Stood up!
I haven't had a cake tasting before. People usually contact me because they've had my cakes at someone else's event or word of mouth. Needless to say, I wanted to make a good impression.
I booked the appointment for this past Saturday. I baked all last week to prepare. I had to put my youngest in a mother's day out program for three days last week so that I could bake and make all the icings/fillings that the couple requested... They asked for six different cake flavors and five icing/filling flavors! I confirmed the appointment for their 2:30PM wedding cake tasting three times, the last contact three days before their appointment date.
I had their plates made up the night before and wrapped in the fridge. They were labeled and looked so nice. I bought a new tablecloth, flowers for the table and cleaned the house.
2:30PM came and went without so much as a phone call or email. I sat and waited for them for an hour and a half. I could've been spending that time with my family. I was PO'd.
I calmed down and sent the "bride" a nice email, letting them know that I had everything prepared for them and never heard from them; that I hoped everything was alright. I also let them know that many of the flavors they requested were made with dairy, so if we were going to have a tasting, it would have to be within the next two days.
Never heard back from them.
What is WRONG with people today? Where is the courtesy? Where is the respect for other's time and effort?
Next time, I'm requiring a tasting fee up-front, non-refundable. And I will only offer three cake/filling/icing flavors. If they want more, they pay more for it.
I've learned my lesson. Just thought I'd pass on my hard-earned experience.
-RZ
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eileen S on
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OH Renay - that seriously stinks!! No class. Absolutely no class. Even just a phone call would have been a nice courtesy. You should have called 4 friends, put on some coffee and ate their cake - then sent them a bill for the tasting. :)
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Permalink Reply by SANDi on
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Hi just wanted 2 say at the bakery they have 2 pay 4 cake tasting I very sorry that they r people with no class in this world but just take this as a lesson learn and thx u for shareing what happen 2 u. I hope that I will never go thru that and if I do I will do what eileen said and enjoy it with a few friends .. ;0)
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Permalink Reply by Renay Zamora on
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You know what, Eileen? We did actually have some friends coming over for dinner that evening and I gave them the tasting platters for dessert! They LOVED everything and completely devoured every bite! My friend told me that I'm on the hook for doing their 25th anniversary cake... 19 years from now! :^)
Seriously, I'm thinking about using some of the product to try out those tall cupcakes I've been seeing on here... could be fun!
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Thanks Sandra. I'm hoping my experience will help other cake artists remember that their time and talent is important and that we deserve to be compensated for it... even if it's just for a cake tasting! :^)
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Cintron on
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Unbelievable! I find myself wondering more often than not where the heck people's manners have gone.
Before our wedding we only did maybe 2 cake tastings. One was a new-ish business, so she came to the house with her samples but I didn't get to request anything. I think she brought me 2 or 3 thin slices of pretty generic-flavored cakes. (all of this was long before I ever started decorating so it was fine with me but now I think I would have been pretty underwhelmed!). The other was an established decorator who had a commercial space where she held tastings by appointment on the weekends. Her husband stood behind a bar-type setup with a partial list of available cake flavors, and when all or most of the seats were filled (I think there were 8 stools), he would cut ONE hefty slice from each of the cakes that she had to offer that day and everyone had a fork. It is was perhaps not the most hygienic scenario; my husband and I were on our own, then another party of 5 who were all together - we didn't know them and it was a little odd to stick your fork into a piece of cake that a stranger had also eaten from! But the concept worked. He even gave us a slice to take home if there was a flavor that we really enjoyed or maybe didn't get to try. There were simple flavors, but most of the cake/filling combos were more exotic and the type of thing that you would find in a bridal magazine.
Both tastings were free, but neither one put forth the kind of effort (and expense, considering the daycare situation) that you did. I don't know how you run your business, I don't know what alternatives are available to brides in your area, and believe me, I would be severely exasperated if I were you, but I would want to keep the tastings free if at all possible. If you're going to do one-on-one tastings with each couple, would you be able to freeze the cakes ahead of time, maybe even in individual servings, so that you could defrost them for each tasting? I'm sure your cakes are delicious, so if you could explain that the cake was frozen but their wedding cake would be fresh, they'll be blown away! And I agree - unless they are willing to pay some fee UP FRONT for more than X number of samples, you should only bring a few samples OF YOUR CHOICE. For example, I live in an area with a lot of wineries and most offer wine tastings of a specified number of wines for free or a nominal fee, but if you want to taste one of their "reserve" wines, you pay an extra $1 or so - same concept.
Good luck and I'm so sorry this happened to you! People suck sometimes!
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Jennifer - I told the couple that I would only make enough for two at the tasting and I let them know that there would be a $25 fee for the tasting that would be applied toward their cake, if they ordered from me. So, if they decided to go with someone else, at least I'd get a little bit for my trouble. But, to be honest, $25 doesn't even BEGIN to cover what I spent and the time that went into preparing for that tasting.
I work out of my home, but I bake out of a licensed kitchen, where I rent space. I have very few wedding cakes in my portfolio, including some dummies... I was really hoping to have a chance to make another wedding cake...
Ugh.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa B on
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This is so incredibly rude of the couple.. I'm sorry for your experience. We run a daycare and have over the years had the occasional "no show" interview. I never reschedule unless there had been a real emergency that caused it. We had one family say.. Oh I forgot can we come tomorrow...um No :) you've wasted enough of my time already. (our interviews are on Saturdays with an invite for a drop in during the week to see how we manage with the kids)
rude is rude.. unfortunately some people just don't get it.
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