The Thread About Allergy-Suffering Client And Business Practices
Decorating By CuteCakes1234 Updated 5 Jan 2013 , 6:08am by Evoir
AHere we go again, I just can't make anyone happy! Long story very short.. I offered a free cake(as a prize win of my fb page) The lady that won told me her son has nut allergys. I agreed to take the order (not thinking clearly after 12 hours of caking and no sleep) I go to make her cake and notice Lindt chocolates may contain nuts and a couple of other ingredients. ( she wanted chocolate on chocolate) I panicked and emailed her that the chocolate ect contained nuts and I am not comfortable making his cake and apologized profusely I told her this the day before her cake was needed at 7pm ( I've never had a allergy order) She showed up to my house the next day i was at a consultation. She wrote all over my fb wall how bad of a person I am and how she will warn all of her friends to NEVER go to me for a cake. I messaged her again saying how sorry I am and that I seriously was concerned about her son having a nut allergy and I will make another free cake for her if the person does not have any allergy's. She then freaked out even more said I was unprofessional and that it was discrimination, that she will post everywhere on how I am not dependable ect ect.. I seriously feel HORRIBLE and I'm done with trying to start a business its ALWAYS something seriously!! I mean I have wonderful customers but then again I offer free cakes and people turn into hawlk when things don't go exactly there way! What if one of my children where sick and I couldn't make her cake would she still freak out ugh! Okay I'm done b*tching lol!
AIf you look at it from the customer's perspective, I can understand how she would be upset considering that you cancelled the order the day before the party. At this point there's not really much you can do, but I definitely wouldn't quit over this. Mistakes happen.
It wouldn't have helped you in this situation, but having contact info for other reputable local bakeries that can fill a last-minute order in case of an emergency is crucial to avoid disappointing customers, especially if you are the only baker.
And if you constantly have 12 hour days without sleep you may want to look into raising your prices to decrease your workload.
Original message sent by CuteCakes1234
Here we go again, I just can't make anyone happy! Long story very short.. I offered a free cake(as a prize win of my fb page) The lady that won told me her son has nut allergys. I agreed to take the order (not thinking clearly after 12 hours of caking and no sleep) I go to make her cake and notice Lindt chocolates may contain nuts and a couple of other ingredients. ( she wanted chocolate on chocolate) I panicked and emailed her that the chocolate ect contained nuts and I am not comfortable making his cake and apologized profusely I told her this the day before her cake was needed at 7pm ( I've never had a allergy order) She showed up to my house the next day i was at a consultation. She wrote all over my fb wall how bad of a person I am and how she will warn all of her friends to NEVER go to me for a cake. I messaged her again saying how sorry I am and that I seriously was concerned about her son having a nut allergy and I will make another free cake for her if the person does not have any allergy's. She then freaked out even more said I was unprofessional and that it was discrimination, that she will post everywhere on how I am not dependable ect ect.. I seriously feel HORRIBLE and I'm done with trying to start a business its ALWAYS something seriously!! I mean I have wonderful customers but then again I offer free cakes and people turn into hawlk when things don't go exactly there way! What if one of my children where sick and I couldn't make her cake would she still freak out ugh! Okay I'm done b*tching lol!
No wait seriously--no offense to anyone who has allergies or has a loved one with an allergy. But some of the allergy challenged amongst us get this way about this. Seriously. They DO with regularity.
I could give you story after story after story after story. But first let me hasten to say my son had food allergies and he just did without or Mom made it. I told him he's not gonna get forlorn because he can't eat all the foods, he's gonna be grateful that we know what makes him sick and we can avoid it.
In some people with allergic children in particular they want the world to be the same for their child and it just isn't gonna be the same as for the non-allergic. The child feels left out and some of the parents over react. Typically they are pushy and want you to bake for them no matter what. I personally don't understand that but they push and push and push and don't take no for an answer. No offense to anyone--just talking in general from years of experience.
You seem to be a bit cake-customer-challenged here at first. But just think you'll be able to handle anything pretty soon
In my experience it is not unusual for parents to react this way which is why now you know you NEVER promise to bake for them. At least I never will. I mean if someone's life depends on it--agh no I'll leave that to Jason's former bakery.
A
Original message sent by jason_kraft
If you look at it from the customer's perspective, I can understand how she would be upset considering that you cancelled the order the day before the party. At this point there's not really much you can do, but I definitely wouldn't quit over this. Mistakes happen. It wouldn't have helped you in this situation, but having contact info for other reputable local bakeries that can fill a last-minute order in case of an emergency is crucial to avoid disappointing customers, especially if you are the only baker. And if you constantly have 12 hour days without sleep you may want to look into raising your prices to decrease your workload.
No I seriously understand why she would be upset trust me I do! Also I would normally give a two weeks notice or 72 hours on a cancel, this is the first one I've. Canceled less then 24 hours.. But I did offer another free cake and seriously apologized like 20 times lol.. Then said forget it and blocked her as a friend on facebook as I am not going to put up with her posting all over my personal wall.. I mean it was free! I've had nicer paying customers when I cancel witch I've only had to do three times in the last 4 years.. I should have been more professional but I guess Iet her get to me witch is a big no no in this industry!!
A
Original message sent by -K8memphis
I'll leave that to Jason's former bakery.
There were some instances when we could not accommodate a customer's allergy (corn and sugar were the most common), when this happened I would give the customer some tips on how to make their own safe cake. We would also get inquiries from around the world asking if we ship, since we don't I would usually do a quick search for allergy-friendly bakeries in the customer's area. You'd be surprised how many are out there.
I don't think I've ever told a customer a flat "no" with no additional tips or pointers, unless they were asking for a discount.
A
Original message sent by -K8memphis
No wait seriously--no offense to anyone who has allergies or has a loved one with an allergy. But some of the allergy challenged amongst us get this way about this. Seriously. They DO with regularity.
I could give you story after story after story after story. But first let me hasten to say my son had food allergies and he just did without or Mom made it. I told him he's not gonna get forlorn because he can't eat all the foods, he's gonna be grateful that we know what makes him sick and we can avoid it.
In some people with allergic children in particular they want the world to be the same for their child and it just isn't gonna be the same as for the non-allergic. The child feels left out and some of the parents over react. Typically they are pushy and want you to bake for them no matter what. I personally don't understand that but they push and push and push and don't take no for an answer. No offense to anyone--just talking in general from years of experience.
You seem to be a bit cake-customer-challenged here at first. But just think you'll be able to handle anything pretty soon :D
In my experience it is not unusual for parents to react this way which is why now you know you NEVER promise to bake for them. At least I never will. I mean if someone's life depends on it--agh no I'll leave that to Jason's former bakery.
Thank you for this reply! I feel like 10x better knowing others have gone threw something like this and hopefully I will not let things get to me as much lol!!
As a Mother of 7 I would be grateful that you caught this before hand.Yes I would be a little irratated that it came 24 hrs before but grateful that i was not spending the night at the hospital with my child.
My first Gluten Free product had me in tears and i mean tears. Reading every label and so on, I called the customer 2 days before hand and told him I was just not wanting to hurt him at all and I give up.He was the best customer ever because he asked what I was using and he went through my ingredients with me on the phone.I know it sounds really bad because I am the one doing him a service but my point is once in awhile you run into a customer that just makes you feel better.
He is now one of my best customers and I call him Smiley because he is always smiling lol.I have had many contracts with him and his whole family.
Stick with it, believe me the good ones outweigh the bad and some just plain want to grow your business for you.
AIf you are going to do FB giveaways, you need to specify exactly what the prize is. At the very least, it needs to be an item from what you CAN supply or is on your "menu". I can't understand someone asking for a cake which you don't make, unless you worded it so it sounded like you'd make ANYTHING. But let's just say not all people out there understand the cake biz, and as k8memphis said, she's seeing it from her own little bubble.
As you've found out FB freebies are not a great marketing idea for cakers. This woman will bad mouth you and cause a disproportionate amount of negative press. I'm not aware of how you worded your offer, but like any contract, you need terms and conditions for your prize offer. Say for example you will give away a dozen regular chocolate butter cake cupcakes, with regular buttercream and sprinkles. Advise that the prize is as listed, no alterations possible. Also specify the amount of notice needed, and that the order is subject to your schedule too (if its a big cake).
At the very least, to make good on this offer, honour your disgruntled customer's prize on another occasion. She may want to bring a cake to a dinner, school fete, work function - or for anyone apart from her son. Tell her you do not make "special diet" cakes but she can redeem her prize on another occasion (giving a week's notice).
I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but you need to accept your part in this problem too. Be a professional, and leave the emotion out of your dealings online. You've apologised which is the first step :-)
One other thing - next time, get a customers phone number, so you can speak to them directly instead of emailing. You cannot guarantee someone reads their emails!
Good luck, and don't give up...these are great learning experiences!
My website, facebook, and my mouth all tell people that I do NOT offer products for allergic or sensitive people. Even if I used the appropriate ingredients, I'm still going to be using the spoons, mixers, table tops, that I used on yesterday's peanut butter filling. I clean things VERY well, but I'm not willing to take the chance of a lawsuit. Also, I can understand a customer being upset over the order being cancelled the day before a party. That doesn't give her time to make other plans for her child, and I'm sure that's the most important thing to her. She probably would have been just fine with you changing your ingredients to accomodate the allergy, but still have a chocolate/chocolate cake. None of my recipes for chocolate cake or fillings include nuts, so I'm not sure if that's a recipe she asked for, or your own recipe, but that might have been reworked to avoid this situation.
A
Original message sent by Dani1081
My website, facebook, and my mouth all tell people that I do NOT offer products for allergic or sensitive people. Even if I used the appropriate ingredients, I'm still going to be using the spoons, mixers, table tops, that I used on yesterday's peanut butter filling. I clean things VERY well, but I'm not willing to take the chance of a lawsuit. Also, I can understand a customer being upset over the order being cancelled the day before a party. That doesn't give her time to make other plans for her child, and I'm sure that's the most important thing to her. She probably would have been just fine with you changing your ingredients to accomodate the allergy, but still have a chocolate/chocolate cake. None of my recipes for chocolate cake or fillings include nuts, so I'm not sure if that's a recipe she asked for, or your own recipe, but that might have been reworked to avoid this situation.
Yes as I stated before hand, lindt chocolate bars (witch are what I use in all of my recipes) noted on package (may have come in contact with nuts). That alone scared me.. She only wanted chocolate and I did offer her another free cake for someone who is allergy free.. She still turned red.. She stated he was highly allergic so I was not taking any chances!!! If I was not professional who cares id rather be unprofessional then for something horribly wrong to happen to her son and I will be held liable!.. I didn't mean for that to sounds rude but seriously id rather be unprofessinal and cancel with in 24 hours then to have her poor son have a life threatning reaction!!! My job is not more important then her son.. what so ever.. so I will deal with her screaming and bashing me... :D
I know that's what I don't understand about a few of these most outspoken parents of children with life threatening allergies. It's really really hard on them.
AWe don't and won't produce allergy-friendy items. It's not discrimination, it's called CYA.
Not to question this lady, but the nut-allergy alert parents I know NEVER order chocolate cakes.... too much of a danger. I know you can make a nut-free chocolate cake, but I thought nut-allergy 101 was NEVER order chocolate ANYTHING unless you know where the chocolate used comes from. Seems like this lady was taking a chance just by ordering a chocolate chocolate cake and not asking you to check your chocolate source.
Sorry to say, but that woman is a NUT CASE !!!
I have a niece, who is deathly allergic to anything dairy, beef or pork
No one in my family would ever be angry at a person, who honestly says even an hour before an event, that something FREE could not be made.I would most definately be angry, if something supplied free would cause my niece to end up in Intensive care or worse, just because, someone has not done their homework
I do use all those ingerdients in my kitchen, BUT before I cook or bake for my niece, I double check and clean my kitchen to hell and beyond, including buying new utensils, something which I have done for complete strangers, but i have expected them to pay for this. I have baked for allergic kids, but the parents must agree (and sign) that they understand, that I usually cook and bake normally for my family and other, but because i know, what these allergic kids go through, i do my best to accomodate them. I wash everthing down, only offer limited stuff to allergic kids and have customers bring me the milk or margerine that their kids can eat,i if I can't get them here. I have had customers, whose kids have never had a cake for their birthdays, because no bakery out here would make them, and if they would offer that, the parents would not trust them anyway (I live in Chine)
For allergic customers, I dictate what I can or cannot do, NOT the other way around, because I wash everything I use first with soap, then vinegar, then in a dishwasher, that has been previously run in a disinfectant mode TWICE. I do that, because I know what the kids miss out on otherwise, and I would NEVER expect a complete stranger to do something like that for free, just because I "won" a normal cake.
A
Original message sent by jenmat
Not to question this lady, but the nut-allergy alert parents I know NEVER order chocolate cakes.... too much of a danger. I know you can make a nut-free chocolate cake, but I thought nut-allergy 101 was NEVER order chocolate ANYTHING unless you know where the chocolate used comes from. Seems like this lady was taking a chance just by ordering a chocolate chocolate cake and not asking you to check your chocolate source.
Yes that made me wonder as well, I know if my child has a nut allergy i would never order anything chocolate! Note: she's STILL bashing me after I blocked her off of face book.. I've done nothing wrong but sincerely care rather or not her child went to the hospital! Growl o.O she is now harassing me.. and taking this to a whole nother level, she keeps saying how I ruined her sons birthday and how he won't stop crying! Wouldn't you're sons birthday be tragic if something happened to him!!! Ahh some people lol.
A
Original message sent by Ursula40
Sorry to say, but that woman is a NUT CASE !!!
I have a niece, who is deathly allergic to anything dairy, beef or pork
No one in my family would ever be angry at a person, who honestly says even an hour before an event, that something FREE could not be made.I would most definately be angry, if something supplied free would cause my niece to end up in Intensive care or worse, just because, someone has not done their homework
I do use all those ingerdients in my kitchen, BUT before I cook or bake for my niece, I double check and clean my kitchen to hell and beyond, including buying new utensils, something which I have done for complete strangers, but i have expected them to pay for this. I have baked for allergic kids, but the parents must agree (and sign) that they understand, that I usually cook and bake normally for my family and other, but because i know, what these allergic kids go through, i do my best to accomodate them. I wash everthing down, only offer limited stuff to allergic kids and have customers bring me the milk or margerine that their kids can eat,i if I can't get them here. I have had customers, whose kids have never had a cake for their birthdays, because no bakery out here would make them, and if they would offer that, the parents would not trust them anyway (I live in Chine)
For allergic customers, I dictate what I can or cannot do, NOT the other way around, because I wash everything I use first with soap, then vinegar, then in a dishwasher, that has been previously run in a disinfectant mode TWICE. I do that, because I know what the kids miss out on otherwise, and I would NEVER expect a complete stranger to do something like that for free, just because I "won" a normal cake.
I totally agree to everything you're saying, i did spend 8 hours cleaning a CLEAN kitchen just to ensure everything was SUPER sanitized.. I should have read my Lindt chocolate bars before doing 8 hours of cleaning! I used to work at subway and before you either wash or get done with washing the bowls ect. I would dip them all into some blue solution, I went as far as calling subway and asked what that blue stuff was so that I could go buy it. My DH thought I was loosing it! I just DID NOT want anything to happen to her child! Oh and I was reported to fb some how and can not send messages for a whole entire month! This is where I get most of my business growl! I had my mother inlaw go through our entire conversation and she didn't see a thing wrong with what I said... So now I'm blocked from sending messages for no reason.. note I asked my inlaw to read it because she will turn red if i say 1 swear word in front of her lol!!
I was asked to make a cake for an individual that had an allergy, I was a nervous wreck to say the least. I totally understand CuteCakes 1234, try not to let the experience get you down.
Yes that made me wonder as well, I know if my child has a nut allergy i would never order anything chocolate! Note: she's STILL bashing me after I blocked her off of face book.. I've done nothing wrong but sincerely care rather or not her child went to the hospital! Growl o.O she is now harassing me.. and taking this to a whole nother level, she keeps saying how I ruined her sons birthday and how he won't stop crying! Wouldn't you're sons birthday be tragic if something happened to him!!! Ahh some people lol.
I'd rather have a crying child, than a dead one.
Something is wrong with that mother, just forget about her. And if you ever offer such a thing, specify clearly what you can offer, normal cake for NON allergics, specify exact size, flavour and what is on the cake, you will otherwise get people, who expect the God knows what, just because they won something, ou really need to be clear about what you offer
She's found someone to blame (bordering on harrassment perhaps beyond) for her child not being normal.
There's a bullseye on your back.
Unfortunately she's the reason her son can't stop crying in this case.
Hang in there.
This is my chance posting here in Cake Central, and I have not had a chance to read all of the replies....but wanted to tell you not to give up. Caking is ten times harder than anyone would ever dream. I've been at it for awhile now, and I think each of us will attest that you learn as you go.
First, I am not sure anyone mentioned this, but be really careful with FB contests. They used to have very specific rules about doing contests. To the point where they could wipe your page out, if they caught you doing one. The way around it was to promote a contest on your page, that was listed to your blog on your website. Not sure if that applies to a person page as well, and I am unsure that their rules are as stringent as they used to be. Just FYI on that.
I understand both sides of this. I totally get you not wanting to hurt the child and putting their safety above anything else. I can only imagine what would of happened if this child got sick. I also understand the mother's side (to a degree) of being upset. However, trashing you is ridiculous. You made a mistake, and you tried to rectify it. I did read where one person posted about putting the specifics out there for your contests, and I agree with that. Unfortunately, you have to cover yourself in this day and age.
Hang in there, and keep your chin up. This will pass, and you will learn from it!
A
Original message sent by CuteCakes1234
Yes that made me wonder as well, I know if my child has a nut allergy i would never order anything chocolate! Note: she's STILL bashing me after I blocked her off of face book..
As someone with a severe nut allergy I wouldn't order a cake of any flavor from a bakery unless they already advertised that they make nut-free products and I am comfortable with how they handle cross-contamination. Trust is critical in this market, and if you mess up you probably won't be able to appease that customer no matter what you do.
Take the high road and ecnore all comments made by her.In this case she will look like just the crazy lady she is, most people will see that you just did not want to harm her child. Best response to her is no response, you have offered another cake at another time and she has not accepted that.You have done all you can do for her.Keep your head high and know that the customers you have already served are your word of mouth for a good response.Let her spout what ever she might and she will get sick of it because all she wants is a reaction out of you.Maybe she did not get what she wanted for xmas from her hubby and she is taking it out on you, who knows.In any case just smile and ecnore if you have done all you can do to make it right. this lady wants something like a miracle and you cannot do anything to make her happy except give her responses for a FB war.Not worth your already built client base.
head high and smile :)
Yes as I stated before hand, lindt chocolate bars (witch are what I use in all of my recipes) noted on package (may have come in contact with nuts). That alone scared me.. She only wanted chocolate and I did offer her another free cake for someone who is allergy free.. She still turned red.. She stated he was highly allergic so I was not taking any chances!!! If I was not professional who cares id rather be unprofessional then for something horribly wrong to happen to her son and I will be held liable!.. I didn't mean for that to sounds rude but seriously id rather be unprofessinal and cancel with in 24 hours then to have her poor son have a life threatning reaction!!! My job is not more important then her son.. what so ever.. so I will deal with her screaming and bashing me...
Sorry if my original post made you angry - that was not my intent, but apparently since you singled out my response by quoting it, I will assume that it did and I will apologize for that and I will start out by saying that nowhere in my post did I say you were unprofessional, and I certainly didn't say that her number one priority wasn't the health and well being of her child, or that you should have made a cake anyway and taken the chance of hurting this child. I didn't know that chocolate could be tainted by nuts, but then I don't need to know as I don't ever agree to make allergy free items. I just meant that if you couldn't make her a cake, you should have said so in the beginning rather than right before the party. Like Evior said, "you need to accept your part in this problem too". Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but your original post sounded like this:
A lady won a free cake and requested an allergy free chocolate cake for her son's birthday. You agreed to make an allergy free chocolate cake for her son's birthday, entering into a business agreement, or verbal contract, with her. The day before her son's birthday, you did your homework and realized you weren't able to make the cake, at which time you cancelled the order leaving her with no cake and no time to order one from somewhere else. The lady is mad and is bad mouthing you.
I would not have made the cake either - I would have told her from the beginning that I could not make the cake for her. She would have time to go somewhere that could have made his cake. With her response being what it has been and her obvious anger over the situation, I think I would expect to hear from a lawyer in the near future. Like I said, sorry if I've misunderstood the situation and in doing so, made you angry.
Just to clarify, when I said 'your part in the problem', I meant:
1. FB competitions for cake makers are a bad idea,
2. You said you'd take the order, hence she expected to receive a cake, and
3. You tried cancelling the order by sending an email, which is a bad idea as there is no way of ascertaining if the client has received your message. A better idea would have been to call her and arrange an alternative plan.
I do not think she will get a lawyer involved (if she does then I agree the woman has problems). My comments are simply to make it clear how you got in this situation, and that the client herself is not 100% to blame. Please consider giving her the dollar value of the cake she was meant to have won. As others have said, it is unlikely she will trust you with another order. But the smart thing to do is ensure she is compensated for the loss.
Personally, I think she is behaving badly, and there are a lot of difficult clients we get to deal with. I suspect her son is 'still crying' because she is still raving on about this in front of him.
As you have found out, by using Social Media, you leave yourself open to all kinds of bad publicity (by the most powerful source - word of mouth), so if I were in your shoes, I would be doing all I could to compensate her in some way. Seeing as she probably doesn't want a cake from you, buy her a voucher from a specialist bakery that does nut-free, OR simply give her the dollar value of her prize.
Don't give up, though. Use this unpleasant event to make your policies and procedures better!
Good luck with it :-)
Has it occurred to people who use "only" one specific product, that there are other choices that are more reliably allergy-free?
Such as cocoa instead of chocolate? Because cocoa plus butter equals chocolate both in baking the cake and in making the icing. FYI cocoa is not processed in the same plant as the bar chocolate that is frequently mixed with nuts or nut paste.
The peanut allergy is so commonplace now that it makes good business sense to keep a special set of tools for "nuts" and another set for "nut-free" and your business pays for these extra tools as a matter of course.
When I am asked to make a nut-free cake I make sure that I avoid mixed extracts, that I avoid using oil, and that I use cocoa. And nobody has ever had a reaction to those cakes.
You know, at the risk of getting dog piled I say this: You have bigger issues than this allergy nut bag woman. You started several threads about starting a business, freaked out about people seeing your posts, deleted them, asked about working alone with small children around, etc., etc. I think you really need to consider investigating the business side of this whole cake thing before you continue down this path. Most of us can confidently say this situation would never ever have happened, and it has nothing to do with how long we've been in the business. It has to do with having really defined rules of business *before* opening shop. Your posts concern me. The ones that haven't been deleted, and the ones I vaguely remember before they were deleted.
And just out of curiosity, why are you letting *this* one remain public? Seems odd. Not trying to dis you, but you're exhibiting classic signs of someone who is selling, and then asking *how* to sell. It's backwards. :(
Signs of eventual burnout too, might I add. It's soooooo rewarding when you put all the pieces in place before you go public. Pricing structure, replying to clients, general organization skills, etc., etc. All of which you can get ideas for from here. But *then* start selling. Less surprises that way, less headaches, etc. Makes life easier.
i applaud and encourage you to Go For It and Keep Going For It.
It's like if we waited till we were ready, had enough money and enough know how to have kids the world would have ended long ago.
sure doing homework is important but sometimes gotta cram for an exam
no i'm not piling at all i'm respectfully desagreeing
perhaps judgmental posts should go to pms (personal messages not PMS hahahahaha!)
(bum hand today forgive typing booboos)
Not being judgmental at all, I'm being realistic. I don't like seeing clients let down with last minute cancellations by bakers who take on more than they can chew, and didn't foresee the work involved. I don't like seeing bakers being taken advantage of by crazy clients who can be corralled and dismissed at early warning signs, etc., etc.
And I'm sorry, did you really just kind of equate engaging in business transactions to waiting til the last minute and cramming for a school exam?
and I'm not a roseanne barr fan but when she was doing stand up early in her carreer some customers in the bars laughed and some did not--kind of a buzz kill--so her sister would stand behind the ones that got her humor and laughed to help Roseanner focus away from the debbie downers and toward her goal would God we All had a sister like that
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