Hello friends:

I have/ had this customer, friend of someone I know, who inquired about a sweet sixteen cake around 3 months ago; the cake would fee 60 people.

I met this lady at her church office for a consultation; she and her husband are in charged of this church so I had to meet her way past my working hours, which I donât mind, but still I was willing to accommodate HER schedule.
Anyways, I gave her cupcake samples, brought my book to show her what Iâve done, talked about options, colors and all that.

She was really concerned about the size; she didnât want something that looked too small on the table so I told her I could rent her my silver cake stand to add some height and I also explained to her that there are many techniques to visually increase the height of the cake or she could just simply order a bigger ($$$) cake.

Well, I gave her a quote on the spotâ¦the cake design is very simple so I quoted her my base price, $185.00.
She wanted 3 tiers and I was planning to do a 3-tier cake: 6â+8â+10â (74 servings) I use the Wilton serving chart for pricing purposes only.

I explained to her the size of each tier, and how tall it could be⦠(Iâm going to start carrying a measuring tape, because some people donât understand how big a 10â round cake can be!!!).

She insisted I would call her whenever I had a similar cake order so she could stop by my house and physically see itâ¦
I told her I didnât have any cake similar in size booked in the following weeks but I had a wedding cake booked in July
and she could stop by and see or I could show her the cake pans I would use to make her cake.

I was really trying to keep my composure, but I couldnât understand what exactly she wanted from meâ¦we went back and forth several times over the diameter size of each layer and the highâ¦she. Just. Didnât. Get. It.
I just wanted to get out there knowing the meeting was going nowhere and I finally told her I had some dummy cakes at home, she could call me later and I would show them to her, well she never called me and I was happy!

Fast forward yesterday when she called me againâ¦telling me that she really wanted me to do the cake and she would like to meet with me
again to talk about the size (AGGGRR!!!...take a ruler and figure it out yourself!!!) and she also told me she would like to get some samples again because she couldnât remember the how the taste was like.
I, very nicely, told her that after some many months nobody would remember exactly how the cake would taste and that at this point
she only needed to remember whether she liked it or not and then she tells me: âoh, yes well all loved the cupcakes but my husband would like to try them again to remember how they tasteâ.

How about???â¦NO!

I explained to her that I only do one tasting to show my customers how I bake and I couldnât afford to do it more than once for a small order, also I reminded her that if she needed to book the cake she had to pay a $50.00 deposit or I could not assure I would be available that day for her orderâ¦she sounded surprised that I didnât have her cake on my calendar (!) and I reminded her I do many consultations every week and until people pay the deposit and sign the contract, to me they are just looking around.

She told me she would get back to me to see if we could me again (at her âafter hoursâ convenience, of course) and she finally says,
âI really would like to meet you again because we have other things to talk about, we still need to discuss about the priceâ, I immediately reminded her that was my based price and I couldnât go any lower; and she insisted WE still needed to talk about the priceâ¦

We??? No ladyâ¦we donât have to talk about pricingâ¦YOU want to talk about pricing.

Under other circumstances I would give a tiny discount but this lady drives an Escalade (donât even know the spelling) and her 4 kids go
to private schoolâ¦AND I know she lives in the best neighborhood in the areaâ¦so not âspecialâ price for you!

To me the whole issue is closedâ¦Iâm suddenly booked that entire month, (I learned how to put my foot down here in CC, thanks) but this is just annoying.
I know this is part of the business, and I know every once in a while I will find people like this, but I really donât know what people like that ($$$$$) expect people like me ($) to do to accommodate their time, budget, desires and dreams.

Thanks for reading.

U-G-H! Some people are so rude and so down right obnoxious. Seriously, tell her you're booked and get her out of your life. I can't IMAGINE asking for seconds on FREE SAMPLES because my husband couldn't remember what it tasted like. I'm just shaking my head over here. But that shows how some people are. It's like they never had someone to teach them a thing called "manners". I had a lady who went back and forth on the "size" and disappeared and then reappeared and we had to rehash the whole thing. I don't think it's size they're really concerned about - it's that they don't want to pay for the cake!

sounds like her bread isn't baked!

Wow, (round of applause) for you maintaining your cool and calm composure under such trying circumstances.

You certainly went above and beyond in your attempts to educate this customer and to accommodate her unusual schedule.

If she wasn't obviously trying to finesse a free cake from you, I would have suggested she PURCHASE several different sized cakes in as many flavors as she & her husband wanted to taste (to compare sizes).

Isn't that why we buy cake - because we like the taste.

You made the right decision by being "busy" whenever she might call you. She's a customer nobody wants or needs.

cakegirl, you're like the complete opposite of the cake lady i had to deal with for my friend's wedding. you are so accommodating and you know exactly how to deal with customers. that lady is such a PITA though. if you ask me, you did everything you could do. good for you for putting your foot down. if i had you as my cake lady i would be very pleased.

I'd tell her you can give her more cupcakes at $2.50 apiece (or whatever it is you charge for them), with a dozen minimum, and it's $25 for delivery.

Hey. I want some cupcakes. I want to remember what they taste like, cause I know they were D*** yummy and I want MORE!!! For FREE!!!
You rock!

yeah, that is a very positive outcome. I know you are very proud of yourself, I am!! It just shows how much people swear that they know what they want and they think they can wrap everyone around their fingers. Good for you for not letting her wind you up into her nasty little web!

I think that is what I hate most about not have a shop. Just because we don't have a store front, there is no "legitimate business" , people think that we are just these women who bake at home, we are not taken seriously and walked all over. Reminds me of a client I have who wants a cake tasting and me driving 45-55 minutes for consultation for a $150 sheet cake.....I don't think so!
After PITA calls and emails, I finally told her I was booked....and then she changed the date so I could do the cake!!!! UGH. I told her I was NOT going to come to her this time, like you going out of the way to accomodater HER, I haven't heard back from the client yet, I hope she goes somewhere else.