omg! That is hilarious. Even my 7 year old son thought that was lame! LOL

My mother asked me for 3 full-sheet cakes and 1 quarter-sheet cake for her alumni association fundraiser.  I gave her my price since the alumni association was paying for it.  You would have thought the $$ was coming out of her pocket.  She said that that price made it seem like I was trying to make money off this order and that a woman at her church would give her a better price.  I told her that my supplier is not going to give me a discount, that I AM trying to make $$, and I'm charging the alumni association the same as any other group or individual.  She reluctantly submitted her order to me.  After the event, she called me and said that I did an awesome job and she sees why I charge what I charge for my cakes.

 

My sister-in-law's brother called and told me he was getting married and wanted me to make the wedding cake.  He and his fiance' came over, picked out the cake they wanted, and I gave them a price.  I told them that I need a deposit to hold the cake and when I needed the final payment.  He told me he would contact me in a few days to bring the deposit.  I did not see or hear from him until his wedding day.  I found out from my sister-in-law's friend that they were expecting me to make the cake for FREE.  WTH, they don't get a free wedding cake from me!  They ended up getting a divorce.  In 2009 he asked me for a duplicate cake that I made for my brother and his wife for their 10 year anniversary (7 tiers, all hearts).  He never paid me for that.  As a matter of fact, my sister-in-law called me and told me that they were not having the party (it was supposed to be a surprise and she's calling me to cancel the cake?).  About 2 years ago, he called me again for another wedding cake to his new fiance.  I told him NO.  He said why.  I told him he asked me for 2 large cakes in the past and never paid up.  I told him when he called me about his 1st wedding cake, I had purchased the ingredients for the cake and he never paid me.  He apologized and asked me again and I told him NO again.  I'm glad I told him no because he and his fiance decided to just get married after church service a month before the original day. 

I made a cake for one of my close relative with fondant. I spend 3 days to finished them off for her birthday for surprise family party. Birthday girl's mom told me  after I done the cake, one of her son said he is busy, he won't join the party. So then she moved the party to the weekend (2 days after) so that her son will join. She called her son again on Friday, son said he can't join on the weekend too since he has his work Christmas party. Now they are planning to cut the cake on the Christmas day..  I told them it is not a good idea to keep the cake for too long...And bd girl's mom is like "No, I kept the cake for months...and it was good.(she bought that cake from convenient store)..So I will put it in the fridge and it will look the same". Then, I tried to explain to her that fondant will get hard if you put it in the fridge or if you leave the cake outside the cake will get bad...but they weren't listening and saying same thing again and again. I'm like WTH is wrong with them. I spend all my time to make this cake for free. I stayed late to finish this cake for no reason. They were not appreciate my work. But her son doesn't even care to join the family party and want to go to Christmas party. But they want to wait until he will join...I'm not sure that he will join on the Christmas day too.  I was so upset and still too.  

I did a four tier, fondant, etc cake this past weekend for a church function, and was talking to a woman who is a completely lovely person giving me very nice compliments. So I said, 'You know, once you know how to do it, and have the right gear, it's not so difficult.' You know, being modest.

 

And she says, 'Oh, do you have special equipment that you use?'

 

No - I put the ganache on with a butter knife and just smoosh the fondant on with my hands until I get it in that (almost) smooth state, and for all the rest, I just wave my magic wand.

 

Instead I said, 'Oh yes, bits and pieces that are helpful.'

A

Yes, I just love my magic wand! It really comes in handy for those "I need a cake tomorrow" orders, and it has saved me from spending hundreds of dollars on other frivolous equipment. ;)

Ha ha ha, even their hair didn't flatten in all that heat! wow special heat shield protector for sure.. LOL

AI work @ a Bakery in an area with lots of Amish. There is an Amish bakery outside of town and we frequently get calls asking for their number. My response is "I'm sorry they are Amish and don't have a phone you'll just have to drive down to the bakery." I get so frustrated with that. Why would we give you the competition's phone number? Ever? Their the COMPETITION!!

AMy favorite is.....so you design cakes? Do they taste good? Ummm, no I design funky tasting cakes!

Oooohhh, Faarrr Out! Just what I was looking for: funky-tasting cakes. Perfect for my stuck-in-the-60s hippie-themed party.

So I have a lady that asked me for decorated Xmas cookies in October--great, I can do that, but I leave for Arizona right after Thanksgiving..

I e-mail her in November--cookies are ready when would you like to pick them up?? No answer until yesterday Dec 16--where are my cookies??

Hmm, I told you I was leaving for the winter--so sorry, no cookies for you!

AI got this one today. on my qoute request form it clearly says $75 minimum where it ask for your budget and he puts his budget is $30 for 15 people for this Friday. I haven't written back yet I couldn't trust myself not to say something that wouldn't come across rude

Last year, my sister ordered cookies to give to her coworkers. It was last minute, as always, and a simple order was made complicated by "I want 6 packages of 2 cookies, 4 packages of 3 cookies," and so on...

 

So she sent me a message on Tuesday, "Last year I did cookies for my colleagues, remember? Anything hot for this year? Need them Thursday. "

 

my Response, "LOL (<<that was the kindest response I could come up with) Nothing I can get you by Thursday."

 

I would have loved to make her some adorable macarons, but damnit, I don't think I should lose two nights of sleep because she can't order in a reasonable time frame, especially when she knows how picky she is.

AI got this one today: "Can you make 2, possibly 3 cakes, by Sunday at 5?" Lol.

The worst I have heard: It was when I first started baking for the public. Customer:can you make some sports themed cupcakes for my son? Me: yes! I actually have some extra cupcakes I can do some up for you and then you can pick which design you want. Her: ok. I will pick my favorite to order.

I made them. They were adorable examples. Her: They are so cute!! How did you make that? Me:(Being an idiot, I told her how I made the icing look like grass, and that the football was fondant.) Her: I will get back to you. A couple days later I called to see which she wanted. She says: I decided to save money and do them myself. I got some cake mixes on sale.

She later posts them on Facebook...they were almost an exact copy of my work, and took credit for the design! Lesson learned. When somebody asks:"How did you do that"...be vague.

May have been said before, but I got this one several times recently...

 

"Well, how do I know if you can make it if you don't have a picture of it"?

 

My answer has been, "well, I've never made a single cake in my portfolio before but they turned out pretty awesome and my clients loved them".  What is WRONG with people?  If you want to pick a cake out of a book go to Safeway or Costco!

AReminds me of a moron we ha a couple of years ago.

She complained about our gallery and said she didn't like any of the cakes there.

We asked her if she had any idea of the kind of cake she wanted. She said yes, but couldn't find anything like it on our website. We said it was fine and if she could describe it then we'd have an idea. Our expertise is, in no way, limited to cake designs that we've already done.

She described what she wanted and we said that we'd not done a cake like that but what she wanted wasn't difficult.

She said, a little bit b.i.t.c.h.y, that if we would have pictures of cakes that we haven't done yet that it would be easier for customers who didn't know what they wanted.

Okay, lady, here's your sign.

And some people wonder why there's a waiting list for the group planning to colonize Mars

I've got a CD vendor I'd like to send to Mars. One way, without a spacecraft.

 

And as to the people wanting pictures of cakes that don't exist yet, well, I worked up a thumbnail of the first Leland Award cake, before it existed. It can't be that hard to come up with a thumbnail, just to make sure decorator and customer are on the same page, for a new cake. And I've always found it useful, whether it's cake, software, or a complex piece of custom carpentry, to have at least a rough design on paper.

Sometimes I just want to bang my head on a wall.

 

A couple of months ago and very young couple comes into the shop wanting a cake for their sons 1st birthday. She has a picture of a fondant covered, 3 tier, Dr Suess theme cake in 3 flavors. I explain to them that I do not do character cakes because of copyright but I can do something similar with the same colors and "feel". I give them a price but they couldn't afford it. I told them that it would bring the price down if we do buttercream instead of fondant. So we agree on price and design....$170 for 3 tier, buttercream, fondant decorations loosely based off Dr Suess, red and white fondant top hat, and candy trees. I ask if they need delivery or if they are picking it up. They tell me they are picking it up since they live an hour away. I inform them I can not promise it will make it there in tact once it leaves my store and suggest we make the top hat a separate cake since it was the smash cake and that would make it easier to transport. They agree so I write it up and tell them the deposit is $85 plus tax. They asked if they could pay part of the deposit and come back in a few weeks to pay the other part of the deposit. Being nice I agree.

 

Fast forward to November.... They come in to pay the other part of the deposit and the guy asks if we can do the trees with cotton candy. I told him that it would be a good idea but only if I could find cotton candy. But if I couldn't find it then we would have to do our original plan. OK sounds good.

 

Now its December and the week the cake is due. We are also looking to have a massive snow storm that weekend. I call them on Thursday  and ask if they are still having the party that Saturday. He tells me they are having it and that I can proceed with the cake. So I do. Only something tells me to not put the decorations on. Of course I get a call first thing Saturday morning (after I braved the snow and ice to get to my shop for this one cake order) saying they are moving the party to the following weekend because of the snow and will it be a problem? After cursing in my head I tell him I understand and to be careful out there. Then take home 3 tiers of cake to my kids.....

 

The next week the cake is done and they come to pick it up. They pay the other $85 and ask if they can leave the cake with me so they can go out to eat. Sure! 10 mins later I get a call from the girls father saying they need a refund because his daughter is distraught and hates the cake so much shes crying. WHAT?!?!?! They were just in here saying how much they liked it. I did it exactly to their specifications. I told him there was no way I was going to be giving any refunds because there was nothing wrong with the cake. Not to mention that I had to pay for supplies and ingredients plus the 2 days it took me to make it.  Then he asks if they can at least have a discount. Ummmm no! I then send him pictures of the cake so he can see for himself. 15 mins later she comes in looking all sheepish. I asked her what it was that she didn't like about the cake and maybe we could change it. she just keeps saying "It doesn't look exactly like the picture"over and over again. I thought we had discussed this in our first meeting????? I showed her the contract where we planned the cake and discusses the changes. SO NO.... its not going to look like that picture!!!! Then she keeps asking for a refund or a discount. I explain to her once again that I was out time and ingredients for this cake and that if I gave her a refund then I would also be out money. She didn't care. Just kept asking for money back. I finally told her that I would give her the money back that she paid me that day ($85)  but she was not walking out with a cake from me. Of course now she is all over fb telling her friends how I ruined her sons first birthday because I wouldn't give her the cake she ordered. Sigh... you just cant make everyone happy. maybe I should have kept the other part of the money as a BS fee.

 

 

 

I honestly think that they didn't realize how much they would be paying me right before Christmas and figured if they said they didn't like the cake then they wouldn't have to pay full price for it. But once I stood my ground it became sense of pride for her.

Good God, Strubbette I feel bad that anyone did that to you! I'm glad you stood your ground!! I would have had a hard time doing so because I'm chicken......but I think you're right.

AIt's a little scary that people this stupid, and this ignorant, are reproducing.

Stop polluting the effing gene pool, for eff's sake!!!!!!

In my opinion it's not so much stupidity or ignorance, but more of a total selfishness. This kind of me first behavior is prevalent everywhere. So in relationship to food, most people are only capable of thinking about their own little world and how they can benefit from each transaction regardless of how it affects others.

AI usually just make cakes for friends and family since I am a brand new teacher right out of school. Some of my new coworkers are getting married nd she asked me, two weeks before the wedding, if I could Malta wedding cake for them. Really? You didn't plan this out?

So after explaining it would just be a head table cake I agreed to do it. She then asks me, "so I was wondering if you could like make it a wedding gift for us?" Really? Do you not realize I'll have to take. Sick day and spend nearly $100 for supplies since I do no have ingredients on hand. Ugh. Luckily the other teachers from our department all pitched in money so I could buy supplies.

I just don't think people realize how expensive it is to make. Cake. Even though it is just a small two tier cake I would have charged $200-250 for it sinus it is covered in fondant. >:( need to stop being the friendly baker.

AI've had that happen a couple of times. Our policy is full refund if you don't like it upon pickup.

You don't get a refund and keep the cake. Just like when you return something at target you have to give the item BACK. Some still try and keep the cake.