I will try to summarize the previous thread: A woman who knew someone who had seen one of my baby shower cakes called and said she wanted a three-tiered cake for 35-40 people. White cake, strawberry filling, cream cheese icing. She sent me some pictures of ugly cakes that she liked (I am attaching all the pictures below). I told her $2/serving. She said it was more than she wanted to spend. I told her for that many people she only needed 2-tiers.

I sent a sketch to her based on the picture and colors she sent me (green and yellow with orange bow) and quoted her $70. She wanted it to look more "baby-ish". She sent me a copy of the fabric for the room (to which I said to my self "MY GOD HOW DO I MAKE A CAKE OUT OF THIS?"). I did ANOTHER sketch with more details and more work involved but not charging more. I thought I had really nailed the essence of what she wanted. Offset square tiers with ABC blocks, fondant animals in the corners and fondant baby booties on top!

I wait *5 days* to hear back from her. Today I received from her a POWER POINT PRESENTATION on what she wants for the cake! This is what she wants for $70!!!

I am speechless and actually furious. I am never going to able to make this woman happy, especially not for the amount of money she wants to spend. The baby shower in question is the day after I have a wedding cake, and I really don't like to do two big cakes two days in a row, so it wasn't going to bother me if she didn't follow through.

I want to just say, "sorry, I can't help you". What would you all say to her? And am I overreacting?

Well, what does she want for $70.00? For what I am looking at, you were offering her a bargain. I say stick to your guns and give her Charm City Cakes' phone number..... she wants Duff at Sam's prices!

Plus, according to Earlene's chart, a 6, 9, 12 square cake serves *99*. God. I am so mad.

Debsuewoo...you nailed it. She needs Duff. Maybe I will tell her that cake is beyond my capabilities and refer her to one of the high-dollar bakeries in the area. How does that sound? Then they can tell her $300 and that will be lovely. I only wish I could see the look on her face.

Tell her the cake idea she sent you was great but quite a bit out of HER league....budget wise. Don't you dare tell her YOU can't do the work she asked.... tell her that $70 is not enough to accomodate the size and details she is requesting and tell her that since she is on such a tight budget, she should go to Sam's Club or Wal-Mart...

I would also tell her that if she thinks you are being unreasonable, she should try calling local bakeries to find out how much they would charge for such a cake.

Don't be afraid to stand up to her - she is certainly not too shy or intimidated to send you a friggin' Powerpoint presentation for a cake...she shounds like a snob and thinks she is doing you a favor by letting you make her a cake!

In short, she is being a tool.

Oh my word. It just gets worse. I read down further in that email, it's a series of conversations between the hostesses for the shower. One person says "that cake needs some work. I don't like that last picture" (regarding my ABC block-animal-bootie cake), and further down they are talking about the INVITATIONS and say their budget is $200 for invitations!!

I'm going to tell her I can't help her. Period.

Here's what I sent her:

Hopefully it's over.

I think you are doing the right thing....if they are ok to spend 200 on invites then they are trying to save on the cake by pressuring you.....tell them to find someone else and say good riddance!

Sometimes it is just better to say no - if you feel like you need to give her an excuse just tell her that someone booked that date and paid in full. good luck!

I think you did the right thing. Sounds like she was a disaster in the making.

You did the right thing but never say you can not do the cake unless you are abosulte sure. She want a freebie cake, let her go to the other bakiers and found out that you can you a deal. $70 is too low for what she want, hey if you want the "WOW" effect then pay the price or go say hello to local grocery store.

You absolutely did the right thing!!! Let's see what the bakeries you suggested charges them for the type of cake they wanted! They were just trying to take advantage of you - good for you that you stuck to your guns and yet were completely professional about it! How much does anyone want to bet that she comes back!

First of all...if your cake chart says the sizes she wants feeds 99 then you charge her for 99! That's $2 per serving x 99 servings. If she wants the cake to be those specific sizes then she is feeding 99 people and has to pay accordingly. Regarding the powerpoint presentation....(and this is what I tell my "problem customers")...

" I will be happy to incorporate your design into the cake, however, there is a $100 charge for doing so. I will also have to add in the costs of additional materials as I see fit to make the design as you require. "

They run. I don't have to worry about them and they find someone else. I had a lady bring me a cake design on grid paper (she was an architect) to feed 60 people for her sister's 60th birthday. There was absolutely no way I could please her. She even had the measurements of the bow "9 centimeters from base of cake" down to the centimeter! I told her what a cute design and I would be happy to do it...for $900. She thanked me and left. Thank GOD!

You def. did the right thing. She sounds like she could cause you big problems. I loved your sketch ideas. What program did you use to sketch the cakes?

A power point presentation on a CAKE? Talk about anal, I wouldn't touch an order from that lady with a 10 foot pole, she's never going to be happy.
And she's not willing to spend $2 for each person to have cake yet she's willing to drop $200 on paper that's going to get thrown away?

Thanks. I might try that.

You did the right thing... difficult customers like that will NEVER be happy.

THAT comment made me bark in laughter! LMAO!!!

Well this has really, really been bothering me all week. I've never had any kind of situation like this -- everyone loves my cakes (or says they do!). Today I printed out that Power Point Presentation and took it down to one of the shops I had recommended to that woman, and asked the Pastry Chef there for a very broad quote, just to make myself feel better. Well, it turns out the woman had already emailed this picture in and asked for a quote!! Anyone wanna guess???

VINDICATION!!

For the 3-tier square with bow, they charged $2.85/serving for a grand total of $370.00. They would pipe icing animals on the sides, but they don't do fondant figurines.

They also quoted a 2-tier (6 and 9 square, like I originally offered) with the bow, but again, no fondant animals, and they weren't sure they could duplicate the fabric. $105.00.

Ha! Ha! Ha! And if you'll excuse me again...ha! This lady had sent the whole string of emails to this pastry chef, so the pastry chef saw all the rude comments about my sketch. She said she had wondered what that was all about. I felt really embarrassed and tried to explain to her that my baby shower cakes are really cute...really! She said sometimes you just have to tell people you won't be able to make them happy, which is kind of what I had done.

I want to thank everyone again for your supportive comments. This has been one of the hardest situations I've ever had to deal with in my "cake career" and like I said, it's really bothered me. You all gave me a lot of strength and hope!

Ha! Ha! Ha! And if you'll excuse me again...ha!


I'm with you ha!

I'd love to see her face when she got those quotes

omg! i don't think i would have done any cake for that lady for $70. i would have told her that i charge extra to deal with her rudeness.

Why on earth were you only charging $70.00??? IT seems like a lot more work than that!!! And UGH what an ugly piece of fabric for a babies room - haven't they heard of Winnie the Pooh?? It looked scary to me.....

And what exactly IS a Powerpoint presentation of a cake??? Like was it a slideshow? Were there transitioning decorations being added to the cake?? LOL this sounds so funny...... Like you would start out with some cake pans - fly in some sugar from the right, flour from the left..... etc..... next slide: Cake! And then next slide: it's colored! And then next slide: a monkey flies in from the right and lands on the 2nd tier corner, a bunny hops in from the left and is at the base of the cake..... a bow flies in from the top and lands on the top of the cake..... LOL what a show! I'm sure your customer didn't go to that kind of trouble though..... this might have to be a project for me.... it just sounds like a funny presentation!

You did the right thing - heck, you can always say that you will be happy to do the cake for ______ and if they complain, tell them to call other bakeries and you will try to match their price for the SAME cake - but that you need to see THE other bakeries quote in writing -tell her to have it faxed to you.... or faxed to her and she can bring it in. Yea for you for saying no!!!!

Well, it was the first cake I sketched (green with yellow polka dots/swirls and orange bow) that I quoted her $2/serving on (39 servings total). That would have totalled $78, and she said it was more than she was planning on spending. Keep in mind that originally she asked for a 3-tier cake for 35-40 people and I told her that she didn't need that much cake. So since $78 was too much, I lowered my price slightly to $70. That's what started the original thread in the first place. I really learned my lesson, I won't be lowering my price again.

The Power Point thing kills me! HAHA!!!!!

I've gotten to where I just charge what I want and if they don't write back, then that's ok, I don't have time to spend a weekend doing cakes if I'm not going to make a decent profit. I've had several people now request topsy turvy mad hatter cakes or fancy tiered party cakes and then when they hear my quotes they never write back. But that's ok because I have found that if I underquote a cake and then I'm stuck up at 2:00am working on it...that if I'm not making enough to make it worthwhile, then I hate doing it. (I have three little guys and so sleeping in is not an option LOL!) And I don't ever want to get to where I hate doing this, so I figure there is a certain group of people willing to pay me a certain amount to get EXACTLY what they want...and that is the group I will work with.

Please *do* let us know if she comes back with a retort to your no?
People like that usually always have to have the last word.

you know she is going to come running back to you, saying "okay, I guess I can pay you the $70.00 that we discussed" how much do you want to bet she will be back, throwing her $70.00 at you as if nothing happened????

I'd suddenly have a price increase!!!!!!!!!!!!



melody

Well it's been a week and a half and I haven't heard another peep out of her. The shower isn't until Nov. 5, so there's plenty of time, but I'm going to be unable to help her, no matter what happens. No cake would ever look like that PowerPoint cake -- she was setting herself up for disappointment. That's part of the reason I do just rough sketches...I want my cake to be breathtaking and above expectations!

imartsy - I could see that presentation in my mind as I read your post. Hysterical!!! My family couldn't figure out what could be so funny on a cake website!

kelleym - Glad you got rid of that woman before she became any more of a headache for you. It's so great that you found out what the other place told her. As you said, "Vindication!" Love it!

Guys, it happened.

She just called me and said that she "definitely" wanted to use me for her cake. She thinks that her friend "might have scared me" with her ideas, but the sketch I sent was just fine and we can go with that.

I told her that she and her friends had unrealistic expectations for their budget. She said that she didn't even look at the PowerPoint thing before she forwarded it to me (I call bullsh!t).

She was all sweet and reassuring...then my 2-year old, who I am on Day 1 of potty training, started grunting, and I had to tell her to call me back later.

So...it's really hard to tell someone 'no' on the phone when they're being sweet and saying they like your sketches. But I know she was quoted $105 on the small cake and $370 on the large cake and that's why she's come back to me.

What should I do? I am now a real business (got my license last week!) and want to keep things as professional as possible.