ADid you do a cake tasting before the event? Not that it matters, but if you did and they enjoyed the original tasting you could use this to reinforce that, "your very sorry some of the guests didn't enjoy the cake flavors YOU chose at your tasting..." except I wouldn't highlight you ;)

I agree with the above that she's not going to be happy with anything at this point, she just seems like she's being nasty, 'Walmart would give me a refund,' she didn't order a cake from Walmart, she ordered a custom, freshly made cake from you-honestly I wouldn't see Walmart giving her a refund either! And they'd require payment upfront.

I'm so sorry your in this position! How much do they owe you, if you don't mind me asking? Personally, unless you really believe there was something wrong with your cake, I would give her the 48hrs or it goes to collections, as stated above.

Its ultimately your decision, and I understand you don't want anymore backlash and just want to get paid and put this ridiculous mess behind you. So what was the original deal you mentioned-if she ordered so much $ worth she recieved a discount? Was it a special or something? I ask b/c you said if you discount the tier she's having issues with and reconfigure her bill she is no longer eligible for discount. Ok but you forgot to add the delivery charges to her contract, but then stated it in an invoice that she signed? I hope this doesn't sound rude! I'm just confused lol. I think you should definitely charge her for the delivery! However, if you gave her an itemized invoice/contract without the delivery charges and go back at her now with them I think you'll have more complaining from her end, which could delay your payment. Does that make sence?

AOver 150 servings 10% off..... balance owed $250.... she paid $550

Do you know who served at the wedding? Perhaps if you want an unbiased opinion on the cake you could contact them and ask if they remembered how the cake was. It might be a bit embarrassing but at least you would know and I'm sure that if the cake was so underdone that hey threw it out they would remember. Also what kind of servers would simply throw out the wedding cake that was uncut - it would be wrapped and put in the fridge for the family to deal with.

I seriously doubt that even if the cake did have problems anyone would be mean enough to tell the bride that.

I think if you are going to remove the cost of the tier and you honestly believe that there was nothing wrong with it I would revise the cost without the 10% discount and send her a new invoice explaining that  because the servings charged for altered the price also altered.

A$250 is definitely worth pursuing, but I wouldn't recommend playing games with removing tiers and taking away discounts. If I were you I would tell her that you are willing to give her an additional $50 off as long as she pays in cash by the end of the day tomorrow, and if you don't receive the cash by then you will contact a collection agency to collect the full $250 balance due.

I thought only 3 or 4 people complained? Give her a discount of 4 servings! lol...I'm just kidding

AI would take the $50 hit just to be done with it, like Jason said. Otherwise you could be arguing with this woman for months. She's being shady and changing her story.

Make sure in the future you collect final payment before product is due (I ask for the remainder two weeks before the event). She might not be complaining if she'd already finished paying you.

frick, frick, frick, frickin' frickin', frickity frick fricassée, fricking frickers.

A

Haaaaaa!!!!! That's so funny to me!! Except I probably really would say that. My mouth gets me in trouble ALOT.

Agreed with all above....

Additionally, the venue cut my sister in laws wedding cake slices so thin (like 1/2 thin) and well in advance to serving that they were dried out a bit.  Needless to say, I was mortified!  So that could have been the case.

That was a loonng time ago and I am over it.  I have upgraded my recipes and all has been great ever since.

So what ended up happening?  Did you cut your losses or did the bride actually pay her balance?

AHey all.... your support has been tremendous.... after explaining to the bride everything I did and told her i also had pics of the cake she replied with new claims stating the cake was leaning (although my pics suggest otherwise)... it was just too much to deal with.... I prayed about it and decided to leave it alone.. it was $250 and if I went to court I knew I would win but I had an unexpected death in the family and had too much going on to waste time on going back and forth.. I'm over it and moving forward.... just paid $250 for a heck of a lesson....

Thanks you all - at least I know I'm on the right track with my rationale and starting a business

AWow. At the very least I would recommend taking a few minutes to write a letter (via snail mail) letting her know that if she doesn't pay by X date you will contact a collection agency. You don't have to go to court, and if you do have to use the collection agency it's a pretty simple process, they do all the dirty work in exchange for a cut of the payment. There would be no confrontation or back-and-forth on your part.

AI can't imagine gOing to a wedding and telling the bride the food THEY paid for and served to me was bad. Unless it made people sick, I don't think you'd be hearing feedback like that.

I call b.s.

AI agree, still send the letter then leave it if you don't want to deal with it anymore.

People just amaze me. So classless and tacky, but then when you surround yourself with the kind of people who bail from your wedding 4 hours in and have the nerve to complain about stuff on your big day, then it's hardly surprising.

Amazing how after all of this time she just remembered the cake was leaning. You are better off without customers like these. Although I do agree with Jason about sending it to collection. You don't want the reputation that you can bewalked on...however since you will only be taking payment up front from now on you won't have THIS particular issue to deal within the future. So sorry about the death in your family.

So sorry for the death in your family.

When you have recovered from that, get yourself together and send that $250 to collections.  You have not only taught that customer how to treat you (i.e. walk all over you) - you have taught her it is OK to be a scammer and she will tell all her scammer friends and family how to do the same thing.  Nip that in the bud ASAP - do you want another small busiiness like yours to be screwed by this person??

When you let bad behavior go, it just keeps happening.

Liz
 

I was embarrassed to ask for money, even a deposit, when I started my cake business and trusted my customers completely to pay me even if it was after the wedding.

How naive of me.

It all went well for a few months until I didn't get paid for a particularly elaborate cake that took me hours to make.

I suddenly realized that it was not a game I was playing but I was running a business and I expected to be paid for my work.

After that any one who ordered a cake had to leave a deposit then pay before the cake was delivered or no cake and no exceptions.

Put your terms in your price list/brochure so there can be no mistake what you expect of your customers.   

I JUST got bit by this. I trusted my boss when he ordered his cake and did not ask for a deposit. His daughter's birthday is tomorrow. The cake is torted and in the freezer. The fondant pigs are ready to go on the cake. All I had to do is put ganache on and put the twix bars around the outside (pigs in a hottub cake) I just mentioned it to him this morning and he says sorry, I forgot to tell you...we cancelled her birthday because she has been misbehaving! First of all who uses that as punishment? I explained that he cannot do that. He agreed to buy the cake as is for 60%. I want to just bring it in without the box and just dump it in his lap!

I feel for you, I recently had a client who called up the morning of the day she was supposed to pick up the cake (albeit it was a small 6inch) and cancelled — she was so rude. She told me that unknown to her her mother had already bought 2 other cakes so she doesn't need mine, when I asked her who was going to pay for it and what she expected me to do with it she told me she doesnt know or care and tant pis and slammed the phone down, this from someone who'd called me 10 times already about the style, taste and look etc of the cake in the week coming up to the birthday. 

I hadn't taken payment from her bc I do know her although I wouldn't call her a friend just an acquaintance. She called me from 2 different numbers both in ordering and cancelling the cake and I have filed both under cake cancellation so that I will know for the future. 

I've read on here time and time again about taking payment in advance but this is my first (and hopefully) last time having such a client.

I extend my condolences to you on your sudden loss. I'm so sorry that this was a tough and expensive lesson to learn. No one goes into business to lose money.I had to learn something similar from so called friends. Like one of the above posts, I was really timid about asking for the money and deposits with friends. I wouldn't always require a down payment, etc. UNTIL a friend stuck it to me. From here on, friend or foe, I conduct business the same for everyone. It was a long process to undo what I had already started, but I'd hate to ruin a relationship over cake and money and that's just what was going to happen.

Cheer up. You now have a story that will encourage someone else.