A client who booked me last year emailed to ask about whether the deposit is refundable if they cancel the cake, so I looked up what it said on the contract. It said (in bold) "the $100 retainer fee is a non-refundable fee." So I emailed back that it wasn't refundable. Turns out that she booked me, then kept shopping for cheaper cakes, and she found someone who would give her a slightly bigger cake FOR MORE MONEY, so she wanted to cancel her contract.

This other person has a cheaper price per serving, but once you add all her fees up, the price would be higher. (I also looked at her website and her cakes are "less than excellent" shall we say, so the client is willing to go for a crooked cake in exchange for a cheaper price per serving even though the final price would be higher.

Can anyone explain to me how any of that makes sense? Am I missing something?

It might be cake muggle logic....

I guess she's not seeing the final price...

Think of the challenge of trying to "educate" this client. If not, you have a nice profit for no more work.

There is no way a logical person can understand an illogical person ! You would hope this customer would take the time to figure the costs out to make an informed decision but sometimes their vision gets cloudy when someone makes them "feel" as though they are getting a "discount". And at some point, you really need to consider quality. Even if in a situation you charged the customer more for the cake than bakery A, a logical person would be willing to pay more for quality.

I wish you the best and few interactions with people like this in the future!

Ugh. ::headdesk::

Awwww look at you so cute tying to figure out the thought process of insane people. I admire your determination but net of you to realize.....people suck! It will make you crazy trying to figure out how people think, and doing the what dis I so wrong....at the end of the day you just gotta say screw it, have a laugh ( and some wine) and then be happy this crazy nightmare bride is now someone else's problem!

LOL! You totally should.

Yeah, I was channeling Indy last week at a wedding show. The young couple, expecting (seriously expecting not just inviting) 300 guests was having trouble grasping why their wedding was costing so much. I looked at them and asked, "If you took friends out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, how much would it cost per person?" About $20 bucks they said. "OK, now multiply that by 300 . . ." Light bulbs above their cute little heads began to glow. And a look of horror began to spread across their bright and shiny faces.

LOL Oh my goodness and this is our future!!!!

As the credit card commercials say.....PRICELESS!

::Shakes her head::

Stupid is as stupid does. Some people get stuck on that price per serving and think that we're all on a level playing field. Its like when Applebees does that deal - 2 meals for $20. Then they stand at the table and bore you for 20 minutes asking if you want upcharges. "Butter will be $.50, sour cream is a $1.50... do you want bacon bits? $1.75....."

I will always love that look of horror when poor little bridey realizes that cake to feed 500 is gonna cost more than $400....

MATH, anyone?!

I tell people to watch for the "additional fees" all the time (Oh, you want icing on your cake? That's an additional fee.) They don't seem to get it, though.

After that person emailed me yesterday someone else emailed and told me that they needed a cake for 150 people and their cake budget was $250. I was sorely tempted to send them the mapquest dierctions to Walmart, but I wrote back and told them that if they did this, that, etc. then they could get their cost down to around $375 once they added in tax and delivery, and if they had any wiggle room in their budget to call me. They just really have no idea what cakes cost sicne they're all used to going to the grocery store and getting that butter-free, one-layer piece of hockey puck cake for $15.