No Words On The Cake Afterall..sigh....
Business By countrycakes Updated 5 Oct 2007 , 11:30am by mgdqueen
I just got that call that we all dread...the famous wedding cake that I was going to do, with the words to the Tim McGraw song written on the cake.....she just called me to cancel. It was October 20, and I had met with her, done the tasting, got everything done, deposit was to be paid TODAY. 
I was okay with waiting the extra week to get her deposit, I understand how it is.........but.....sigh................
Seems that the GROOM'S MOM is going to do the cake.....okey dokey.......I wished the bride the best, and tried to keep my professional happy voice there....now I am off to eat the chocolate chip cookies I made for dh, and cry just a tad.....I know these things are going to happen, it doesn't help that I have woke up sick today and just had this dumped on me. 
Sorry to whine.....please find me some cheese......
No, I am pretty sure that it was this:
1. I quoted her per letter for that song........that was going to take time. The song alone was going to cost her $183.xx.....the song was HER CHOICE to want the entire thing on the cake...I could have done it. I quoted her $2.50 slice for cake,also had to charge for delivery, taxes, all that other stuff. 
I also told her that I had a 100 slice minimum......all this did not seem to be a problem a week ago....hmmmmmmmmmmm.......wonder what happened?
2. Her daddy is paying for it..and he was miffed because I am not set up at the present time to accept credit cards..I am a small home bakery, not a out of home operation. I told her that I could accept cash or a post dated check for 2 weeks from the date of meeting...she was okay with that.
3. The clincher: The mother of the groom wanted to do the cake to begin with...the bride to be told me that she would prefer that someone else do it, the mog had too much to do that day to prepare the cake as well.....
It has been a weird thing from the beginning..thought it was just me..but when I look back at the phone calls, the ideas, the vibes.....I know it's just not all me imagining this........
We will see.....I don't wish them any ill will. Just am bummed....I am going to do that dummy and do that song on it....a great cake for my portfolio. 
Off to eat another cookie, rofl...... 
oh, I'm so sorry that happened to you! I know how it is to look forward to doing a particular cake and then they back out on you. Absolutely heart wrenching! When it happened to me, my son ended up in the hospital that week and I would have had to cancel on them instead (which would absolutely kill me!). I hope I never have to cancel on anyone!
Chin-up kiddo, you sound like you need the extra rest anyway since you're feeling not so hot!
Sorry you lost the cake order. Sounds like it would have been pretty though.
Just a suggestion on the credit card thing. I've seen a few others on here mention that they use PayPal so that they can accept credit card orders. It's really easy to set up if you don't already have an account. You just send them an invoice and they can pay it.
Anyway, just for future reference. I know getting set up with a credit card machine is expensive so this is a much cheaper option.
HTH!
Good Luck!
The bride probably wishes that you could do her cake. It sounds like either the dad didn't want to pay your price, or the mother of the groom wanted to make your cake & was guilt tripping them about it.
Sorry this happened...but there will be other cakes and you'll soon forget all about this one!
A note about paypal...it is great, and a good option for accepting credit card payments, but they do take a pretty good chunk out of any money you receive for fees so you may want to add an extra 3-4% for the paypal fees.
Something good about it though, when you start an account you can get a paypal debit card and it has a visa logo on it so you can use that to make purchases, etc.
A note about paypal...it is great, and a good option for accepting credit card payments, but they do take a pretty good chunk out of any money you receive for fees so you may want to add an extra 3-4% for the paypal fees.
Something good about it though, when you start an account you can get a paypal debit card and it has a visa logo on it so you can use that to make purchases, etc.
paypals 3% fee is pennies compared to other merchant services! i gladly pay 3% for the ease of use, no contract, no monthly service fees, no additional fees from the credit card companies themselves. had a friend who opened a biz (not cake) and signed up for credit card machines. 2 year contract, and his biz went under in 6 months. he still had to pay up every month according to his contract htough! paypal is the way to go, i love it.
A note about paypal...it is great, and a good option for accepting credit card payments, but they do take a pretty good chunk out of any money you receive for fees so you may want to add an extra 3-4% for the paypal fees.
Something good about it though, when you start an account you can get a paypal debit card and it has a visa logo on it so you can use that to make purchases, etc.
I love my paypal visa... money goes in instantly, and I can use the card the moment the cash appears in my account, which has been a God-send several times. (it's also a great way for parents to get kids cash in a hurry, just in case... Mom has had to bail us out a couple of times recently because of the wedding and my recent hospital stay, and since it's almost $10 in gas to drive to her place and back, Paypal has saved our skins a couple of times!)
I agree that the 3% paypal fee is peanuts compared to what my own bank was going to charge, and you can easily either send an invoice (which I prefer), or people can simply deposit cash into your account using the e-mail address you set the account up with. 
If they send to a different e-mail address (but still yours), no worries... you can add that e-mail to your list.
Just a suggestion on the credit card thing. I've seen a few others on here mention that they use PayPal so that they can accept credit card orders. It's really easy to set up if you don't already have an account. You just send them an invoice and they can pay it.
Anyway, just for future reference. I know getting set up with a credit card machine is expensive so this is a much cheaper option.
I'm a dork! I never even put two and two together! I have a Paypal account that accepts credit cards for my eBay transactions, but never thought to use it for cakes!! Genius!
That's a bummer. Maybe that's why I hear so many are doing a fee for the tastings and apply the fee to your order when you order. No order, no refund on the tastings...
Sorry about the cake, I know you put a lot of time into it already.
I accept all major credit cards, too, and pay less than 3% in cc fees. I just use the merchant account setup feature through Quickbooks Pro, my accounting software. It's incredibly easy, and I think you end up looking way more professional and established than if you use paypal.
Check with your state regulations about adding any additional money if you pay by credit card by any means. In some states it's illegal to charge extra if someone wants to use a card.
Check with your state regulations about adding any additional money if you pay by credit card by any means. In some states it's illegal to charge extra if someone wants to use a card.
I know for a fact that it's illegal in Indiana to charge a fee to someone for using a credit card. (banker husband!) It's in my terms of agreement with the credit card company, when I signed up to accept the cards.
I accept all major credit cards, too, and pay less than 3% in cc fees. I just use the merchant account setup feature through Quickbooks Pro, my accounting software. It's incredibly easy, and I think you end up looking way more professional and established than if you use paypal.
hmmm, when i took a look at their website it looked like there was an $18 monthly fee, add $10 a month if you want to take payments on your website and a transaction fee of 1.7-2.44%. If thats the case, this isn't any cheaper than paypal for me. and i don't think paypal looks unprofessional. i send an email invoice, they click the link and type in their credit card info. its no different than purchasing something on any business's website.
Nope, no monthly fee for signing up and processing credit cards through your quickbooks software. It's perfectly integrated, and easy as anything. All my business is online, so I have no need of a terminal, which helps to reduce upfront costs, but I do have a *slightly* higher rate because of increased chance for fraud when you're not swiping in person. But it's still less than paypal took.
I would never take payments on my website through a 3rd party program. (be it paypal, yahoo stores, or whatever pre-packaged program is out there). It looks like you cheaped out and didn't get your own website well programmed. Luckily, I have a programmer husband to do free slave labor, so my standards are very high and I don't have to pay the going rate. 
Paypal may be a good option when you're just getting started, but once you're really established, it behooves you to create as professional an appearance as possible.
We have a highly customizable product. No out-of-the-box solution would have worked for us. And this is strictly anecdotal evidence, but when we launched the newest version of our website with our secure online shopping cart, annual sales jumped from around 30k to well over 100k. Image and presentation made a HUGE difference. I don't use a quickbooks "take payments online!" kind of service that you'd have to pay more for. We take the cc info through our secure server, and I enter it into quickbooks and use their basic merchant account service.
Paypal says, to me, "oh, I'm not big enough or established enough to have a real merchant account." Because I used paypal when I wasn't a "real" business. Been there, done that, got experience and changed. I know other people have different opinions, and I respect that, but I'm very picky about who can have my online payments. Business that use paypal don't make the cut. And when getting a regular merchant account is so freakin easy (easier than paypal ever was, actually) and makes things much faster for my accountant (which costs me less!), why not do it? This assumes that you're already using a reputable accounting system like Quickbooks or peachtree, of course, and have that money invested in the software anyway.
Hey do the dummy cake. It'll only strengthen your decorating skills and look good in your portfolio like you said!!
I was going to suggest the same thing...put down that cookie and make up a dummy cake. You can put it in your portfolio and that bride will WISH she had let you make her cake when she sees it!
BTW-thanks for all the credit card information. It's good to know for the future!
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