Urgent! Need client advice before pickup! - Page 2

It's great to have that kind of customer...perhaps you could put the ball in the her court by saying that she can pay whatever she feels the second cake is worth.

I like jason's idea :) let HER offer :)

Good idea.

that's a good idea but it tends to put client on the spot to come up with an amount

 

as a customer she might think--omg--do i pay for the ship that sank too or what?

 

i mean of course she doesn't but unless you spell it out that might cross her mind y'know

 

everybody feels bad about the storm at sea thar she blows ;)

 

i would have an invoice ready for what the new cake might cost in a perfect world

 

and then in her presence write 'discounted' on the invoice

 

that way she has fair market value to work with  

 

and you have an easy out to kiss it goodbye as much or as little as you want/feel the traffic can bear

 

keeps you both from hemming and hawing--more professional i think

 

to me if it was a storefront bakery it would be completely different

 

since you have a relationship with her--you can feel it out this way maybe

When I offer a client something, and find that I am not able to deliver, I don't feel that the customer should have to pay for my shortcomings. OP, you're lucky you're not dealing with a diva, because this situation could be worse. I would charge her the price of the simple cake, and hand her both. So she is in essence getting a discount on the cake she really wanted, and the second cake as my goodwill. 

 

I'm never one for handing out free stuff when they are not warranted but in this case I would bend over backwards to make this right. She had her mind set on something she's no longer getting, I'd do everything to ensure she's GLAD the first cake flopped. LOL.

 

As much as putting the customer on the spot for deciding what to pay sounds like a good idea, I'm against it in this situation. You're the professional, you're the one who screwed up. Own it.

 

A part of me feels like this "let her decide what to pay" as an option is on the table because OP knows the customer is a nice person. If you had a diva coming to pick up that cake, you would be scrambling for damage control. Don't take advantage of her kindness.

 

-- signed, VGCEA

President, Divas Anonymous.

Edited by vgcea - 3/9/13 at 10:36am

I agree with vgcea. The customer is not responsible for coming up with a fair price. That would really make me feel uncomfortable having to name a price. I'd pay oo much and resent it later and probably avoid calling you in the future because if it.
I would give her both cakes, charge her for the second simple one, and offer a discount on a future cake to try to preserve a future relationship.

Hand me a paddle, because I am in the same boat as you! I would be resentful and feel stupid if the so called professional asked me to pay what I thought it was worth! I would just want a price! 

 

 

wait wait

 

op is clearly fully fully owning it

 

i think since op started the thread and gave us all this information in the first place--she's completely aware of screwing up

 

in no way does she intend to take advantage of anyone--

 

it just evolved that even though initially it sounded like a good idea to let the client decide the amount yeah no don't do it because it puts the client on the spot

 

it was never her intent to put the client on the spot in any way

 

she is not taking advantage of the client

I didn't say that she was taking advantage, I said she would be if she put the client on the spot. Owning it includes making the pricing decision rather than tossing it up and hoping the client catches it one way. Not accusing the OP of any wrong-doing.

To me, allowing the customer to offer what they think is fair is owning it. The customer already knows the value of the cake she ordered, and the only one who can accurately quantify the cost of not having the cake she wanted is the customer.

In this case it worked out since OP overestimated the difference in value between the two cakes (hence the tip), but if OP had set the price of the second cake too high the customer would either pay it and be resentful, or leave, buy another cake, and be resentful.

If this happens to make the customer uncomfortable it should be easy enough to read that and quickly provide a starting point (such as the cost of ingredients).
Edited by jason_kraft - 3/9/13 at 1:40pm

What a lovely resolution to the problem!  Thank you for letting us know.