I bake cakes. I am not fabulous at it, but I enjoy it. It is not my job, it is my hobby. Occasionally I back at cost for friends at work.

So, a friend of a friend at my office asked me to do her DD's 1st birthday cake...she wants a tasting!!! Really? I bring cake to work almost weekly, surely you must have eating one at some point.

A tasting? I have two jobs and 4 children and I do not have time for this. Aaaaaaaaarrg.

Your answer- 'Sure Betty, but I will have to charge you for my time & ingredients!'. I don't even do wedding tastings for free (they do get reimbursed if they order from me though), and I would only do a tasting for a birthdfay cake if it was going to be very large and very expensive ala wedding size (and again, would initially charge for it)!!! This one has warning written all over it - PITA alert for sure!

I'd tell her you don't do tastings but if she remembers a flavor from one of the cakes you brought to work that she really liked you'd be happy to make the cake in that flavor.

My response..."Ohhh, I'm sorry, I am very busy that week and would not be able to devote the appropriate amount of time to make your daughter's cake as beautiful as it should be." If it starts out to be a hassle, it will most certainly end in a hassle.

You know when a cake is worth it and when it's not. With two jobs and 4 kids, you without a doubt have the right to be choosy...especially if this person is probably assuming they are getting it for cost!

I fired one of my potential customers just yesterday.
At the beginning I agreed to do the cake because I had nothing else that day.

She wanted to order a 20 servings cake ($60.00), have it delivered almost 1 hr. away from where I am located (I was charging for delivery of course) and then she asked me when she should come for a tasting and if I can send her some REFERENCES.WTF???!!!

Was she under the impression that this $60.00 order was my biggest and most important sale of the year???, I honestly appreciate everybodys business, but REFERENCESfor a $60.00 cake, are you serious???

I told her that I offered tasting for over 100 servings only and then she said she wouldnt buy a cake (a $60.00 cake!!!) if she didnt taste it before and Im sure you understand.nooo, I dont understand!
I offered her to make an undecorated 6 cake for $35.00 (pre-paid of course) and told her to let me know when she was picking it up as my schedule was completely booked for the next two months.

Some people are absolutely clueless

Been there - done that too justfrosting ~ Doesnt it amaze you that some ppl have *um-huhs* that BIG!? WOW!

Last year I did a wedding cake - for a "supposibly" large wedding (15 ppl showed up - me and my family being 4 of them!) I did it as a favor for a friend! Only charged her for ingr. and accents she wanted - it was 3 LARGE tiers ... Anways, she told a mutual friend of ours .. I wonder if its ok to ask Gaye for a tasting?? Our friend said: Um .. NO! Shes not even charging you to make the durn thing!!! So the girl went to a bakery that did FREE tastings (WHAT???) and pretended that she was maybe gonna order!! Just so she could "say" she had a tasting!! to her OTHER friends! I couldnt believe the CakeBalls she had!!! *my my*

Some people! *argh*

And this is why I love CC. Only ya'll could truly understand.

This is a cake that is supposed to serve 20 people, and will cost 40.00. I baked a small 6 inch this morning. No frosting, just cake. I hope she cancels.

I was the same way when I didn't do it professionally. Now, I offer tastings, planned appoineted times for more than one potential customer at a time, and they are to be for cakes serving 100+.

Of course big boxes and bakeries can offer you a bite at any given time. They have like 200 frozen sheet cakes in the walk in.....gah!

WHY does "she" need a tasting anyways??? Isnt this cake for her DAUGHTER??? And she's ONE!? WThe ...? Baby wont care WHAT it taste like as long as its SWEET!!!

[quote="CakeGrlPA"] she said she wouldnt buy a cake (a $60.00 cake!!!) if she didnt taste it before and Im sure you understand...quote]

WHAT???? I guarantee you that lady has purchased a cake at one time or another from either a bakery or grocery store without tasting it.

And this is for a child's FIRST BIRTHDAY???? I swear some of these people go WAY overboard on these kids' cakes.

Thank you very much. At this point, go to Walmart and buy a cake. I could care less.

i have a storefront and don't do tastings....when did all this tasting business start anyway?

i think they see it on tv and think it's cool...if i don't do tastings for wedding cakes i sure don't do them for party cakes, although i've had some peeps ask.

if they come by to order a wedding cake and haven't had one of my cakes yet i'll find them something to try.

i guess on the other hand i can see going to all the trouble of tastings if the cake is gonna cost over 1000.00 or something.

i like keeping things simple...i don't want the "tuff customer" who really makes ya work for it.

THANKS CAKE CENTRAL! You all give me the strength I need.

So the co-worker comes into my office and says, "Um, the flavor is not really what we were looking for. So what if I bake the cake and bring it to you on Friday and you can decorate it for Saturday."

I responded--holding back the laughter--"I completely understand. My cakes are not going to appeal to everyone. Thanks for thinking of me, but I am not going to be able to decorate for you."

She said "But we really like the decorations!" (panic raising in her voice)

I replied, "It looks fairly simple. I am sure you are going to do a fantastic job. Good Luck!"

And then I turned around and left.!!!!

ONE FOR OUR TEAM.

OMG Good for you! Talk about cake balls! Watch now after the fact she will say, "oh it was terrible and I should have ordered it from you anyway." That has happened to me a couple of times and it is so irritating!

Actually, what I am waiting for is the snarky, office gossip meltdown. I am sure she will run and tell everyone how unfair I am.

I had already bought ingredients. She is lucky I didn't charge her a fee.

good for you.....I also was in a simelar situation with a co worker she has taken wilton classes and i have never taken a class but she asked me to make her little girls birthday cake because she does not have the time but when ever i make a cake she always has something mean to say about it so when she called and asked i just could not bring myself to do it because i knew she would find something wrong with it so i had to tell her no thanks.

Good for you!!! I cant believe she actually did that! People NEVER cease to amaze me!! I sure wish I could have been a fly on that wall! I'd loved to seen her face!! Do you think maybe she was just trying to wean down the $$ she was quoted? Some ppl will do anything! to get a buck off! I mean - isnt $40 alot?! NOT! *this is where Im laughing hysterically!!
I think your right though - you'll probably get alot of drama But the people that care the most - will know better! Good luck with that!!!

And Thanx for up-dating us!

Oh I am sure money was part of it. It was just a funny situation.

Thanks KKC I try i am getting better....When her and her little girl came to the party i don't think she could find any thing bad to say about the strawberry short cake cake the decorating part at least but after the party she came up to me and told me that the cake was a little dry to maybe try using dh cake mix next time that they are the most moist.....i just had to roll my eyes and laugh to myself because little does she know thats what i used....some people

"CakeBalls" now that made me bust out laughing!!

I would have been tempted to tell the co-worker the price was the same even if you just decorated it plus she would have to sign a waiver in case someone got food poisoning from her cake!

She deleted me as her friend on facebook! This girl was a pain in the ass waiting to happen...

omg, people are priceless!!

OMG - she deleted you as her friend on Facebook? What grade is she in?

And what about all these other stories of people saying "Oh, I could have done better." "Oh, your cake is too dry." What happened to good manners?

I sometimes bring cakes to work and the last time I asked for honest feedback on a new recipe, good or bad. There's the difference - I asked for their opinion. In my view, if I bring a cake to the office and you don't like the taste, stop eating it.

Uhhhhmmmm - gotta calm down......... Go to your happy place........

This is so funny! People are so high maintenance.

I hate tastings so much that I could almost change my user name to Ihatetastings. Hmmm. Maybe I will.

I often get the thing for regular birthday cakes about "I would like to have a tasting." This week I got one that was like "I would like to set up an appointment to come and see and taste your cakes and see your shop to make sure you can make my daughter's 1st birthday as wonderful as she deserves." I RAN AWAY SCREAMING from that one!!!

I normally answer tastings inquiries for occasion cakes with "I only do cake tastings for wedding cakes, or cakes that will serve over 100." But if they seem particularly fussy like the chick I just told you about, I say 100% of the time "Oh, I'm so sorry. Someone just snatched up my last spot for that date this morning. Good luck!"