Why Do I Let This Bother Me? (Long)
Business By karateka Updated 14 Jan 2009 , 11:01pm by Rose_N_Crantz
Oh guys - I am right there with you! I hate to see people being rude on a phone! I mean, is the call really THAT important? I think not....
The other day, my hubby went into a gas station to buy skoal (I know, waste of money and gonna kill him, but alas), and the teenage cashier stood gossiping on her phone for 5 minutes. And, unlike me, my husband stood and waited. I would have written a note on the silly little comment cards and slid it across the counter for the camera to catch. It was ridiculus. She is getting paid to run the store, yet, she is not even asking what the customer needs. CRAZY!
I teach my children manners, and I expect the same respect. I don't know what happened to customer service, but I sure miss it. And, around here, you can't just go somewhere else. It seems that you find that everywhere!!!!!
YIKES.
I teach my children manners, and I expect the same respect.
Absolutely!! People are always stunned when my little guy will say please and thank you for everything. Sorry, would they prefer he just grab what he wants and kick them on his way by? Like a lot of kids would do? It's sad that polite children are the exception when they should be the norm! And that goes for adults too, of course!
I've worked retail for years, talk about a list of pet peeves!! It never ceases to amaze me at the disrespect given to those that are there to serve them and make their lives easier. Seriously!!! Currently unemployed, and can I just say how happy I am to have found this forum?!?! I love it here, what a great place to find comraderie and cakes! As I hope to eventually become a professional (it's a long road, I know) it's fascinating to me the things that could go wrong with cakes. How can anyone not be happy with cake?!?! And what ever happened to people being considerate of quality? If you're ordering a cake for what's supposed to be the happiest most important day of your life, and it's so important to you that you're scoping out a professional quality...whether in a bakery or a home bakery with professional skills....you need to keep in mind that quality costs money people!!! Grrrr...
O.K. off my soapbox I go. 
Realistically, brides have a really good reason to assume that in home bakers cost less - because there are a TON of them that charge next to nothing.
EXACTLY! That is what drives me nuts...there are a TON of illegal bakeries in my area, which makes NO sense since it is so easy to become legal, that are doing it as a "hobby" and charging half of everyone else. They dont have the same overhead with insurance, licensing, etc etc. I wish the magazine articles would point that out too!
I'm getting frustrated with some of the emails I've been getting the past few days.
This one woman emailled me asking for me do to this carved cake I've already done "as a groom's cake". I emailled back to ask if she'd need the wedding cake also (I have the exclusivity clause).
The funny thing is, I JUST went through this with someone about a week ago, for teh same cake!
Anyway, after a couple emails back and forth trying to get some fairly basic info out of her (like how many does she need to serve?),I get this:
"well,this has all been quite a struggle to get a price on the cake. And I have not heard of a cake being $6 a slice even from the finest bakeries nor has anyone else had a problem with there being other desserts at our reception. These desserts include cheese cake made by a dear friend and a special cake made for my ringbearer that can not be made in a facility that even keeps nuts, flour , or an assortment of other ingredients that he is severly allergic to.We were willing to purchsae a wedding cake from you also but will not exclude our other plans. Thank you for your time but we will look elsewhere."
For the record, I do allow exclusions to my policy for allergy cakes that I can't/won't do. At no point did she mention allergy needs or anything like that, was just really sketchy about getting me the info I'd need to price it.
AUGH.
Am I being overly sensitive, or was this pretty freaking rude? Especially considering that my website clearly lists my basic price of $5.50/serving, and even if she managed to skip that, the contact page MENTIONS IT SPECIFICALLY, trying to weed out crap like this!! (along the lines of "many of the questions we receive are answered right here on this website! If you are emailling about pricing, click here!" kinda thing!!)
Realistically, brides have a really good reason to assume that in home bakers cost less - because there are a TON of them that charge next to nothing.
"
"DING, DING DING" You are the winner!!! Exactly, I know of some people that as a beginner charge less for the experience however, for an important event like this you really want to be in good hands!!!
eme926 that's just what I was thinking. Actually I was thinking one of two things... a hopeful competitor either feeling you out, or trying to find something to 'turn you in' for.
It really is frustrating how, in general, people seem to lack just basic courtesy. Just on a day to day basis seeing how people treat each other is upsetting some times. One small example, I have a 'no talking on the phone at the check out rule'. EVERYONE who knows me knows this rule. I will either let it ring and call them back later, or, depending on who it is I'll pick up and say 'I'm at the check out' and hang up. They understand that this means I'll call them back in 2 minutes. I've had cashiers thank me like I am some sort of superhero for that! How bad is it that they are just accustomed to people standing there and not acknowleding them? It makes me heart sick. When I check out I say 'hello' and exchange a few pleasantries with the person doing it because they are HUMAN! And sometimes, just with a silly comment or a kind word, I can make their day a little better... and how much work was that for me? NONE!
I do the same thing!!!! It's just rude not to pay attention to someone that is serving you and if there is a mistake in the price don't come back fighting at the cashier for not knowing the actual price you see they are not computers and big stores like Walmart and Target mark down their pricing frequently!!!! (Ok, I was a cashier in High School so, I know what it means!!!)
Phone conversation:
Client: Do you have character cakes?
Me: I cannot do any images that are protected by copyright law. If, for example, you were interested in "Star Wars", I could not reproduce Yoda, but if you have a Yoda toy, I could decorate a cake and you could put Yoda on it.
client: But there's a bakery in Hamilton that does it all the time.
Me: In that case, they are running a risk of getting caught and being fined or put out of business
Client: So you won't do a Dora cake?
Me: I cannot reproduce a copyright protected image without the express permission of the owner of the copyright.
Her: Ok, fine. Click.
Perhaps that bakery in Hamilton isn't running the risk of getting caught because they spent possibly hundreds/thousands of dollars to purchase the rights to recreate, or just buy edible images of copyrighted works. Which is fine if you plan on doing several cakes a day with copyrighted imagery on them.
I would get that question all the time when I worked at a grocery store bakery. Our cake book had TONS of character cakes in it and it would just astound me when someone would bring in a picture of Dora to use on a cake. I'd point out the Dora cake we already had in our book, but they didn't like that one. So many times I wanted to say "look, for 20 dollars for a half sheet it's either this or just some roses. Take your pick."
EDIT: and I forgot to mention one other thing. Can I say it is just absolutely refreshing to hear that another caker has the same thoughts as I do about reproducing copyrighted stuff on a cake? All of my other cake buddies would have no problem with drawing Spongebob or Barbie or a logo on a cake for someone. I always see that copyright infringement fine hanging over my head when someone asks me to do that. What can I say, I'm a *insert expletive* when it comes to the law.
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