I have just started booking wedding cakes and last week I had a tasting that booked and she also ordered another cake for this Friday. She has also been giving me good reviews on the Knot community board. We emailed back and forth over the weekend and then I forgot to email her back with a time for pickup tomorrow. She emailed me this morning to say that since she'd not heard back from me she was just going to get a cake from a bakery. I emailed her back right away, apologizing and saying that I was planning on doing her cake and would still, if she wanted. I haven't heard back from her but I'm concerned she might think poorly of me. Since I just started doing this whole wedding cake thing I think I blow all the little things out of proportion. Is that what I'm doing? I think I'm just looking for a little reassurance!

I think you should be ok, just tell her that you were having a computer problem and thats why you couldnt get back to her, perhaps even offer her 10% of the order

She emailed me and said she'd gone with a different bakery. Oh well. I'm a little nervous about her anyway. She's been really nice but I think that underneath she may be very hard to please.

Don't worry about it. I sometimes talk to people on the phone or by e-mail and think I'll have an order, then for whatever reason they don't call back. You're not going to get an order from every potential customer.

That seems like a pretty quick change of heart. Follow your gut instinct. If you were nervous there was probably a reason for it.

What they said.....lol

I agree, just follow your gut instinct!

I wish I should have done that last week, when I had the crazy bride on the phone, something told me she was going to be a bridezila.

Had the tasting ready, this last friday, she didn't show up, had a lousy excuse about her car being broke, I found out through somebody else, Never got to talk to her again, this, after she had changed the tasting time, pushed to later, oh God what a nightmare, and all this after I had issues with another bride not paying her final payment on time.

Next time, won't even bother I would go with my gut instinct.

Don't worry, you don't want crazy customers.

When you say you booked....why wasn't this paid for ahead of time? This is the kind of thing that happens when you have separate procedures for different events. All cakes, paid in full, no money due at delivery/pickup.

Procedures. Contracts. CYA's. Wedding cake is birthday cake is "You're Fired! cake". You need to treat all orders, no matter how small, no matter who they are for (unless they reaaaaalllly don't fit the typical client mold and have PROVEN themselves to be good customers) the same. You start making exceptions and have different payment options for this and that and this and that....you're gonna slip up and forget something, or mix an order up, or undercharge, or forget if they already paid you.....ugh! Be consistent. Run your business like a business. Not harping on you, I just don't understand the drama (I see in here too often) that a lot of people create for themselves.

Oh my God!
You guys are so right!
At first I thought, oh yeah! That is a good excuse, the computer problem. I've had that happened to me before, you can say that.

But you are so right, we have to be honest and try to run the business as a business.

Thanks for your input.

And I don't mean to imply to the OP that she is not running a good business because we all have lapses, goof up, forget to call customers back, etc. We're human.

But we do have to look for all the tools possible to keep us organized and responsive to our customers, such as:

Paper and electronic calendars and alarms
Designating a certain time of each day to make calls and answer e-mails
Putting a message on your answering machine that tells people when you will be able to return their call if you can't do that immediately
Printing off the e-mail and Scotch taping it up on the cupboard in front of your eyes if you have to!

Whatever it takes. I know my weaknesses (like I'm menopausal and can't remember sh*t) so I use the tools available to help manage that. Otherwise, I just miss too much stuff.