Does this happen to anyone else..... 
I have a busy weekend with 6 cakes to go out.... 
When I take the orders I always ask whether they want to pick up the day before so they aren't rushed the day of the party etc...Most agree to pick up Friday night etc....Well I wait around...dressed in clothes other than sweats and they never show up.So I call and they say...Oh I decided to get it tomorrow instead!!! 
I mean I ran around like a frantic idiot trying to get all the cakes done for friday decorating thursday to get them done and then no picks until Saturday!!!!! If I knew they weren't being picked up until then I wouldn't decorate until friday....Is it me or does this really tick you off!!! 
Sorry for the rant!!! 
Laurel
I always deliver, that way I am ready, when I am done, happy and sure it is complete!!!!I HATE WAITING FOR PEOPLE!!!!!!! House has to be tidy I have to be smart/ need flowrs in the house. Nope deliver/ present the cake, with my cake stand (beautiful) and thats it!!! Everyone is happy.....plus my cakes I am only happy when I know they have arrived in one piece.....TOOO much work to redo!!! Oh plus I take a repairs kit!!!
You are rigth ARGH!
I try to get around this by being very specific about when they will pick up and to call me if they are going to be early or late. I have 2 little boys and depending on when they want to pick up I have to sometimes get a sitter or bring them to daycare so I tell them when I plan on baking and decorating and I let them know the exact time at the minimum I will be done. My DH says "you give them too much info" It's people I know and I prefer they are prepared and it's for me too.!
I know everyone's life has incidents and twice I had to call 2 hours before the pick up and told them I would deliver 1 hour late and I literally delivered it to their house 1 hour late and it was no problem.
But for them to not even call that is just rude. Hope it goes better next time.
BTW you make great cakes and thanks for the templates I just noticed them.
I hate that too-- I prefer for people to pick up at a time that's convenient for both of us...and usually that works out great but every now and then there are those who forget I'm not a bakery--and I'm not here from 9-5.
I feel like it would be harder to deliver all of those orders all over town though. There's no easy answer I think..... 
I had a woman do this to me twice, I waited around for the pickup that evening, she never called, I called her at 9pm. "Oh i got busy and forgot, I wll pick it up tomorrow morning"
I politely told her I had previous plans (playing with kids, trip to the store!) and wouldn't be home to 1pm (the time the party started) and she could come then. She came at one, and was never late again. Not much later I went to delivery, I am always running around town anyhow.
I would tell them you will not be home Saturday
a friend of mine told me she wanted her daughters cake on a certain day and didnt pick it up until a day later. i told her had i known you were going to pick it up i would have dont a different bow...but i was working in a time frame. she threw the cake in the trash. ....i only decorated it ....she baked it.
I just had a 'pickup' issue too...the boyfriend of the recipient comes for the cake in a PICKUP!! The cake is a tall Chanel purse (posted) and I just hope it makes it to the party! When I told him to take it easy around corners, stopping, and starting - he just laughed.
I took pics and even carried it out to the truck, so at least if anything happens I will still be sad but off the hook!
Since I do my cakes at my church. I give them the time frame when I will be available and they must pick the cake up at that time. The people at my church that have a key, pick it up when they choose. I call them and tell them it's wrapped and ready to go. Then, it's totally up to them! I have it boxed and ready for travel (rubber shelf paper and all).
I delivered a cake to a restaurant last week and almost threw a "hissy fit" because they couldn't understand that the heat and humidity from the cooking was going to MELT the cake! FINALLY, a young man I know (that actually BAKES) came to my rescue and put it in a cool, dark and safe place! The party was a surprise and the lady couldn't really pick it up without hubby knowing, so I offered to deliver it earlier in the day. NEVER AGAIN!!
Beth in KY
My most memorable (and worrying) collection was a lady who borrowed her husband's big thumping ute to collect the cake and had no room inside the car to put it! Then she says "Oh we'll just put it in the back" and lifts up the vinyl cover of the ute tray and jumps in and starts pushing back hubby's TOOLS! As she pushes an electric drill over a bit, it turns on and I just think to myself "Bye Bye cake!" thinking there is NO way it will make it home intact!
But, in my usual feedback she raved about how great it was, so I assume she must have made it home safely! I still to date don't know how or even if she really did damage it and is too embarassed to say! 
And this is after I give them an order confirmation stating they must leave a flat, uncluttered space free for the cake preferably the passenger side foot area.. They obviously don't bother reading it or heeding it, but as hubby says once you hand it over to them, it really isn't my responsability any more!
Sometimes I think WE care more about our cakes than our clients do!!
Beth in KY
I KNOW! I did a retirment cake last week for my uncle & as soon as I delivered the cake my cousin ran over & started stabbing a million candles in the cake & then lit them. My uncle wasn't even there yet! So by the time the guest of honor saw the cake it had 50 melted candles on it. I was SO MAD. Good thing I took pictures before we left the house.
The more money you charge (and deposits you take) the more careful the customers will be to make sure they pick up relatively on time, and be more careful with their cake.
Its one thing to let a $20 cake slide around the trunk, but if they are driving around with an $80 cake, they will be more careful! Plus, if they already have a deposit in the deal, they will usually want to try to pick up the cake as scheduled rather than risk losing the cake and the money.
I had this happen this weekend as well. I told a customer that she would have to pick her cakes up on Friday evening as I had way too much to do on sat with a wedding cake and 2 other tiered cakes to decorate and deliver. Well, I tried calling her around 6pm fri and the # was no longer in service. So she calls me around 7:30 and says "are we still doing the cakes?" WHAT!!! You ordered them! I told her that they were ready and waiting on her. She beats around the bush that something with the kids .... might not be able to come tonight. Ok, so I'm nice and tell her to come early in the morning because I have to leave by 11:30 for deliveries. She calls around 8:30am and wants to know when I have to leave and when I'll be back. OMG!! Told her I should be back by 2pm or so and will call her when I'm headed home. Call her at 2, will be home in 30 mins, she said she'd be there at 3. Hmmm 3pm, 3:30, 4, no customer. Shows up about 4:30, and by now I'm wondering if she's really throwing this baby shower today. Said "Oh, well I had to get dressed and get him dressed (her son)..." Well Duh, didn't you know you'd have to wear clothes over here when you said 3pm????? The nerve of people.
Thanks for letting me rant too..
I can't stand this either. Since I have both pick-ups and deliveries scheduled throughout the week, I make sure to tell those picking up that I will be leaving by such and such a time to make a delivery. If you're not here by such and such a time, I won't be available until ____ for you to pick up your cake. (Insert their party time,etc.) It's amazing at the promptness that results from that. Two weeks ago, I had a lady who INSISTED on picking up her cake on Saturday morning at 8am. She HAD to have it THEN. Not a second later. I made sure to tell her that I had 4 deliveries to make between 9:45-1:00 and wouldn't be back home until 2:00. She calls at 8:15...I overslept. She calls back at 8:40...where do you live again? (NOT her first pick-up!). She calls back at 8:50...Running late...be there "shortly"... Each time, I tell her, remember, I HAVE to leave by 9am. She assures me that she will be here... Well, I left at 9am. I had other deliveries that I made well-known to her. My neighbor tells me that she came around 11am...walking funny...Upon closer look, she had cotton or something crammed in between her toes...she'd had a freaking pedicure done!!! Some people!!!
Anyway...that's MY story. 
I just have to add a rant to my previous post about my customer from last Saturday. I got a call last night from her wanting to know if I'd deposited her check yet because she would rather bring me cash, but I can't call her back because her phone is cut off. I had not put it in the bank yet, so cash was fine with me. She called again this morning and arranged to come by tonight after work when she got off at 6pm. It is now 8:10pm and no customer. I called and got voice mail. Don't you just want to get your hands around some peoples necks???
Now my DH just walked in the door from work and started fussing at me like this is my fault. Gee, thanks for ruining a perfectly good evening.
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