Late fees for pickups

I started a thread like this last year, and I was basically told there was something wrong with me that my clients disrespect me, and that I am stupid to expect people to be on time, anyway, and I need to just get a store front, where it wont matter what time they come, as long as it is before I close.  So I will be watching... 

I think you'd just get more of the same 'excuses' as to why they shouldn't be charged if its down to a fee, whereas the idea of telling them the bakery will be closed kind of forces them to move, or get organized and have someone else get their cake. 

if it makes you feel any better, it happens to me ALL THE TIME!  Here is an example:

I work out of my home.

Customer was to pick up at 1:00 last week. 

She hadn't showen up at 1:50 so I emailed her and told her I had to leave and would be back by 4:15.

She told me she would be there at 4:30 as her party started at 5:00

5:30 she sent a friend to pick it up.

This is a longtime customer of mine! 

Very disrespectful - and I THOUGHT she was a classy person!

First I will start with that I do not have a business and I am just a hobby baker... however I have done a few cakes for "friends" and on several occassions they have been late to pick up. What boggles my mind is how they think because I am not business I do not deserve the same courtsey as if I were a real business and have had a couple of these "friends" tell me that.  Bottom line if I tell someone I will be there at a certain time I am there and if not I have called ahead to let them know. It is simple respect and I think that late fees are very reasonable.

Before I got into this business I mostly ordered from storefronts. The first few times I ordered a cake, I would get there and to my surprise it wasn't ready. So I fell into the habit of giving a pickup time 2-3 hours before I actually wanted it so I didn't have to wait around for it.  Perhaps, they don't distinguish the difference between a store that has known closing times and a home-based business that juggles pick-up and deliveries. Do you tell customers of your pickup policy upfront? 

i don't know--late fees sound like overdue library books--i think it would make the cake 'taste' dry

but i just told my peeps you wanna pick up at noon or at six o'clock--

i never really had a big issue with late ones thankfully

Hey everyone,

       I am also a licensed home caker too and I had the same problem of people coming late. After almost deciding to leave a cake on the porch because I had to leave (don't worry, I didn't!!), my solution was to create a "pick up instruction" sheet that I email over to all of my clients. I have directions, tips on how to transport a cake safely, contact info and at the end I have a note that says **Please note that if you are more than 30 minutes late without prior notice, a $10 late fee will be added to the total cake charge.

Then, I end the document with "** If you elect to pick up and set up the cake, you assume all liability and responsibility for the condition of the cake once it leaves Salt Cake City possession. Now just know that you can do it! :) "

So what I tried to do is couch the good stuff with the bad stuff. I always make sure to get cell numbers for all my clients (I learned that the hard way too!) and that way, if they are late, I can call and say "I have to leave for a delivery very soon and was just checking to see if you're on your way." I haven't had any problems after I implemented these changes. (knock on wood!) I hope that helps and I'm so sorry that some people don't understand the difference between a bakery and a home business. Happy caking!
Jennifer

I read a story once about a child care centre that charged parents for every minute they were late to pick up their kids. It actually increased the number of late pickups, because rather than mostly being on time because they were loathe to cause inconvenience to the staff, now many parents saw it as a 'user pays' system where they could be as late as they liked as long as they paid for it, which many were willing to do.

I have zero experience with any of this personally, but it's just another idea to consider.

This has become a very useful example in teaching economics; you're creating a sitting service for which people are willing to pay; their time it worth a lot to them too so you have to charge more than they are comfortably willing to pay for sitting their cakes else the exact same thing will happen to you