Hi,
I have never wrote a forum post without thanking you all and what great support this forum is. I just want to vent out.

A lady of a well known school - owner/coordinator of the school here in Riyadh KSA (nationality unknown), i will call sandy here, she abruptly messaging in August, how much for sonic hedghog cake. I messaged her that i am travelling, she goes like can i keep the cake for 5 days, i said no its not advisable. Story ends. I didnt know there was much more.

Oct, she msged again, sonic hedgehog for 17th november, for 30 kids, how much, i said SAR 400, she said ok i want it. Ok i emailed all the details, she wanted one more carriage cake, details finalized and all things were on either FB or email. She then said ok for 50 ppl, i said it will be 500, she said no i want in 400, i said no, not possible., she said ok make it for 30 ppl as 400 is the max i would like to pay. then we had this deal SAR 650, 250 for carriage, 400 for sonic. all set. My bad, i didnt talk on phone or took the money.

On 15th november i emailed her all the details again , i normally dont do that but since there was something i wasnt feeling right for this woman (why didnt i listen to myself), she replied this:


My Email

all finalized details are here

Hi, kindly confirm the details.

Cake 1

Design - Sonic http://www.flickr.com/photos/themadplatters/5870662777/in/faves-nadiatariqbaig/
Flavor - Chocolate with vanilla cream
Servings - 30
Message - Mazin and Maria
Price - SAR 400
Delivery - 17th November 2011 , 10AM, Thursday

Cake 2

Design - Carriage http://www.flickr.com/photos/junikraft/5363602942/in/photostream/
Flavor - Vanilla Cake with strawberry jam
Servings - 15
Message - Rania is 1
Price - SAR 250
Delivery - same as above

I will deliver these cakes to Alameen british school, i have seen the map,I will call school tomorrow at4649666 for directions, incase of any problem ,i will call on any of the following number
Guard 0565013138
Yours 0532111626

I will hand over them to guard and will take payment from him. SAR 690 total.
I will give him BakeFresh flyers as well, if you are able to distribute in your school, i will be thankful.


Her reply 16th november morning

yes great but my advice if u make free delivery u would get more customers i Will sure hand out flyer's if u make some discount because we have over 500 kids and mothers i personally know and have 100 kids coming and i can give them Ur flayers plus i have given zaaynabs nairs mums Zahara already Ur number and face book she Will buy one for next week abcrino party from you barbie she is my close friend

can u make my bill 500 total instead of 690? abnd be sure i help you
listen makes the cakes nice i have over 200 mothers and loads kids comming around 150 kids total 100 are friends of my 3 kids if theys ee the cakes nice they srue order from you them self direct

listen on the cakes i want words ok


on sonic you write

Maria & Mazin or at bottom so anyone see the names


on girls

Rania

no age ok

confirm asap


i would have been happy if u can make some discount for me in return IE can get u good business but Ur worth Ur weight in gold Ur work outstanding
yes all correct Nadia thanks alot


My reply morning 16th nov.

I m really sorry but I cannot make even 1 riyal less from sar 690, I cannot make deliveries free as I will have to pay driver, also I can guarantee that fir two cakes like these, you won't get price like this, no probs on flyers, but the total remain same sar 690 , inshallah you will like it n thanks for the reference

Sent from my iPhone

at 3:44 pm
i sent this

I would recommend that if you have party in abcarino, i can deliver the cakes there, i can drop one hour before the party, what do you say??
Nadia

at 5:28 she sent me this
salam nadia id like to cancel the cakes because the party has now been cancelled I am sorry for the late notice.


at 5:43
cancel the cakes as tommorow we r not makign the birthday but in decemeber as the party thme wont be birthday for tommorow can u please kindly sort this out i cant call you





When i called her up, she was like dont shout at me, i was trying to call but i didnt have any number, although my number is all over facebook and people in Riyadh give you in a minute if you ask on any of the clubs. I talked to her for 45 mins and she said i will give you 400 and you give me the cakes. This was my first time like this and i said ok atleast i can recover my cost and assistants money.
I finifshed the cakes, went to drop at her school, her guard/driver and his wife came out with phone and was cross checking everything before they would hand me out the money. I just completely lost it, I took the cakes, thre in dustbin and she called again and again and begged me to bring the cakes or atleast take the money. I said i just dont want to dela with you any more.

Please suggest, if i did the right thing, now what should i do, should i post my story on facebook page/groups, should i anonymously discuss with ppl, should i forget everything and make new policies etc. She even threatened me that id i come at her school, she will threw me out, will spread the bad words and these 600 riyals will cost be 6000 riyals. Please ladies suggest i will be very thankful. Should i post the pictures on my group or completely ignore what happened.

Thanks in advance for your time.

and all the time she was telling me your cakes are not fresh, how can you make them a day before. when order is for 17th, (remember that before she was asking me if she can keep them for 5 days)

So sorry that she is giving you the run around.
I would have thrown away her cakes, too.

You don't need to work with her or anyone who would be her friend. It would just give you a head ache.

If it were me I would not take her calls or e-mails anymore.
Next time get a contract so that your customer won't try to pull any tricks.
It you have it on paper with her signature there is no wiggle room.

Wipe your hands of her and the school.
There are many people who will treat you with respect for your abilities.
On to your next client.

mommachris

Sounds like you should have been paid in advance, but still, she was in the wrong for trying to get you to lower the price.

The things I'd have done differently:
I would not have made the cakes as long as she was trying to change things. I would have told her that I was no longer available.

I would never have agreed to deliver the cake for the lower price--no matter what. That was just rewarding her for her bad behavior and giving her what she wanted all along. She NEVER intended to pay you the 690.

I wouldn't have thrown the cakes in the trash. I'd have taken them home and either enjoyed them myself or I'd have donated them to someone less fortunate.

I wouldn't discuss it online in an open forum like FB--that's just getting down to her level.

I'd only answer questions about the incident when asked directly and I'd tell the basic facts:
She tried to get me to lower my price repeatedly. She "cancelled" when she knew the cakes were already completed. When I did to deliver the cakes, I was given such a hard time that I decided that she wasn't going to get the cakes at such a large discount, so I threw them away.

Don't accept any orders from her in the future.

Rae

Thanks a lot ppl, you are a big support, just to update you, she called again this morning that i give her cake for the same price, i said sorry but the cakes no longer exists. Which confirms that she wanted the cakes was just trying her chance if she could get at lower price. Anyways, i feel better, Rae, I agree with all above, i should have given them somewhere but still i was feeling so distressed and insulted that i did that. No discussion on FB etc. I know its like getting down to her level. Thanks alot.

Glad you're feeling better, Nadia.

It must have felt really good to tell her that "the cakes no longer exist" I bet that caught her off guard.

She surely thought that you'd be soooo happy to get anything for them that you'd all but give them to her for free.

Good for you! Let her go try to hunt down something at the last minute!

Now her crisis isn't your emergency!!!

Rae

Bravo...in my business, I do the best that I possibly can for people, but that does not mean that have the rigth to treat me or any of my employees with any disrespect. The whole thing with the guard and trying to get you to lower the price last minute after you did so much is just not ethical. I agree, never denounce anyone publically. Obviously she has her own issues to deal with it doesnt sound like you are the type to treat people poorly so you are right in not stooping to her level. Integrity does count and you had it, pat yourself on the back and move on taking care of the customers who appreciate what you do and pay you properly.

I think a lot of times we get into the line of thinking that "the customer is always right and I need their business; therefore, I have to take whatever load of nonsense they see fit to dish out". No. We do not.

One thing that has become quite clear to me since I joined CC is that people who can produce the caliber of art I see here are intelligent, creative and hard-working. Yes, we need to work with our customers since they provide our livelihood, but we don't need to put up with nonsense.

Nadia, I'm very proud of you. You do beautiful cakes and you don't deserve to be treated the way she was trying to treat you. She sounds like a bully to me. You go, girl.

Ladies, i am not only feeling better but great. Cant thank enough for the support you guys show