I am still steaming over this customer!!!!!
She ordered a cake from me and then cancelled and changed the date to later. This was a hassle as I never ended up filling the date after her cancellation and so was out of pocket for that.
Then the new date was coming up (Friday) so I email her wanting to pin down a collection time so I wasn't sitting home all afternoon. (The cake was to be collected "late pm" but since my hubby had a stroke a month ago I needed to drive him to a doctor's appointment that afternoon, I wanted to ensure I was home at the right time for the cake collection too.)
All the emails I sent her were rejected as they must have changed email addresses, so after trying for a day to get hold of her, I rang her Friday morning.
She says No, I emailed you a week ago and cancelled this date and changed it now to November.
I say, well didn't my lack of response to your email tell you that I never received it? ( I even have it written VERY visibly on my website that I respond to ALL email orders or queries within 24hrs to prevent issues JUST like this!)
So I tell her that I have made her cake and it is sitting here on my bench waiting for her to collect it this afternoon.
She doesn't apologise or anything, just says "Well?"
I say well I guess i'll have to give it to my kid's school or something.
So later that day she emails me asking to change the date of the cake to November.
At this point I just think, you have GOT to be kidding me, I have lost the opportunity to have 2 cakes for other customers on the dates you booked and then cancelled, and the expense of the cake I made too.
I emailed her back and said
"I am sorry but I am unable to make your cake in November or any other time due to the costs I have incurred from your repeated cancellations."

I feel a little guilty knocking someone back, but there is a limit to how many times I will let a customer stuff me around!

Thanks for letting me rant, my hubby is so sick of hearing me steam about the lack of consideration some customers show.
My business only has me, and I just can't afford customers like her.

. . . you needn't feel guilty . . . I don't blame you one bit!

Don't feel guilty! Some people can be absolutely clueless, she obviously believes she has some kind of entitlement. What a nightmare! Would love to hear if she responds!
I wish you and your husband the best

You have every right to be ticked.

However, in the future you might want to require a deposit (that would at least cover the cost of your ingredients) on pick-up orders.

(If the order isn't picked up or rescheduled in a timely fashion, you keep the deposit. If forfeited, another deposit would be required to reserve another cake on a different date.)

It's funny how keeping you in the loop becomes important, when losing their investment (deposit) is involved.

HTH

You are absolutely right Jan! I will have to start getting deposits!

Oh, she has just responded to my email.
Says she thinks I am being too harsh with blacklisting her.
I have decided to not respond as I don't want to get into an argument with her. I was pretty annoyed though, cos during all these times that she stuffed me around, I could have used the extra money from the dates she never ended up using, and I had to knock back customers for those very dates when she first booked them.

Thankyou so much for your support guys! I really needed it!
I have had to be so strong for the last month with hubby having a stroke. He was scared, his mum was petrified and my parents were almost in tears constantly. Then I had to act normal so as not to freak out our 4yr daughter and 6 yr old son. (on the inside I was freaking out). Only the nurses at the hospital saw me cry.. oh and the people driving beside me on the drive home from the hospital )

But the great news is he is recovering well. He is only 34yrs old and it appears that his visit to the chiropractor that morning injured his neck and caused a blood clot to go through a hole in his heart and give him a stroke. And nope, we had no idea he had a hole in his heart until all this happened. He lost fine motor skills in his right arm which is almost better after a month of using it, but his balance had been badly affected and he was keeling over to the right when trying to walk. Thank god, that in the last week it has started to improve too! yay!

It is wonderful to have him home from hospital, I love him to bits!

Crying isn't a bad thing Do it when you need to, no one will think any differently and no one expects you to be concrete.
After my divorce I went to the best counsellor, and sometimes when I would cry, she'd tell me it was a bubble bursting. She said all my emotions were stored in bubbles inside me and when I cried it was one of my bubbles rising to the surface and it was the emotion popping! 8 years later it still makes me giggle and I say it to my friends who start crying, "It's just a bubble bursting" So let your bubbles burst Curvy Everyone should let their bubbles burst lol

Hon, you were very fair and eloquent in the way you informed her that you would no longer be making her cakes. I'm afraid I'd be so pissed I'd have stooped to petty and mean as well, but your note was fair, complete and quite professional.

If you decide after this has cooled a bit to go ahead and take her back, please do as JanH suggested - at least have a non-refundable deposit to cover your costs. Then if she cancels, everyone gets cake that night for dinner too!!! Win-win for your business & family!!

Best of luck in your husband's recovery, I'm so pleased to hear of his quick recovery already!!! All the best to you all!

You did the best thing for yourself and your business.
As for your hubby, Im so sorry that this has happened but look at it like he was given a 2nd life, something to make his life that much better knowing it was almost gone.

I wish you and your family all the best and just reassure him that he cant leave this world anyways, hes too young, you need him and your kids want him at the graduations, weddings and delivery rooms for when he becomes a grampy!

bubbles always make me smile . . . here is the best bubble picture I could find . . . hope it makes you smile too . . .

Oh everyone, thankyou so much for your beautiful words and thoughts.
You had me nearly crying, until I saw the bubble picture, then I did have to smile!

((((HUGS)))))
Oh Curvy. I hope all gets better for you. I like the thoughts of bubbles. You should see if there are any CC'ers near you and come and give you a hug. I'm in Brissy if your close by cause it's hard to be strong for everyone else and you just need a cuppa with someone to listen.
All the best
Leigh

yes Curvy, where are you? If you're close enough someone can come with hugs and bubbles

You did the right thing ....Now stop beating yourself up and bake a cake for someone that might even PAY for it ! Sounds like your hubby is right on track and doing fine... praise the Lord ! Now for YOU.... cry...... cry, cry cry...... For YEARS everyone came to me with everything..... afterall, I had the biggest shoulders, the biggest heart, and never let ANYTHING bother me....... well, all that "strength" was eating me up inside, and I wound up having a heart attack.... Your hubby, your children, and most of all YOU cannot afford to have that happen...... Take care of yourself so that you can take care of them......
((( HUGS ))))

Oh, you guys are all so nice!

I am slowly letting my anxiety and tears out! I have to admit that I have had headaches daily since hubby collapsed. It took me a few weeks to realise that they must be stress headaches, so I have made sure to have a glass of wine at dinner to settle down each night.. Oh and I am steadily working my way through my daughter's box of kindy fundraising chocolates.. at this rate I won't need to sell any to family or friends to get rid of them!

Your words have touched my heart, and filled it with light. You are all the best therapy a girl could need!
Grama_j, you are certainly right about bottling it all up, I certainly do that..my friend teases me that it's a virgo trait too! lol!

You know, the best thing about the cake that I made before getting the customer's last cancellation, was that I took it to my kid's karate tournament on Friday night. Yeah, it was a little embaressing to serve up a little girls pony themed cake, but the karate kids LOVED it! And sensei was so pleased that it just ended the night so nicely with a partyish atmosphere. It was the silver lining in my dark cloud that had appeared that morning!
I have decided to look out for the bright side of everything, life is too short not to enjoy it fully!

Curvy...take good care of YOURSELF!! My prayers are with you and your family. Don't be afraid to cry...it cleanses the soul! I like the bubble idea too! Here's a big hug from the USA (((((((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))))))
Life is precious, don't waste time fuming about those stupid customers. The only one that will lose sleep is you, and it's not worth it! Have fun and remember to keep laughing!!! That is the best medicine.

Hugs,
Nancy

((((HUGS)))))
Oh Curvy. I hope all gets better for you. I like the thoughts of bubbles. You should see if there are any CC'ers near you and come and give you a hug. I'm in Brissy if your close by cause it's hard to be strong for everyone else and you just need a cuppa with someone to listen.
All the best
Leigh

Great big ol' ((((HUG)))

that's why it's good to have a contract and deposit.

Curvy, I believe in looking at the bright side. Bright side, you don't have to deal with a lousy customer, because she would have gotten only worse.
Bright side, your hubbies stroke led to the detection of the hole in his heart, which could have been disastrous later down the line.
Bright side, he's young and that will help his healing happen quicker (is that a word).
I am sending hugs to you and your family!

Oh, I am so sorry. I had to catch my breath when I read what just happened to you-when you said stroke, I had no idea that your husband was so young. And it seems like you are holding everyone together-but you really need to take care of yourself before your in laws and parents.
I will put you in my prayers, and really wish you and your husband, and of course your kids, the best!

I require a minimum 50% deposit at the time of the order. I have set up PayPal so that people can just pay online - no issues with mailing checks (that mysteriously never show up). Most of the time, people pay for the whole thing up front!

I won't actually book a cake order until I get payment. I'm not a shop, and I work (mostly) alone - so I can't afford to get stuck with a cake. The 50% deposit is non-refundable - PERIOD. I've never had a cancellation, only had one person who changed an order date to the following week instead due to illness.

When you require payment up front, people take it a bit more seriously.

Sorry to hear about your husband's health issues, I hope he is healing well.

First of all, I am very sorry to hear about your husband! Your family will be in my prayers too!

Secondly, I commend you for standing up for yourself! This woman was taking advantage of you and wasn't one bit ashamed about it! Good for you for telling her no!

Lastly, I LOVE your avatar! Elephants are my favorite and every time I see a post by you it makes me smile.

Thanks everyone, Hubby is mending very well and to be truthful it really WAS a blessing to happen so young, cos if it had been 30 years later, we might not have him at all!

The other positive is that he knows how much we love him, and we all appreciate life just that little bit more now

Thankyou for your wonderful words, prayers and great advice.
I used to accept payment of cash on collection of their cake or prepaying by direct deposit.
After reading your advice, I think it is time to make EVERY order prepaid by direct deposit or no cake for you!

So sorry to hear about your hubby, that customer was the last thing you needed with everything else that was going on I'm glad you gave her the flick it was the right thing to do.

Will be thinking of you & hubby & family ((hugs))

Wow Curvy! You have a lot on your plate right now! We are all praying for you.
I am shocked that I found your story about your husband's stroke. My friend's husband just had the exact same thing happen at 36! Hole in his heart and then a stroke! This happened only ten days ago and he is partially paralyzed. We are still hoping to see some improvement as he works through therapy. It is still so fresh and all we can do is offer help with anything she needs. What a shock for you and my friend.
I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

Sweetiemama