For some reason, I just love reading posts about all the crazy customers everyone gets. I'm sure there are a ton out there- bridezillas, MIL's, MOB's, crazy parents, crazy kids. Tell me all your wild stories.
You mean the one who ordered food for 100, upped it to 125 at the last minute, had 170 show up, ran out of meatballs and said that *I* should have planned better?????? 
Or the bride who wanted her 3-tier wedding cake "pre-cut"? 
Or the brides who ask me if I cook the food in advance? ("No, darlin', I have a hotplate that I whip up food for 100 for in about 10 minutes!"). I did ask one bride, "Is there an on-site kitchen I will have full access to?" and when she said 'no', I said, "Then I guess I'll be cooking it in advance then." 
Or years ago, the bride who mixed her own punch. Used green and orange sherbet .... mixed together...... a combination of the 3 primary colors ..... ended up with 2 bowls of brown, lumpy punch.
I especially love the ones who think it's cheaper to do it themselves. Like the mom who made up 40 gallons of lemonade, and not in mass .... she made 40 one-gallon jugs! ..... for 125 people! She had 20 gallons left. (can you imagine carrying in 40 one-gallon jugs??? My arms hurt just thinking about it! I want to know how she got it all in her car!)
I'm sure I'll think of others!!
This was my worst non-customer..."PowerPoint Lady"
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=42224&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=powerpoint&&start=0
When someone tells you $2/serving is too much and then you find out their budget for invitations is $200, it's time to wish them well and say goodbye.
I'm sure most of us could go on and on and on and on about... let's say interesting customers. Just this week, in my decorating class (that's in the classroom of my retail bakery/ supply shop) I had a student ask me for my cake recipes. When I told her no, she genuinely seemed surprised! I told her they were propietary (love that word) and she then asked if that meant she couldn't have ANY of my recipes?! Even the other students were looking at her like she was an idiot! Of course I've had brides do the same thing. I had a customer come in around Christmas time to order cookies wanting them the next day, I was completely overbooked and had to tell her no. A few weeks later she came in and ordered with enough lead time and made a point to tell me that she had looked up a recipe for my cookies online and made them for Christmas and they were really good. Yeah, I'm sure it was the same recipe that I have honed over 10 years and if it was so great, why are you ordering now?! Some days it's harder than others to keep the smart a** remarks from floating right out of my mouth! A lot of times people don't mean to be as rude as they sound, they just don't think before they speak. Other times, they should be slapped and hard! LOL
-Lori
kelleym I remember the powerpoint lady.....so funny!!!
My only bad customer ( I've been lucky...and haven't really had THAT many customers lol) is a lady that called on a wednesday to ask me if I could make a 3-D octopus, for Friday!!!...I tell her it's her lucky day I have no orders and feel like doing a carved cake LOL so I get to work the next day.......bake the cakes necessary had my design sketched out......then she called thursday afternoon as I'm crumb coating the cakes....."I made a mistake, it needs to be a squid NOT an octopus...but they're pretty much the same thing right?" ....in my head "are you serious?? no way are they the same an octopus has a big bulbus head with 8 big tentacles and a squid if flatter and longer with 10 tentacles!!!!"...but I stayed calm, I said I already baked the cakes but I'll see what I can do.....she thanks me and says she'll pay extra for the inconvenience ..I tell her that won't be necessary......she comes the next morning after I pump out an incredible squid cake...had the wing thingies on it and everything...I ever curled some of the tentacles and had the little suction cups on the underside...took photos.....she came to pick it up and opens the box and says....."is that what a squid looks like?"...." I thought they were kinda pink?" I said "No........an octopus is PINK, squids are a greyish kinda color and you peel back the skin and they're a milky white and that's what you cook (her nickname was Calamari Carol hence why she wanted a squid cake, only problem is she thought calamari came from an octopus!).......in any case, she took the cake......I went on the p.c. uploaded the photos from my NEW camera....and proceeded to erase them from the camera before saving them on the p.c. along with tons of pics of our latest vacation aaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh!!! So basically the lady hated the cake , I thought it was awesome and I NEVER think any of my cakes look awesome and now I have no pic. to prove it even existed!!! LOL
how about this: i thought it was weird when a bride called to ask if she could get a discount on fillings since she was ordering cake AND mints. I politely told her no. Then i thought it was weirder when i received an invitation to her shower (i thought it was a mistake) but lo and behold, i get an invitation to her wedding!?!? ummm, i'm making your cake, that doesn't make me your pal. does that sound mean?
P.S. some great stories on www.etiquettehell.com
BE WARNED! I pulled an all-nighter reading that site!!
And to think I was goin to clean the fish tank tonight! Hahaha!
Great site! 
how about this: i thought it was weird when a bride called to ask if she could get a discount on fillings since she was ordering cake AND mints.
I had an email from a bride just recently who wanted to know if she got a discount because her event was "only" 50 people. I sent her a reply explaining that she was more likely to run into upcharges to cover minimum overhead since she was "only" 50 people.
Another asked if she got a discount because the wedding was on a Friday.
Another asked if she got a discount because the wedding was on a Friday.
That's not too crazy -- some wedding vendors offer a discount to weddings held on an "off" day. My own wedding was on a Friday night because we got the venue at a $500 discount -- hoo yeah, I was a budget bride!
am I reading that correctly... a bride wanted a 3 tier pre-cut wedding cake? Just out of curiosity how did she respond when you said you couldn't do that?
I posted this in another thread awhile back, but it still reigns supreme in my Crazy Customer book:
this bride comes in, and obviously they'd figured out the whole - "fewer guests equals less cost" concept, which I guess was a good thing, we get to talking and she pulls out this photo from a magazine which was a 5-tier fondant creation that was simple and elegant, totally do-able, for $3.25 per serving, so we got to talking about servings, and yes - she really wanted it to have the full 5 tiers because her cousin so-and-so got married in April and HER cake was 4 tiers, and she really wanted it to be BIGGER.
So I told her the cost per slice, and the total cost, and she goes - but...I'm only inviting 75 people -
so I go - yes but the cake you want serves 208 -
and she goes - so what do you mean, I can't get this cake for $175? -
and I go - no, I'm sorry. -
and she goes - how about $200? - and I go - I can't even buy the supplies for that. -
and she goes - OK, thanks...(and says to her mom on their way out the door, can't we just go back to WalMart?)
As soon as they were out of earshot and eyesight, I laughed myself literally sick.
What do they think, we're going to supply not only their wedding reception with cake, but also every family gathering for the next MONTH???
Another asked if she got a discount because the wedding was on a Friday.
Didn't you know that the electricity it takes to make the cake doesn't cost as much monday through Thursday so the friday wedding should be cheaper? Oh and the ingredients for the cake don't cost as much during the week either, so that is where she saves money right? 
Here's a couple of my favorites!
I had a bride ask me to cut her 3 tiered cake from the bottom up, but don't take it apart, she wanted it to stay pretty for as long as possible
Then there was the mom who insisted on having lavender colored punch, when I told her it couldn't go through the kind of beverage fountain she was renting she said"don't worry about it it will be okay" so not only did it foam like an angry ocean, the foam was gray because of the color of the punch!
am I reading that correctly... a bride wanted a 3 tier pre-cut wedding cake? Just out of curiosity how did she respond when you said you couldn't do that?
Yes, she wanted the 3-tiered cake set up and pre-cut. I guess she read the term in a magazine and thought it sounded "cool" or something. Ironically, it was my very first wedding cake, too! I delivered it "normal" and when she asked "why isn't it already cut?", said, "because it just can NOT be done, hun."
Not to make anyone sound stupid, but there was a call to the bakery where I work a few weeks ago...This lady apparently called for advice:
Employee: "How can I help you?"
Caller: "Yes, I bought a pan at Williams Sonoma and everything I make in it sticks. What should I do?!"
Employee: (trying to be polite and not at all sarcastic) "Ummmm....have you ever heard of Pam?"
I guess I've lucked out other than a few moms who stress way too much over a kids party cake and spend way too much time planning it for the money they are spending....
The question that always gets me is: "Do your cakes taste good?"
What am I supposed to say? "Well, frankly, no....but its okay, most people don't care!"
"and she goes - OK, thanks...(and says to her mom on their way out the door, can't we just go back to WalMart?) "
all i can say is, "HEE HEE!"
Here's a couple of my favorites!
I had a bride ask me to cut her 3 tiered cake from the bottom up, but don't take it apart, she wanted it to stay pretty for as long as possible
Then there was the mom who insisted on having lavender colored punch, when I told her it couldn't go through the kind of beverage fountain she was renting she said"don't worry about it it will be okay"
so not only did it foam like an angry ocean, the foam was gray because of the color of the punch!
That would have been lovely with the squid cake! Ya'll are cracking me up! Maybe I DON'T want to do this as a business? Maybe you ALL need to have some Bill Engvall "signs" for these people? "Here's your sign"!
Not 3 hours ago I had a bride call me and want 350 wedding favor cookies (shaped like a wedding cake, decorated with a monogram, individually bagged, tied with a ribbon, and a bible verse label attached) for $125. 
I told her the price is $540 + tax. So she tried to "bargain" with me...telling me she only wanted to pay $125! I told her I don't want to pay $100 for my weekly groceries at Walmart...think they'll accept $20 when I tell them that's all I want to pay??? Give me a break!
A few months ago I had a lady come in with her mom and MIL wanting 200 cupcakes to serve a guest count of 400. I told her I wouldn't do it because it would make my company look bad and me look unprepared. She got mad and then her mom stepped in and said "I'm tired of you being such a cheapskate...if you can't afford 400 people at your wedding then don't invite so damn many!" I was
There are so many more...if there were only enough hours in the day to tell you....
So she tried to "bargain" with me...telling me she only wanted to pay $125!
Oh now THAT definitely sounds like a student of Stephie Stewart! The "Just tell them what you WILL pay because it's YOUR money! They'll buckle!" philosophy!
So she tried to "bargain" with me...telling me she only wanted to pay $125!
Oh now THAT definitely sounds like a student of Stephie Stewart! The "Just tell them what you WILL pay because it's YOUR money! They'll buckle!" philosophy!
Yea debi...it sure is a load of #(*^ isn't it?? LOL
How's this one, I just get someone wanting to order get this 600 cupcakes and a small cake on top. So I tell her That will over $1,200.00 because I charge $2.00 per cupcake and than there is the "small" cake on top. SHe is dumb-founded by my number and her respond was "How do you get that number, i can buy cupcakes from my kids school for $0.25 each so that comes to $125.00 plus the cost for the small cake on top, so what that comes to about $150.00 for the whole thing." I looked at her as if she had two heads and the only respons I had was maybe one of the moms that bakes cupcakes for the school can make the 600 you need. I had to ask if she was really having 600 people at her wedding. She says NO!!! I am only having 200 people. So again I had to ask why do you need so many? She says I want people to have some at the resepction and if they want more than one they can have it and I want them to take a cupcake home with them. I really think that this lady has up and lost her mind. So I tell her that if she wants them I would do them but for the price I gave her. She looks at me and says that is way to much and that she was going to the market and see how much they will charge her. Well, off she went and I have not heard from her since, and that was two weeks ago. Well, she is a friend of a friend and she told them that I was nuts and that she would never order a cake from me. Then she tells the friend that she can get a dozon cupcakes for $3.99 at the market and that they will make that many for her and that how hard can it be to set them up. I guess that she ordered them at the market. Even there she will pay more than the $150.00 that she wants to pay for the whole thing, just for the cupcakes she will pay $200.00. I wish her well.
Vicky
P.S. Y'all know how I just love numbers so I was playing with the number on the 600 cupcake thing..... one cake mix yields 24 cupcakes so it takes 25 cake mixes to make these. Assume only 5 minutes to mix each cake mix and it's two hours just for mixing the batter!!
Yeah ..... some school mom will be happy to do this for no money for her!
If this story doesnt' take the prize, it's a close runner up!
Fortunately, I don't have any horror stories to tell about (yet!) ... however, my very own sister kinda ticked me off last week when she asked me to make her cookies for her to hand out at her open house next weekend (she's a realtor). She said she was "willing to pay up to $2 per cookie, in a bag, and tied with green curling ribbon." Excuse me while I redirect you to Ebay is what I felt like telling her. But of course I didn't. She's family ... I love her and I can overlook these things ... but I DID send her a link today of a website that had very similar house cookies that she ordered from me - except they looked like one of my kids could have made them and were $4 a piece. I made certain that she knew she would be getting something waay nicer at 1/2 the price from me! Guess I'm still a little miffed ... but thanks to this great forum - I feel a little better after being allowed to vent!
Vicky, how nice to know that she'll probably be able to eat a leftover cupcake a day for a YEAR after her wedding!
For what my friend told me the lady had seen the cupcake "cake" in a magazine for someone famous. I am sure that she saw what the person paid for them and compared to that I must have been a bargain.
I think that it is funny because the supermarket is making those for her, how in the world is she going to set it up. I can only see all the cupcakes in the tray that they come in the see-through one that you get at BJ's all set up on a table. Can you imagine her wedding picture, ya know the one of the couple cutting the cake and the BJ's box's on the table. lololololol. OMG and can't even stop myself from laughing. I wonder if she told the supermarket people that it was going to be her "wedding cake" that they were making for her. The nerve of some people.
Vicky
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