I get a call from a guy today. He gets on the phone and tells me that he usually deals with Bonnie Lynn Bakery but they don't seem to want to work with him on this.

I say ok.....he goes on:

"I design cakes for a living. My DD is having a birthday party and I need a 12in diameter 6in tall dome cake, half black, half piped like a sweater. I'm going to sculpt a penguin head and (other parts I don't remember precisely) and stick it into the cake. And I need this for tomorrow, since I need time before the party Sunday to do my part"

I'm thinking....

Ok, you tool.....you call me and expect this by tomorrow. (mind you, he called after noon)

Why call a custom cake shop and ask them to make PART of a custom cake??? RU Kidding me? Who would agree to that?


So would this annoy anybody else? Or am I just bitchy today?

Well, after I could stop laughing out loud, I'd ask him if he was really serious, that he wanted me to "slap a cake together" for him in this short of a time span? If he's a "cake designer" then he KNOWS what's involved.

I had one where the guy wanted a carved car cake ... by this afternoon!!! I said, "Do you know how many DAYS it takes to make a cake like that?" then referred him to the most expensive bakery in town. He said, in a little forlorn voice, that he'd already called them they said they needed more notice.

DUH!!!!

HA HA HA! This is funny. HE DESIGNS CAKES FOR A LIVING....I highly doubt this otherwise he would have given advance notice. He should have known better being in the field and all

You were run from this one.

I wouldn't!

This is not going to help your business in any way. He will probably go back to using his other baker, or will continue to make them himself.

Also, if the guests like the cake...he will take all of the credit. Not to mention, the guy needs to learn how to bake his own cakes.

I don't mean to have such a bad attitude...and normally I am all for helping someone in need. However, if he took at attitude with you..and is trying to boss you around...not cool!

Keep us updated.....

I'd tell him if he designs cakes for a living and can produce a sculpted cake with less than a days notice then you'd like to have HIS number in case you're ever in a bind!! LOL Crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!

You remember that old commercial with the line, "I'm not a doctor, I just play one of TV"? Yeah, this guy isn't a cake designer he's "just watched them on TV."

Bwaaaahahahaha. Maybe he's this guy.

I would've gave him an icing recipe, and told good luck. LOLOL

Mike

Wow, everyone is so negative!

If I could fit it into my schedule, I would do it - but I would charge an additional 10% rush charge.

An order is an order is an order. And unless I ever become as good as Sylvia Wynstock (sp?), I'm not going to pick and choose orders that are "worthy" of me. It just seems petty to me.

Hi. You did the right thing. Go with your gut. I had a woman who called me about a cake giving me one week's notice during one of my busiest two weeks. She wanted me to design a 3 tier cake for her with a moroccan theme such as mosaic tile, persian carpet, etc.

I agreed to do it. Except I received about 50 emails back and forth about changing the cake design as well as asking me pricing on all different other cake designs. I finally told her that it would be in both of our best interests if she found someone else. Not to mention she said her budget was $500 but when I quoted her a special price of $275 she said it was too much.

Sometimes it's better to lose one customer than to gain a headache at delivery when she finds something wrong with it and then wants her money back.

The beauty of having your own business is that yes you can pick and choose who you will make a cake for and how much you are willing to take.

think i would skip his cake, after all if he does it then why couldn't he bake his own cakes?

Gee....I would be happy to drop everything and put this cake together for you.........NOT!

You betcha I pick and choose. I've cut two brides loose in 2008 and already one for 2009 for being unreasonable PITAs. (One was actually a nice bride and a groomzilla.) That's why I own my own business. I get to make the decisions on when and how much I will work. And who my customers will be.

I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole! Unreal!

Jen

I don't know. Trying to do half a sculpture might get a little dicey. I mean which half gets the sweather and which half gets the black. And my 6 inch tall dome cake might not work with his penguin.

A 12 inch cake is kinda big for just a 6 inch dome. I mean you're gonna need to cut off a lot to get it to dome. What'sa dome? I mean I know what it means to me wonder if that's what he means.

For a rush order that's going to be created into something else there's too many variables. I mean maybe he could fax you some drawings or something but that would be hard to make.

If each of us in this tread made that cake with those instructions not two would be alike.

That would be real hard. I'd consider it if I could get all my doubts satisfied--but then so last minute too. Charge an extra fee if I had the time.

But there's a reason the other bakery isn't working with him on this!

First red flag I saw was that his "regular baker" needed more notice and to call someone else .....if they already turned him down he's probably a PITA to them and it's not worth their time and effort to do the work for him.

Second red flag....how many of you on CC are decorators and have a "regular bakery" do work for you?

The whole thing I find strange is getting someone else to bake it for him. That sounds a little strange.

I wouldn't do this because I make decorated cakes to sell. I am not a wholesale bakery plugging out blank cake for others. My cake is MY cake - not someone elses to recreate.

If he truly is a decorator he needs to learn to bake his own!

He called you the da before, if you don't want to or have the time then let it go. If he's in the business then he should know better.

I would refuse it for three reasons. 1- We refuse to make black buttercream for anything other than minor piping. That much food color is just gross. 2- "We" are the cake designers here. I only work with people who give us final say so over the design so we don't make ugly cakes that go in my signature boxes. There are certain cakes I just don't want our name on. 3- Time constraints...Dude, it's Christmas, we're busy with the orders from people who had their crap together weeks ago.

I don't think this is a matter of being a "diva"...this dude sounds very egotistical and is either flat out lying about being a cake designer, or he is so proud of himself that he is beneath doing his own baking. I don't buy the "cake designer" story, myself. If he were truly a "cake designer" he would not want to trust his sculpture to someone else and PAY them for it besides! There's gotta be something else to the story he is not saying.

No matter what, its weird, and I do not accept last minute orders anyway. I have a way my week works out...when I bake, when I ice and crumb coat, and when I decorate....so basically if I don't have my orders set up by the Saturday before I start baking (so a week ahead) I won't accept the order. And sometimes I don't even accept a "week before" order if it requires extra 3D planning and fondantwork.

Polekitten, I don't really think they are being negative or divas as much as,... we've been burned so many times by customers like this who have "proven out" to be impossible to please. The nice thing about this business is, we can choose to work with nice people, or not....

People like this crack me up! First, Any one want to bake my cakes for me?!?!? I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to only decorate my cakes! I dont enjoy baking or frosting, my passion is decorating, but I still have to do the other parts. Its what makes my business worth having. Maybe I should consider going to the other cake shop in town and get cakes to decorate! LOL.

Second, most of us own CUSTOM cake shops. With all of the Walmarts, Publix, and Martins out there people are used to getting what they want when they want. A friend of mine had a customer come into her shop and became irate because she didnt have cakes just sitting out for people to purchase. When she explained to him her process, he told her if thats how she wants to run her business then she isnt going to make any $$ and stormed out!
We are ARTISTS! And will all the media attention of fellow cake Artists people should be starting to realize we cant just produce cakes with such sort notice. Im not sure "they" will ever really get it.

Long Live the Cake Artists.

It would annoy me, yes. If I could fit it in, I would. Sounds like the penguin is going to be laying down ...pretty simple. He would definitely be charged an additional fee ...I hate it for him but it would have to be paid for in advance too...if he agreed to the price and the pre-payment, np...if not, he can either do it himself or on to the next baker/decorator. I'd probably be ranting to myself or YA'LL during it all though.

sounds to me like he tried to make it himself and failed, or took on more than he could handle and felt like he had no choice but to outsource... maybe this unreasonable request was really a cry for help.

IMHO. of course

Whatever happened with this? I would love the update...

Yip... I remember the good old days on this site. *Sigh*