This seems to have snowballed into quite a dilemma. Has this never happened to anyone before?
It's a curious situation, but as long as she has a contract with the right date on it, then I don't see it as a dilemma. Unfortunately, it sounds like the lady who ordered it has a more serious problem on her plate than not picking up a cake. I hope all is well for her sake. Please let us know what happens,
I've not had the same problem, however, I can see how it could happen. I had someone order a cake for an October birthday back in July. When I delivered it to her in October (I deliver to the downtown where I work), she had totally forgotten she had even ordered. I can't imagine this would happen on short notice, but who knows?
Like everyone else, I hope this person is okay.
I had this happen this summer with a wedding cake order! I should have had bells & whistles going off because they couldn't even give me a final design they liked until 4 days before the wedding. The MotB ordered everything I met with you, sent her the contract, she signed, and wanted to pick up the cake since they were driving a ways to the wedding. The area they were driving to I charge $50 for delivery because of distance from my place.
2 hours after pickup she still hadnt called or shown & I couldnt get them to answer the phone. The cake was all-butter buttercream (not what I usually work with since humidity & heat are a BIG factor here). I took it out, stacked it, and finished designed 10 minutes fbefore she was to show.
I finally emailed her & told her the cake is starting to "melt" & needed to know if there was a problem with pickup. She then called and told me to unstack & stick it in the fridge. I reminded her that the contract said she would be piccking up at __ time & my shop was closing 30 minutes after that.
She got pissed and told me she wanted her money back. I reminded her about the refund clause and she sent her husband over. She thought I was hers all day & was going to pick it when she wanted. Nevermind that I had stated my closing time & that we talked about me doing my GodDaughters bday cake for her party that day. My friend had to pick up that cake & my kids just so they could go to her party because I was still waiting for someone to get this wedding cake!
I know not all customers are like this, but I learned that I always call now the night before to guarentee pick up/delivery for the next day & time. I hate when people bad mouth my business but I have hear several people say how horrid my cakes are because they way that one looked. 
Sorry, but I can't unstack cakes & don't have room in my fridge (only have 1) to put a 3teir wedding cake in! argh
Sorry hun, I would give her till tonight & email her again. Tell her you havent heard from her and unless she contacts you immediately you will not be able to give her this cake or do any more for her. I would also attach a copy of the contract.
~BellaRosa
~sorry so long
I am watching your post with interest. I am so sorry that you are having so much hassel. It is only because you take pride in your work and you sound like a decent person that you are so concerned about the no show.
I have had a look at your photos and they look great. My family and I especially love your Shrek cake so we left a comment.
Panda
x
Thanks to all of you for your advice, input, and concern! At this point, over 48 hours since the agreed-upon pickup time, I've heard nothing from this customer.
I will send her an email this afternoon that states: I just wanted to let you know that I have attempted to contact you at your cell phone number a minimum of 10 times each day since Sunday, with no luck in getting through. I sincerely hope that everything is okay for you and your family. At this point, it's no longer feasible to give you this cake.
Does that sound okay? If it does, I'm going to take Thomas out of the box and let my 2 1/2 year old little boy have a slice. And the neighbors can have the rest.
This is such a shame, but I have little regrets. I'll just learn from it and take the advice that many of you have given, like calling the customer the night before to confirm pickup time. I've never had a single customer come on time, so maybe that will be a little incentive for them to come get their cakes!
I just sincerely hope that she and her family are okay. I'll be sure to post if I hear anything!!!
Happy Holidays to all! 
I myself have beeen keeping up with this post. I think that your email sounds fine.
I hope that everything is ok with them.
Good luck & keep us posted 
Oh don't forget to take pictures before you cut into it. A great cake should never go unappreciated. Sorry this had to happen but do keep cc family posted as to the outcome. The email sounds good and don't fret, you have done everyting within your power to get this cake to the customer!
Thanks all! The email has been sent and the cake has actually already been posted in my photos (second one). When my son wakes up from his nap, it's snack time!
Alli
Do you have the person's name/phone # that recommended you? That may be a way to make sure that your customer is "okay". Only if you want others to know the situation. ???
I had sort of an opposite problem with a customer this past summer -- she ordered a cake delivered to her on a Sunday (she's a good customer so I had no problem with it -- it was a basic birthday cake.) I tried calling her from Thursday to Saturday, with no luck. Sunday came and I went to her house to deliver it in the morning -- nobody home. Sunday night (against the advice of DH) I went back to attempt to deliver it -- again nobody home. I wrote two notes and stuck them in the door telling them that I had tried to deliver this cake per our agreement and could not reach her by phone nor could I deliver it. Monday she calls me, she's been out of town and could I deliver it the following Thursday?? (Is she kidding? 
) So I had to borrow space in my neighbor's frig for this cake and told her there would be an extra charge for this cake. Thursday rolls around and guess what -- I give her the new grand total, she says "all I have is... (the original amount.)" and gives that to me. I think I'm going to be busy from now on when she calls too... 
So did she ever call about her cake. I am curious. 
Very weird!! It's silly that I'm extremely curious as to why she didn't come get her cake! It looks great! I hope you little boy enjoyed it!
Love your Strawberry Shortcake cake too!
Thanks, thems_my_kids! My son was THRILLED when I took the cake out of the box and he saw Thomas. We shared a nice big slice and then cut it up and delivered it to the neighbors. He had a lot of fun telling everyone "I brought you some Thomas cake!" It was cute.
I never heard from this woman! Crazy, huh? Enough people suggested this, so I finally looked her up in the local obituaries - thank God, no one by her last name was listed. I just have a sneaking suspicion that she's going to show up at my door this coming Sunday. I have a feeling that she told me the wrong date, didn't notice the wrong date on the contract, never checks her email, and for whatever reason isn't fixing her cell phone problem. So I think she might show up at my house on some random day, ready to pick up her cake.
But for now, the story has no end!
Me too! I can't wait to see how this ends.
Really! I hate cliffhangers!!
Keep us posted!
Any news yet?
This is getting highly cliff hanging stuff now!
Will we ever know what happened to her, or will you suddenly wake up in bed and found it is only sunday morning and the last few days have been a dream!!!!!!
cheers Jan x
Any news yet?
This is getting highly cliff hanging stuff now!
Will we ever know what happened to her, or will you suddenly wake up in bed and found it is only sunday morning and the last few days have been a dream!!!!!!
cheers Jan x
Sounds like the "who shot JR" dream sequence from 'Dallas'!" LOL
Did you have any visitors today (one week late) to pick up the cake?
This is really a strange one!
Jeeze I'm dying here to know what the heck happened lol
Me too!! I was excited that I got an email saying there was a respone to this email.
Now its just everyone else excited to know what happened. 
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