I had this woman order a cake a week or two ago, and I got all the info I need and a deposit. We came up with a pickup time, which she picked, between 2-3 today. Well 2 comes and goes and no call and no customer. She calls about 2:30 and I yell her I have to leave at 3:30 so she either needs to get it before or when I get back. She said she was on her way and it would take 30 minutes. Well 3:30 rolled around and she calls saying she will be there in 10 minutes. I tell her she needs to hurry, I have to pick my kid up from school. She finally arrives almost 25 minutes later. I am so mad and so late getting my kid. The nerve of people, they sure don't care about my time.
Sorry this happened! If It was me the next time I would tell her I am leaving to pick up my child and you will just have to wait til I get back. Your family is more important than her cake. Don't lose your cool...just state it as fact! If you don't get here by this time then I will be gone and you will have to wait til I get back...or agree to meet her with the cake. Either way you should never have to yell or get upset. It's not worth it! 
I state specific times on my website..If you are not here between those times...Neither am I!You have to be firm and not let them dictate to you when they are going to pickup otherwise they'll come whenever...
You told her either come before stated time or after. DON"T wait! Go, do what you have to and don't be the least bit sorry. They will learn you mean what you say.
I remember one time going to visit a cake shop in the next town - no appointment - no announcement - just 'stopping by'. They were closed but there was a sign on the door to someone who apparently hadn't come at the right time that the cake would be available the next day!
I rarely allow pickups, but when I do they have a very specific time slot. Before or after that time slot I am not available.
You may have a couple of unhappy people until the lesson is learned, but they will manage their time better if they understand that the cake they ordered and paid for will not be available for their party.
Of course, this means you have to get deposits and payment up front, which is something I think all cakers should do anyway!
agree with the above .... my child would not wait due to a pick up. she can sit in her car in my driveway WAY easier than my child can sit on a curb after the school is closed and locked up.
Hubby read an article that said this kind of rudeness began to peak with the use of cell phones. People think that if they CALL at the appointed time to say they are on their way, that it's the same as being there. The article pointed out that restaurants were beginning to refuse to seat parties until everyone had arrived ... and after so long, they'd lose their reservation. What was happening is that one person would call "I'm on my way!", the party would be seated, but they'd all wait to order until the last person arrived. This increases the restaurant's table-turn-time and reduces their income.
Hubby experienced it at the car dealership. People would call at 3 minutes before closing and say "DOn't close! I'm only 20 minutes away!" Hubby told one guy, "If you can get here in 3 minutes, we'll be open." Seriously? When does someone TELL a business to stay open longer because THEY are running late?
Cell phones .... more and more I see them as giving birth to rudeness and inconsideration.
Off of soapbox now! 
I agree, I would have made her wait and gone to pick up my child, however, I am also like you with a good heart and would have been the one who felt guilty leaving.
My bad experience was that I offered to meet a lady at a certain location for her to pick up a cake. I had a deposit and all for the cake. She ended up being an hour later picking up the cake. I had my husband and my baby in the car sitting and waiting. I wanted to leave but it was my husband who was like don't worry about it just wait it out. I was afraid that if I left she would bad mouth me over town. I called her cell, finally she called me saying she'd be there in five min and of course it was like 20 min later. I ended up getting a four dollar tip, nice! My hour was worth 4 bucks lol. I will never offer to meet anyone like that again, lesson learned! The only reason I offered to do this was because it was a big order and I really wanted the experience.
This is my life every week, drives me INSANE! "I'll be there by 11." 11:30 rolls around, "I'm leaving now will be there in 10 minutes." 25 minutes later....
The only way I get people to me on time is to tell them that I am leaving my house and will not be here after noon, "So you MUST be here by then or you can't get your cake." Works for me. I can't believe it didn't work in your case!
When this happens, I call my BFF and complain because what else can I do? Lateness is my biggest pet peeve.
The funny thing is I always give a pickup time. On Saturdays the pickup time is 12 so that I can have the rest of the day to myself and my family. Most customers are still late though and I don't know what to do to change that. I wasn't rude to her but I was abrupt and I really wanted to leave but felt guilty since she was on her way. Luckily I always get deposits, I have learned my lesson on that one. What really sucks is since I was late he did not see me and thought I was not picking him up so he got on the bus that takes him to my moms neighborhood. So I had to really go out of my way.
Problem: You are waiting because you only have a deposit. The customer knows this and you are either at their disposal or you risk losing the rest of the money.
Solution: Full payment in advance. My orders are generated online with payment in full before it is put on the schedule. I didn't model my business after this, but this is a good example. Look at Etsy. Some people offer custom work in addition to their items for sale. I bought hand painted drawer knobs for the bakery. The artist and I emailed a few times, just a few sentences each. She said she would generate a custom invoice and would start on the project as soon as I paid.
People expect to pay in advance for custom orders of anything... including cake. All of my orders are scheduled online. For wedding cakes, the deposit is made online and that sets the date. The final payment is also online. No final payment, the date becomes available. For daily items, the payment is made and the order will be filled. People are used to paying online and using credit cards to do it. One of the golden rules of sales is, "Make it easy for the customer to buy".
There are many nice ladies who learned to bake and decorate. But they are not business people. Having business policies are what keeps you sane. It doesn't make you less nice... it make you more professional and people will respect that. If you set the parameters, these people will know that the cake that they fully paid for, will not be available because they did not follow the pickup guidelines. Do you think a storefront bakery stays open?
I get full payment in advance.
I was kind of loosy goosey on my pick-up times, until I had a lady literally keep me waiting until almost 9PM for a 4pm pick-up. I now have a 5:30 maximum with a disclaimer that if they can't make it here by 5:30pm, they can pick up the cake the next day or I'll deliver it for extra $$.
Exception - last week Obama was here and the secret service shut down my district, as I am 1/2 mile away from his hotel and my street is the street the motorcade takes to the airport. Client couldn't get to me. But just short of the POTUS shutting down access, customers are now SOL if they can't manage their time better.
Jen
Indydeb you are so right about people and their cell phones...( and I love your bc recipe by the way ..used it twice in the last week!
I am in the restaurant business for my normal job and you would not believe the rudeness of people... Just like you said people just dont care about other peoples time and money..if my tables are empty , I am not smoking money
Also..I had a cake I did for someone at work about two months ago, the pick up time ( I only allow pickups for sheet cakes or single tiers) was 11 :30 am... With this being the pick up time , I had to get up so early to finish the cake and I was at work sokol late the night before...not only was she late but she called me at 12:15 and said she was too busy and was sending her MIL ...when the MIL arrived it was 1:00 I had to cancel plans with my kids because I had to return to work at 3 and she was so late...and to top it off....she came to my house and didn'teven knock just walked in...ugh..the nerve....
I have another cottage baker friend. Her and I both have issue with late pick ups. It's like because we are based out of our homes people figure we are there anyway so no biggie. I'm thinking maybe it's time to start charging late fees! LOL! I had someone who's pick-up time was noon and not get here until 3PM. Just ridiculous. I had wedding consults so it's was no biggie, but it was. It's also frustrating when someone requests an exception for an obscenely early pickup and then doesn't show until NOON! Ugh.
I have another cottage baker friend. Her and I both have issue with late pick ups. It's like because we are based out of our homes people figure we are there anyway so no biggie. I'm thinking maybe it's time to start charging late fees! LOL! I had someone who's pick-up time was noon and not get here until 3PM. Just ridiculous. I had wedding consults so it's was no biggie, but it was. It's also frustrating when someone requests an exception for an obscenely early pickup and then doesn't show until NOON! Ugh.
JenniferKay...I had that happen recently! She asked me if she could come at 8am. I said yes, got up at 7:30 after going to bed very late. She didn't come until 10. REALLY?
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