I actually think that you handled it beautifully and obviously according to the contract that she signed. Further, I am not sure why so many posters have stated that they would have treated this as a date change. It was a full two days before she contacted you again and wanted to reinstate the contract. That is plenty of time for you to have processed whatever refund that she may have been entitled to (whether you did this or not is irrelevant) as well as, had another bride come in and book the now-open September date, thus leaving you unavailable at that time.
What, then, would have happened if she had just contacted you and said "oh, the wedding is back on", would these same people just give the boot to the new bride?? Probably not. They would most likely, depending on their work load ability, have told her that she was S-O-L. However, for whatever reason, since it happened to be the same bride for the later date, somehow she deserves special circumstances.
Further, it hasn't escaped me that a lot of the posters that made that suggestion are ones that are quite verbal about contractual obligations and regularly give advice to others to stick to their contractual "guns", so I'm a little confused about the change of heart in this circumstance...
I can understand where youre coming from, but I do agree with leah. With all the pain in the *** customers we get, from the ones who complain about nothing, to the ones who avoid paying, to the ones who are late with deposits, it is a bit of fresh air to see a bride who was willing to pay in full and wekk in advance.
If she hasnt given you any other gried about anything else, I personally would as another poster said, show her the contract and say "this is what I could have charged you, but wont this time". A bride like this is one I'd be happy to give a little break to. Of course if she does it again I would charge lol.
Good luck to you and Im glad you got your money!
I actually think that you handled it beautifully and obviously according to the contract that she signed. Further, I am not sure why so many posters have stated that they would have treated this as a date change. It was a full two days before she contacted you again and wanted to reinstate the contract. That is plenty of time for you to have processed whatever refund that she may have been entitled to (whether you did this or not is irrelevant) as well as, had another bride come in and book the now-open September date, thus leaving you unavailable at that time.
What, then, would have happened if she had just contacted you and said "oh, the wedding is back on", would these same people just give the boot to the new bride?? Probably not. They would most likely, depending on their work load ability, have told her that she was S-O-L. However, for whatever reason, since it happened to be the same bride for the later date, somehow she deserves special circumstances.
Further, it hasn't escaped me that a lot of the posters that made that suggestion are ones that are quite verbal about contractual obligations and regularly give advice to others to stick to their contractual "guns", so I'm a little confused about the change of heart in this circumstance...
You nailed it!
Yup foxiecakes and tiggy, that's what I posted too.
It's funny how people are always preaching to "stick to your contract, that's why you have one", yet in this case when she sticks to her contract she's called a hard a$$ and many agree with that.
Dumb.
This is what happened.....
The bride canceled the wedding, therefore the contract is canceled. Period. Refund monies according to your contract. Stamp this one "closed", "complete", etc.
2 days later she notifies OP that the wedding is back on, BUT new date, new venue.
She needs to start over with a NEW contract...deposit to hold the new date, new pricing to reflect price increase that the OP put in place 5 months ago, and new payment schedule.
When you let emotions get involved in your business contracts that's when the problems begin.
OP you did good.
The only point I don't agree with the OP on is the fact that she doesn't think she will get replacement business for the September date. It's early in July and there is plenty of time for new business to come her way. I've had brides call me this close to their wedding date to book for a cake.
I have to agree with Leah on this one, too. Regardless of the reason, it's probably been a highly stressful time for her if she's having to reschedule her weddng. Showing some compassion and a little generosity goes a long way for your karma.
I can certainly see telling the bride that your ingredients will be more expensive in May and you would have quoted a higher price if she'd originally booked for May, and charge here the extra. I think an additional "booking" fee is a bit greedy.
As for losing the business for September, maybe - maybe not. That's still quite a long time away; it's not like it's two weeks off with no possibility to rebook. The OP has plenty of time to book that date with other cakes.
I have quite a few repeat customers who started as brides. It's nice to build long-term relationships when you can.
ouch! I thought I was being fair with her.
I don't have to hold to her contract as she CANCELED! Also had I been booked for the other date she would be out her deposit. Her first email wasn't asking for a date change.
Doing her cake in May 2012 is going to cost me more than if I were going to do it in September 2011. And her cancellation has caused me loss of business.
What good is a contract if we aren't going to hold to it?
I think this says it all very well.
If you were planning on being unfair, you could have gone to her 5 months ago when you raised your prices and told her that due to severe increases in the cost of gas and ingredients, you were raising the cost of her cake. Heck, you could even have fine print in your contract to that effect. Now, we'd have flamed you big time if you'd done that...........
I like the suggestion by a previous poster that you complete Contract #1, and get her to sign off on it. Then, write up Contract #2 with all of the new info, a new deposit, payment schedule, etc. If you both agree, transfer her original payment(s) to #2 and give her a balance due and a date to pay it by.
Rae
No, she really could not have done this. The contract is binding for the business as well as the customer. Once you've entered into a contract to provide a cake for an agreed upon price, you can't change that price. That would be considered a breach of contract.
Yes, she could have, had she had "fine print in (your) the contract to that effect", as I stated in my post.
Sadly, contracts, when written can include any amount of foolishness and if signed, it's binding. It's a condition of "buyer beware". It would only be a breach if there was no clause stating that the creator of the contract had such an option.
I'm not suggesting that anyone do this, and I would never sign a contract of that sort--knowingly.
Rae
I love this thread....and I think there's more than a few lawyers, or former lawyers who turned to baking to preserve their sanity
She did email me back and is willing to pay the difference. She really wants me to do her cake.
And like I said she did email me and say that she will pay the additional fee.
It appears that the issues have been resolved to the satisfaction of both the bride and the decorator.
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