I, personally, hope she takes the classes... Maybe it'll give her a better appreciation for all of the hard work and talent that goes into it.

Hi Lemon and Cakegal...wow you really had me laughing now!!
That is one thing I always GET THE DEPOSIT up front and the BALANCE is DUE IN THE 2 WEEK PERIOD of the final meeting. I tell them up front "No, Final Balance Paid, NO cake"...Then they try the 'ol "can't I make payments to you?". My answer is simply, "no"..I do mention to them, "Do you make payments to the grocery store or the limo or the florist"...

Cakegal,,that is a good idea about doubling my prices and during negotiating, do the drop the price in half thing...But it still gets me in a cringe knowing I did lose about $250.00 in the whole deal. But live and learn....And YES it did feel real good putting my neighbor in check in front of her neighbor about my cutting prices and "working" with the price and her. Hey,,I'm NOT that desperate for orders.....And IF she does take cake classes, you can bet I will order a cake from her and turn the tables!!! hehehe.......

OMG!!! I just found this and can't believe I didn't see it before! Yes, you had every right to be furious and I agree with your husband to explain to her that it wouldn't be fair to your other customers.

Sorry to say it but I wouldn't do the wedding cake. That is way too much money to lose. Sometimes I feel guilty about charging what I do for my sheet cakes and all when I know they could just go to Costco and get a larger filled sheet cake for $14-$17! Then I think about all the time I put into the cake along with the detail. You don't find that at Costco!!! Plus my frosting doesn't taste like you're eating plastic!

Good for you and may you get friendlier people who appreciate your time, effort, and talent!


Amy

You know i agree ablout the Costco "plastic frosting"
Do people really know that their cakes are so "cheap" because they're already premade somewhere,who knows how long they were sittiing around and that Icing they love so much comes in big plastic buckets?
They never stop to think that there is a difference with cakes made by us and cakes made at discount and wholesale clubs like sams and costco and walmart?
And some of those decorators there really don't do the intricate stuff we do ourselves?
case in point( not downing anyone here who works in the bakeries at those places)
but I had to order a cake from sams because my hand was in a cast and I told the group who wanted the cake i couldn't do it they'd have to get it from sam's.. so they assigned me the task of ordering the cake
So i go in with my fantasticly skilled self and I order this cake and i asked the decorator if she could give me some flowers and let them not be roses... you know like daisies,pansies ..etc
Lo and Behold......
the decorater says to me.. Sweetheart you gotta order what you see in this book,and she throws me a book with jus" spring flowers " next to where it said flowers..
I'm saying to the lady.. Um with all respect to the craft can you do anything else beside roses? i want something else.. she shoots back
" LOOK AT THE PAGE DEAR THAT'S ALL WE CAN DO!"

So we do have the plus of having a lot more skill in various types of flowers,patterns,designs and ideas to share with our customers.
When they get a hissy.. you really don't need their business
even if it's a neighbor,crazy cousin, friend or even dead grand-ma... Honey if it were donald trump would they try to negotiate with him?
fair is fair... so keep that in mind..
and always remember..MY BUSINESS DOES NOT RUN ON YOUR GOOD CREDIT.


Lemon

Heehee, Lemon, you have such a way with words, love the way you put things!
Yes they are only allowed to follow those books. The people that decorate the cakes at many of these places are only shown how to do certain decorations or only allowed to do certain ones even if they know how to do others. That is because there is a time limit per cake and they are not allowed to go outside the perimeters set. I feel for them, many could decorate well if they were allowed.
And for the customers that cannot tell the difference, well, they likely wouldn't appreciate your efforts anyway, so you are likely better off without them.
Most of these stores purchase frozen cakes, some of them are even flat-iced when they receive them.
Hugs SQuirrelly Cakes

ok i got to stick up for the bakeries at sams club lol.... i workin as a cake decorator for 3 yrs at one.. it was my first cake decorating job.. and its not that we cant make fancier stuff.. its that we are not allowed to... we got in trouble if we did anything other then the basics... and the decorators that i knew from there were way more talented then some i see on here!!

oo i also forgot to mention.. sams cakes are from dawn baking company.. or they were anyway... they used to bake everything fresh there but of course like any big company they started getting them in frozen and sometimes during graduation season they came in pre-iced.. i must admit dawn cakes are my favorite!!! i still love sam's cakes

I work in a bakery too, and I am HAPPY to report that they let me do whatever I want on the cake! I recently did one with roses, daises, rosebuds and sweet peas framing two opposite corners with the sides and the outer edge of the top airbrushed blue. I'm grateful after reading about Sam's Club that I work where I do.

Okay, I don't think that anyone was trying to bash sam's club cake decorators. And saying they decorate better than some of the people on here was just mean in my opinion. I certainly hope they{Sams} are better than some people, because they are selling cakes! Some people on here are just learning and doing this as a hobby. They don't have 3 years experience of doing cakes daily yet to build the skills. They are just showing cakes trying to get a little support. I suppose we should only post the perfect pictures??? I think just think that comment was out of line IMHO. Sorry

lol i never said anyone was... i was just stickin up for them

no you are exactly right

I guess it goes to show that you never know how someone is going to read something.

Can I blame it on the sticky heat here that put me in a bad mood... I should have known that no one on here would be mean....

Well, I must admit I read it the same way that you did. I figured it was meant to support cake decorators at these places, that part I got and fully agree with. But I did cringe at the thought that it might be interpreted as a bit of a put down to some cake decorators on this site, because it mentioned the site.
I don't think it was meant that way at all, but because it wasn't a general comment, I did think it might be taken that way.
I am glad to see it cleared up so nicely though! Whew, I was worried there might be yet another fight brewing on a cake site! I don't know about other folks, but I am sick to death of these difference of opinions that branch out into an all-out fight!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Kate39...

My FD does that to me too BUT I make them pay! I give them a $5 discount that's all. There are 2 women on the Board that ask me to do cakes. One wants me to do it as a favor & the other wants to pay me! You know which one I deal with The 20th Anniversary of the FD is in Aug. I'm doing the cakes. I'm excited about them too! BUT they will be paying me! We just got a new Rescue so I'm going to do a 3D cake of it! I can't wait to do it!! That one is a surprise to the Dept. & I will donate it.

Curious... is your # 39? Mine # is 57
I just volunter as FF/EMS. My DH & kids (18 & 15) volunter also. We love it!!

To everyone else...

DON'T LET PEOPLE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU!!!! Not good!! Good luck!!!

Heehee, hey Turtle lady!
Ok, I think FD stand for fire department, FF for firefighter.
EMS? Emergency system or staff or???
Educate us on this firefighter lingo please?
Hugs Squirrelly

Hey Squirrelly,

How have you been up to? You are so funny! You got all but one
EMS= Emergency Medical Service
If I'm wrong on that my chief will ring my neck
A Rescue is a really big, big, big, truck that carries all our equipment It's awsome! I haven't had the pleasure to drive it yet.... can't wait!!

Heehee, glad you cleared that up kiddo!
Wow, that would be quite the responsibility, driving that big sucker!
I thing that anything to do with firefighting or emergency work is something we all have an amazing amount of respect for. Good for you and your family!
I am doing well, how are you?
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Squirrelly,

I'm just fine & dandy! I'm a little angry right now though. Yesterday I made a fish/ocean cake for my nephew's 4th bday. Well today I developed the pics. Get home to scan them & share them w/ CC & my scanner isn't doing anything! It will let me print but won't scan Now I have to wait to show my pics.

The cake turned out GREAT!! I had a lot of fun making it!! My nephew didn't care one bit about it. He was too busy playing w/ his friends. Just like a kid huh? Everyone else enjoyed it. I got a lot of good pics of it. I will share them as soon as I have the patience to figure out what's wrong w/ my scanner. Me & my temper

I have a Strawberry Shortcake Cake for next weekend & I owe my computer friend a cake this week. I'll be busy!

How's the weather in Canada this time of the year? It's HOT, HOT here already!

You know, I had some problems with my scanner too, after I ran an anti-virus programme. It is working ok this week though. Sometimes I think all of the updates and such cause these issues, they fix one thing and cause an issue with another one. Computers, grrh!
Sounds like you are a busy turtle! Can't wait to see your work!
Yes, kids are funny! True they are more interested in playing with their friends than anything else!
Well with the humidex reading factored in, it will be about 97F tomorrow. It has been hovering close to 100F with the humidity added in, for the last few days. The air quality is bad, it is super humid. Now for folks that still had night-time temperatures hovering around freezing only about a week and a half ago, this is a big change. We can handle the cold, but some of us don't weather the heat well. I am one of those, the central air goes on as soon as the temperature goes above 70F. So that is the weather in the province of Ontario, where I live.
Heehee, I guess compared to what a lot of folks in the Southern U.S. are used to, anything below 110F is cool, haha!
Anyway, the bug population seems to be enjoying it, they are bigger than ever. Those mosquitoes and black flies are chomping away at us!
I have a bumper crop of backyard critters, bunnies and squirrels and birds and such. Can't remember a year where we have had this many squirrels, about triple the usual numbers and lots of new ones.
Is it super hot where you are?
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Wow I didn't think Canada would get that hot especially right now! I learn something new everyday! That is hot!!

The temps here have been in the low 90's during the day & 60's at night. It hasn't really been to bad so far. We've been getting a lot of rain for about a week now. We needed it sooo bad! Now we can't get rid of it! That's ok because come Aug/Sept we will be in our normal drought time.

The mosquitoes usually carry us away this time of year but they haven't been so bad yet. Or maybe I'm just getting used to them...

I posted the pic of my DH & son w/ the alligator. Remember I told you a long, long time ago I'd send it to you & forgot! It's in General under Story post. I thought everyone would get a kick out of the story. I had to share it!

Well it's 1:30 here so I better get to bed! TTYL!!

Kate39,

We sure have a lot in common!!!!! It's great to find a fellow cake decorator that is also in the FD!!!!! I can't legally sell cakes from my house (I ask for donations) because I have animals. I have been thinking of using the FD to bake my cakes.

My DH has been in the FD since 1993. He eats, drinks & sleeps FD!!!!!! I joined in 2000 because I never saw my DH. I thought that would give us time together. Well it really doesn't but now I love it too!! My kids have been in the FD since DH started. They just went w/ him on calls & went to the meetings. Now they are both Fire Fighters. My daughter loves it more then my son (he's the animal lover). I do not go in houses on fire because I have back problems. It would take one time to fall through the floor & I would be out of commission for wks!

I'm more involved in the EMS side of things. I was going to take the EMS Course but I had too many cakes due on or close to the test days. I really wouldn't be able to study much w/ the cakes I had to do. Hopefully this winter I can take the course. Being a volunteer FF is a great opportunity to take classes & get your certificates for all Fire stuff. My daughter wants to become an EMT/Ambulance. She will be awsome at it too! She already does a lot as it is. Knows a lot too.

I drive all the trucks except the Rescue. It's brand new so the Chief is babying it right now so only the paid staff get to drive it My DH is paid, he loves driving it! The tankers are huge & scare me a little but I still drive them. Tues night I'm signing up to be a sub ambulance driver. My goodness they make good money!! One of the EMT's asked me if I would be interested. I have been for a long time but haven't gotten the nerve up to sign up for it.

The classes I hate are HAZMAT Training! That is too much stuff to remember!! We are in the Rural area so we don't have a lot of trucks caring harmful things. I guess it's good to know incase we have to assist another district.

Glad there is another FF on CC now!! COOL!!! Keep safe!!

TC right now we are in the middle of basic vehicle rescue. On Sunday we are going to learn how to cut the vehicles apart and I am very scared. DH says not to worry. Saturday when the capt and 2nd assistant are there they are going to show me what I need to know. There is a lot and I told DH that I will never be doing this! He says you never know. So I will keep it safe this weekend and you do the same. Gotta go tones are going off.

Hey Kate,

Don't worry about vehicle rescue. We call it extracations!!! It is really fun!!! I have done them & so has my 15 yr old daughter! Of course DH & son do it all the time. It's a little tough because woman don't have the upper body strength but we CAN do it! So don't worry!

We had our practice water shuttle last week. The 14th is the real thing. The water shuttles are a good practice for the real thing & there is someone from the state that comes in a times us. A good time brings house insurance down. We have always done great during these things.

Have you ever been through the maze? I haven't but the kids have. That both came through it w/ no problems. I'm so proud of them!

My son has a job now so I'm without transportation. SO I have been turning my radio off during the time that he's at work. It was driving me crazy hearing the pages & not being able to go to them! I can't wait till my son gets his car fixed!

Good luck on vehicle rescue! It will be loads of fun!!!

SORRY EVERYONE! KATE39 & I GOT OFF THE SUBJECT!! LOL!!!!