I can't believe this happened to me...
I took an order for a cowboy hat cake 2 weeks ago. made the cake and brought it to work today.
The guy picked it up and said (and I quote) "Thanks! I owe you Bigtime!" I was speechless!
He did not offer to pay me even though I KNOW we discussed prices.

So...now what do I do? He put it in his truck and left!!!

I work with him! This is sooo embarrassing!!!

Should I just chalk it up to experience? I told him $55.00 for th cake...

Duh!?

I feel so stupid!!

You shouldn't have let him take it without payment! Sounds like you were taken advantage of big time! Remind him of the price you had discussed and ask him for the $!

Don't forget to post your pics!

Deb

In my opinion you should mention something to him. Otherwise he may expect it again. I'm sure he will understand.

Lazy_Susan

Do you have mailboxes at work? Leave an invoice in it. Maybe he has intentions to pay you and just got excited and took the cake without thinking. Either way, you should get paid. It may feel embarrassing, but he is the one that should be embarrassed. ESPECIALLY if you already discussed the price.

Good luck!!
Get paid!!!
Angie

That is a good Idea!

That way i won't have to "confront" him...

Thanks!

Are you a good friend of his? Maybe something like, hmm.. was the cake good? of course he will say yes.. Say good, that will be 55 bucks.. Then you never know he might say something like " omg I really forgot!"..

Yes, I think the invoice is a good idea. You could leave it at his desk at work before he gets there or something...or email it lol.

How rude can he be? You had already discussed the price and still nothing. Maybe like Brainsbaker said he might have been excited and totally forgot. I would leave him a message of some sort. But if and only if he doesn't pay and he comes to order another one I would either say no or tell him to pay you for the cowboy hat cake plus the new one he wants to order. He will drop his mouth and shut right up.

Sorry, I sound Peeeed off. I just hate how people take advantage.

Hope you get your money for the work you put into this cake.

Let us know
Sylvie

I agree that you should not feel bad about asking him for the money, ESPECIALLY if you talked prices. I have done cakes for 2 people at my work, and luckily they paid right off the bat, without me having to say anything. But if I hadn't gotten the money from them I would just send them an email that says something like, I hope they liked the cake and I just wanted to remind them that I hadn't gotten the payment yet. It doesn't have to be mean, and I would give him the benifit of the doubt that he just was temporarily OUT OF HIS MIND!!!
Miah

I can't imagine! So, you DID have a discussion about payment? What did you two say to one another about prices? Did he start off by asking you how much? Was a price actually quoted and agreed upon? I just wonder if he misunderstood, or if he's trying to take advantage of you. I'll admit this looks like someone who's trying to take advantage, but we should give him the benefit of the doubt first. I'm sure this is an uncomfortable situation! Just be sure to be professional and a friend at the same time.
If you email him do so gently and just restate the details of your initial conversation about pricing. Good luck with this, hope he pays you no problems. If not find out a way he can owe you big time. Maybe barter your cake for a service?

I would certainly tell him about the money. Since you did talk money to him, I think that he probably just forgot.....sounds stupid, but it's probably true. And please do not feel stupid for asking him for the money.....he'll probably feel a bit silly when he realises what he's done

Next time you see him I would just say to him "You left so quickly with the cake that you forgot to pay for it. You seemed to be in such a hurry so I figured you would just pay me the next time you saw me." Something along those lines maybe. Sometimes playing a little "clueless" so to speak can save any hard feelings!


Let us know his reasoning for taking off so fast!!


Amy

I just posted, but have a couple more thoughts on this. Some people are just odd. My husband has a good friend from work who takes advantage of any situation where money is concerned. If you take him out to eat he orders the most expensive meal on the menu. If the company takes him out for lunch (sometimes they do this with a group of employees) this guy will call and invite his wife and kids! Doesn't ask, just does it. Very peculiar. Anyway, he siezes opprotunities to save money... this is a nice way of saying he's a bit cheap, but still a very nice guy! I could maybe see this guy doing this type of thing with a cake, but not if he'd actually agreed on a price. Still, he might hope you forgot to ask!

Another odd one is my brother, who honestly just forgets things. He has good intentions, but forgets! Not just money matters, but all matters big and small. So he's always appreciative of being gently reminded of whatever it is he was supposed to do! Thankfully he has a wife who keeps him on track!

Anyway, I'm thinking about the people I know and in almost every case I think I would handle it this situation the same way. Just assume the best about him unless or until he gives you reason to know otherwise.

I would play dumb and email him or write him a note saying something along these lines:

Dear (his name)

I hope you liked the cake. Don't worry about forgetting to pay me for it. You can give me a check for the $55 we agreed upon or use cash, whatever works better for you.

Thanks,

Your name


This way you make him look good and if he honestly forgot, he won't feel bad but if he didn't, then he will feel embarrased but you will get your money.

Sorry that happened to you.

Inma

What about simply asking him the next time you see him? I would just ask him nicely when you see him again. Not really a big deal. Stop by to see how he liked the cake and then ask.

I agree, he probably did get excited and forgot! I like the little invoice as a reminder too!

Thanks to all!

I wrote up and invoice and put it in a sealed envelope and put it in his mailbox.....trying to be professional.

we'll see!

You go honey! Good for you. Let us know what happens. Let's just hope it slipped his mind.

Speaking from experience (I just posted this problem a little while ago] Don't let this slide!
After that happened to me, I decided never again!Although I am far from being a professional, I think my time, not to mention cost deserves payment.
I hope this works out for you ..definitely let us know!!

That's terrible...I hope he pays you after he gets that invoice..keep us posted

I think, from now on....I will put the invoice in an envelope and tape it to the box....

thanks for the lesson.....I think almost everyone feels awkward when it comes to money, so I'm just handing it to them without saying a word from now on...
\\

please let us know what happened!!!

Great solution! That way if he doesn't at least pay you later you know what he is!

Maybe you should go to Staples or Office Max and buy one of those little receipt book with the carbon copies and start taping those to the boxes, instead of a computer printout. That way they know what they owe and you have a record of what you charged for different items.

I would be careful about using a receipt book with carbon copies. If it says receipt on whatever you hand to your customer, that is an acknowledgement that you have been paid. I think they have the carbon copy invoices. Those would be better to use and then give them a receipt when you actually get the money.

Good luck!

I know quite a few of you will probably disagree with me. However I think it would have been more professional to personally hand the invoice to the customer. You could have simply said to him, "Oh I got so wrapped up in your excitement I forgot to give you the invoice for the cake." Just leaving in in his mailbox seems to be a cold and unprofessional way of doing business. I know you were trying to avoid a confrontation but it could be miscontrued as being underhanded.

Also, it's a good idea to gently remind a client how much the cake cost when you deliver the cake. You may have told them how much in advance but they could forget or who knows. It's like ordering a pizza, they tell you how much it is on the phone. Then the delivery guy tells you how much it is and hands over your receipt.

Well let's just hope the guy honestly forgot to fork over the money. Give him the benefit of the doubt then he's fair game for trashing.

I may be in the minority but I think CakePrincess is right....just leaving an invoice on his desk or mailbox seems a little passive-aggressive...especially if he's a friend also. I like the direct approach better...hand him the invoice and say "hey, I know you were in a hurry the other day so I didn't get a chance to settle the payment with you...Here's the invoice for the cake."