she hasn't paid you yet, and probably will give you a bad check when you hand over the cake.
Reply
Reply
post #35 of 66
8/13/12 at 6:36pm
Seriously, cancel the order. You're losing money on it? I don't think so...Tell her that you can't do it. I doubt that you have a contract or a deposit from her, do you? Even with my contract I can cancel and return the money they've paid me. Was she going to pay you when you delivered the cake? Don't hold your breath on that one, either. I'd be willing to bet that she would have "forgotten her wallet" that day. Cancel the order!
http://www.acaketorememberva.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/acaketoremember
http://www.youtube.com/karabuntin
Reply
http://www.acaketorememberva.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/acaketoremember
http://www.youtube.com/karabuntin
Reply
post #36 of 66
8/13/12 at 7:09pm
While reading this I, too, was wondering about the contract. What does it say? Anything that is not specified in the contract doesn't happen without a contract change, agreed upon by both sides. Those changes would include not only the new details but the corresponding extra pricing.

You don't have a contract? You don't have a sale yet. C'mon- this chick has a camper and will have to pay a lot of bucks to get it out of there? She's using you and you are letting her, IMO.
Reply
Reply
post #37 of 66
8/13/12 at 11:26pm
Thread Starter 
Nope didnt get a signed contract or the money yet. I did leave her a message on her voicemail stateing that i need payment for the cake before thursday, i know that seems like short notice but she live 3 blocks from me i told her in the voicemail that she can either have me pick up the money and i told her cash only or that she could bring it to my house. My husband said dont cancel the order unless you dont get paid, just get the money use it to cover the cake and be done with this woman. When we talked about fillings the very first time that we talked about the cake the mother had told me strawberry would be fine , so thats what i bought and i used a small amount of that on a cake that i just did on saturday, well today im talk to the daughter who the cake is for and she informs me that she wants raspberry filling really had i known that i would of bought that instead of the strawberry in the first place being that the other ordered cake that i just made the lady was very nice and said fill it with whatever flavor you like, Ahh really people this lady is killing me! And do i dare inform you all that she informed my today that she will be using me from now on for all 4 of her kids birthdays! Nope next time she calls for a cake the first thing that comes out of my mouth is whats your budget and if she doesnt like my priceing to bad, i will be informing her when i deliver this cake that i lost money on the whole deal and she wont be getting this price ever again. As for her having a camper i never even gave that a thought until now except how the cake wasnt gonna fit into the small frig now i really feel like a fool and am pissed, if she can afford a damn camper and to throw this damn party and feed people food and cake well than she can afford my prices . What a fool i am. My huband said you never charge for your damn labor and all the stress you go thru making these cakes he said you should be charging like $20 a hour for your labor now i dont really know the going rate for labor but i do know it sure isnt free like this cake ended up being. My husband did say No way to late to back out unless no money exchages hands. icon_cool.gificon_cool.gif
Reply
Reply
post #38 of 66
8/14/12 at 3:35am
The only thing I have to say is that there are bakers like you in every area. There is someone who can be pushed around on price, someone who has no license, no insurance, no state sales tax account, no intention to pay the IRS... all things that licensed businesses must do. This type of sale lowers the market price for the cake and hurts those small businesses who are actually conducting business in a professional manner. No, you don't want to be pegged as this person. It's one thing to give great prices to relatives, but this is not your family.

Word does get around like wildfire. Then the baker thinks she is so great, must have a phenomenal product, and thinks she's on her way to a great business, when in fact, she is just cheaper than Walmart.

Do yourself a big favor. First, I have backed out of a cake for a friend because the demands just got out of hand. I texted that obviously my original cake is nowhere near what the person really wanted and that because the daughter deserved the cake she planned, another baker may be a better match. I then said best wishes with the cake and the event. End of story.

Find out the prices and laws in your area, get that taken care of, and then you can properly price your cakes according to the market. Word spreading about the cheap cake lady usually eventually gets back to the local health department. I don't follow CFL, but if you do have that in your state, you still need to have insurance and pay proper taxes. And not paying yourself a proper wage not only hurts you, but other bakers around you, even in a CFL situation. And get yourself some policies, a contract, and a deposit/final payment plan.

I agree with FromScratch. I have never put myself in a position where I have to explain or justify anything. I give a corporate discount to a dentist in town because her office is next to my husband's and we know and like her. But I don't feel the need to explain that to someone else if she shared the price. She is also a high volume customer. Again, no need to give details.
Reply
Reply
post #39 of 66
8/14/12 at 8:36am
I agree with everyone else, I really think you should just cancel the order. No money has changed hands at this point. In our business, if we haven't received payment of some kind, whether a retainer or full payment depending on the timeframe, they are NOT booked with us and no order has been placed. You can use the same policy with this- you haven't received money, so she hasn't ordered yet.

At the very least, stop just giving in to her every whim and demand! Please draw the line somewhere!
Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
Reply
Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
Reply
post #40 of 66
8/14/12 at 9:01am
Let us know what decision you make in the end and how things work out. Susan's advice was probably one of the best I have seen here about running this type of business and some of the mistakes that can be made or things that are overlooked.

One of the strongest competitors in my area was on top of her game for her cakes, taste, quality etc but she failed to price any of her work properly and her design skills were amazing. Her business facebook page has been inactive for a year now. I heard she moved to another country and got a managerial job. She became known as the same lady you didn't want to be known as "the lady who does great cheap cakes". Now she drove her business into the ground and hasn't been able to pick it back up yet. She was charging grocery prices for fondant cakes and sculped work. At least you have the support of CC to get advice on what to do so it won't happen next time. Trust me, you'll feel better about getting your worth icon_smile.gif
Reply
Reply
post #41 of 66
8/14/12 at 9:18am
Honestly - are you serious - Is this Thread for real.
It reads like some C grade sitcom....

This isn't another of those pathetic punk threads is it....sure reads like it.

Why on earth do you need to have 3 pages of CCers tell you how not to be a cheap cake lady...
You can't figure that out for yourself... It really is very easy.

You say.....my price is$xxx.xx.
Unless of course you like bartering with people over the cost of a cake.
And why are you feeling sorry for your customers....
Shezzzz, are they feeling sorry that they are ripping you off - i think not.

You had better toughen up - get a caking spine and start saying NO.
And tell your neighbour to zip her lip.
Unless your ok with her running your cake buisness.

Hmmm - i still think this is another of *those* threads... thumbsdown.gif

Watch this space people - i think there is another poor customer coming along any minute now....

Bluehue
Reply
Reply
post #42 of 66
8/14/12 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kazita

Nope didnt get a signed contract or the money yet. I did leave her a message on her voicemail stateing that i need payment for the cake before thursday, i know that seems like short notice but she live 3 blocks from me i told her in the voicemail that she can either have me pick up the money and i told her cash only or that she could bring it to my house. My husband said dont cancel the order unless you dont get paid, just get the money use it to cover the cake and be done with this woman.



You don't give her an option. You tell her where you want her to pay and when specifically when via an appointment. At least you still have an out, but chances are even she fails to pay you this week she will still demand you make her cake. Don't be nice to people who are trying to take advantage of you.
Reply
Reply
post #43 of 66
8/14/12 at 10:16am
If you do decline to make the cake (assuming there is enough time left before the event) I would include a list of other vendors in your area that have availability to fill the order. Unless it's a last-minute emergency and no one else is available it's not professional to just say "sorry, can't do it" and leave the customer hanging without any options.
.
My experimental blog: The Bakery Business Perspective
.
Reply
.
My experimental blog: The Bakery Business Perspective
.
Reply
post #44 of 66
8/14/12 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft

If you do decline to make the cake (assuming there is enough time left before the event) I would include a list of other vendors in your area that have availability to fill the order. Unless it's a last-minute emergency and no one else is available it's not professional to just say "sorry, can't do it" and leave the customer hanging without any options.



The lady claims she can't afford a Walmart cake, seems like there are few options for her.
Reply
Reply
post #45 of 66
8/14/12 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFloGuy

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft

If you do decline to make the cake (assuming there is enough time left before the event) I would include a list of other vendors in your area that have availability to fill the order. Unless it's a last-minute emergency and no one else is available it's not professional to just say "sorry, can't do it" and leave the customer hanging without any options.



The lady claims she can't afford a Walmart cake, seems like there are few options for her.


As a vendor your main responsibility if you back out of an order is to make sure another vendor of similar quality is available to pick up the slack. If the customer doesn't like the price the other vendor is offering, that's an issue between the customer and the new vendor.
.
My experimental blog: The Bakery Business Perspective
.
Reply
.
My experimental blog: The Bakery Business Perspective
.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Cake Decorating
Cake Central › Cake Forums › Cake Talk › Cake Decorating › HELP! I dont want to be known as the cheap cake lady!