Hey everyone! So getting right to it: I had a guy ask me about 3 cakes earlier today. A heart for his wife, a gun for his son, and a number 12 for his daughter. I asked him for sizes and he gave me rough dimensions, but mentioned that he wanted a 12" heart and that the numbers should be about 18" tall and 4" thick. So I told him that these 3 cakes would serve more than 120 people. Is that what he's looking for?

So he goes no, we estimated that a 12" by 12" heart would serve - get this- 6 people. SIX. The gun 15, and the digits about 20. So total 40.

I tried to explain to him how cakes are sized and my standard serving size and that I didn't want to quote a price till we had the number of servings down. He said no, just go ahead and tell me, I just want to compare.

So I gave him the prices for the 120 servings, and then for 40 servings. So he goes off to this slightly high-end, but nonetheless a grocery store. The guy there tells him that they don't do anything less than 12 inches and that a 6 or 8 inch heart would just look bad and these 'ladies' (meaning home bakers like me) can't get the same finish we do because we have machines. And then he quoted him 180 for a 12" x 24 " sheet cake. That's enough cake for 100 people by my serving size, and I would charge about 650 for that. That's ridiculous even for a grocery store!

So then this potential-but-I'm-pretty-sure-I'm-saying-no customer tells me the bottom line he's going to pay. There are a lot of numbers mixed with terrible grammar, but for a 10" fondant covered heart he offers 100. To put that in perspective, I charge 220 for a 10" BUTTERCREAM covered cake. He's like if you agree with my prices then I'm willing to confirm this order.

I told him thanks but no thanks, you should just get them from the grocery store. I was extremely polite, even though I have a hellish temper. And then he's like madam I am a sales manager and I know what things are worth. I said yes of course, every customer has the right to decide if they're willing to pay for something or not, so I'm not going to force you to buy my cakes, no hard feelings, and I hope you get some great cakes and have a wonderful party. Goodbye!

To which he responds by telling me that my prices are not just high, they're extremely high, and if I agree with his prices then I should text him.

At which point I just let it go.

Seriously though. I think this guy does not understand measurements. I think he means centimeters instead of inches, and since he's not a native English speaker, he can't tell the difference. The grocery store probably meant 12 cm by 24 cm, which would make total sense according to market prices. I mean no matter how big you cut your slices, how does he figure only 6 servings from a 12" heart?

I absolutely DO NOT want this order because early on in the conversation he mentioned 'prices like gold-plated cakes', which put me off him right away. But it also rankles thinking that he's strutting around thinking he's smarter than me and that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Should I go back and educate him? Still not gonna accept the order under any circumstances.

Gosh. I hate this kind of customers!

Ask him about the inches. Maybe he meant centimeters, like you said. Otherwise, drop him. He doesn't even know what he's talking about.

As Judge Judy says: You can't fix stupid.  Let him go and be glad you dodged a bullet.  He is someone you do not want to do business with.  It is not your job to educate him on the difference between inches and cms.  If he was at your shop and talking about the large cake feeding only 6 people that might have been the time to show him the size of a 12 inch cake.  Put a period at the end of this and move on. You'll be glad you did.

Agreed with everyone here, pass this person up. Your prices reflect your time and expertise and people have to respect that. I haven't come across anyone who has done this to me but I'm very clear on pricing per slice or cake design at the onset of the conversation. 

Don't waste any more energy on this person, he probably won't be happy with what you give him and he still won't appreciate the difference between your cake and something from a supermarket.

Do not even answer the phone if he calls. Somebody that create problems from the beginning, will continue giving you headaches up to the end. If you agree with the cakes for some crazy circumstances, he will probably will come up with something that "that is not gun that I want", I do not like the heart,or something like that and will ask for refunds or more headaches,.....Like Elsa says...Let it go, let it go!!!!.I'm a enthusiast, I bake, decorate, for friends, friends or friends ,small orders, but in my regular job, I deal with customer service, and is always same pattern..the "...hole" will be one from the beginning to the end. You do not need to educate anybody, if he really is a sales manager, regarding where he may be from (and I'm not american, so I can tell.. ), he knows better the different between inches and cms...you do not become a sales manager in one night,even sales charts are scale in inches; he does not want to pay, he want to outsmart you and then in the party he will presuming how he pay whatever he wants..I bet.

Sorry , but I heat that!

he sounds like a jerk, don't be sad that he's going to go give the grocery store trouble instead of you!

I wonder if he goes into a resturant and orders a meal then tells them it was only worth XX$$??  Of course not.  Neither would one tell the resturant just how big the plate should be or how much food needs to be on that plate!

Actually this sounds a lot like a scam to me.  If you had taken the order & made the cake they would never show up to collect it.

Wow! Thank you for all the support guys! Man I feel better knowing that I wasn't overreacting when I told him to go with the grocery store cakes.

I actually happened to go to that grocery store today so I decided to swing by their baked goods section and see for myself. I asked for a 12 inch cake and the chump behind the counter told me they don't make anything as 'small' as 12 inches, and they only do 20, 24, and 30 inches. I asked him to show me one, and sure enough, the 20 inch cake was actually a 20 cm cake. Like 8 inches. *face palm* That's a new low, Big Chain Grocery Store. I was so elated that I walked around after that with a huge smile on my face and forgot half the things on my grocery list. Vindication is so sweet!!

@funcakes ‍  you called it! Can't fix stupid. I feel bad for the company this guy is a sales manager in.

I'm not going to contact him again. He's a grown up. He should be able to tell the difference between inches and cms.

This guy is now officially on my No Cake for You list. He can go and buy his 24 inch long cakes and feel good about himself. I'm happy making cake for people who appreciate it.

Lesson learned, moving on to the next customer!

There are Cake baker and there are cake bakers (artists/ chefs...you pick the title). And there are painters and there are painters.

You can hire a one coat/ one color painter to paint your house. Will you hire that same guy to paint your portrait to hang in the living room? The products and skills are not the same, so neither is the price. 

Same with cake.

....and they all lived happily ever after.....

Hey, bakemeenchanted. I feel you. 

Yesterday I had to do a sheet cake with some simple decoration that went well with the theme of teenage mutant ninja turtles. When the lady came to order she choice one of my speciality flavors that is pecan tres leches (three milks) and I asked her if she wanted the toy of the TMNT so I include it in the cake price. She said no and said she would get one from the store. I gave her the price for the cake she was okay with it and paid right away. 

A couple hours after delivering the cake I get text message like crazy I have messages on my Facebook page and phone calls from different numbers. 

I return the call from one of the numbers and to my surprise it was the lady who order the cake from me . I asks her how can I help her she replies "the cake is horrible."  My face when I heard this