How Do I Respond To This (Pita) Customer?
Business By ilovesprinkles Updated 25 May 2011 , 7:16pm by ilovesprinkles
I guess my thing was, had I read her email is that she was not taking offense or making a snide comment about your contract, but instead at her son's or SIL's request (I can't remember who it was now) that they TRY your cupcakes when she felt there was no need. She even indicated that she felt just looking at your blog that your product was wonderful. She was only asking because she had been asked by the family member and felt that they were making a big deal out of wanting to know if your cupcakes were good, and so the comment was directed at them that "hello, we are spending whatever on cupcakes at least it is not a 20,000 dollar car" meaning to me, hey lets just give this a shot, worse case we don't care for her cupcakes and we don't order again, at least we are not in it for 20,000 dollars.
Please don't take offence to what I am thinking, but this might have been another way to understand it.
You aren't the first person to suggest this, and I really do appreciate the input. The thing is, I have had previous interactions with her (scroll back about 6 posts), and I'm pretty sure I've interpreted it correctly. 
I'm confused now......her latest email stated she would sign the contract and wants them lemon, filled with rasberry and buttercream icing. Am, I reading that wrong?? Does she want to purchase the "samples" too. Or, is the order now just one flavor and not five flavors? I can't stand working with customers who beat around the bush!! lol
Sigh. I have no idea. 
I still haven't replied. The last thing I want to do is send her another email.
I'm confused now......her latest email stated she would sign the contract and wants them lemon, filled with rasberry and buttercream icing. Am, I reading that wrong?? Does she want to purchase the "samples" too. Or, is the order now just one flavor and not five flavors? I can't stand working with customers who beat around the bush!! lol
Im confused about this part too. You are saying she wants 5 different flavours with 5 different fillings, but I only see her requesting the one flavour?
Anyways, to answer your other question about how long it takes to make 5 dozen.... I'm just a hobby baker, but I bake cupcakes all the time for school things for my son, and charities.. I bake 2 dozen at a time, so for 5 dozen from start to finish, including filling and frosting and cleanup, probably takes about 2.5-3 hours.
I'm confused now......her latest email stated she would sign the contract and wants them lemon, filled with rasberry and buttercream icing. Am, I reading that wrong?? Does she want to purchase the "samples" too. Or, is the order now just one flavor and not five flavors? I can't stand working with customers who beat around the bush!! lol
Im confused about this part too. You are saying she wants 5 different flavours with 5 different fillings, but I only see her requesting the one flavour?
Anyways, to answer your other question about how long it takes to make 5 dozen.... I'm just a hobby baker, but I bake cupcakes all the time for school things for my son, and charities.. I bake 2 dozen at a time, so for 5 dozen from start to finish, including filling and frosting and cleanup, probably takes about 2.5-3 hours.
Thank you for answering my question.
She originally wanted 5 dozen, each with different fillings and flavors.
Then she asked me if she could have free samples of lemon cupcakes w/ raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream to make sure they are good enough before placing her order for 5 dozen in different flavors. And she doesn't like my contract, because they are "just cupcakes, not a car." It doesn't seem to matter to her that we're talking about almost $100 worth of cupcakes, but whatever. 
Then she offered to pay for 6 lemon/raspberry/vanilla to taste in order to makes sure they are good enough to order 5 dozen.
I told her if she wants to taste them first, 1 dozen cupcakes was my minimum.
Now, who the hell knows what she wants! From her latest email, DH thinks she just wants the 5 dozen, 1 dozen of which is the lemon/raspberry/vanilla combo. It seems she doesn't feel the need to taste beforehand if she has to pay for more than 6.
I don't blame you for being confused.
All of this back and forth has put me in a very strange mood. But.....
it turns out cupcakes can indeed be cars. And I'm not talking Richard Scarry cars either. Who knew? 
I've procrastinated long enough. Time to get something done.
I forwarded today's email from this customer to my husband at work. I just have to share his reply with everyone since it made me laugh!
Customer email:
Dear _______________
Please do not take offense about anything I wrote. I read the contract and there is nothing in there that anyone would take offense too. I was just making a comment that they are only cupcakes. I would like to order the cupcakes, I will sign the contract it will be my gift for the party. I would like the lemon cupcakes as I mentioned to have rasberry jam inside and vanilla buttercream icing. Thank you for your patience. I will bring the contract to work whenever you would like to pick it up
____________________________
Here is my husband's replyl:
I have re-written part of her e-mail...so it is a little more clear. I suggest you send it to her so that she can offend you again.
Dear _____________-
Please don't take any offense to anything I wrote, but in case I didn't offend you enough before, I will now try to offend you even more by telling you again that these are only cupcakes and not cars. Oh and cupcakes are stupid and cars are less stupid...contracts are way stupid because I don't understand them. Stupid is a stupid word...I think I will try to come up with a less stupid word for it and let you know what I come up with. Now come to think of it, I need a word which is more stupid to replace stupid.
I love my husband!
I think your husband has a great sense of humor! However, if I may offer a different perspective?
Reading her original email- it didn't sound to me like she was complaining about having a contract for the cupcakes. To me, it sounded like she was complaining about her SIL being overly concerned about the cupcakes before signing the contract... and the "not cars, just cupcakes" comment was to point out that making an investment in a car you would expect to do lots of research on the make/model you were buying, test drive, etc... before signing a contract. It just sounded like she was not concerned about the quality of your cupcakes and was bothered that her SIL was being so insistent about tasting, etc...
Just goes to show how different people interpret the written word differently! I probably saw it this way, because my husband over analyses EVERYTHING he is asked to sign his name to and I will just skim and sign my name.... the SIL sounds like he's similar to my husband, lol!
I took this the same way, that she was being critical of her son-in-law for being so concerned about the contract for "just cupcakes". You are right, goes to show how the written word can be taken in so many different ways.
All of this back and forth has put me in a very strange mood. But.....
it turns out cupcakes can indeed be cars. And I'm not talking Richard Scarry cars either. Who knew?
I've procrastinated long enough. Time to get something done.
Oh my gosh, that is too funny!
ok, this is getting a little out of control.
First, good job with MOST of the email. My policy when dealing with customers is to try and always acknowledge their feelings first before I tell them why they're crazy, and to NEVER imply that they ARE crazy in my responses. I will tell you guys, my husband, my mom, but never the customer herself.
So, instead of antagonizing her, you should have said something like "I know, right? Its crazy that we now need contracts for everything. But that's the way the world is right now, and I want even my cupcake customers to know that I take their order seriously and want it to be correct. Also, if I'm taking your money ahead of time, I definitely want to you to know that I will deliver what was promised." In this way, you are telling her she's crazy, but she's enjoying the ride.
Anyway, at this point you've kind of pissed her off, so do some damage control. Pretend that nothing was offensive in your response, and say something like
"Great! Now that we're both on the same page (isn't email great?!), let me clarify your order.... " and then list what you THINK she's ordering. That way she can correct you if you've misinterpreted her last response. I bet she just meant she wanted to change her lemon cupcakes to have raspberry filling.
Don't hang your head, its not a big deal and if your product is good, her bad-mouthing shouldn't do too much damage. And if she's a natural complainer, then no one will listen anyway.
I only write all this because I've been through it several times, when I really inserted foot in mouth, and I've hopefully learned from it.
ok, this is getting a little out of control.
First, good job with MOST of the email. My policy when dealing with customers is to try and always acknowledge their feelings first before I tell them why they're crazy, and to NEVER imply that they ARE crazy in my responses. I will tell you guys, my husband, my mom, but never the customer herself.
So, instead of antagonizing her, you should have said something like "I know, right? Its crazy that we now need contracts for everything. But that's the way the world is right now, and I want even my cupcake customers to know that I take their order seriously and want it to be correct. Also, if I'm taking your money ahead of time, I definitely want to you to know that I will deliver what was promised." In this way, you are telling her she's crazy, but she's enjoying the ride.
Anyway, at this point you've kind of pissed her off, so do some damage control. Pretend that nothing was offensive in your response, and say something like
"Great! Now that we're both on the same page (isn't email great?!), let me clarify your order.... " and then list what you THINK she's ordering. That way she can correct you if you've misinterpreted her last response. I bet she just meant she wanted to change her lemon cupcakes to have raspberry filling.
Don't hang your head, its not a big deal and if your product is good, her bad-mouthing shouldn't do too much damage. And if she's a natural complainer, then no one will listen anyway.
I only write all this because I've been through it several times, when I really inserted foot in mouth, and I've hopefully learned from it.
I really don't understand where in my response I antagonized her or implied she was crazy? I stated the truth: that I unfortunately need a contract, the reasons why, and how I've never had any complaints about my contract until now. Is that what you are referring to? I don't see what is so offensive about it. She knows she gave me a hard time. I had several level-headed, rational, uninvolved people read the email over and they all thought it was okay before I sent it. Believe me, given what I really wanted to say, this email was positively sunshine and roses.
Thanks to this thread, I've realized that I do not want her business given our previous history. I am not really interested in doing damage control with a difficult person at this point. She may bad-mouth me, but my product speaks for itself. Fortunately, I have more business than I can handle, and can do without people like this.
Thank you for your input.
love his response!!!!! ROFL.
i
I forwarded today's email from this customer to my husband at work. I just have to share his reply with everyone since it made me laugh!
Customer email:
Dear _______________
Please do not take offense about anything I wrote. I read the contract and there is nothing in there that anyone would take offense too. I was just making a comment that they are only cupcakes. I would like to order the cupcakes, I will sign the contract it will be my gift for the party. I would like the lemon cupcakes as I mentioned to have rasberry jam inside and vanilla buttercream icing. Thank you for your patience. I will bring the contract to work whenever you would like to pick it up
____________________________
Here is my husband's replyl:
I have re-written part of her e-mail...so it is a little more clear. I suggest you send it to her so that she can offend you again.
Dear _____________-
Please don't take any offense to anything I wrote, but in case I didn't offend you enough before, I will now try to offend you even more by telling you again that these are only cupcakes and not cars. Oh and cupcakes are stupid and cars are less stupid...contracts are way stupid because I don't understand them. Stupid is a stupid word...I think I will try to come up with a less stupid word for it and let you know what I come up with. Now come to think of it, I need a word which is more stupid to replace stupid.
I love my husband!
Im sorry, but I think you are looking for her to be rude because you dont want the order.
There was nothign rude in ANY of her posts from what I can see. You are pushing away a potential client. If you dont want the order dont take it, but dont make her out like the bad guy.
I guess I don't get where you offended your customer at all, but maybe I am naive. I thought that Jenmat's suggestion of how to handle things was good before I read that you had decided you weren't going to do her order anyway. But for future reference I did think that jenmat's answer was a good way to resolve any questions in your mind about what she wanted.
I guess I don't get where you offended your customer at all, but maybe I am naive. I thought that Jenmat's suggestion of how to handle things was good before I read that you had decided you weren't going to do her order anyway. But for future reference I did think that jenmat's answer was a good way to resolve any questions in your mind about what she wanted.
I agree. She is very diplomatic.
Thank you to everyone who helped me work this through today. I really appreciate the advice and the different points of view.
At this point, if you have any inclination to go ahead with making cupcakes for her, I'd suggest to her that you are confused with what exactly is being ordered and that you would like her to call you, or give you a time to call her so you can clarify everything on the phone. This way you hear her voice, get that inflection and everything is done 1,2 3. And be sure and let her know you were not taking orders for that day, but are making an exception for her.
My added opinion is this:
a)she wasn't bemoaning your contract, but was in fact coming down on her SIL.
b)she figured 1/2 a dozen was a decent amount to "taste test" your cupcakes. once you stated that at a minimum, a dozen must be ordered, it sounds like she'll go with that, and then, if they like them, will order the 5 dozen of the raspberry ones.
I always say it when it comes up in text, that's one disadvantage of texting and emailing. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations occur when you can't actually see and/or hear the other person.
Even from your "past" experiences with her, she doesn't seem like a PITA customer. Maybe a little too much "exception for me, wanting", but not a PITA.
Too bad you're going to risk losing her as a client on a iffy "bad customer" behavior. But, at the end of the day, your interpretation, gut instinct, and peace of mind is what counts. Good luck.
My added opinion is this:
a)she wasn't bemoaning your contract, but was in fact coming down on her SIL.
b)she figured 1/2 a dozen was a decent amount to "taste test" your cupcakes. once you stated that at a minimum, a dozen must be ordered, it sounds like she'll go with that, and then, if they like them, will order the 5 dozen of the raspberry ones.
I always say it when it comes up in text, that's one disadvantage of texting and emailing. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations occur when you can't actually see and/or hear the other person.
Even from your "past" experiences with her, she doesn't seem like a PITA customer. Maybe a little too much "exception for me, wanting", but not a PITA.
Too bad you're going to risk losing her as a client on a iffy "bad customer" behavior. But, at the end of the day, your interpretation, gut instinct, and peace of mind is what counts. Good luck.
Thank you. I'm very well acquainted with this woman's personality, and my gut instinct has rarely steered me in the wrong direction.
Thanks again to everyone who gave me their advice and opinions. This thread has gone on long enough. I'm going to bow out now and, as the OP, I'm going to ask everyone else to move on as well.
This thread is done, and there is no need to fan the flames.
Peace out and happy baking!
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