TikTok user @laurensapronsoff has gained attention on the platform after sharing a story about a difficult client and how she handled it. The video, in which she details the red flags she noticed, has amassed 293,800 views and 442 comments. The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in the video.
@laurensapronsoff, whose name is Lauren, runs a catering business. The client she is referring to hired her for a birthday celebration, which Lauren agreed to do.
"She said to me that she wanted it not to be like a wedding, but not to be super informal. Somewhere in between. So I said, okay, no problem. Got you," she said in the video.
Lauren said that she sent over a sample menu, which the client was happy with. However, she said problems began after the client approved the initial menu. The changes began two months before the planned celebration.
"The red flags from this point continue to increase and get brighter and just be in my face," Lauren said.
From there, Lauren said the client became difficult. She said, "This client had a habit of every time she emailed me, she would end the message with 'let me know when you're available for a call and call me straight away.' But by the time I've read that email, she's calling my phone. Red flag number one."
Then, on the Friday before the party, which was on Saturday, Lauren got a call halfway through the day from the client. This time, though, she was handed off to the husband, whom she had not spoken to at all throughout the process. In fact, she did not even know her client was married.
The husband requested a menu change that Lauren said she and her staff could not accommodate.
"Your wife's party is tomorrow. We've agreed on the menu, and I'm halfway through the prep, and you wanna change it to fine dining on four courses for 40 people?" Lauren said in the video.
He then asked if she could pick up chips and pizza to serve to the kids, which she said she could not provide. He said that he would pick up those items if she would cook the pizza the way the kids wanted, which was a specific way.
On the day of the party, the family invited 16 additional guests without telling Lauren. She did not realize there were extra guests until dessert was served and they were 10 cheesecakes short. She said she pulled the husband aside and learned that 16 additional guests had attended.
"I had to chase them for over a month to get them to pay this invoice, to the point where I had to basically kind of like, threaten legal proceedings. And then suddenly, the money was in my account, like 3:00am in the morning. I never heard from them again," Lauren said.
Initially, there was some confusion about the invoice and whether the family had paid upfront. In a different video, she clarified that it was extra charges or the additional costs resulting from the events at the party and for the extra guests.
@laurensapronsoff My client really tried to trick me. In more ways than one. Not only did they try and completely change the whole menu the day before but also add 16 extra guests without telling me and not wanting to pay! #chefstorytelling #privatechef #storytimes
♬ original sound - Chef Lauren Wilz || Aprons off
TikTok users share their own experiences with difficult catering clients
Many of the comments on this video talk about the miscommunication about the invoice that Lauren cleared up in her follow-up video. Others shared similar experiences catering for clients.
"I never have that much extra food, they’re lucky they got what they got. I put everything into a contract highlighting what has been agreed. I have a clear sentence that says no changes at all 72 hours before the event. Catering is not easy. Glad you got paid…eventually," said one user.
Others said the husband’s request to change the menu less than a day before the party was unreasonable. "changing menu the day before is actually crazy?!" one commenter wrote.
"I hate this!! This happens more than people thinks it does. On one of the ones I had they said 'just tell the kitchen to chuck some more in the oven.' for one what your eating isn't just chucked in the oven and two chef has ordered to what numbers you gave on the final count," another caterer in the comments said.
Other caterers also shared their own experiences with clients making last-minute requests. Many said changes to menus and guest counts can make an already busy event even more difficult to manage.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify @laurensapronsoff’s account of her interactions with the client. The story is based on her recollection and the details she shared in her TikTok videos.
