Please help. I have a wedding cake to do for this saturday, but the bride still owes me the final 50% payment. She keeps telling me she will drop it in, but never turns up. She said she would drop it in first thing this morning, it is now 12.40pm and still no money. So far i have stuck to my guns and said 'no money-no cake, but now time is running out for me to do this cake. Do i make it and hope she turns up, or do i wait and say its her own fault it its late?
If the cake is due in 2 days, and you still don't have the money, I would consider it cancelled, and stick to it when you tell her.
Cake is due on Saturday and she still hasn't paid? For a Saturday wedding, today would be my baking day. She would be out of luck with me. Stick to your gums - you didn't pay on time, no cake.
Im thinking the same thing, and today would be my baking day too. I have just had a message from her sayin that she diodnt get round to paying (well, i didnt get roud to making the cake!) She is now in the hairdressers!!! I am fed up of chasing now, and i want this one over and done with.
I would email her so that you have it in writing that you have made numerous attempts to get full payment before the due date as stated when placing the order. She has failed to deliver the Cash (not check) on time, so you have no choice but to cancel her order.
maybe because i haven't had this issue (well on a small scale but it also had to do with just coming to a consultation) is there any way you could bake the cakes atleast and meantime try to contact someone else-parents pehaps? i hate to think that she's dodging payment but she could also be getting caught up in the excitement of the pending day. do you have any other contact numbers? if you are still unable to reach her you it's your decision. oh i just thought you could contact the venue and see if they have any other numbers. honestly i would hate to think that i'd be disappointing all those people but i'd hate to not be paid in full either. could you use the cakes for any other orders if you did make them (not iced i mean)? hope that's not too confusing.
Thanks all, i have since sent her another message stating that i need the payment by 2.45pm. I have just put one of the cakes in to try and take some of the pressure off myself as tomorrow will be a long enough day icing them. I have tried to conact other people as she conveniently moved house 2 weeks ago!
i had a bride do this......it was Monday before the Sat. wedding and I called her and left a message that said
" This is Tina from Tina's Sugar Shack, I was calling to let you know that I haven't received your final payment that was due almost 2 weeks ago. If I don't receive your final payment by Noon today I will consider your order cancelled, thank you "
I called at 9:00 am and within 10 min. she called back and said she was on her way with the money!
Oh and just wanted to add, I put a clause in my contract that says :
" if full payment is not received 3 full weeks BEFORE the date of the event you will incur a late fee of $25.00/day and risk possible forfeiture of your date/confections. ...(If paying by check, the check must clear first)"
Maybe you should add something like this as well...........at least when they're a couple days late paying you get paid extra for it............it also puts a fire under their hineys when they know it's gonna cost them extra!
I agree that you should not have to chase this bride around for payment. It's like dealing with little kids. If you don't set boundries and stick to them, they will run all over you.
KHalstead, I will most deffinitly be adding clauses to my contracts and i will also add it to my website. I do have a 2 week final payment date on there now, but I think this one has been taken way too far, and i feel that i have been taken for granted on the assumption that there will still be a cake at the venue. I will most certainly let everyone know the outcome of this, and thank you all so much for the help, it is greatly appriciated.
Lynseng - first let me say that you do lovely work and any bride would be very fortunate to have you make her cake. That said, and I say this with total respect, why should the bride respect your contract if you don't? If in your contract you give a "final payment due 2 weeks before function" clause and you don't adhere to it, then how do you expect brides to take it seriously. I do understand that planning a wedding can be very hectic and somtimes the bride may be a few days late in payment and in that type of circumstance then you can allow some leeway IF the bride approaches you recognizing that she is late in her payment. But if you have followed up with her several times and it is now 2 days before the wedding and there is still no payment and in the case of this particular bride you can tell she is not taking it seriously, then why are you allowing yourself to stress this out AND starting to bake - just in case. Not only is the bride not being fair to you, you are not being fair to you. No payment, no cake - that's it.
Oh and just wanted to add, I put a clause in my contract that says :
" if full payment is not received 3 full weeks BEFORE the date of the event you will incur a late fee of $25.00/day and risk possible forfeiture of your date/confections. ...(If paying by check, the check must clear first)"
Maybe you should add something like this as well...........at least when they're a couple days late paying you get paid extra for it............it also puts a fire under their hineys when they know it's gonna cost them extra!
I think this is SUCH a good idea..thanks, I'm not the OP of the post but I sure appreciate this information!!!
maybe because i haven't had this issue (well on a small scale but it also had to do with just coming to a consultation) is there any way you could bake the cakes atleast and meantime try to contact someone else-parents pehaps? i hate to think that she's dodging payment but she could also be getting caught up in the excitement of the pending day. do you have any other contact numbers? if you are still unable to reach her you it's your decision. oh i just thought you could contact the venue and see if they have any other numbers. honestly i would hate to think that i'd be disappointing all those people but i'd hate to not be paid in full either. could you use the cakes for any other orders if you did make them (not iced i mean)? hope that's not too confusing.
If she bakes she will be out money on product that may or may not get used. No money by today no cake - Period!
It is now 3.48, no money so i have now threatened to cancel the order. I realise that I may seam too soft, and as i am new to this i WILL need to get tougher. Sorry all, i am really stressed out now.
I have a different take on this.
I'm all about relieving stress on moi.
I mean the caterers here will do the work before payment too so whatever that's worth.
I do three non-refundable payments. The last payment obviously is me money--my profit in a perfect world. So without the last payment I will still do the cake and will use my soft collection skills afterward to collect.
I had this happen only once and I decided to do the cake anyhow--it was the double wedding & one bride paid & one didn't. When I finally decided to do it --the relief was spectacular. I did get paid eventually but even still it's a complete risk but I'll err on the side of going forward with it and collecting later based on this experience and also because it's happened once in 30+ years.
So...just another thought for you. It's so tough.
But I mean she is avoiding you. So...big decision. I mean do you wanna be out the cake or your health? Is it not exquisitley stressful??? I mean you can hold the cake hostage at the venue too. Send in word that you have the cake if she has the cash. So sorry you're going through this--it sure isn't easy.
This sounds terribly stressful! I'd be getting more than a little annoyed at her lack of consideration. Actually, I'd be furious (this is why I don't do decorating as a biz). It seems that you gave her a deadline and she has already more than missed it. You've given her a lot of warning. Personally, it if were me, I'd seriously consider calling it off or perhaps altering the cake order to a less labor intensive design because of the lateness. If you do alter the design, I'd make sure she clearly understands why and agrees to that...in writing (as in write a new contract). Ugh...you have my sympathies.
Lynseyg - there is nothing wrong with being a nice person - you are kind and that's okay. Unfortunately, in business niceness gets taken advantage of and I believe that is what this bride is doing to you. She is counting on the fact that you are going to do the cake even if she doesn't pay you the money. And though the thought of doing the cake, taking it to the venue and then holding it hostage might seem tempting, in the end it's still you that has done all the work for nothing, and honestly, as nice as you are, I cannot see you doing something like that. I say send the bride a note advising her that she has forfeitted her wedding cake, forget all about it (even if she calls, don't be tempted to answer) and enjoy the rest of the weekend with your family.
Im curious as what you decided to do. Dont leave us hanging! Did you decide to go ahead and make the cake or not?
Are you sending her messages through email or text messages so that you have proof that you have tried or are you just leaving phone messages that she can say she never got?
A paper trail or computer trail is your best defense if she tries to cause problems for you.
Good Luck on the outcome.
I am a bride and I also decorate cakes. So I am giving my reply coming from both sides. We are NOT giving anyone FULL payment until we actually get the final product. This goes for our baker, our photographer, even our wedding planner. This is not unreasonable and our suppliers have added this clause into their contracts. I'm assuming this situation is different because it sounds like you were very clear as to when payment was due. But for myself, I don't feel comfortable paying until I get the final product...that's what the deposit is for.
Did this bride sign a contract that explained the payment terms? I can feel your stress. Kookiblah you're lucky that you found so many vendors that would provide services without full payment. That's VERY unusual especially in the service industry. Now, if you're having furniture delivered, I can see it...they deliver and you're there to accept and inspect the delivery.
I am a bride and I also decorate cakes. So I am giving my reply coming from both sides. We are NOT giving anyone FULL payment until we actually get the final product. This goes for our baker, our photographer, even our wedding planner. This is not unreasonable and our suppliers have added this clause into their contracts. I'm assuming this situation is different because it sounds like you were very clear as to when payment was due. But for myself, I don't feel comfortable paying until I get the final product...that's what the deposit is for.
But what's to stop them from deciding that they don't want to pay when the bill comes?
I mean they've already got the goods why pay for them after the fact?
I'm not saying you would do this I'm just saying some people do this.
Especially when it's thousands of dollars they have to cough up at the end of the day. I would'nt make a cake for someone who refused to pay by my deadline.
And as a cake decorator you would put all the time, effort and your own money into a cake without the guarantee that you will be paid?
For me the only guarantee that I will be paid is money in hand, the contract does'nt mean anything if the person signing it has no intentions of paying.
omg i'm hanging in suspense. i can understand everyone's points. i'm so sorry this is stressful! lynseyg2002 you do lovely work!
Oh hell no. No way in hell would I deliver a cake on the "hopes" that the deary bride will like it and pay me. Wow.
I would probably make the cake layers, but I would be hesitant to go any further until I get the payment from her. It does sound like she is avoiding you. There is nothing wrong with being nice, but there is something to be said for sticking to your guns. I make it very clear to all of my brides that final payment is due one week prior to the event. Then I stress several times that if I do not have final payment one week prior, they do not get a cake, and they lose their deposit. Usually by telling them they lose cake AND money, they pay up in time.
Good luck with this, I hope she comes through and pays you soon. That's just so aggravating.
I am a bride and I also decorate cakes. So I am giving my reply coming from both sides. We are NOT giving anyone FULL payment until we actually get the final product. This goes for our baker, our photographer, even our wedding planner. This is not unreasonable and our suppliers have added this clause into their contracts. I'm assuming this situation is different because it sounds like you were very clear as to when payment was due. But for myself, I don't feel comfortable paying until I get the final product...that's what the deposit is for.
Just wondering if you are from the States? Since I know of absolutely no vendors here that would actually do that.
I am a bride and I also decorate cakes. So I am giving my reply coming from both sides. We are NOT giving anyone FULL payment until we actually get the final product. This goes for our baker, our photographer, even our wedding planner. This is not unreasonable and our suppliers have added this clause into their contracts. I'm assuming this situation is different because it sounds like you were very clear as to when payment was due. But for myself, I don't feel comfortable paying until I get the final product...that's what the deposit is for.
Kookiblah, I get what you're saying as far as needing to see final product before final payment, but, these fields that you mentioned (photographer, baker, event planner) are all different, yet, they are pretty much the same as far as payment is concerned.
With the photographer, you have to pay them a "sitting fee" just to get them to take the pictures. You then decide what pictures you want and then you have to pay for the pictures before they even print them off.
As far as the baker is concerned; most of the ones I know that do wedding cakes; they require full payment before the cake is due, even the bakeries. The only ones who don't (at least where I live) are places like Wal Mart and Publix.
Not knocking you, but even I, being on the other side; have had to pay for the product before I received it.
To the OP: I hope you hear from the bride soon. I know this is stressful, but you have to stick to you guns!!
And for the OP I would send one final message - "I have not received your final payment therefore I am NOT making your cake."
Just CYA
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