AThis was so weird, I'm not sure what to do about it. I had a lady contact me with a strange request. It was her friend's birthday and she just thought she would like to give her a cake, but she knew of course that I wouldn't be able to provide one without some notice. So what she wanted to do was come by and pay for the cake and tell her friend that she could contact me to let me know when she wanted it, what flavour, etc. I was sort of flustered but couldn't see why I shouldn't do it, so I agreed. She was coming right away, but I had time to quickly make up a sort of gift certificate with a couple of pictures of my cakes and my contact info. It didn't even occur to me to put any kind of timeline on the thing. Anyway, she stopped by in a bit of a whirlwind, took the certificate, paid me cash and said either she or her friend would be in touch soon. It was so fast, I didn't even get any contact info. So, that was a month ago. I haven't heard from her or her friend. I have her money. I don't know how to reach her. This is so odd; I feel like I am just waiting for the shoe to drop. Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else?

We never know what's going on in someone's life. I've had people purchase gift certificates and never use them. A couple of times I've had people pay for consulting, then say they will book a future time. But never do, and don't respond to my emails. Go figure...

AAs long as your contact info is on the gift card or you gave her a card/pamphlet your fine. I've donated coupons before for fundraisers, they were paid for and I haven't heard back on all of them. No big deal. Maybe she misplaced it, forgot about it, chose to save it...you never know.

If she hasn't redeemed it yet it's not your fault!

A puzzle for sure. Write a few detailed notes detailing the situation in an envelope, and file it away under unsolved mysteries. If the shoe does drop, you may calmly review your notes, and refresh you memory. Until Then you can relax.

You do whatever anyone other business would do when a gift certificate is purchased. They are non-refundable. Unfortunately since there is no expiration date on it they can use it whenever. She may be waiting for a special occasion. That's what I would do if I received a gift like that. You will recognize the certificate when it comes back. Hopefully you signed it so they don't try to duplicate it..

AThanks for all your thoughts. :) I suppose it feels weird to me because I've never offered gift certificates and I've never done one before. Always learning, always learning...

A

Oh, crap! Didn't think of that either. Well, it's the only one I've done, so if I get more than one person trying to claim it it'll just be the first person to redeem it gets it!

I got a gift certificate once as a gift....by the time I went to use it the place had gone out of business. Crapola