Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I made a cake for a client this weekend and she was supposed to come pick it up today. She ordered this cake via our Facebook page, and she had made it clear that her birthday was tomorrow but she wanted her cake for today. She had previously ordered a cake for her friends bridal shower and came to pick it up.
Hi Sweetshop, I always get at least a 50% deposit on cakes at the time of booking. I don't even reserve the date unless payment is sent. A lot of the folks I deal with are strangers and I don't want to get caught holding the bag.
That being said, your client is a repeat customer so that's a bit surprising. If it were me, she purchased a cake, you did the work, you should be compensated. The total cost for this may be small enough that you could chalk it up to a lesson learned, that's another option.
Let us know how it works out,
Frank
Well, the day isn't over, so I'd wait. But I'd send her one more message on the thread where she ordered the cake from you to say that if she doesn't pick it up by X o'clock you'll be selling it to the highest bidder. Tel her your "business hours" for the day are almost over and she needs to pick it up by then or you'll assume that she doesn't want it.
After that, do a few things that will make your life easier.
1. Never turn your oven on if you haven't been paid in full.
2. Get paid in full at least two weeks ahead of time for any custom work, and for orders placed with less lead time require cash and charge a rush fee.
3. Set work hours so that customers don't think they can show up whenever they feel like showing up.
4. Never take an order through facebook, send it all to email and have them fill out a full information form with contact info etc.
Or you could tell her that you'll be leaving the cake on your front porch for her, but you can't be responsible for what any wandering dogs might do to it ;)
Quote by @Frank68 on 4 seconds ago
Hi Sweetshop, I always get at least a 50% deposit on cakes at the time of booking. I don't even reserve the date unless payment is sent. A lot of the folks I deal with are strangers and I don't want to get caught holding the bag.
That being said, your client is a repeat customer so that's a bit surprising. If it were me, she purchased a cake, you did the work, you should be compensated. The total cost for this may be small enough that you could chalk it up to a lesson learned, that's another option.
Let us know how it works out,
Frank
Hi Frank!
Yes I agree, this is also partially my fault for not requiring a deposit. We usually don't ask people for deposits unless its for wedding cakes, but I think now I will definitely start doing it to be on the safe side. But like you said, I find this extremely odd since its a repeating customer, and not to mention she was obsessed with the cake she ordered last time.
Thanks for the advice!
Quote by @costumeczar on 1 minute ago
Or you could tell her that you'll be leaving the cake on your front porch for her, but you can't be responsible for what any wandering dogs might do to it ;)
Quote by @costumeczar on 2 minutes ago
Well, the day isn't over, so I'd wait. But I'd send her one more message on the thread where she ordered the cake from you to say that if she doesn't pick it up by X o'clock you'll be selling it to the highest bidder. Tel her your "business hours" for the day are almost over and she needs to pick it up by then or you'll assume that she doesn't want it.
After that, do a few things that will make your life easier.
1. Never turn your oven on if you haven't been paid in full.
2. Get paid in full at least two weeks ahead of time for any custom work, and for orders placed with less lead time require cash and charge a rush fee.
3. Set work hours so that customers don't think they can show up whenever they feel like showing up.
4. Never take an order through facebook, send it all to email and have them fill out a full information form with contact info etc.
That last post was funny LOL!
But yes, I will definitely be taking all of these tips into consideration now. I really don't want a repeat in the future. Thank you :)
@costumeczar I just have one more question for you, you said I should message her and tell her if she doesn't pick it up by X o'clock I will sell it to the highest bidder. How should I go about this? I will have to make a Facebook post, but do you think I should explain that we have this cake because a client didn't come to pick it up? Surely it seems odd that we would be giving away a cake for free that says "Happy Birthday", so I'm not sure if I should give an explanation or not. Any ideas what I should post? Thanks :)
You may want to also consider having a minimum order price. That is a lot of work and detail for a 4 inch cake, barely bigger than a cupcake. Even if you were paid in full, was it worth the kitchen mess and what not for one cake that small? If people have more money invested they are less likely to flake out about a pick up.
The Ariel cake was hers? So did she ever get in touch with you? What a waste of such a beautiful cake. Put her on a "no more cake for you" list.
Quote by @SweetShop5 on 11 hours ago
@costumeczar I just have one more question for you, you said I should message her and tell her if she doesn't pick it up by X o'clock I will sell it to the highest bidder. How should I go about this? I will have to make a Facebook post, but do you think I should explain that we have this cake because a client didn't come to pick it up? Surely it seems odd that we would be giving away a cake for free that says "Happy Birthday", so I'm not sure if I should give an explanation or not. Any ideas what I should post? Thanks :)
Sorry I'm late in answering...If I was going to try to sell the cake I'd put up a post with something humorous. Like "Unclaimed cake notice...Who would like to purchase a bargain unclaimed birthday cake for $$? In other news, I'm putting a minimum order amount in place, and all cakes from this point on need to be paid in full when the order is placed to avoid unclaimed cakes!"
This is off-topic, but I'll add that I looked at your facebook page, and you have a ton of copyright infringement cakes on there. Disney, Superheroes, etc. If you're going to sell cakes you need to get familiar with the laws regarding that. Are you working under cottage food laws or are you licensed? I'm not trying to pick on you, I just want to warn you about doing things the right way so that you don't get busted and fined.
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