I guess maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but it kinda bothers me... and I'm not sure what I should of done or do if anything...

I have a friend who told me that she had a friend that needed a cake, and she recommended me.This was the 28th November. She told me what this lady wanted and I said "Yes I can do it." She gave me the ladies email addy and I emailed her with my ideas. I didn't hear from her......

Fast Forward 3 days...... Another friend says the same thing as the 1st friend, and says she couldn't find my phone number to give this lady, so I give it to her and my email addy, and find out it is the same friend that my other friend was talking about. So I tell her I emailed her already, and didn't get a reply. So I resent the email again.... Then after while I did get an email from this lady saying she didn't get an email from me, and so I replied and just copy and pasted the original email to her again.....for the 3rd time!!!! That was the 1st of December. I have not heard from her....

The first friend I talked to asked me today if she had got ahold of me, and I said "No." She then asked if I called her? I said "No, I gave her my # again when I replied to her email, and sent the ideas I had.


So my question to you all is: Should I have called this lady? I am thinkin no, cuz I don't need the cake she does.... When I need a service from someone I call them. I don't expect them to call me and say "Hey I heard you need a such and such..." Am I wrong and should I just forget this lady? She needs this cake on Saturday.....

Thank you all for any advice and opinions.

I would just drop it and go about my business... It is very odd now a days not to receive an e-mail when it has been sent several times, as you would received a "failure to deliver" notice. Anyway, if she really wanted the cake and was interested and it was a true that she did not get your e-mail then she would've called you up or ask your friend in common to contact you. Just my opinion, HTH.

In my opinion, you have gone well out of your way to help this person, now just let it go. Like you said, she needs the cake not you. If she does call last minute it's up to you what to do. I would probably tell her that I was booked and for her to give you more time the next time she needs a cake.

Try not to let the public dictate your schedule. She should have enough respect for you to let you know if she wants the cake. If she gets upset, just put her on the list of either banned or nuisance charge added.

It appears that you have dodged a bullet. Take it as a blessing.

Michele

I agree with everyone else...let it rest! The one thing you don't want to do is give people the impression that you are so desperate to do cakes that you have resorted to calling them. In the beginning, I had to sit on my hands to avoid calling people after I gave them a quote because I am so addicted to decorating and I REALLY wanted to do the cake!!! Just give it some time...I bet she will call (or will come up with some LAME excuse again...like she didn't get the THIRD email)!

Good luck...and when she calls you should be a bit hesitant...tell her you have some other orders in that time frame...and wished she could have called you sooner...then tell her you will "squeeze her in" to your schedule. Maybe she'll get the hint to return emails on a timely basis!!!

-Michelle

Because she is recommended by friends I would be more gracious than I would be with a regular customer. With that said . . . It depends . . . .

Is this lady likely to lead to more orders?
If yes then I would call today and if I had to leave a message then I would simply say "Hello we seem to be playing phone tag. Sorry I missed you again. If you are still interested in the cake then please let me know. If I do not hear from you by ______ then I can not do the cake for you on Saturday. Hope to hear from you soon" You really can't do more than that


How badly do you need the business?
If the answer is bad then you can't afford to burn any bridges and I would give her a call and another e-mailI before I gave up. There is nothing wrong with being politely aggressive when following a sales lead.

If no to any of these I might call my friend and explain how I was feeling and hope they understood that I really wasn't interested in chasing the lead.

Just my humble opinion.

Thank you all for your advice / opinions. It is funny cuz about 5 minutes after I posted this I got an email from her. It says:

Hello Again Mary!

It is ok that I havent heard from you concerning the cake. I was sort of basing my decision on having it this weekend if you could make it or not. But as it turns out, we have decided to postpone once again. So, its ok. I know this is a busy time of year anyway.

Take Care,

Patty




So I am assuming she has her email set up wonky, so that if your not in her contacts you get automatically deleted like redpanda said.
As she don't need the cake right now I won't worry. I told my friend Krystal to tell Patty "No worries and to just keep my phone # and if she needs a cake before January 10th to just call me, since the email thing isn't working!! LOL"

After the 10 of January or a lil after, all my stuff will be on it's way to N. Cali, since we're moving back stateside. I will so miss England!! I only started decorating cakes since we moved here 4 yrs ago, and didn't do anything fancy. Mine we're just bette rthan the ones from the commisary.. and ppl asked if I'd make them cakes!! LOL Noq that I found CC, It is so cool!! I'm learning so much. I am thinking I want to try to make MMF and see how that goes..... lol I've only every done BC on my cakes. Ooops went off on a tangent here..

Thank you all for you advice / opinions!!

What? I didn't understand the e-mail.

nglez09- Yeah it made me do that too... I am assuming she never got any of my emails. Since she said she "never heard from me" Even tho I emailed her 2X and replied to her first email she sent me!!