If she knew exactly what the cake was going cost and that was agreed upon, then send and invoice today! Charge a late fee (% based) for EVERY DAY after a week of the date of the letter that the balance isn't paid.

AND ... tell your mom that if she's in business with this lady, she better do an audit on the books and watch her back!

I'm sorry, but it really sickens me to know how often "nice guys" are getting the shaft and as long as we "nice guys" keep letting them do it, they'll continue in their ways. Be nice, without being walked on. Once she pays, I'd do cakes for her again if they were prepaid. If she doesn't pay and tries to order a cake, I'd flat out tell her that I AM available, but won't be making the cake because she's got an outstanding balance on a previous cake that still needs to be settled. If she doesn't like that, too bad for her!

ummm you haven't smacked her yet???? if that was me keeping the peace or not she's not my friend i dont have to see her again so i would demand the full price as agreed upon and when i am mad i get mad... she is fully ripping you off and that really irritates me that people think of themselves so highly that its ok to do treat people like doormats. honestly tho you shouldnt let people get away with paying what they want. it is NOT how the world works... shes doesn't go into wal-mart or the grocery store and tell the cashier she's only paying what she thinks her purchase is worth. its an insult to you and the industry... theres nothing that can really be done now because you didnt act upon it sooner... i guess it really is a lesson learned for you.

okay calm down and take a breather she probaly just wants a break

what is a little blurry for me to see is this.
First is Sarahjane a licensed baker? She could be doing this like most of us do as a hobby, and if so then most of what is being said to do sounds more like something someone would do if they were legal and licensed to do so. If that is true, then it would explain why she felt what she felt. I do not agree with her, she should have paid what was agreed on, BUT I know several people including myself that do/would feel all of that is something you do when you are legal, and can do so. This woman may know she isn't legal, (is she isnt) and sarahjane could feel that she needs to swim lightly with this in case this woman turned her in.
But I for sure would make myself unavailable to do anything else for her.

It does not matter even if she could get a custom cake with all the extras for the less $ down the street. She asked you to do it for your price so she should pay.

C

First of all . . . how sweet of your husband! Obviously he was trying to be nice by leaving the cake originally . . . and when she decided to only pay half he was so cute to make up the difference. Obviously your husband understood all the effort that went into making that cake . . . sounsd like he is really supportive.

Its not ok for your mom to ask that you drop this. It has nothing to do with her . . . the cake deal was between you and this other woman.

I would personally call her and say that you were wondering when she planned on paying the other half, since you don't normally take payments on cakes. If she gives you lip, let her know that its just not ok to take advantage of friends like that and it is not appreciated. You don't have to get hot under the collar to get your point across . . . I always think it makes the point better to be cool headed and very blunt with your words.

Good luck . . .

i think whether or not she is legal, it is still stealing.

that lady who stole your cake probably savoured every last bite. it doesnt matter whether you are licensed or not, she has no class or morals to do such an underhanded thing. My guess is she saw your husband and figured he would not kick up a fuss. Its always easier to do something like that when it's not the cake maker doing the delivery.

She sounds like a nasty piece of work and if you were my daughter, I'd be giving her a good hard slap across the chops for daring to rip you off like that.

Take comfort in the fact that your darling husband tried to protect you from the nastiness, tell your mum you will never do any work for her business associate again and chalk it up to experience.

This infuriates me to no end. You know, we're looking at buying DH a new truck. Can I just go strutting up to the salesman and cut HIS price in 1/2 and drive the car home??? Um, no. WE don't set other businesses prices as consumers. Why is it that people try to bargain with those of us with small businesses/home-based businesses??? We are just as legitimate as any other business.

As for your DH, I think it's wonderful that he was willing to save you the anger initially. However, on the flip side, as a business owner, I'd make sure he knows up front....no money...no cake. Simple. In addition, as a business owner, you also need to be aware of every facet of your business, including situations like this one. It may anger/hurt you initially, but if you don't know about it, you can't rectify it.

Amy

This is a problem that many home bakers face. We've read about this before, and it gets no better each time we read about it. Customers tend to think that, because you bake out of your home, they are entitled to only pay what they feel like paying.

A local bakery here, which specializes in cakes, no longer accepts orders over the telephone without full payment. A cash customer must go into the shop to place the order. Depending upon the size of the order, they must have at least 50% deposit. If it's just a birthday or sheet cake, the whole bill must be paid before the order is accepted.

Your payment policy with your customers is of your prerogative, but my suggestion to you is that you change your policy to require payment in full before delivery, no exceptions.

Theresa

Theresa

I just told my husband about this last night and he said he would have taken the 1/2 payment and left only 1/2 the cake!
I would love to see that, imagine the look on someones face when you karate chop their cake in half and say "there ya go, you pay for half you get half!!"

I think what this woman did to you was horrible. This actually does happen in a lot of businesses though. My boyfriend owns a plumbing company and he has done work for people and afterwards they have said well this other company told me they only would have charged me a certain amount so that's all I'm going to pay you for the work. On some bigger projects he has had to sue people, but usually in the end, he ends up taking the loss on smaller jobs because there isn't a whole lot you can do about it that isn't going to force you to pay court and lawyer costs. And just so you know some of the people that do this to him are companies that he has done commercial jobs for. There are shady people everywhere. He is also the first person that told me if I make a cake for someone I need to get paid for it before I ever start working on it and so that's what I do. I have never had anyone not pay me because their cake doesn't get started until I have my money. That is how all the bakeries in my area work. I really don't know of a cake shop that does payment on delivery.

I'm sorry this happened to you and this is unacceptable behavior on your clients part. I'm not sure how the pricing was handled...did you give her an invoice when you quoted her the price? I would send an invoice now showing the balance due.

I am a home baker but I do everything very proffessionally. I always give an invoice to my clients, ask for 50% up front and the balance at pickup or delivery. I came close only once, to a problem. I recieved 50% but wasn't paid on delivery (they had a friend pick the cake up)so I had to call several times and they finally paid (it was my dentist's wife...geez! said she was sick) Next time I'll make sure I ask my client to give a check to the person picking up the cake.

I hope this works out for you in the end but I would say if this person orders from you again I'd suggest you collect 100% in advance. Your mom should be more supportive of you and not her business partner.

Please DO take another order from her and then deliver half a cake.

Mom needs to butt out or pay up. It was thoughtful of your husband to spare you.