I had a wedding this weekend - a large order for 350 people. I don't know what it is, but my last two brides have been slow in paying. I need to get stronger about asking for payment.
My last bride finally dropped by her check about 9 days before the wedding. I called a few times about payment and it finally came. The day before the wedding I was out buying a new plateau for the cake when I ran my atm card through the machine - no money! I checked the bank and her check had been returned twice. When I called the bank they said that normally once it has been returned twice that they send the check back to me. If they decided to give it another try they would place a hold on it for two weeks.
So here was my delima- if I wait until that check cleared (if they decide to send it back thru) the wedding is over and I may never get paid. So I called the bride. She was at her rehearsal dinner. I hated bothering her but I told her I had to have cash before the wedding. She was very sorry and ended up having the cash for me when I delivered the cake. This afternoon I went to the bank to tell them she gave cash and not to send it thru again. Guess what? Here I go again. Now I have to call her on her honeymoon and tell her she should put a stop payment on the check. I am so mad at myself because if I had just been strong enough and demanded payment three weeks ago when her contract said it was due I would not be where I am today. I have got to get stronger!
Cascades, it's not your fault the brides gave you a NSF check, so that you had to track her down and ask for cash.
Why not just let the check go through and then send her a refund, less your bank's NSF service fees.
And I wouldn't rush to drop the check in the mail.... let her know what it feels like to wait and wonder.
Now that you know how things spiral out of control when you don't have the payments on time; it might be time to review your payments policy.
Might want to get 50% down at time of booking and other 50% four weeks before event. If payment is late, the deposit if forfeited and there will be no cake. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!
Put this into a contract and have the bride sign it. Then it's her worry and not yours!
HTH
If you want to avoid this kind of problem in the future, do the following things:
1) Require a client wanting a wedding cake to pre-order at least 4 months in advance. You should have a meeting with the bride to show her a catalog of cake selections, flavors, etc.
2) Have a formal contract in writing.
3) Require a 50% downpayment at the time of the contract signing. Also include a clause that covers replacement of or payment of equal replacement of any or all equipment that you supply that does not get returned to you. (I give them 14 days from the event date, to return.)
4) Make it clear that any returned checks will be mean a charge to them of whatever you feel is fair to cover the expenses to you for the trouble(bank fees, return check fees, etc.).
5) Don't accept any personal checks as payment unless you can verify that there are funds available before hand. (That will mean having a daytime meeting, and calling the bank to verify). I usually require a cashiers check or money order.
6) Require final payment on order to be due no later than 1 week before the event.
Getting payment by cashiers check or money order will mean a second meeting with your client, but most will require that anyway. First meetings are mainly for choosing out a style of cake, a flavor or two, and other specifics about the event.
You will want to have the first meeting also include your prices and figure out how much cake they will need and what type of decorations they want. I have a catalog and pricing guide, pre-printed for that purpose. I look at it together with the customer so that we both stay on the "same page" throughout the consultation. I also have a checklist that they can fill out for that purpose, which I copy and send back to them with their copy of the signed contract later on.
Have them come back a second time and taste the flavors they are interested in. I usually only allow 3. Anything else would be an extra charge. I don't do filling testings, that is already on the cake at the cake testing.
I tell my clients at the first meeting that I will figure out the price of their cake based on the specifications they gave me, and I will tell them the total amount price, and the deposit amount at that time. This allows them to come with the payment in hand at the tasting, and contract signing meeting.
If you follow those general guidelines, you should never have this kind of problem again.
Poor thing, nothing worse than that kind of run around. Sorry that happened to you.
Might want to get 50% down at time of booking and other 50% four weeks before event. If payment is late, the deposit if forfeited and there will be no cake. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!
HTH
Excellent, excellent advice! This is exactly what I request now!
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