Well, baking up a storm at my little shop..ran out of ingredients around 3 pm on Wednesday.

I couldn't close shop and go shopping so I had to close a tad earlier than 6 pm and went to Wally world in the mayhem before Thanksgiving! Got what I needed and then some.

Came in Bright and Early on Thursday and finished my baking, and since the first cake was a early morn pick up I decided to stay and decorate...

So, I didn't get home till 12:30 in the MORNING!!!

Sob, Sob..no dinner, straight to bed. My room mate had made some Chicken and fixings for my son and I, which was nice of him!! I had said that I would be home no later than 8:30...which is past his bed time, he gets up at 3:30 am to go to work with HOMELAND SECURITY.

It was a comedy of sorts, they closed and locked up the Spa at around 5...so they gate up the hallways where you need to walk to go to the bathrooms!

So here I am, usually waiting till I"m about to burst a kidney, I dont' stop for ANYTHING when I'm on a roll! and I had to run back, get my key, stick my hands through the gate, try to open the padlock all the while praying that I don't drop the key and that if I DO drop it, I can still reach it...lol and scoot down the hall doing the peepee dance! ( We all share a space so the bathrooms are to the front..lol)

So, I get back and do the reverse to lock myself back in my little cave!! Sanitize my hands , find my apron and hat where I toss them in my hurry and continue...

Well, I had to hear it from the room mate...I made dinner what happened?? I was like...well, I had to work so I could pay my share of the bills!! lol

In the mean time, my first customer is one of the spa ladies that I HATE making cakes for. I charge the spa people VERY little and take artistic lic. when I do their cakes...I never torte or fill my cakes because they are usually fondant or have like 3 pounds of butter in the icing!!! EXPENSIVE..

Well the first thing on the first cake, she was dissapointed because there was no filling!!!

The second cake, she asked for a caramel filling, so I mixed some caramel sauce with the buttercream and used that for a filling...She complained that they really couldn't taste it..( now mind you, she's from Argentina and I guess she's talking about some OTHER type of caramel ..lol)

The third cake I made for her birthday, 2 layers, and fresh strawberry filling 10" cake..with gumpaste roses..only charged like 25 or 35 dollars ..cant remember!.....I never hear a word from her about that cake ( then I guess THAT one she liked..lol)

This morning's cake was a small one 7x11 with 4 Chocolate women on the corners of the cake. I didn't go all the way out since the chocolate alone was at least 10 bucks worth. I just piped the happy birthday and stood the women around the cake,

Complaints as follows:

Oh, I won't be able to close the box!

( No worrys, we will tape it so it doesn't hit the chocolate women on the head and then we will place clear wrap around the front to keep the dirt off the cake.

Oh, I thought you were going to paint the ladies!? They look like columns of chocolate..

(No, the mold you picked ..I didn't have and that one just had a red dress on , these are full torso women and since you didnt' want to call attention to the fact that they were naked, I didn't want to start to paint in the details to call attention to "stuff"..lol)

I'm sure that she is going to complain that I didn't use a filling in the cake!

I REALLY wish this person would NOT order from me again. It's one thing when you screw up and your customer is not happy and you make it your business to resolve the issue, but I don't think that ANYTHING I do will make this customer happy.

So, I've decided that If I'm going to give up my holiday's and NOT be with my family...I'm going to GIVE HER what she want's and charge her MY PREMIUM price like I do with everyone else.

Some days it just doesn't pay to chew through your straps!

There is just no way that I would continue with someone like that and I definitly would not give up time with my family at Thanksgiving to please someone who cannot be pleased. You have gone over and beyond for her it sounds like especially for the pricing she wants.

I don't blame you. I would charge her full premium price and then some for working on a holiday to please her. If you call a plumber our on a weekend, after hours or holiday they charge extra don't they? Why can't you?

RisqueBusiness feels good do vent dosen't it. i agree with pattiecakesnc you should start charging this woman for the extras i know its hard i have the same problem when charging people, but unlike you i have never had a custome like yours, but my one time boss did i mean this lady was rude she always ordered the same thing,wanted all these extras for no charge and on top of it when she would come in to pick up the cake she go straigt to the front of the counter cutting in front of the others and demand to be served first, when we would ingnore her to get the first customers she would yell things like HELLO I JUST WANT MY CAKE. me and my coworker would just fume as my boss did things to please this obnoxious woman. but just like you RisqueBusiness he would say when you own your own business sometimes you have to eat crow. and i think if i owned mt own shop i would be exactly the same way as you

Yes, it's hard when you have your own business, and I try to give the staff at the spa a break on the prices, I have no pity when I charge my prices because I know just what I need to make every day to survive.

But, with this woman, God only knows how she is at home or if it's a cultural thing with her..I mean I'm Hispanic also, but I don't walk around with a woebegone way about me.

It just seems that she has to make a comment about EVERY cake...I KNOW that I'm not doing my best work for her..but for the price she's getting...she's getting what she's paying for.

Next time she orders, IF there is a next time...I'm going to let her know EXACTLY what time it is..and going to let her

SMELL WHAT RISQUE IS COOKING..lol.

( I don't expect to get rich off the backs of hardworking people and there are ENOUGH people in my area that already think I'm cheap enough..remember..I'm on the Beach and near exclusive stores like Neiman Marcus and such..but sometimes..it just doesn't pay to be nice!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!) lol

i'm going thru menopause........

so i think that woman woulda been toast like the second time around.

you know whats weird?.....it seems like when you make a special effort....that's when they really like griping....

i've gotten so cranky lately they seem grateful to get a cake these days...i have been known to kick a few of the extremely hard to please to the curb...

if only everyone could be as nice, happy, and thrilled with thier cakes as my gay clientele...i'd be a happy camper (hope that wasn't politically incorrect)...i didn't mean for it to be....plus DUDE!!! these guys really tip!

you are a braver soul than me....going to get supplies in that angry crowd ha ha.

i slept all day on thanksgiving...and woke up and had a turkey tv dinner!...i loved it!...my kids were both out of state with thier spouses relatives.

Risque, some people you just can't please no matter what break you give them or how helpful and out of the way you go for them. My uncle learned the hard way on this one. On christmas there was a big ice storm 2 years ago and he went to clients who he did roofing for to break the ice off of the siding so it wouldn't melt and go under the shingles (if they had like a 1 1/2 story or a lot of valleys) He was frozen to the bone and not one person said "Thank you" to him even though he did this free of charge and out of the kindness of his heart. I felt so bad for him, so now he only does it for people who appreciate him. Sorry your thanksgiving was a bust! Hope the next one is better!

If she comes in to complain some more have a special SMASH CAKE ready for her

Man oh-man, we need more people like you on this earth! I love people who get dirty for a living because I find (most of the time, but not always) they are the ones with the biggest hearts.

For the next 3 orders I would be "booked" and if she askes again I would be suprised. You are always busy so it sounds like your business is taking off which is great! If she is totally desperate take her order and make sure to charge her well unless you get a discount on a facial. I mean she is working on your face and you don't want any so-called accidents. just kidding! You do great work and she knows this otherwise she wouldn't come to you even though you give them great pricing. I doubt she is spreading the word about your business but others are and that's what matters